The Kalona City Council held a discussion to make changes to their recreational services contract with YMCA of Washington County during their November 1st meeting.

YMCA of Washington County CEO Amy Schulte presented the council with an outline of the impacts the YMCA has had in Kalona over the past year. As COVID-19 restrictions have loosened, attendance and participation in youth and adult sports programs and use of the Kalona municipal pool have begun to trend upwards. City Administrator Ryan Schlaubaugh explains that with the pandemic impacting the number of members and overall usage of facilities, the current management agreement needed to be reviewed, “That management agreement on the pool side fell a little bit short on the city’s side just due to the usage just clearly not coming up to those pre-pandemic numbers. So we wanted to evaluate that and make an all encompassing rec. services program.”

The current contract states that the city will pay $45,000 to the Y for contractual management of the different programs offered at the Kalona Community Center with another $3,000 going towards management of the Kalona municipal pool. Schlaubaugh says right now the council anticipates moving from a $48,000 annual payment to $51,000 recreational services agreement. He says the increase is very much warranted based on the fiscal numbers presented by Schulte and that this puts both the city and the YMCA in a good position. No action was taken on the agreement.