The Bethel City Council will be considering an action memo authorizing the City Manager to negotiate and execute the contract with Health Fitness for the operations and maintenance of the YK Fitness Center. The item, Action Memorandum 23-24 is on the consent agenda for their September 12th regular meeting, introduced by Interim City Manager Alan Lanning.
The amount of fiscal impact is $698,533 with source of funding coming from the multi-year budget FY 24-27.
The City of Bethel partners with Health Fitness Corp. to operate and maintain the Yukon Kuskokwim Regional Aquatic Health and Safety Center. The contract is for the multi-year operations and maintenance agreement covering FY 2024-2027.
In the July 10, 2023 meeting packet for the Community Parks and Recreation Committee, there is an agenda item to recommend that the City Council reduce reliance on contract support to operate the YK Fitness Center. The item (under Unfinished Business) was brought forth by Parks and Recreation Committee Chair Brian Lefferts. The recommendation is also in the August 14, 2023 and September 11, 2023 meeting packets for the Parks and Rec Committee.
“It is in the best financial interest of the municipality to begin transitioning from contracted operations of the YK Fitness Center to a City operated facility. The City is owner of the YK Fitness Center. Since 2013 the City has hired contractors to operate the facility. Although costly, this contracted service provided a level of service the City was not equipped to provide. After several years of collaboration with contractors, the City is in a better place to begin transitioning to a city-run facility,” states the recommendation. “Operating the YK Fitness Center internally has the potential to save the municipality a significant amount of money each year while also providing the administration control over day-to-day operations, revenue generation, and expenditure reduction. This transition will take time to implement properly. The Community Parks and Recreation Committee hopes the Council will prioritize the transition planning now with the goal of completely transitioning to a City run facility by June 30, 2025.”
