April 12, 2024 |
Photo – Empty swimming pool at Hanna Recreation Center – by Matt Copeland Bigfoot99
Hanna Mayor Jon Ostling talked with reporters this week about his and previous administrations efforts to save the town’s recreation center from closing.
As reported by Bigfoot99, the Hanna Recreation Center costs the small town nearly $300,000 a year to operate. Most of the money goes toward heat and electricity for the large facility. During the winter of 2023, Mayor Ostling said the town received a gas bill of approximately $12,000 for a single month.
Originally built by the coal mining companies in 1982, during the peak of coal production, the rec center was gifted to the town in the 90’s. The mines set aside an undisclosed amount of money in a trust to help cover the cost of the facility, but past administrations emptied the account decades ago.
During a tour of the facility, Mayor Ostling said the town has received less and less money from the state over the years. The mayor said the 2020 census also significantly reduced the amount of tax dollars the town receives.
The accuracy of the 2020 census, which was performed during the height of the COVID-19 scare, has been called into question. Mayor Ostling said the town would have had to pay $25,000 to have another census done.
Hanna was founded to house the miners who provided coal for the Union Pacific Railroad and their families. Mayor Ostling said the town was built with 4,000 people in mind. With less than 20% of that population today, the mayor said the town is having trouble maintaining the infrastructure created to support the larger number of people.
Mayor Ostling said he would try to reduce the cost of running the town’s recreation center when took office last January. The town considered moving the Hanna branch of the Carbon County Library and the town hall into the rec center. While doing so would increase foot traffic into the building, the mayor said it wouldn’t lower the cost of running the facility.
In its upcoming budget, the town set aside around $225,000 for the rec center. Mayor Ostling said closing the pool has already saved the town roughly $75,000 in chemical costs and lifeguard salaries.
Last summer, a pump failure at the rec center forced the town to close the heated indoor pool. After receiving the repaired pump, the town discovered that the electrical box that powers the pump motor needs to be replaced, costing $21,000. Add that to the additional cost associated with refilling the pool and the town is looking at spending roughly $50,000 to offer swimming again. The mayor said having the pool closed lowered the facility’s utility bills by 60%.
Mayor Ostling said the rec center only brings in approximately 5% of its operating costs through membership fees. The mayor said the building pulls significant financial resources away from other areas of town.
Last June, the town council held a public forum to ask residents for ways to save the ailing rec center. One of the suggestions that came from the meeting was to ask state representatives for assistance. Mayor Ostling said he contacted Representatives Bob Davis and Larry Hicks about state funding to help offset the cost of running the facility. The mayor said Hanna isn’t the only town suffering from an expensive-to-run recreation center. The state does not have money set aside to pay to keep these types of facilities open, said Mayor Ostling.
With state assistance off the table, Mayor Ostling said he investigated the possibility of either selling or leasing the rec center to an outside entity. The mayor said no one was interested in taking control of the facility.
Solar panels were another avenue the mayor looked at to reduce the cost of running the rec center. Rocky Mountain Power had bad news for Hanna when officials began exploring the idea.
RMP, which received local authorization to build wind turbines across Carbon County to deliver power to the Pacific Northwest, said it would limit wind production to Hanna’s Recreation to 25 kilowatts of energy. The mayor said that amount of electricity RMP would allow is barely enough to power the lights in the facility.
Mayor Ostling said a resident suggested burning the left-over coal in the mines beneath the town to power the rec center. The mayor said Representative Hicks told him that a previous attempt in Sweetwater County was unsuccessful.
Mayor Ostling said he and Recreation Director Kim Connelly tried to turn the rec center into a non-profit entity. Making the facility a non-profit would open the door to additional grant opportunities. However, the mayor said the rec center must bring in 30% of its operational costs to be eligible for non-profit status. Since the recreation center only makes back 5% of its costs, Mayor Ostling said they abandoned the idea.
Wyoming Public Radio’s Will Walkey, who was at the presentation, asked Mayor Ostling why he continues to fight to save the town’s recreation center. The mayor said he is holding out for a miracle.
The Hanna town council was set to decide the fate of the rec center during Tuesday night’s meeting. However, the council voted to postpone a decision on funding the rec center until a later date.
