Residents question low recent usage and taxpayer burden of proposed gym

Residents at the public hearing raised repeated concerns about whether recent facility usage and community benefit justify a multi-million-dollar gym and the $500,000 design expenditure requested.

Marcy Andrews summarized the data cited in staff materials and said the numbers suggest limited recent use: "If you take 387 hours annually... That's literally 48 days... 48 days is an awful lot, or is not very many days for usage for something that's gonna cost 10 to $12,000,000," she said, and asked for more detail about which six programs were discontinued and how often city residents actually use existing facilities. Malone Mogard warned the council that Farmington’s comparable facility requires ongoing subsidy and urged caution about long-term operating costs.

Other residents pressed for plain-language information about where the money would come from, pointing to current pressures from recent utility rate increases and street repairs. Juliana Larson asked how the cited $5.5 million in the packet would be sourced and urged more community engagement before committing design funds.