After a flurry of public interest in the proposed closure of the Family Fitness Center in Westminster, a lengthy Mayor and Common Council meeting Monday night produced a compromise that would keep the center alive without continuing to subsidize its deficit.
Councilmember Tony Chiavacci proposed that staff move ahead with redistributing funds to other areas of the budget — about $209,000 — that would have otherwise gone toward making up the deficit caused by the fitness center in financial year 2021. The money would come out of the overall budget of the Recreation and Parks Department, giving its director, Abby Gruber, and staff the task of rearranging their budget.
The $209,000 in funding moved would follow a plan proposed by Mayor Joe Dominick at the previous budget work session. About $24,000 would go toward promotion of the Westminster Fiber Network. Other funding would go toward the city’s ongoing project of adjusting employee salaries and benefits according to the results of a 2017 study.
Council members in the May 11 meeting requested more time to look over the budget and the line edits that had been made since the work sessions.
The council chose to delay the final vote on the budget by one week to a special meeting scheduled for May 18 at 7 p.m. The video will be streamed live on the city’s Facebook page “Westminster, Maryland" and can be viewed there after the conclusion of the meeting.
In a prepared statement he read at the meeting, Chiavacci said the fitness center created a deficit in the general fund that was no longer sustainable. Westminster’s various councilmembers have had to consider the fitness center operating deficit for years, particularly the last two, he said. But the public responses to the proposed closure this year showed a “significant attachment and a deep desire to see it continue to operate.”
Among the possible changes within Parks & Recreation are raising the fees for the use of the Family Fitness Center, which many of the vocal public commenters called for. But it will be the work of the department to see where other cuts and changes to operations may be necessary if Chiavacci’s proposal is preserved in the final version of the FY21 budget.
Dominick commented that any assessment of the Rec & Parks Department’s success in working around the funding cut would need at least two years for a fair consideration. With the COVID-19 pandemic cancelling many staple events and closing facilities, including the fitness center itself, the revenues and expenses for the coming year will not be typical.
Councilmembers Kevin Dayhoff and Ann Thomas Gilbert, who represent the council in the newly reformed Recreation and Parks Committee, expressed eagerness to work with the department and find a way to address the budget without cutting the services of the fitness center.
Dayhoff said they are ready to “roll up our sleeves get to work.” He also said that ample notice should be given before discussion of “hot-button” topics to give time for feedback.
Gilbert said she was alarmed by the financial deficit of the center, but was swayed by the public responses and did not want to see the center close this year. She quoted some sections of letters and said that members viewed the fitness center as a source of “health, well-being and a sense of community.”
Dominick said he would support any decision of the council, but wanted to address misconceptions. As mayor, he does not vote on ordinances such as the budget, but is a member of every committee for Westminster.
He pushed back on the idea that the decision was made abruptly. He said this issue had been discussed in the finance committee’s meeting, which are open to the public, but rarely attended. He suggested the city could re-look at it’s budget process and decide whether the finance committee is the place for drawn-out discussion.
He said he takes ownership for his proposal at the previous budget session and welcomes feedback and criticism. But some people had threatened his family and business and made accusations of corruption against him that he said were “ridiculous.”
The reason for the proposal, he said, was to avoid a build -p into larger problems and unavoidable choices for future residents and governments of Westminster. A state loan that helps with the debt of the Westminster Fiber Network project will end in coming years, and the city will need to address costs of that, he said. While they may be able to get more loans and grants for the life of the debt, they may also face shrinking state and local help for municipalities in wake of the pandemic. The fitness center’s expenses will also be affected by the increase in Maryland’s minimum wage in coming years.
As a city-run service, the center does not have to break even or make a profit, he said. “If it was $50,000 of a deficit, we wouldn’t be having this conversation." But it will remain to be seen if Parks & Rec will need to make cuts to other services and offerings in their budget, he said. The committee will have to work to balance the loss in memberships that would come as a result of raising fees.
Councilman Benjamin Yingling thanked the public for their input. He said he agreed with Dominick on the coming challenges and thanked Chiavacci for bringing a proposal.
He said, that this discussion was exactly what budget work is about. “This is the process, and you’re watching [it] right now,” he said.
Council President Gregory Pecoraro said he views the fitness center as an important resource that he is glad to see the city subsidize. But with the majority of members being non-city residents who do not pay into the taxes used in that subsidy, it becomes a “problem in allocating scarce resources in a way that’s sustainable.” He is glad to keep it open. “I very much hope can continue to do it in a way that is sustainable,” he said.
The city received hundreds of comments on the budget from the public, centered around the fitness center. These comments were included in the information packet for each council member and can be viewed at westminstermd.gov/AgendaCenter.