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ENLARGE
Shown are some of the members of a citizens group for a Fruita Community Recreation Center. Front, from left: Eve Tallman, Mary Needham, Yvonne Peterson. Second Row: Lois Becker, Emily. Back Row: Tom Dodd, Loren, Terry Moss, Karen Leonart, Mel Mulder.
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ENLARGE
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A few of the opponents of the proposed Fruita Community Recreation Center met at the Fruita Fitness Center Thursday. From left: Wayne Joslin, Mike Howitt, Joe Miller, Chris Wilkins and Trinidad Silva.
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Yvonne Peterson doesn’t normally do telephone surveys, but something about the call she received two weeks ago made her stop and listen.
She and other Fruita residents surveyed were asked three questions:
• Would they support a $40-million recreation center?
• Would they support taxpayers paying $400 a year to use the center?
• Would they support a tax increase?
For years, Peterson has served on the senior advisory task force that is working with the city in planning for a community recreation center in Fruita.
Peterson said the survey questions were misleading. And she didn’t like the fact that she didn’t know who she was talking to.
The calls were traced to a Washington, D.C., call center.
“They didn’t say who they were. If you really believe in something you should at least say who you are,” Peterson said. “I just think it’s kind of sad in a small town we have to have this kind of politics. If you don’t want to vote for it you don’t have to.”
She’s referring to Issue A, which will be on Fruita’s municipal election ballot April 1.
Voters will have an opportunity to vote whether to approve a 1-cent sales-and-use tax to pay for the construction of a new community recreation center in Fruita.
Ballots will be mailed out next week and are due back April 1.
Proponents of the community recreation center say the telephone survey questions were misleading because the price tag for the proposed recreation center is $12 million, not $40 million. The ballot language states the bond can be as high as $15 million. If the repayment takes the full 30 years to repay, the full cost would come to $36 million.
When you purchase a car or a house, you don’t buy those things at the repayment price, said Terry Moss, cochairman for Citizens for a Fruita Community Recreation Center.
It’s like saying you bought a house for $600,000 after 30 years of repayment, when it was actually purchased for $200,000, he said.
The survey was conducted by a political survey company and paid for by a group called the Lower Valley Seniors to gauge how voters felt about the issue, said Joe Miller, owner of the Fruita Fitness Center.
Miller and the Lower Valley Seniors oppose a new recreation center as proposed by the city. Members of the Lower Valley Seniors group say they are planning to build their own senior center.
Miller, who lives in Grand Junction, sees a tax-supported recreation center as unfair competition with his business.
“I’m not against a recreation center, I just think it should only provide services needed. When the private sector is providing services, I don’t think the government should step in and compete,” Miller said.
Miller’s fitness center provides cardio equipment, free weights, circuit training, child care, group aerobics, yoga and Pilates classes.
The proposed community recreation center would provide a fitness area, as well as a senior center, an indoor pool, a gymnasium, an indoor running track and group exercise areas. The existing, nearby outdoor pool would be refurbished if the recreation center is built, and the city is collaborating with Mesa County Public Libraries to build a new Fruita branch library that would adjoin the recreation center.
The center would be located between Coulson and Cherry streets, just south of Family Health West.
Opponents who gathered at the Fruita Fitness Center Thursday said it wasn’t the recreation center they’re opposed to so much as the way it would be funded.
“I’m opposed to a 1-cent sales tax. There are things we need (worse) than a recreation center as far as tax increases go. It should go to streets, salary increases for city employees, sidewalks, water and sewer lines,” said Wayne Joslin of Fruita.
If approved by voters, Fruita’s sales-and-use tax will increase from 2 cents to 3 cents.
Opponents call it a 33-percent tax increase.
That 33-percent increase translates to 4 cents in tax on every $16 purchase.
The 1-cent sales-and-use tax would not be applied toward groceries or prescription medications.
The 3-cent sales-and-use tax in Fruita would be slightly higher than the 2.75-cent sales-and-use tax in neighboring Grand Junction.
Visitors spending money in Fruita would be contributing to the sales-and-use tax revenue.
Once the debt is paid, the 1-cent tax would go away.
Typical of recreation centers and swimming pools in other areas, the Fruita Community Recreation Center would operate at a deficit.
Fruita Recreation Director Ture Nycum said in a “worst case scenario” the recreation center would lose about $300,000 a year.
The sales-and-use tax would generate about $1 million dollars a year and is designed to cover the operation deficit and the mortgage.
User fees would also help cover operating expenses.
Proposed rates and fees for daily admissions are $6 for adults, $4 for youth and $3 for children. Annual memberships are proposed at $360 for adults, $240 for youth, $180 for children and $645 for family.
Fruita resident Midge Zimmerman is opposed to user fees. “It’s double-dipping as far I’m concerned,” she said.
Miller said he thinks the proposed community recreation center would be understaffed and worries about potential drug dealing and gang activity.
“Any time you provide a place for youth to gather, unfortunately it’ll draw individuals who want to corrupt them. So potentially it could be dangerous if not supervised properly,” Miller said.
Nycum was surprised the opposition would make that argument.
“That’s the opposite of what our intention is with a community center,” Nycum said.
Nycum and City Manager Clint Kinney said there would always be staff on duty.
