Residents expressed mixed reactions towards Niskayuna bonding $350,000 for a new indoor recreation center, with some calling it a wise investment and others a waste of money.
Addressing a standing-room-only crowd ranging from young children in lacrosse uniforms to seniors, Councilwoman Julie McDonnell on Thursday, March 15, presented the town’s plan to build and bond for a new indoor recreation facility at the former town skate park at Blatnick Park. Councilman Jonathan McKinney had urged residents to attend the meeting if they opposed the project, but those supporting it also showed up in force.
Many residents supporting the project expressed it was an important community enhancement, but opposing concerns questioned if the timing was right and worried facility revenue projects targeted to pay for the building could fall short.
“The reason why these clubs came to us four years ago is, because there wasn’t enough space. They were getting shut out,” McDonnell said. “We had practices at like 10 o’clock at night for little kids — you can’t do that.”
Since Center City in Schenectady closed, both the Niskayuna Soccer and Lacrosse Club have actively looked into having a similar recreation facility in town, and have raised funds to help fund construction of the proposed building.
“I would like to thank the town for continued support in bringing this project to completion,” President of the Niskayuna Soccer Club Mike Parzych said. “After three-plus years working on this project we do believe this is the best alternative both for the town and for the local sports organizations.”
Costs versus revenues
The estimated cost to construct the building falls just under $650,000. The Niskayuna Soccer and Lacrosse clubs would contribute $200,000 and the town would use $100,000 from the Parkland Trust Fund and issue a long-term bond for the remaining $350,000.
“This is the way we do things,” McDonnell said. “Being a town you can bond and you can have your low-interest rate available to have recreational facilities.”
Annual debt service is estimated at approximately $24,000 annually, but McDonnell expects the facility to pay for itself within a few years.
“The bonding is really a financing mechanism,” McDonnell said. “We can bond at a rate that is lower than any mortgage they can get. They can’t mortgage on town property.”
The estimated operating expenses for the facility total $31,000, which includes $6,000 for electricity, $10,500 for heating, $1,000 for parking lot snow plowing, $3,000 for maintenance costs, $10,000 for staffing and $1,000 for garbage service and water.
Annual facility revenue was estimated at nearly $57,500. The revenue assumptions include rental from November to mid April, or 22 weeks, with billable hours from Monday to Friday from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. and from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on the weekends. The rental rate is pegged at $75 per hour, which is below rates at private facilities, which run about $200 per hour. McDonnell used a 60 percent occupancy rate in her figures.
After cutting annual operating expenses and debt service from revenue projections, McDonnell said the facility would generate $2,420 in revenue.
“We think we are projecting conservatively based on staffed review and talking to our bidders,” McDonnell said.
Resident Aaron Hull asked the board to reconsider funding the project and questioned what the board would do if revenue projections fell short.
“What if your projections are wrong? Who will pay the bills?” asked Hull. “Whether the bills are paid from the park fund or the operating fund the residents of this town will end up paying the bills if your projections are not met. That a is risk I don’t think we should be taking now, or ever in the future.”
McKinney contested the annual operating expenses, saying industry experts he spoke to said they would be more like $100,000 per year. Also, he said there would be an expense of around $50,000 to replace the facility’s turf, which lasts around 10 years. He also said there are no estimates for air-conditioning expenses included in the figures.
“We have to think about what we are committing ourselves to in the future,” McKinney said. “There are a lot of things that are coming up to bond, those are opportunities to lower our taxes, it is not an opportunity to fill it with another tax.”
McDonnell said bonding for the recreation facility would not affect taxes.
McKinney also had questioned using parkland funds with the DEC’s residential building moratorium in town. Parkland fees are acquired through new developments in town.
Even with the moratorium in place, there were projections grandfathered in that McDonnell said will add another $267,000 to the parkland fund. Town Comptroller Paul Sebesta previously said after putting $100,000 towards the rec center, the fund would have a balance around $200,000, not including any projected revenues for next year.
