** Tim Sheeper promises comparable rates and public access, but council approves contract with schedule and fees yet to be set.
By Rory Brown
Almanac Staff Writer
Menlo Park’s new three-pool Burgess Aquatics Center — built with $6.8 million in taxpayer money — is expected to open in late April, but it won’t be city staff welcoming the swimmers.
The City Council voted 3-2 February 28 to hand over the operation and maintenance of the facility to Tim Sheeper, founder and head coach of Team Sheeper LLC, a local competitive sports program.
Mr. Sheeper will enter into a five-year lease, and according to city staff, the deal will save the city about $415,000 a year — an incentive Mayor Nicholas Jellins, Councilwoman Lee Duboc and Councilwoman Mickie Winkler stressed in supporting the contract.
But financial incentives shouldn’t override guaranteed public access to the pools, said Councilwoman Kelly Fergusson, who opposed the deal along with Councilman Andy Cohen.
Ms. Fergusson and concerned residents say the city has approved a vague contract in the rush to lessen a projected $2.9 million budget shortfall.
Details not stated in the contract include how much it will cost residents to use the facility, when members of the public are guaranteed times to swim, and when they will be ousted by members of Mr. Sheeper’s 350-person group.
At the meeting, Mr. Sheeper said he plans to “keep prices competitive with other facilities in the market,” and added, “[the facility] will only be successful if people come and use the pool.”
Fees and public access hours will be set in consultation with the city, the contract says.
The three council members who supported the deal said they felt very comfortable with the city’s ability to cancel the contract due to concerns with public access.
Ms. Winkler said the opportunity to have the facility open at no cost to the city is “a moment that will never come again.”
Kent Steffens, the city’s public works director, said the one-year warranty on the facility’s equipment will begin once construction is finished in April. To take advantage of the warranty, the city needs to open the pools once the facility is functional, he said.
Sheeper’s plans
Mr. Sheeper said his program’s largest workouts would bring as many as 50 people to the facility at one time, but he plans on providing 30 hours of drop-in lap swimming a week to the public.
The city was also going to schedule about 30 hours of lap swimming at the facility, according to Jeff Dybdal, the city’s aquatics program assistant.
The contract calls for open recreational swimming from Memorial Day to Labor Day, but the hours are not specified.
Fifteen people — most of whom are members of Mr. Sheeper’s program — spoke on his behalf at the meeting.
Talk of delaying the opening of the three new Menlo Park pools due to budget restraints is what drove Mr. Sheeper to make the offer. His program currently uses a facility in Redwood City.
“The aquatics program needs Mr. Sheeper more than Mr. Sheeper needs this pool,” said Planning Commissioner Lorie Sinnott, who noted that there is “not enough public interest in aquatics.”
Rushing a contract?
Mr. Sheeper stepped forward with his plan at the January 31 council meeting, and four weeks later, a contract was ready for approval. Some residents say four weeks doesn’t leave time for review.
There are a lot of “unknowns,” said Councilwoman Fergusson, including the costs of running the pool and how much revenue the city could draw from the new facility.
She stressed that the numbers provided by city staff are projections, not verified facts.
Ms. Fergusson said the city should be considering all of its options — not just the proposal by Mr. Sheeper. She also said city commissions should be incorporated in the decision-making process. Members of the parks commission have complained about being excluded from the contract review.
About 10 people asked the council to reject the proposal, saying that key points are absent from the contract, such as how Mr. Sheeper’s group will share the facility with the public.
“This isn’t about [Mr.] Sheeper, or how good his programs are,” said Patti Fry, a former planning commissioner. “This is about assuring access.”
A member of the city’s budget advisory committee, Ms. Fry said turning over the operation of the facility now — before the council considers all its budget options — makes the “community budget process a sham.”
What fees?
Drop-in rates for recreation and lap-swimming at the former Burgess facility ranged from $4 for adults to $1 for children 12 and under, according to Michael Taylor, the acting community services director.
Mr. Sheeper did not say how his rates would compare.
Once negotiated with city staff, Mr. Sheeper’s rates proposal will go before the Parks and Recreation Commission for comment before review by City Manger David Boesch, said Mayor Jellins.
Other residents expressed concern with handing over the facility, built with $6.8 million from a recreation bond measure approved by voters in 2001.
“I don’t want my tax money to bankroll private enterprise,” said Vic Lovell.
“I have no questions about Mr. Sheeper,” said Elias Blawie. “I have questions about sound public policy. I’d love if someone set me up for zero capital cost.”
Actual costs?
At the meeting, Jeff Dybdal, the city’s aquatics program assistant and only full-time aquatics employee, voiced several concerns with the savings associated with leasing the Burgess facility.
Mr. Dybdal said $148,000 of the city’s projected $415,000 savings won’t, in fact, be saved by leasing the pools to Mr. Sheeper. The money is allotted for public works overhead costs, and although management won’t spend time and resources on the aquatics program, the money will go toward work in other community services, not back into the city’s coffers.
Mr. Dybdal said an aquatics specialist position — a position currently unfilled — is also incorporated into the projected savings. He said the position would most likely be eliminated due to budget restraints, but about $47,000 of the city’s projections assume the position will be filled.
Mr. Taylor said council members can take overhead costs generally associated with aquatics into account when drafting the city’s budget for the next fiscal year.
Mr. Sheeper has not expressed interest in offering Mr. Dybdal a position on his program’s staff, said Mr. Taylor.
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