Whitewater: Aquatic Center subcommittee discusses operations, finances

By Kim McDarison

A meeting of the Whitewater Aquatic and Fitness Center Subcommittee — comprised of representatives from both the city of Whitewater and the Whitewater Unified School District — took steps Thursday towards negotiating a new operating and lease agreement for the community’s aquatic facility. 

According to an agenda published on the city’s website, the subcommittee meeting was initially scheduled to take place at the Whitewater Municipal Building in the city’s council chambers for two hours, from 6 to 8 p.m. 

The meeting, which lasted for approximately one hour, focused largely on two presentations made by city officials, including a history and overview of both the operations and finances of the facility, followed by a period for public comments. 

Nine residents spoke before the subcommittee, with a majority in favor of keeping the facility open. 

The Whitewater Aquatic and Fitness Center (WAFC), city officials have noted, has been operating for the last two years without an agreement between the two parties: the city and the school district.

Both entities have engaged — through representation on a nonprofit organization’s board or directly, with the exception of a five-year period when MercyCare Health operated the facility — in financial and operational responsibilities through contractual agreements since the facility opened in 2001. 

An initial contract went into effect in 2001, followed by a second, placed into effect in 2016. 

In 2021, a new agreement was drafted with some contingencies by the Whitewater Common Council. The new agreement continued stipulations for joint operation of the aquatic facility by the two organizations through 2026. 

The document remains available as part of the city’s record unsigned. 

A story about the history of the WAFC and its contracts is here: https://fortatkinsononline.com/whitewater-city-school-district-to-hold-aquatic-center-operating-lease-agreement-joint-negotiation-meeting/. 

Members appearing Thursday as part of the subcommittee and its supporting panel included: Whitewater Finance Director Steve Hatton, Whitewater Parks and Recreation Director Eric Boettcher, Whitewater City Manager John Weidl, Common Council President Lisa Dawsey Smith, Whitewater Common Council members Jim Allen and Jill Gerber, Whitewater Unified School District Board of Eduction members Larry Kachel, Jennifer Kienbaum and board President Thayer Cobern, school district Superintendent Caroline Pate-Hefty, school district Director of Business Services Ben Prather, and school district Director of Buildings and Grounds David Friend. 

Goals, overviews presented 

Weidl opened the meeting by directing the panel to a “number of documents” provided by the city.

“I think what we are hoping for … is some dialog between the elected officials to provide some guidance to staff as to the type of research we may be missing, questions you may still have, opportunities you want us to take a look at, things that you might want to set an opinion on, and I also know we are prepared … to give a brief history, at least we can go as far back as when the city started taking this over and provide some context,” Weidl said, adding that Hatton would provide during his presentation a five-year history of the facility’s “financials.”  

Aided by slides, Boettcher said that the aquatic center opened in 2001, was operated by the Whitewater Aquatic Center Board from 2001 until 2002, and was operated by MercyCare Health from 2003 to 2008. Between 2009 and 2016, the operations returned to the Whitewater Aquatic Center Board, and the city and the school district entered into an operational partnership in 2016 until present time. 

Boettcher said capital improvements made to the facility completed in 2016, totaling more than $160,000, included cardio equipment, pool pumps, a pool vacuum, floor repairs, fitness equipment, televisions and carpeting. In 2017, improvements, coming at a cost of $7,800, included a spa rock wall, a pool pump and pool floor door. In 2018, some $98,000 was spent on such improvements as a pre-core machine, “one of four boilers,” and spin bikes. Nearly $48,000 was spent in 2019 on improvements noted as “two of four boilers.” In 2020, improvements, costing just under $53,000, included starting blocks, pool pump repair, pool valve covers, pool floor repairs, play structure repairs including painting, and UV system repairs. In 2021, improvements included a water softener, at a cost of approximately $9,900. In 2022, improvements, costing $18,275, were listed as “fitness center” and “RTU,” or rooftop air handling unit. 

Total improvements made over the seven-year period cost $395,613, according to slides shared by Boettcher.  

Under a heading of “Key Capital Improvements Remaining,” Boettcher listed: HVAC upgrades, including building-operating software, and air handling units in the pool and locker room areas. 

He noted that while two of the four boilers within the aquatic facility have been replaced, two others have not. All are currently functioning, he said, adding that replacement of the remaining two might be needed “five to 10 years out.” 

Boettcher said two boilers were required to handle facility operations. With all four boilers working, they were being used in a rotating cycle. 

