Mayor Vergano Answers Residents’ Concerns About Wayne YMCA Takeover

WAYNE, NJ – This past Township Council Meeting was of huge importance to residents of Wayne. Ahead is the possible purchase of the Wayne YMCA from its operator, the YMCA of the Oranges for $12.2 million. Then comes the much more difficult part, which is what Mayor Chris Vergano has promised: “to maintain and improve upon all of the programs that are there now.”

Vergano spoke before the public comments on the first of three ordinances regarding the possible purchase of the Y which came up for a vote that night. He talked for some time and seemed to answer many of the residents’ questions that night, given their comments. Most of the residents who spoke that night seemed to have positive responses to the idea of the township acquiring the YMCA. But some also expressed doubts and serious concerns that the township, even under the direction of Tim Roetman, could handle the complexity of the programming that is currently undertaken and maintain at least break-even as a utility for the township.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE FREE TAPINTO.NET NEWSLETTER

Here is a summary of the mayor's points:

The property, including the facility was appraised at $16 million and the township would be acquiring this for $12.2 million. The township would take out a loan (a bond) to purchase the property, then use the approximately $1 million a year in the existing Open Space tax to pay back the loan in the takeover.

“We're borrowing against the open space fund,” said the mayor. “So, it's not a new tax - it's a tax you're already paying. Instead of building a playground, we will be using that money to pay for the Y.”

Current YMCA members will be encouraged to continue their membership with fees that will be lower for residents, than for non-residents.

DOWNLOAD THE FREE TAPINTO APP FOR MORE LOCAL NEWS. AVAILABLE IN THE APPLE STORE AND THE GOOGLE PLAY STORE .

“We need all of you because we are going to run this as a recreation utility, just like we run the pool and the lake,” said Vergano. “We [will] charge fees and the fees that we charge offset the cost of the pool and the lake. It's very simple, you go to a gym now - it's called the YMCA. You're going to continue to go to that gym but it's going to be called the Wayne Community…whatever. We haven’t decided what to call the Recreation Center, yet.”

The goal is “to maintain and improve upon all the programs that are there now,” according to the mayor, including the theater programs, which he wants to strengthen.

“If there is a class that only four people attend, we're not going to run that class,” he said. “But there are many good programs that we want to continue that are going on at the Y now. There's no reason that we would ever want to discontinue them.”

To help offset the cost of the 14.2-acre property and the 150,000 square foot facility, is an idea to rent out space. The mayor said that there is about 50,000 square feet of under-utilized space at the Y. They want to take advantage of that because, “in reality we have to find ways to raise money to keep the lights on,” said Vergano. “The good part is we don't have to make money; we don't have shareholders; we don't have a profit that we need to make, so that'll help us with costs.”

Staff will be retained by the Township, except for executive staff. Vergano joked that they need everyone “because I’m certainly not going to teach a Zumba class.”

Director of Parks and Recreation, Tim Roetman will be tasked with managing the day-to-day operations of the new facilty, and feels confident in his team’s ability to make this a success.

“We wouldn't be doing it if we weren't confident we could handle it,” said Retman. “The mayor and council alluded to the fact that we have a lot of very talented people at town hall. It's going to take the village, and we'll make it work no matter what.”

Updates mentioned were the possibility of a band shell constructed on the site for the summer concert series and other events. Both the Parks and Rec Department and the Health Department will likely be moving their offices to this new facility, which will make things easier for seniors to access programming. The Wayne Adult Community and the Wayne Golden Age Club will also likely be moved there. A possible new branch of the library may open there, and the Wayne Interfaith Food Pantry’s space may be expanded.

Concerns from residents included the fact that some health insurance providers have included costs for the YMCA as part of their offerings, or discounts through programs like AARP. The mayor said that they would be looking into being able to continue this.  “We want to try to set ourselves up to do the same thing because we don’t want to lose those 250 seniors.”

The last thing he mentioned was that the next phase of this is due diligence, where the township will be looking into all the details of everything about the YMCA, with an auditor looking into their books, facility and environmental inspections and more.

“In the event the governing body is dissatisfied for any reason as to the result of the inspection, the governing body has the right to terminate the contract,” said Vergano. And since there is no deposit being put down for this purchase, there is nothing for the township to lose if they walk away from this deal.

Other resident concerns mentioned during the meeting:

• Would costs go up for seniors on a fixed budget, making it unaffordable?
• Once the facility is opened to all residents, will classes fill up, making it difficult for those Y members who have been coming for years to get into fitness classes, etc.?
• What would happen to the summer camp, the pre-school and the before and after-care currently offered? What about programs for disabled residents that are being offered now?
• One point raised by a resident during the public comments portion of the meeting was that the YMCA fund raises to provide scholarship programs for people who couldn’t normally afford the Y offerings. How would the township handle this?
• Will there be one singular fee that allows access to all the programming, or will everything be a la carte?
• Will residents and Y members be asked for their input into programming that will be offered?

Vergano was brief in his response to the numerous concerns mentioned in the council meeting. “First off, daycare, the plays, preschool, summer camp, special needs classes, sliding scale,” he said. “The answer is yes.”

As for contacting Y members for their input, the mayor said they have not yet received the list of members, “so we don’t know who you are.” But he added that, “once we get a copy of the current membership e-mail list, we will put our program forward to the current members.”

Currently, the contract between Wayne Township and the Metro YMCA of the Oranges is being “fine-tuned,” so “it benefits both of us,” said Vergano. But once that is agreed to, then the 60-day due diligence process can begin.

“I hope I’ve answered all your questions,” he said in conclusion. “If not, my email address is mayor@waynetownship.com.”

For more local news, visit TAPinto.net