Wasilla council OKs Menard center review

WASILLA — The city will contract an independent operational management review of the Curtis D. Menard Memorial Sports Center after city council approved appropriating up to $50,000 for the effort Monday.

Since the center’s first full year of operation in 2005, the complex has been subsidized by the city, operating at a financial deficit. That difference between revenues generated and costs to operate has grown from a little more than $212,000 in 2005 to more than $500,000 in 2012 and 2013.

Monday’s approval of the money for an independent review of the complex follows up a request Deputy Mayor Colleen Sullivan-Leonard made this past spring, she said.

The move also follows months of wrangling between council members and city administration over questions the council has raised about how the sports complex is managed. It also comes on the heals of an organizational shake-up that saw former Recreation and Cultural Services manager John Combs resign after his Oct. 9 DUI arrest.

Combs, whose position included overseeing operations at the Menard, was observed consuming alcohol while on duty during an event at the center the evening of Oct. 8.

A Report Every Dangerous Driver Immediately call on Combs led to his arrest by Alaska State Troopers. He was also charged with possession of a controlled substance, a misdemeanor, for having a single Xanax pill without a prescription.

Wasilla resident Anne Kilkenny said she’s also concerned about the sports center, and urged the council Monday to approve the review.

“I’ve observed how hard you guys have worked to try to get a handle on the costs at the sport complex and to try to get a plan or to become aware of a plan — if a plan exists — of what’s going on there,” she said. “I share your frustration.”

She also said she isn’t naïve enough to believe the Menard will ever operate in the red.

“The sports complex has been a money loser from Day 1 and it will be, but does it need to lose as much money as it’s losing now? I hope not,” she said.

Having an independent eye audit the Menard center could be very helpful, Councilman Brandon Wall said, but only if it would be something city administration would use.

“What is the administration’s opinion of this proposal?” he asked. “Is this something the administration would find useful and would intend to use? We could go forward and do a bunch of work, have this study done and it could go in the admin’s wastebasket once it’s completed.”

Mayor Verne Rupright answered Wall’s question with a suggestion of his own — let the council, public and city staff get together and work out specifics of exactly what they want to accomplish with the review.

“Well, that would depend on who’s doing it, No. 1, what the description of the work would be, what the outline for that would be and how we need to come to that,” Rupright said. “Really, we have to have something structured: What are we looking for? What is it we want resolved? How do we want to do it?”

Former city councilwoman Dianne Woodruff, who was honored by the mayor and council earlier in the evening for her six years of service on the council, said the sports center has been a concern of hers “for some time. I’m glad to see some of the council members shared those concerns.”

She also agreed with Kilkenny that it would be futile to think the Menard could be turned into a money-making facility.

“I think we’re all pretty realistic in (believing) it’s never going to make money,” she said. “It’s never even going to break even. I think it might not hurt to ask how much the public is willing to sustain for that facility every year and what their vision for it is.”

Looking forward, the council has its annual goals and initiatives meeting set for Nov. 13. Outlining the specifics of a sports center review would be a perfect topic for that meeting, Rupright said.

Without objection, the council agreed to move forward with setting aside the money for a review and to hammer out specifics of what to ask bidding individuals or companies competing for that contract.

Contact Greg Johnson at 352-2269 or greg.johnson@frontiersman.com.