Other pending improvements listed were: play structures, which, Boettcher said, would be replaced because replacement parts for the equipment were no longer available; lap and leisure pool floors; leisure pool deck; slide tower repairs; locker room upgrades; replacement of pool equipment in the lap and leisure pools, and whirlpool, and roofing replacement and “other exterior needs to be discussed with WUSD (Whitewater Unified School District).” 

Under a heading of “Financial Overview,” Boettcher said in 2000, the project was begun with a $2 million investment made by the city, a $200,000 investment along with land at the high school site contributed by the school district, and $3.5 million was used to fund the project brought forth by the nonprofit group “Setting Whitewater in Motion” or SWIM. 

Between 2002 and 2016, the city and the school district each contributed an annual fixed amount of $75,000 to the functions of the facility.  

Since that time, Boettcher said, contributions made by both entities have increased. 

Beginning in the summer of 2016, he said, payments from both entities increased to $128,000, with $78,000 spent on operational expenses and $50,000 earmarked to fund capital expenditures.

In 2021, Boettcher noted, with the city and the district being equally responsible for any shortfalls in revenue, the annual support increased by $50,000, for an annual total payment provided by each entity of $178,000. 

He noted that the city has continued to fund the operations of the facility, which, as of December, 2021, is showing a deficit of $413,429. 

Looking more closely at finances, Hatton, sharing a document, which, he said, had been prepared and circulated as an update to packeted information, and showed the performance of the aquatic facility between 2016 and 2022 at “a very high level.” 

Hatton noted that in 2022, the aquatic center showed revenues of $689,000, which was an increase over the previous year when the center showed revenues of $504,000. 

Before COVID, when the schools and the facility shut down, he said, in 2019, the facility showed revenues of $776,190. 

Hatton said in 2022 a breakdown between operating and capital expenses showed that the operating expenses approached a break-even point, coming in at  $682,000, with capital expenditures at $18,275, which produced a net revenue loss for the facility of $11,598. 

In 2021, he said, the two organizations, the school district and the city, “changed the level of contributions to try to get the facility to a self-sustainable point.” 

The city’s contribution was increased by $25,000 over a period of two years, for a total of $50,000, he said, adding, “so that we’re now $50,000 above the original commitment from the 2016 agreement.” 

Additionally, he said, “Through discussions with the school administration, and in preparing that ’21 agreement, the preferred course communicated by the district at that time and built into that agreement was a more laddered escalation of those school district contributions. 

“Beginning at this time, in 2021, we began to differentiate to show both the reflection of mismatched and timing of contributions, and amounts, as well as that encapsulates the 50/50 distribution of any shortfall in the operating deficit at that point in time.” 

Contributions “weren’t equally paced any longer” at that time, he said, adding that “at the close of 2021, … the acquired deficit since 2016 is $413,000. Once you add the 2022 deficit, we are talking $425,000 on a combined basis.” 

Looking at revenues and membership, Boettcher said that, following a return to operations after the COVID-19 shutdown, there has been a focus on rebuilding membership and revenues. 

He noted that from January 2022 to January 2023, the WAFC increased total membership revenue from $16,789.99 to  $24,719.00, day pass revenue from $5,887.07 to $8,963.69, and total active memberships from 1,488 to 2,176.

Aided by a pie chart showing membership in 2022, Boettcher said, of 1,810 members, a breakdown by point of origin is as follows: Whitewater, 1,139 members or 31.5%; “other,” 283 members or 7.8%; Fort Atkinson, 231 members or 6.4%; Milton, 72 members or 2.0%; Janesville, 56 members or 1.5%, and Elkhorn, 29 members or 0.8%. 

Following the presentations, Kachel asked: “The numbers from Fort Atkinson, is there a big business or … hospital there that you get a lot of memberships from?” 

Said Boettcher: “They don’t have a winter pool and I think we have quite a bit of faculty that go to the university.” 

Said Kienbaum: “Can I ask a question about operations? So I’ve heard some discrepancies and I just think this is a great forum to kind of clear them up. It’s my understanding — you made a comment that all four boilers work, but we were informed that that’s not the case. So I don’t know if between whoever’s in charge of maintenance on your end and who’s looked at it on our end, but can you clarify some of the discrepancies?” 

Said Boettcher: “I think someone brought up at another meeting at one time that we only had one working boiler. That is not true. We have — all four boilers are working. We have two that are newer, one that was replaced in ’18 and one that was replaced in 2019. So all four of those boilers work. As I said before, you need at least — when it’s really cold — you need at least two boilers to operate, and when I got here, that was one of our biggest concerns was making sure that we never had to shut down because we couldn’t keep the water. So we currently have two newer boilers, and so, since they rotate, even if one of those boilers or two of those boilers ever go out, we would still be able to operate because of the functioning boilers we do have.”  

