The Barrington Town Council voted unanimously to give $106,375 in ARPA money to the Bayside YMCA for renovations to the outdoor pool. 

In one of its final votes, the previous Town Council decided to earmark most of the remaining unassigned American Rescue Plan Act funding to the local nonprofit. (At the Dec. 9 meeting, the new Council voted to allocate an additional $8,660 to the Bayside YCMA.)

Officials from the Bayside YMCA approached the Council earlier this fall and asked for financial assistance in repairing or renovating its outdoor pool.

Bayside YMCA Executive Director Ryan Queenan requested $300,000 for the outdoor pool, which has been in use for nearly 60 years. A $300,000 allocation would allow YMCA officials to make all essential repairs and also install a heating system that would extend the seasonal use of the pool. 

Council members opted to give the YMCA $106,375, which was most of the remaining unallocated funds. Barrington started out with approximately $4.7 million in ARPA funds about two years ago and officials have steadily spent or earmarked the money for a variety of projects and purchases. 

Bayside YMCA officials said they plan to raise additional money for the pool repairs. They also committed to offering discounted outdoor pool day passes to Barrington residents in exchange for the ARPA funding from the town. 

Barrington Town Manager Phil Hervey praised the cooperative effort between the town and the YMCA.

“It’s a good partnership. There are not a lot of outdoor pools that are open to the public and this is something that residents will be benefitting from for years to come,” Hervey said during an interview late last week. 

Council decision

During the Nov. 25 Council meeting, Hervey said the town was reaching the end of its ARPA money, although officials were still, at that time, waiting for bids on the Haines Park field renovation project. Officials had already earmarked $1 million in ARPA money for the Haines Park work, but prior Council President Carl Kustell referenced the $4.5 million recreation bond recently approved by voters. He said Council members could consider giving more ARPA money to the YMCA, less to Haines Park, and cover the difference with the bond money. 

Kustell also said the Council could opt to do nothing and allow the next Council to decide. 

Kustell later asked Queenan what the varying levels of funding would afford in pool repairs. Queenan offered a breakdown in funding levels: $100,000 to $200,000 would cover essential repairs to the pool, such as crack repairs, re-painting, and caulk joint replacement; $200,000 to $300,000 would allow YMCA officials to replace coping and waterline tiles as well as replaster the pool; $300,000 and above would result in a series of upgrades including a heating system and swim lane tiles.

Queenan also said a top-level allocation would open the door to “Free Fun Fridays” at the YMCA, where Barrington residents could use the outdoor pool for free on the last Friday of each month.

Council member Kate Berard asked if there was an outdoor pool day pass currently available to the public. Queenan said there was — he said the family pass is $25 and the individual pass is $15. The discounted rate would be $20 for families and $10 for individuals. He also shared the current schedule for pool-use, which includes dedicated use for the YMCA summer camps between 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. weekdays when the camp is in session. 

Fill it in?

Barrington resident Tom Rimoshytus spoke out against the donation to the YMCA. He said the bids for the Haines Park field renovations would likely exceed the $1 million earmark. Rimoshytus also spoke about the current YMCA membership — he said fewer people are going to the Y these days. At an earlier meeting, Queenan acknowledged that the YMCA was still recovering from the pandemic, and Councilor Annelise Conway said non-profits that rely on memberships were hit particularly hard. 

Jeff Barton, chairman of the Bayside YMCA board, spoke at the Nov. 25 Council meeting. Barton said the future of the outdoor pool rested on the ARPA allocation — without any funding, YMCA officials would likely close the outdoor pool for good and fill it in, he said. 

That would be a disaster for Barrington, Barton added. 

He also said there are no other outdoor pools open to the public in the East Bay. 

“You have Kendbrin, which is private. You have the yacht club, which is private. You have the country club, which is private. There’s nothing for the residents of Barrington,” Barton said. 

All five Council members voiced support for allocating some level of ARPA funding to the Bayside YMCA. Rob Humm said he did not want to take any ARPA funding away from the Haines Park earmark. Berard agreed with Humm, adding that it was premature to pull any funding away from Haines without knowing how much the bids for that work would be. Berard also asked for a reassurance from YMCA officials that they would proceed with the essential repairs even if they were not able to raise any additional money. Queenan said the YMCA would not fill in the pool; he appeared optimistic about additional fund-raising efforts.  

Conway supported fully-funding the YMCA’s request, citing the important role the non-profit plays as a partner with the town. 

“This is exactly what the ARPA funds were set up to do,” Conway said, adding that the federal money was intended for community resources that were suffering during the pandemic. 

Conway was also concerned about the Haines Park bid process, which had been delayed. She said the federal government could take back the ARPA money if the town did not spend it in time. 

Hervey reassured Council members that the Haines Park bid could be awarded within the necessary time frame. 

Councilor Braxton Cloutier said he did not want to alter the $1 million earmark for the Haines Park project. 

A short time later, Conway made a motion to allocate $106,375 in ARPA money to the Bayside YMCA. Kustell seconded the motion, which passed 5-0. 

It makes sense

In an interview last week, Hervey endorsed the Council’s decision. 

“It made a lot of sense that we had this other project, this unknown, that was hanging out there,” Hervey said, referring to Haines Park. “To overcommit additional money … to change the allocation that was for Haines Park… keeping it intact enables us to draw less from the bond, and that was important. This gets these critical repairs done with an agreement to these reduced pass fees for the community. It’s a good partnership with the Y. They seem to be still not quite recovered from Covid.”

Hervey also supported the discounted day passes offered in return for the ARPA funding. 

“You have to be reasonable about it. It’s not like we’re giving them a million bucks,” he said. “But also, they still have to staff, maintain the pool. It’s a lot of costs. To get a discounted access, seems a good… to me, I think it’s a good outcome for the town. If they had free access, would they even accept the money, because that’s asking too much. 

“I thought a discounted day pass to me made sense. It gets residents the discounted opportunity while being realistic with impact on the YMCA.”

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