Letter from the Executive Director
by Kristi Potts on 10/07/19
October 2019
Dear YMCA members, guests & friends;
I hope the fall is off to a great start for everyone and that the recent rain hasn’t put a damper on the harvest for the farming community.
As executive director of the Montgomery County Family YMCA, I wanted to give everyone an update regarding a couple of maintenance issues facing the YMCA.
The first issue, as many of you that have visited within the past 5 months have observed, we had a water seepage problem underneath the northwest corner of our gymnasium floor. One problem we face is that we will not know what is causing the water seepage damage until the floor itself is removed. Todd Gilleland, YMCA property manager, has been in contact with various contractors in getting bids for the replacement of the floor. The contractors understand that once the current floor is removed, we must solve the water problem before new flooring can be installed. Estimates for the gym floor work itself is 3- 4 weeks. That, however, does not take into consideration any repair work that must be done before the new floor is installed. Once the bids are received, the YMCA’s Board of Directors will review them and decide the best course of action to implement.
The second maintenance issue is with our Dectron unit. The Dectron unit controls the airflow and humidity levels in the pool area. (The unit does not control water temperature.) The YMCA building is 19 years old and the Dectron unit itself has a life expectancy of 15 years. Due to the efforts of our maintenance staff and local contractors, we have been able to extend the life of the unit with reasonable expense. However, repair bills for the unit are now exceeding $30,000 annually plus we have been told by the service technicians that parts are in short supply for repairs that we are facing. Unfortunately, a replacement unit may cost between $250,000 - $350,000. Therefore, the YMCA Board has entered into an agreement with our service contractor to get bids for a replacement unit that is more cost-efficient and has a longer life expectancy.
The YMCA Board will have to make the most prudent decision as to how the YMCA can go about replacing our current unit. The estimated delivery time for a new unit is 12 – 16 weeks with an estimated installation time of 10 – 14 days. Ideally, work of this type would be performed during the winter or early spring months when the outside air temperature and humidity level is lower.
The YMCA is looking at various grants, which will be necessary, to help offset the cost of the gym floor repairs and Dectron unit replacement. However, we may not know the results of these grant applications until late spring. We will keep you posted on both projects as they go forward and as to the timeline the YMCA Board wishes to follow.
The YMCA staff and Board of Directors appreciate your support of the YMCA facility and programs and promise to continue to do our best to meet the high-quality standards that you’ve come to expect from us.
Please feel free to contact me at either (712) 623-2161 x or by email johnb@mcymca.com if you have any questions or comments.
John Blomstedt
Executive Director
MONTGOMERY COUNTY FAMILY YMCA
101 E. Cherry St., Red Oak, IA 51566
(P) 712-623-2161 ext. 141 (F) 712-623-4920
(E) johnb@mcymca.com (W) www.mcymca.com
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