The two older boilers work, he continued, adding: “so they are in that rotation, it’s just that they are older, and so their life expectancy, about 15 to 20 years, we are getting at the end of that life expectancy obviously, so if one of those were to go out, that gives us time to replace it, to order it and get it to come in, because, like everything now, it’s not like you can get it the next day; it’s three to six months. So this allows us that time.” 

Said Friend: “Boiler 3 was in need of repair, but has been repaired since the last time we walked through.” 

Said Boettcher: “Yeah, some of it’s been, like the computers talking to it sometimes we have to reset or readjust the sequence of how they were fired, things like that, but our maintenance staff has managed to take care of that.” 

Public Comments

Upon completion of the presentations, the floor was next opened for public comments.  

Whitewater resident Jeff Knight, who said he was speaking on behalf of himself and his wife, Sharon, noted that he had previously spoken about the pool before both the city council and the school board. Additionally, he talked with “a number of elected officials,” at which time, he said, “I keep hearing a lot about the financial position of the aquatic center and the kind of a hole they’re in. And I think it’s really important for us to note the timing … on the heels of a pretty significant pandemic. Both the city and the school district had some of the toughest closure practices in the area.” 

When he spoke before the two bodies, he said, he asked each about their use of COVID relief funds to offset the costs associated with the pool during those “difficult times.” 

“I believe the answer is no in both cases, but I’m pretty sure that’s the case. I’ll continue to follow up if I need to put that in writing,” he told the panel. 

Knight handed out information to panel members, which, he said, was provided by a company called Trane, and showed that of 100 school districts the company surveyed, 65% of them used COVID relief funds to make HVAC upgrades.   

“I would encourage both the city and the school district to sit down and work with the aquatic center to help secure any federal or state money that may be available. I would hate to see us miss that opportunity,” he said.

Knight said he and his wife were members of the aquatic center and they were impressed with the manner in which staff had worked to present a positive attitude and put the aquatic center “back on track,” following setbacks from COVID. 

“I think there needs to be some positive messages out in the community and thank these people for doing this under very difficult conditions,” he said.  

Knight continued: “Let’s remember that two governing bodies represent the people of the area, and my hope is that they can get beyond what looks like minor difficulties and hammer out an agreement on behalf of us out here. For the life of me, I can’t understand how anybody could consider it good management to allow a contract to lapse for over two years.” 

Addressing the panel, he said: “So everyone that’s sitting there that’s been there for that period of time, I’m serious, I think this is a serious breach on our behalf and I’d like you all to get back to fixing it.” 

Knight provided the panel with information he handed out developed, he said, by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) offering statistics about drowning deaths among children, noting that among certain age groups, the CDC finds drowning to be the second leading cause of unintentional injury and death behind incidents involving motor vehicles. 

“Let’s realize what an important community asset this facility is and calm the tension and stress of staff and members created by rumors and lack of a binding agreement. Please, just get this done and keep the facility open in its current configuration,” Knight concluded. 

Whitewater business owner Geoff Hale described the facility as “a community asset we just can’t afford to lose.” 

He added: “We are getting people to come from outside Whitewater to Whitewater, and that’s one of the main reasons to have such a facility. This is not the Titanic, it’s not a sinking ship. It’s more like the Enterprise that got hit by a kamikaze, and it went on to live for a long, long time after that.”

Hale said that he saw potential in attracting members to the aquatic facility from Fort Atkinson, noting that the neighboring community has an outdoor aquatic facility, but not one that’s indoors.  

“You might concentrate on that. As reported when they got that summer park there, they don’t have a winter park, so in the wintertime it would be an ideal place for more and more people to come from Fort.” 

Addressing issues of finance, he said: “Less the COVID tragedy, you know, we are on the right track, and the trend is going in the right way. And if we ever lost something like this, I think it would be a huge violation of the public trust for what has been invested in this over time in Whitewater and the community.”  

Area resident Guy Ledwell said he works for a company that supplies “most everything in that building,” adding that he works with commercial pool customers across the country. 

He said he speaks with boards, including those representing colleges, across the country and they are working to build pools like the one in Whitewater. 

“We already have one. It’s been managed poorly,” he said. 

 “I’ll just say things that I’ve noticed going on over time,” he said, noting that in his experience, “there are people who are thriving with facilities like this.” 

He described other facilities as having ice cream cases that have product.  

Describing other similar facilities, he said: “They are never out of soda; these things bring in revenue.” 

