FAIRMONT– The Fairmont City Council agenda on Monday included a motion authorizing staff to work with the YMCA to develop an operating agreement for the Fairmont Aquatic Park. However, those plans were put on hold for the time being.

Fairmont’s interim city administrator, Jeff O’Neil, said, “unfortunately the YMCA is not able at this point in time to take on the project. They’re interested in it potentially for the future but due to some of the constraints they’re facing, the board has elected to decline.”

He went on to say that the idea for the YMCA to operate the Fairmont Aquatic Park came from the Executive Director who will be operating Fairmont’s proposed community center.

“We worked with her to come up with this memo, thinking that both organizations needed to move quickly on this to get everything in place for the summertime but unfortunately it looks like that won’t be on the docket for the council,” O’Neil said.

However, O’Neil said that city staff is already working on putting together a job description for a seasonal full-time position to operate the facility as it will continue to fall under the city for the time being.

The position needs to be filled because Betsy Steuber, a Fairmont city staff member who currently manages the Aquatic Park, will be transitioning into the role of city clerk following the retirement of Patty Monsen this April.

Council Member Britney Kawecki offered a recap of the matter, saying that both the city and the YMCA want to move forward, but lacked the time to get an agreement in place before the summer. O’Neil confirmed that that was the case.

“I’m disappointed to hear that. I had seen this as an opportunity for the YMCA to come to Fairmont and show people what they’re good for. I continue to encourage them to do that, and if this isn’t how they feel they can do that, I would really hope they can come up with another answer,” said Council Member Jay Maynard.

Council Member Randy Lubenow said he has talked to Andy Traetow, the superintendent of Fairmont Area Schools, who said that the district may have some interest in operating the Aquatic Park in the future but that they nor the Community Education and Recreation office have the resources to run the pool this summer.

In other news, the council:

— Approved two event permits for Marty’s Youth Triathlon and Fairmont Triathlon and Bacon 5K for June 14 and June 15.

— Declared Feb.10 as Kids Against Hunger Day.

— Declared the month of February as National Mentoring Month.

— Set a public hearing date of Feb. 12 for the 2024 Improvement Program.

— Approved two temporary easements, one for Memorial Park Bridge with Randy Miller and one for the Memorial Park Bridge with John and Jane Thate.

The council approved appointing the following individuals to a number of boards and commissions, as per the Mayor Lee Baart’s recommendation:

— Bryan Boltjes to the Police Commission, Jodie Whitmore and Vicky Schulte to the Park Board, Michael Sharp to the Public Utilities Commission, Doug Pederson to the Planning Commission, Debra Goerndt to the Housing and Redevelopment Authority and Chris Pierce to the Fairmont Economic Development Authority.

Baarts noted that the Charter Commission has about eight open seats and the Airport Advisory Board also has some open seats. He encouraged interested community members to apply.