When will the gym be open to the public?

The following is a question submitted to the I. V. Press and my complete answer.

It has been several months since the city of Holtville and Holtville High School have negotiated opening the high school gym to the public for basketball on Sunday evenings.

It has been rumored that the High School is refusing to allow the city to utilize the gym due to an insurance concern and it has also been rumored the High School does not want the public to utilize the gym due to the renovations done at the gym.

Steps have been made to get an answer from Daniel Ibarra, who is in charge of the city recreation department. He has informed us of negotiations but he has yet to hear from the high school.

Let me mention, personnel at the Holtville Unified School District have been contacted as well and mixed messages have been given to us. Some people say we should be allowed to utilize the gym, others say that an insurance clause may be affecting the decision to allow use of the gym.

We informed the city we would sign waivers in order to utilize the gym. Let it be noted that the city passed a bond for renovations to the gym in order for the public to utilize the gym.
We are a group of adult basketball players that has been playing at the Holtville High School for nearly 10 to 15 years but as a result of the renovations we have not played there for almost two years. We don’t mean to be an issue, we just want a straight answer.

I understand the question writer’s concern and confusion. The District is willing to allow access to our facilities for the public to use. In fact, our multipurpose rooms, classrooms, auditorium, and our athletic fields are used on a regular basis by community groups throughout the year.

Eventually, we will also be making the gymnasium available to the public. Earlier this school year, we did meet with Daniel Ibarra to discuss a joint-use agreement to allow the City’s recreation department access to the gymnasium. We also held a joint meeting with the City Council and let them know of our interest in doing so. While we are committed to making the facility available to the public, we do have some concerns that need to be sorted out prior to that happening.

One major issue that must be worked out has to do with maintenance costs. While the gym was upgraded and modernized a few years ago, it is a very, very old building and maintenance is an ongoing problem. Due to budget constraints this year, we are forgoing some of the usual maintenance in the gym. For example, we are resurfacing the gym floor only once this year, as opposed to our usual twice a year resurfacing, saving several thousands of dollars.

There are other high cost maintenance issues that must also be addressed whenever you are using a 50 plus year old building. By limiting the gym’s use at this time to school events, we are able to keep the maintenance costs to a minimum. With the state’s budget up in the air, we are working hard to keep all costs down. Hopefully, by working with the City of Holtville we can continue the discussion to mitigate these costs.

We also have some issues regarding supervision during the public use periods, ensuring the users are taking care of the gym.

As the Probe question writer stated, insurance has come up in the conversation and I can see why the writer is confused. If we allow the city to use the gym under a joint-use agreement, insurance is not an issue as the city’s insurance will cover its usage. If we allow community groups that are not under the umbrella of the city, such as the men’s basketball league to use the gym, they must provide proof of insurance, since the school’s policy is limited to school sponsored events. Insurance, however, as noted above, is not our primary concern.

I realize it has taken a long time to get the agreement in place and we would like to sort out the various issues raised, but patience is needed to do it right. Our highest priority is to ensure that our students have a great facility to use.

I also noted in a follow up e-mail that we had begun to open the basketball courts at the Middle School after hours and on weekends for the community to use.