He said he thought the facility was “built right to begin with,” but over time, he said, “I just watch it take these big notches down.”

He suggested that the panel work to develop better marketing and budgeting. 

Additionally, he said, he believed the aquatic facility could be outfitted in the future with updated and more energy-efficient equipment. 

“There is a lot of newer technology than this that everybody relies on, and before you invest in any more boilers, I would minimally look into that. Obviously you don’t want to replace anything that is correctly working now, but there’s low pressure UV which uses far less energy,” he said. 

He added: “I think there are people you can reach out to to really get some better knowledge about how to go about this. I’d be happy to help. I think this thing is a jewel of the city; I hope we figure out how to do it.”  

Whitewater resident Jim Winship said he served as a city council member between 2012 and 2014, and was on the council when the current UV system was installed. 

“It made such an incredible difference,” he said, noting that, for him, as a swimmer, it made the experience more enjoyable and, as a council member, he appreciated that it saved the city money. 

Winship said he hoped any ideas about discontinuing the aquatic center were “truly off the table.” 

He talked about goals set by the city to attract families into the community. 

“Every community talks about how wonderful their schools are, and we have wonderful schools, how wonderful the parks and recreation department is, and we’ve got one of those, and what Whitewater has right now are two jewels that other communities don’t. One is proximity to the university … and the second is the aquatic center,” he said. 

He said that for him, when he talks with other swimmers about the aquatic center, “you know, you feel proud.” 

He said he believed a proposed renovation of the city’s library could serve one day as a third jewel of the city and would also attract young families to Whitewater.  

Whitewater resident Karen Kachel said she has been a member of the aquatic center since its opening in 2001. She joined the fitness center when it opened in 2004, she added. 

She said she came to the subcommittee meeting after her workout at the center and noted that 210 people had used the center just that day. 

“And they were not all residents of Whitewater. So I’m going to guess that they probably ate lunch here, they probably dropped some money in the city of Whitewater, they probably maybe filled up their gas tank,” Karen Kachel said. 

Additionally, she said, she noticed swimming lessons taking place, and about 30 people in the fitness center using various pieces of exercise equipment.  

“In my opinion, I think the city has failed pretty poorly in marketing this place. As others have mentioned, it is a jewel of this city, a jewel of this county, and there has not been nearly enough done to reach out to get members from Fort Atkinson, Lake Geneva, from really, from all over the county, and Janesville,” she said.  

She added: “I think the school district is probably getting a pretty good deal on this facility. They’re getting use of a six-lane pool for all these years, for lessons. They (students) also come into the fitness center and there are classes that they can take. I just saw a sign up for the high school using the fitness center as well for the month of March and April. I don’t know why WAC hasn’t returned to having birthday parties. That is a real cash cow, and that’s not happened again since COVID. There’s real money in that. I feel they could do a better job at having food in concessions — a lot of markup on that. People come, they’re hungry, they want to eat. When I look behind the counter, it’s not a real good selection and they run out a lot … I feel that the school district did a real disfavor to WAC when they pulled the plug on allowing the high school kids to come over at lunch. That was a huge money-maker.” 

Karen Kachel said that the city has spent money over the years on a band shell and business park.  

“It seems to me that the health and welfare of our citizens and our children in this community as well as surrounding communities and counties, that should really be a priority,” she said. 

Christy Linse, who identified herself as a candidate running for school board, said she was speaking as a community member and a mother, “to express the importance of the aquatic center, the fitness center and the lap pools. Jeff (Knight) touched on it a little bit, but this provides life-saving services. One cannot put a value on teaching kids how to swim. This facility provides that.”  

Further, she said the facility provides kids with things to do during long winters. 

“It also provides the middle and aging population with healthy activities to do, social opportunities to do, all of these are vital for a healthy community. I have two nieces that graduated from the school district … (they) spent a lot of time in those pools, and I’ve heard nothing but fantastic things about the swim program. And I feel like the city and the school district need to come up with a good plan, a fair plan, that’s going to keep the facility open. Just some of the feedback I’ve heard from other families is if they (school district) can find $1.8 million for athletic fields, they can find it for pools, and I agree,” she said.  

Area resident and former school board member Henri Kinson said that unlike most of the people in the room, he was “around” when the facility was built. 

Said Kinson: “I remember the cast of characters who came up before the school board begging for money, telling us that the pool would not go over budget … The Whitewater in-crowd got the school board, who always wanted to be part of the cocktail circuit and was also constantly whining about not having enough money, to cut its instruction budget by $60,000 a year to fund it. To do that they canned the reading specialist at Lakeview. … I voted against it at the time and was blamed for all future drownings in Whitewater as a result.  

