Plymouth City Council adjusts Aquatic Center lease payment schedule

The Plymouth City Council voted unanimously Monday evening to modify the sublease agreement with Marshall County Health and Wellness, the nonprofit landlord of the Plymouth Aquatic Center.

The original lease, signed in July 2018, requires the city to pay $144,000 annually as one of the Aquatic Center's tenants. Payments were previously split into two installments, paid in June and December. To provide the facility with steadier income, the request was made to change the payment schedule to March and September. The school corporation will continue making its payments in June and December.

Councilman Randy Longanecker asked Clerk-Treasurer Lynn Gorski about the impact of changing the payment dates. Gorski explained that the city receives its tax draws in June and December, and the funds are currently available in the city's reserves. Moving the payment dates earlier will require pulling funds from reserves until the tax draws come in.

"Potentially, department heads may have to hold off on their purchases of vehicles and whatnot that have been approved in the budget because I may need to pull from reserves to make this payment instead of allowing them to make their vehicle purchases," Gorski said.

City Attorney Jeff Houin noted that the city started the year with nearly $10 million in General Fund reserves, approximately the amount of the entire year's General Fund budget.

Mayor Robert Listenberger commented that the change should not slow down any department head's requests.

However, Gorski cautioned, "With the continued spending of the city, yes, this change could impact larger purchases." She added that this is the first year in eight years that the council didn't put any money in the Rainy Day Fund, suggesting the city should slow spending and be more cautious.

The mayor clarified that Rainy Day Funds were not part of the evening's discussion, emphasizing he only wanted to know if changing the lease payment dates would delay purchase requests from city departments.

Gorski responded, "Probably not."

The lease amendment only changes the payment dates from June 1st to March 1st and December 1st to September 1st. The city is still only paying a total of $144,000 annually, which is budgeted each year; only the timing of payments has changed.

"This group has worked hard in turning this Aquatic Center around, and they are asking for a little help to spread the payments out to four times a year instead of two times. I don't see the difficulty in it at all," Mayor Listenberger said.

Councilwoman Shiloh Milner made the motion to approve the modification, and Councilman Dave Morrow seconded it.

Before the vote, Councilman Don Ecker noted this isn't the first time the city has accommodated payment adjustments for the Aquatic Center to keep it operational. "My expectation is this will be the last time that we see a request to make adjustments on the semi-annual payments," he said. "I do agree that we can float this and make it work."  Ecker said he would support the request, though with some reluctance.

The City Council approved the modification to the lease payment dates by a 7-0 vote.