City Approves Sports Park Deal with Swim Team

The San Clemente City Council Tuesday cut a deal with San Clemente Aquatics to give them reduced rates to use the Vista Hermosa Sports Park pool, but stopped short of giving them office space on site.

The swim team organization has been operating in San Clemente since 1975, and it's membership over the past year has grown from 170 to 472, according to team officials.

The team will receive 80 percent off pool facilities usage fees for meets during non-peak usage times between May and September, and 50 percent off for on-peak meets, according to the agreements.

The team will also receive 70 percent off certain other fees and 60 percent off lane fees for swim practices, according to the contract.

The contract would bring in $65,220 for the city, which is a drop of $24,780 below what was budgeted, but that money will be made up in higher facilities fees recently levied against other youth sports, according to staff reports.

Some residents worried the deal would edge them out of the new facility, which just opened last year.

Linda Matassa said she uses the Vista Hermosa pool every day, and pointed out that individual users are responsible for 50 percent of the revenue for the pool.

"Given that we're already paying half of the revenue, we're hoping that there are some means by which we won't be edged out," she told the city council.

Lanes in the smaller pool will remain open even during the aquatics team usage time, according to the agreement.

Todd Rowe, a parent with children involved in San Clemente Aquatics, said the new pool represented a chance for a city institution to develop even stronger ties with the community.

"It's an opportunity for the team to be recognized as the swim team for the city," he said.

Head San Clemente Aquatics coach Keith Kennedy said with out the discounts, the team would have to hold some of the meets at other facilities.

The contract proposal set before council included a guarantee of a plot of land adjacent to the pool deck to house an office for the team, but council nixed that part of the plan. Staffers at a later meeting will bring back a more thorough proposal regarding potential permanent facilities on site, said City Manager George Scarborough.