“We have no major projects to do. We have no more parkland to build out. This is the next logical step and this is something that is a need,” McDonnell said. “People have come to us for four years … this is what the people that come to us wanted and say is their next recreational need.”
McDonnell said there have been similar funding partnerships in the town before, with the town bonding funds. She referenced the Niskayuna Soccer Park, for which the town bonded $390,000 and clubs paid 40 percent of the annual debt service. The bond for that project will be paid off this year.
Private versus public
McKinney has proposed a public-private partnership, with a private vendor borrowing the money from a bank and building the facility on town land. The vendor would hand over ownership of the building to the town and then lease it from the town. The vendor would also assume all management responsibilities and financial risk.
Supervisor Joe Landry said the board has already gone through the plan proposed by McKinney before deciding on the current proposal.
“We have looked at a lot of different scenarios and we have talked to a lot of people, even the Metroplex entity,” Landry said. “It is not like we haven’t looked and haven’t meet and haven’t discussed it.”
McDonnell said bringing in a private entity to operate the facility wouldn’t result in desired outcome.
“If you bring in a for-profit entity there is going to be a different goal, there is going to be different usage, there is going to be different rates, there is going to be different management,” McDonnell said. “The spot we are looking at they don’t want because it is too small for what a private company wants, they want a bigger space.”
McDonnell said she talked to Afrim Nezaj, owner of Afrim’s Sports, which operates indoor recreation facilities in Colonie and Latham, and offered to work with Nezaj to find private land to open a local facility.
“(Nezaj) said, ‘Unless it is free land, it’s not going to be profitable for me and I’m not interested,’” McDonnell said. “There is no other town land that we have that is not in the middle of a neighborhood that would work.”
McDonnell also said the town facility isn’t “undercutting” private business offering similar services, because the town’s facility would be filling a need for additional demand.
“The reality is I think all of these sports are becoming year-round sports,” she said. “You need to have some space for these kids to play and right now they are just paying a ton of money for it and parents are driving half-an-hour.”
During peak season, from November to mid April, McDonnell estimated the soccer and lacrosse clubs would each use the facility for 20 hours per week, and would get preferred times. This would leave 18 hours for the facility to be available for other groups. Outside of the peak usage months, she expected the facility to be largely open and available for other clubs and town uses.
“It is a soccer and lacrosse facility … this is what it is designed for and these are the groups that are most likely going to use it,” McDonnell said. “However, there are a lot of other groups that are interested in using it.”
If there were availability, the facility would be open to groups or people outside of the town, but McDonnell said she expects it will be busy enough there won’t be many openings.
McKinney said the facility needed to be equally available to residents and clubs since the town is bonding for the project, but Town Attorney Peter Scagnelli said it doesn’t need to be equal. The facility would just need to be available for public usage.
McDonnell referenced the Schenectady County Ice Rink as a similar operation, where the facility isn’t equally available.
Town betterment or detriment
Resident Jay Nish, identifying himself as a Republican, expressed support for the project as an enhancement to the town.
“I am a registered Republican, so we love to say no to everything,” Nish joked. “In that spirit, this is why it really pains me greatly to rise in support.”
Although understanding issues surrounding the project, he said towns are changing and the “village square” is now the sports fields where parents and children gather.
“When we get into that argument of price versus value … I am going to humbly submit it is the 21st century village square that we are arguing over,” Nish said. “I am in full support of the measure.”
Conversely, resident Aaron Hull said while not building the facility might be a hard outcome to accept, it is what’s best for the town.
“Yes, the potential of not building this facility would be a tough pill to swallow for the kids and parents that use it, but we have to face reality,” Hull said.
Linda Rizzo, a former Town Board candidate who recently switched from being a registered Republican to Democrat, said she has faith the Town Board will “do what is best.”
“If this was going to not be a good project, if Supervisor Landry saw this was going to raise taxes to a high level, I cannot imagine him approving this,” Rizzo said.
