Council terminates previous contract for community center use by school

The contract for the use of the Basin community center by the school was discussed at length at the June 16 meeting of the Basin Town Council. 

At the end the council voted to terminate the previous agreement. 

Mayor C.J. Duncan said the town signed an agreement with the school district in 2022, allowing the school to have use of the community complex before the town offices moved to that location and the rec district became more of a year-round operation. At the time, the rec district was not part of the contract.  

Now the town has an agreement with the rec district to utilize the gym and the pool. It was intended that the rec district have control over the facility, including scheduling and day-to-day use. 

The school wanted to use it for prom this year. The school wanted to start decorating days before the prom and clean up wouldn’t be until the following week. The rec district had events scheduled so the school schedule was not going to work. 

Duncan continued that the town requested the school enter into an agreement with the rec district solely. The school district said no, as it wanted the town involved since the town owns the property. 

The school district representatives on the rec district board have stated they don’t want to sign a new agreement. They want to continue under the old agreement. The old agreement stated that the terms could be terminated upon mutual agreement of both parties. 

“I think the town needs to figure out how to terminate that one and force the school district to either sign the new one or start paying their daily use fees,” said Duncan. (The old contract stated that the school would donate $10,000 a year to the rec district if there was money available at the end of the budget year.) 

Town attorney Kent Richins said there is case law that would support the town terminating the old agreement even without mutual agreement by both parties. 

Councilmember Brent Godfrey said, “My opinion is the school don’t want to play. Let them take their ball and go home.” 

Councilperson Chuck Hopkin said that at the rec district meeting, the board stated the new agreement was just like the old one so why did the school have to sign a new one? 

Richins pointed out that the agreements are not the same. The new one involves three parties, not two. Duncan added that in the old agreement, the school is not required to pay a daily use fee. “There was a gentleman’s agreement that they would donate ($10,000 at end of school budget year), but it was never addressed in the old agreement. It is in the new one. I feel like the only way to move forward is to terminate the old one. Then they can decide if they want to sign the new one or just become a regular, day-to-day, paying customer.” 

Councilman Mike Dellos asked if the concern by the school was the $10,000 donation.  Duncan said the school didn’t want to be held to a specific amount and was concerned that it might not have $10,000 to donate at the end of the fiscal year. 

Duncan said it is a viable concern. At the same time the school could use the facility all year and then say they have no money. He believes the donation should be done at the beginning of the year. This will hold open all the activities and time slots they want to schedule. The school’s events would be the priority. “You don’t go buy a car and never make a payment for a year. Why would the rec district be any different? Provide all these services and maybe or maybe not get paid at the end of the year. “ 

Councilperson Linda Weeks agreed and said there is no commitment from the school. Duncan said he doesn’t think it is right that the town pays for all the utilities, so the school district gets priority use. “We are using funds, tax dollars, funds from anyone who pays their bills, to support the rec district, which is something that can benefit the whole town and it is a good thing. But I don’t think it is right that the town continue to do that if one entity gets preferential treatment based on maybe a donation or not. “ 

Godfrey made the motion to terminate the old contract. It was seconded by Weeks. Duncan asked for discussion. 

Hopkin stated, “I want you guys to keep in mind that we have that facility for the kids and the public. I understand it needs to pay for itself. But I also want you to understand that by terminating that lease you could lose that $10,000 whether they had it or not. They said they would give it if they had it. Keep in mind that we do get $10,000 out of that.” 

Weeks replied “Maybe. I’m on the rec board. That is the frustration. It is hard to budget. We are already tight, then they don’t make a commitment. It is very one sided.” 

Hopkin said he wants the council to keep in mind the community center is for the whole public, not just the kids. Godfrey stated, “The whole public is how we pay for it and the school land.” 

Duncan added that the school district has never not made the donation, but the suggestion it might not worries him. “They wait until the end of the fiscal year to make the donation. That is the issue I have. They get to use it for the year and then decide if they are going to pay for it.” He believes they should have to schedule and pay for every single event they want at the center. 

Dellos asked if the school feels like they are being hammered harder that other users? “I know they are going to be the main user of that. They put in a lot of money when this all came together (when the old school and gym was turned over to the town.) I wonder if the school feels like you keep hitting us and hitting us. I don’t know. I’m just asking” 

Duncan said it was a good question and has merit. “There has been some discussion that the school felt like they paid to get the fire suppression throughout the facility. They paid to build some walls. On that same token, we were promised that the heating system would be viable, and it hasn’t been. We’ve spent a couple of hundreds of thousands of dollars to redo the heating system in the whole building. 

“We had a ton of maintenance on the gym. They had said that the gym floor would be in good repair, and it was neglected for 3-4 years as they were transitioning from the old building to the new building through covid. There were things that were promised that never came to fruition. I feel like we are fairly even on that score.” 

Hopkin replied that he is chairman of the rec board and asked the council to keep in mind that “the building was put together by the school, all on the original bid from the state.” 

Godfrey noted that the town gave the school a good deal on the land for the new school. 

Duncan added that when he was on the rec board, he figured out what the school would have had to pay for their usage of the building. It came to about $11,000. It would save the school a little bit of money if they scheduled out all their events and gave the $10,000 donation. 

 The motion carried. The agreement will end Sept. 1, 2025.