Doom and gloom for SOLO?
Doesn't SOLO have access to the pool at Menlo-Atherton during the summer? Is their goal to become as big as some of the other multi-pool teams? Granted during the school year there is limited access to the M-A pool during the afternoons, but I'm sure the Sequoia Union High School district would love to have SOLO paying $20,000 a month during the summer.

Note: the Almanac should share some of the numbers for what it costs to run the pool: heating costs, insurance, maintenance, personnel, etc. Tossing around huge numbers is a lot of fun, but regardless of how much better the new pool is at Burgess it still costs a LOT of money to run, and that is all savings to the tax payer while their investment is being maintained. Access is the issue. The cost to the swimmers and SOLO is simply what the public has passed on instead of making this a pool that is paid for by the public at large.

So, if staff didn't think SOLO could come through with the promised rent to the city, did they consider seeking something in escrow to protect the city, did they consider a lower rent that's somewhere between the $20,000 offered by SOLO and the $3,000 offered by Sheeper, and did they consider running the numbers past the Financial advisory committee (or whatever it's called)?
Frankly the process stinks - staff is jumping to conclusions and even negotiating details without input from the P&R commission or Council.
It is absurd that the excuse is that things have to happen now or something dire will occur. This is the lame excuse staff used last time. The current contract could not be extended month by month or even past the summer until things are sorted out.

I meant to say at the end that the current contract COULD be extended month by month, or even past the summer until things are sorted out. It makes no sense to rush a long-term contract like this.

Why is this in Around the Town rather than in Menlo Park category?

due diligence: the first poster put this topic in the Around Town category. I just changed it to Menlo Park.

The staff needs to release the proposals they recieved to the public. If someone is willing to pay $20,000 per mo rent vs. $3,000, that is over $200,000 a year that could return to the city for other uses--over 10 years we are talking more than $2,000,000.

The pool was built on public land, with public funds. It does not belong to any swim club or swim team owner. If the SOLO organization can run the pool and pay the that much more money, who in their right mind would say no? Does the Belle Haven pool cost that much to run in the summer, is that what the Sheeper group is offering to put 200K a year into? If so, maybe it would be reasonable, but I don't think the Belle Haven pool is that expensive. The public needs to see the proposals.

The behavior of staff, without direction from the Council, frankly smells. Even if there is no foul play, I am concerned that the city is not following the process it spelled out, appears to be short-changing the taxpayers, and appears to be favoring one bidder over another without oversight from either the Council or the public. This is inappropriate.
Cutting off one bidder entirely on the basis of a bid that is much higher than the other bidder also does not make sense.

Would people please, please read the Menlo Park staff report? It is amazing what hysteria is flying around out there. It also smells of a disinformation campaign by SOLO members trying to stir up support for their unfair demands.

Read the report! Web Link

SOLO is the one asking that any competitive team offered by Menlo Swim & Sport be removed. Boy, talk about willingness to share the pool!

SOLO gets a deal of $6/lane hour and they're complaining?? If you add up all the costs for pool access SOLO pays, it's less than 10% of their revenue. Do they somehow think it should be free? Unbelievable! I've got 3 kids all swimming on Mavericks--and guess what, I'm an MP resident and I'm happy to pay for our use of the pool! Amazing how some people want everyone else to pay for their kids' benefits.

And Menlo Swim & Sport are NOT getting the pools for 3k / month. They pay ALL the costs for the pool. The MP staff reviewed ALL of the Menlo Swim financials and came to the opinion that their budget could support 3K / mo and had only reasonable return to the operator. And when you have a reasonable rent proposed to the city, by an operator that's run a PROVEN excellent program, you don't just ditch them for the next provider that comes along with an unproven budget and no staff in place! Why on earth would you even think of doing that?! Thank goodness the city staff has more sense than some of the posters here!

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