Moss said a community recreation center would be a place for all ages to intermingle.
“It’s for the community. It’s for the young, the old. A place young people can go with their parents,” Moss said. “What a gem it would be to have it in our community. It’s a 1-cent sales tax. One penny on the dollar.”
Reach Sharon Sullivan at ssullivan@gjfreepress.com.
She and other Fruita residents surveyed were asked three questions:
• Would they support a $40-million recreation center?
• Would they support taxpayers paying $400 a year to use the center?
• Would they support a tax increase?
For years, Peterson has served on the senior advisory task force that is working with the city in planning for a community recreation center in Fruita.
Peterson said the survey questions were misleading. And she didn’t like the fact that she didn’t know who she was talking to.
The calls were traced to a Washington, D.C., call center.
“They didn’t say who they were. If you really believe in something you should at least say who you are,” Peterson said. “I just think it’s kind of sad in a small town we have to have this kind of politics. If you don’t want to vote for it you don’t have to.”
She’s referring to Issue A, which will be on Fruita’s municipal election ballot April 1.
Voters will have an opportunity to vote whether to approve a 1-cent sales-and-use tax to pay for the construction of a new community recreation center in Fruita.
Ballots will be mailed out next week and are due back April 1.
Proponents of the community recreation center say the telephone survey questions were misleading because the price tag for the proposed recreation center is $12 million, not $40 million. The ballot language states the bond can be as high as $15 million. If the repayment takes the full 30 years to repay, the full cost would come to $36 million.
When you purchase a car or a house, you don’t buy those things at the repayment price, said Terry Moss, cochairman for Citizens for a Fruita Community Recreation Center.
It’s like saying you bought a house for $600,000 after 30 years of repayment, when it was actually purchased for $200,000, he said.
The survey was conducted by a political survey company and paid for by a group called the Lower Valley Seniors to gauge how voters felt about the issue, said Joe Miller, owner of the Fruita Fitness Center.
Miller and the Lower Valley Seniors oppose a new recreation center as proposed by the city. Members of the Lower Valley Seniors group say they are planning to build their own senior center.
Miller, who lives in Grand Junction, sees a tax-supported recreation center as unfair competition with his business.
“I’m not against a recreation center, I just think it should only provide services needed. When the private sector is providing services, I don’t think the government should step in and compete,” Miller said.
Miller’s fitness center provides cardio equipment, free weights, circuit training, child care, group aerobics, yoga and Pilates classes.
The proposed community recreation center would provide a fitness area, as well as a senior center, an indoor pool, a gymnasium, an indoor running track and group exercise areas. The existing, nearby outdoor pool would be refurbished if the recreation center is built, and the city is collaborating with Mesa County Public Libraries to build a new Fruita branch library that would adjoin the recreation center.
The center would be located between Coulson and Cherry streets, just south of Family Health West.
Opponents who gathered at the Fruita Fitness Center Thursday said it wasn’t the recreation center they’re opposed to so much as the way it would be funded.
“I’m opposed to a 1-cent sales tax. There are things we need (worse) than a recreation center as far as tax increases go. It should go to streets, salary increases for city employees, sidewalks, water and sewer lines,” said Wayne Joslin of Fruita.
If approved by voters, Fruita’s sales-and-use tax will increase from 2 cents to 3 cents.
Opponents call it a 33-percent tax increase.
That 33-percent increase translates to 4 cents in tax on every $16 purchase.
The 1-cent sales-and-use tax would not be applied toward groceries or prescription medications.
The 3-cent sales-and-use tax in Fruita would be slightly higher than the 2.75-cent sales-and-use tax in neighboring Grand Junction.
Visitors spending money in Fruita would be contributing to the sales-and-use tax revenue.
Once the debt is paid, the 1-cent tax would go away.
Typical of recreation centers and swimming pools in other areas, the Fruita Community Recreation Center would operate at a deficit.
Fruita Recreation Director Ture Nycum said in a “worst case scenario” the recreation center would lose about $300,000 a year.
The sales-and-use tax would generate about $1 million dollars a year and is designed to cover the operation deficit and the mortgage.
User fees would also help cover operating expenses.
Proposed rates and fees for daily admissions are $6 for adults, $4 for youth and $3 for children. Annual memberships are proposed at $360 for adults, $240 for youth, $180 for children and $645 for family.
Fruita resident Midge Zimmerman is opposed to user fees. “It’s double-dipping as far I’m concerned,” she said.
Miller said he thinks the proposed community recreation center would be understaffed and worries about potential drug dealing and gang activity.
“Any time you provide a place for youth to gather, unfortunately it’ll draw individuals who want to corrupt them. So potentially it could be dangerous if not supervised properly,” Miller said.
Nycum was surprised the opposition would make that argument.
“That’s the opposite of what our intention is with a community center,” Nycum said.
Nycum and City Manager Clint Kinney said there would always be staff on duty.
Moss said a community recreation center would be a place for all ages to intermingle.
“It’s for the community. It’s for the young, the old. A place young people can go with their parents,” Moss said. “What a gem it would be to have it in our community. It’s a 1-cent sales tax. One penny on the dollar.”
Reach Sharon Sullivan at ssullivan@gjfreepress.com.
