Marietta shares plans for aquatic center management

Mayor Joshua Schlicher has shared details for the plan to open the Marietta Aquatic Center this year.

During an April 11 public meeting for a performance audit that predicted Marietta's general fund would be depleted as early as 2025, Schlicher announced that the city would not open the MAC this summer in an effort to save $300,000.

The announcement caused reactions among the community, including a petition to keep the MAC open started by Devola resident Joelle Cornett which garnered over 3,800 signatures and council issuing a press release imploring Schlicher to reopen the pool.

During a council meeting Thursday, Schlicher said the MAC would open this year.

"I am happy to announce tonight that we've discussed our agreement with the professional management company ... I am pleased we have put everything in motion to open and operate the center this year," he said.

After the council meeting Schlicher discussed the plan that the city and Professional Pool Management have agreed to for running the MAC and getting it opened this year.

"We got confirmation from the operator (Thursday)," Schlicher said about the agreement. "He's still facing some issues with lifeguard staffing."

Schlicher said Mike Bishman, owner of PPM, is working on getting that issue resolved. The key to saving money is concessions, according to Schlicher.

"Concessions, we're talking that all out," he said. "(PPM is) not going to be doing it. What we're going to do is we're going to bring in vending machines, taking (out) the huge cost we have in personal service and we're going to have to bring in vending machines, but still offer that option for patrons. We're also going to open it up to where they can bring their own food and concessions."

Schlicher said there will be new rules issued for bringing in outside food.

"That right now will not solve the whole entire deficit but that will definitely help with about half, no, actually about almost two-thirds," Schlicher said about removing concessions.

Schlicher said PPM is taking about $40,000 off of its contract amount since there will not be concessions so the city will save money there and on the cost of concession supplies.

He did not provide amounts for how much the city would save in concession supplies.

Previously Schlicher told the Times that the city pays PPM $200,000 a year to run the MAC.

Schlicher said that whatever agreement the city comes to with a vending machine company they might be able to work the city getting a portion of the vending profits which would help offset costs further.

He said that with this new plan the city hopes to save about $60,000 and that the city's losses the last couple of years have ranged from $80,000 to $100,000 year.

"If we can rely on the public to help us and volunteer some hours and help us run it in addition to a management company that carries the liability and does the day to day schedule and payroll and everything for the main staff that will be a big benefit to all of us,"

Schlicher said about proposals from meeting attendees that suggested getting people to volunteer at the MAC.

Several people spoke in the public comment portion of the council meeting about the pool. One of them was Jessica Archer, a Marietta resident.

She said her speech was changing due to the decision to open the pool.

"I wanted to say thank you Mayor Shclicher for making the decision to open the aquatic center," Archer said.

She posed a question to council, asking them to think about their favorite thing to do in the summer as a child. Archer said hers was meeting her friends and going to the Jackson Street Pool.

"We would get the courage to go off the high dive, eat a bunch of junk food ... and we would play until we were exhausted. I want to ask you to think about what the kids in Marietta have now," she said.

Archer listed all the businesses that have left Marietta, including the movie theater, the bowling alley, the YMCA swimming pool and the drive-in movie theater and said what the kids in town do have is the MAC and the skating rink, so it is important to protect the MAC.

"What hurts my heart and what worries me and should worry everybody else, is what these kids would do if they didn't have the pool," Archer said.

Some council members expressed support of the decision to open the MAC.

At the beginning of the meeting, At-Large Councilman Ben Rutherford said he was happy to hear the MAC is going to be able to run and that the city is not going to lose money.

Toward the end of the meeting, Ward 3 Councilman Bill Gosset said he was glad to see all the people that came to the meeting to support the MAC.

Ward 4 Councilwoman Erin O'Neill said "I just wanted to express my thanks to the mayor for hearing the people ... because we've heard from a lot of passionate people tonight that the aquatic center is not something they're willing to give up."

Closing the Marietta Aquatic Center is only one cost-saving measure that has been offered by the city administration. During a joint finance and employee relations committees meeting April 15, council gave Schlicher and department heads a deadline by which to give council s cost-savings plan within four weeks on May 20.

Council has set a special meeting for Monday at 5:15 p.m. in room 10 of the Marietta Armory to consider a resolution directing Schlicher to provide a sustainable plan of recovery concerning the finances of the city by May 20.

Michelle Dillon can be reached at mdillon@newsandsentinel.com

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