By Dave Fidlin
Correspondent
An existing agreement will not sunset for another 14 months, but three Whitewater governing organizations are looking to the future of the Aquatic Center.
As it currently stands the Whitewater Aquatic Center (WAC) is overseen by the City of Whitewater, the Whitewater Unified School District and an independent nonprofit WAC Board.
The city and school district each chip in $78,000 toward the WAC annually to help fund the municipal amenity’s operations plan.
“The facility is aging,” City Manager Cameron Clapper said as he discussed the future of the WAC with the Common Council on Oct. 6. “It’s been maintained and well cared for, but there’s a need to replace equipment.”
The three-party agreement in its current state runs through Dec. 31, 2016, and Clapper said there could be an overhaul in the structure of decision-making in 2017 onward.
Speaking conceptually, Clapper outlined a possible scenario that could fold oversight of the WAC into the city’s parks and recreation department. Under this possibility, the WAC manager could report directly to the parks and recreation manager.
The existing WAC board could still exist, Clapper said, though its role and function could be tweaked. It could work in tandem with the existing parks and recreation board.
“The details of how anything would work are far from being developed,” Clapper said.
Clapper emphasized repeatedly no firm decisions have been made, and multiple steps will be taken before a new agreement is hammered out. An important step in the process, Clapper said, will include at least one public information meeting to gather residents’ feedback.