“My, my, how things have not changed. But some things have changed. The reading scores at Lakeview have. They’ve dropped like a rock, but the payments to the pool have not. We just saw tonight, they’ve tippled to $180,000 a year, meaning now we cut three teachers per year to fund the pool. And for what?” 

Kinson claimed about 20 kids used the pool during after-school swimming programs.  

Meanwhile, he said: “70% of Whitewater’s students are not proficient at math. The district has other things to worry about. It would be interesting to hear from the school board candidates, including the board president, who has voted for well over a million dollars in pool substitutes during his tenure, how they feel about that. Maybe they’ll ask that at the next candidate forum instead of asking what newspapers the candidates read.” 

Kinson said funding the pool was not a part of the school district’s mission.  

“Don’t get me wrong, I think the pool is great, I used it for years, until they tapped me on the shoulder when I was working out at 55 and told me to put my mask on. I left for good,” he said. 

Kinson said the value of the pool to members of the community was not the issue, but rather the issue was one of who should pay for it.  

“I would think the city, with its hijinks at the library, appears to have extra money — has money to spare. But even if it doesn’t, it’s the city’s and possibly the townships’ problem, not the district’s. The district just won a referendum that didn’t raise property tax rates by a whole 6%. I can assure you, anything to do with raising property taxes for this would go down in absolute flames … It’s time for the district to reassess its priorities, and it should start with the pool,” Kinson said.  

Whitewater resident Chuck Mills said: “First of all, I don’t care about the money, what it costs to keep this thing running. There’s over 2,000 individuals using this pool at this point. It’s one of the most used pieces of property we have in this town, whether, I don’t care who’s running it, the school or the city.” 

Speaking about personal need, Mills said he has emphysema and diabetes, and the equipment at the aquatic center is essential in maintaining his health. 

“So this pool keeps me alive. Without this pool, I don’t survive, because I can’t bike all winter and fall. I can’t put a price on that,” he said, adding that he believed other community members in their 60s, 70s, and 80s, whom, he said, also are taxpayers, make use of the facility to enjoy similar health benefits. 

Additionally, he said: “There are more than 20 kids using this pool. Kids have to learn to swim or you’re going to read about their obituaries in the paper when they fall off the end of that pier or they are out there partying at 16 years old and never got the chance to learn to swim. I don’t care if they just spend one semester in this pool. It will teach them for life how to survive.”  

Mills said the discussion was not just about money. 

“We find more money to waste in this town on things that we don’t use, and people don’t care about, and this is the most used piece of equipment we have. I don’t know what the game plan is, but you’ve got to figure a way because I’m never going to shut up. You close this pool, it will be the biggest stink this town ever saw,” he said.  

He cited issues revolving around management and equipment maintenance which, he said, he had previously brought to the council’s attention. 

He noted that about three months ago, many of the issues were addressed. He commended the panel for making the adjustments. 

Whitewater resident Elizabeth Smith described herself as “new to the community.” 

“I think the pool is amazing. I think health is something that we need to put our time and investment in. This morning when I was swimming I ran into a woman who was from Janesville. I think your point about marketing is huge. I don’t know the finances obviously, but I think health has to be our priority and I think a lot of people do use it, and I find it a fabulous jewel,” she said.  

Board discussion

Following public comments the panel talked about setting a time for its next meeting. Two dates, April 11 and May 11, were selected, with a meeting time for both dates set at 6 to 8 p.m. 

Pate-Hefty asked the panel to keep in mind moving forward the differences in each entity’s budget cycle. 

Weidl asked if panel members had questions revolving around materials found in their packets. 

None were offered. 

Larry Kachel said he wanted to point out from a historical perspective that the document created in 2001 included an “inflation rider” for both the city and the school district, which was meant to increase the amount of their annual payments, which he noted at $75,000 each, by the rate of inflation. Using inflation rates from 2001 to 2016, he said, would the city and school district have increased their payments accordingly, by his calculation, there would have been an additional $412,000 which could have been applied to operational costs of the facility. 

Pate-Hefty asked about inspections made to the center’s slide. 

Boettcher said he would provide the district with information, noting that annually, the slide must be inspected by an engineer as part of the licensing process that allows the facility to operate its slide. The slide was last inspected in January, he said. 

Referencing a sticker on the slide from 2003, Boettcher said the process that placed the sticker was no longer used. 

Panel members agreed that the sticker should be removed. 

Said Larry Kachel: “We need to find a way to make this work. It is too important to the community.” 

Dawsey Smith said she agreed. 

The meeting was adjourned.