Orange mayor discusses ‘wish list’ included in YWCA deal

ORANGE, NJ — At the Orange City Council’s work session Monday, Dec. 14, Orange Mayor Dwayne Warren said the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs allowed him to create a “wish list” when he applied for a $2.5 million grant to facilitate a deal to buy the old YWCA building on Main Street and convert it into a city recreation center.

The council voted 6-0 to approve two resolutions at their meeting Dec. 1. Resolution No. 284-2015 authorized the Warren administration to submit and accept the $2.5 million direct appropriation grant from the state Department of Community Affairs. Resolution No. 285-2015 allows the council to insert the $2.5 million into the city’s budget. Although in attendance, at large Councilwoman Donna K. Williams did not vote on the resolutions.

According to City Council President April Gaunt-Butler and other council members, including East Ward Councilman and 2016 mayoral candidate Kerry Coley and West Ward Councilman Harold J. Johnson, their votes for the measures were contingent on the mayor coming before the council to thoroughly explain all the details of the YWCA purchase deal and to answer questions; Warren did just that Monday, Dec. 14.

“One of the things we requested was a Table of Organization,” Gaunt-Butler said on Monday, Dec. 14. “I see a salary for a director for $150,000 and an assistant director for $100,000.”

Warren confirmed the titles and corresponding salaries and said they were part of the wish list the state DCA allowed his administration to submit, as part of its application for the $2.5 million grant. He said he had consulted with city construction official Paul Arthur regarding other items on the list, including expanding and repairing the existing pool at the site to meet requirements for hosting competitive swim meets and other activities that would help generate enough revenue to make the new facility a self-sustaining one.

“In terms of the salaries, it’s a wish list,” Warren said on Monday, Dec. 14. “You’re entitled to put into the application the things that you wish for. The Table of Organization would be the same as the Department of Recreation. These positions don’t exist yet.”

Williams, a former member of the YWCA Board of Directors, did not vote for either of the resolutions so as to avoid any conflict of interest. She is running for re-election this year as part of Coley’s slate of candidates on his mayoral ticket.
Williams also had questions about items on Warren’s wish list, including the YWCA pool. Her questions, along with those of Coley and Johnson, also touched upon a possible $800,000 contribution from the Orange Board of Education, announced by the mayor at the meeting.

The city plans to purchase the YWCA building for $1.5 million in DCA grant money and renovate it for $1 million in grant funds, for a grand total of $2.5 million.

Regarding how the city would pay for the new recreation center, Warren said at the meeting, “The terms of the grant are as follows: Upon completion of the application, along with the resolution, it will go back to the state for a check for $1.25 million. This will go into an escrow account, pending the council approving the purchase. Once that’s done, they will release a check for $250,000.”

“I have to see that in black and white,” Johnson said. “How are we going to buy this building? That’s the bottom line.”
Warren answered, “The number is going to be the same in black and white and English, too.”
South Ward Councilwoman Jamie Summers-Johnson asked, “Did I miss something? The grant is for $2.5 million. They’re trying to buy the Y for $1.5 million. That means money left over.”

Williams said $2.5 million includes the price of renovating the building and making sure its proposed future programming will be funded in perpetuity.

Warren said anyone questioning the value of buying the old YWCA and converting it into a new recreation center is missing the point entirely.

“The building is now in use,” Warren said. “It requires paint, cleaning and then it can be used. We have to focus on the use of the building. It’s not a ballroom hotel. It’s a rec center. The pool cost would be $279,000 to $280,000. We went in with a contractor to determine whether or not it’s feasible to expand the pool to make it Olympic size. The estimate is $1 million. I don’t think that’s feasible.”

At that point, Warren referred to the $800,000 from Orange’s public schools.
“I have confirmed with the Orange public schools and they have $800,000 they can give,” Warren said. “I talked with construction and their estimates about digging the pool out and what it might do to the integrity of the building; it’s cost-prohibitive. … $1.25 million is already in escrow and will be forwarded to the city in a matter of weeks. The $1.25 million was released because we passed the resolution.”

Johnson asked if the Warren administration had looked into schools such as Seton Hall Prep that could possibly use a renovated and expanded recreation center pool, once the old YWCA is purchased from its bankruptcy trustee. Warren said, “There are a number of groups that are still interested in using the pool for a practice facility,” and would pay a fee to do so.
Gaunt-Butler asked if the release of the state DCA funds Warren referred to was really a reimbursement of money the city would have to first spend in order to recoup; the Mayor said it was not.

Coley said he still would reserve final judgment on the YWCA purchase deal, regardless of grant funds Warren cited. Meanwhile, he said he hopes the administration is as good as its word, when it comes to the $2.5 million they say Orange is due to receive to make the deal happen.

“I’m going to hold the mayor to bid specs, because we don’t know what the bottom line is going to be,” Coley said Monday, Dec. 14. “How can you guarantee that we are going to stay within the $2.5 million, when you really don’t know what the specs are? We only have what you’re saying. We don’t have anything else in front of us to confirm what you’re saying.”
Warren said, “Nothing else exists, except what is in front of you.”