Norman City Council Conference - August 26, 2025: Discussion on Adult Wellness Center Contract Reassignment and YFAC Cafe Operations
Norman City Council Conference - August 26, 2025
On Tuesday, August 26, 2025, the Norman City Council held a conference to discuss two agenda items: the reassignment of the contract for the Adult Wellness and Education Center operator and the transition of the cafe at the Young Family Athletics Center (YFAC) to city operations. The meeting began at 5:30 PM. City staff presented updates, answered council questions, and outlined next steps. Both items received supportive discussion.
Discussion: Resolution R2526-38 – Contract Reassignment for Adult Wellness and Education Center
- City staff reviewed the history of the operator contract, originally signed in April 2021 with Healthy Living and Fitness Inc. (OKC-based). In November 2023, the Adult Wellness and Education Center opened, operated by Healthy Living Norman LLC (a separate entity). In December 2024, the operator requested further separation from the OKC organization.
- The proposed resolution (R2526-38) reassigns the contract from Healthy Living Norman LLC to Healthy Living Center Norman Inc., a newly formed Norman-based nonprofit. The contract terms remain unchanged, including a five-year term with three optional five-year extensions, utility assistance (100% first year, declining by 40% annually), janitorial and landscaping services for three years, and pool maintenance for five years.
- City staff stated the move is in the best interest of Norman residents, as the new board will consist entirely of Norman residents (including former council members, a former mayor, representatives from Norman Regional, an attorney, and a OU employee). The executive director noted that the new board members are drawn from the existing local advisory board, serve three-year staggered terms, and must be Norman residents or work in Norman. The city manager's designee (Parks and Recreation Director Jason Olsen) serves as ex-officio.
- Council member Mark Black asked about board selection and term lengths; staff clarified that board members are nominated and selected by the board, with qualifications of Norman residency or employment. Council member expressed support for local control. The resolution is scheduled for consent agenda (Item 21).
Discussion: Operation of Cafe at Young Family Athletics Center (YFAC)
- Parks Director Jason Olsen reported that the city had contracted with Beanstalk Coffee and Snow to operate the YFAC concession stand since December 2023. After the first full fiscal year, both parties mutually agreed to separate due to the chaotic nature of tournament schedules; Beanstalk was successful but required too much time from owners. A 60-day notice was given June 23, 2025.
- The city will now operate the concession stand directly, reopening in October 2025. Staff propose to expand the scope of the existing Food and Beverage Coordinator (currently at Westwood) to manage both locations, with three new permanent part-time positions and seasonal part-time staff at $13–14/hour (permanent) and $10/hour (seasonal). No full-time jobs will be created.
- Financial data for YFAC's first full fiscal year showed a net loss of approximately $290,000. However, a consultant noted that all rec centers operate at a loss, with profitability typically achieved within 3–5 years. The city projects concession operations could generate $400,000 in revenue with $235,000 in costs, yielding a net positive of $165,000. Staff also highlighted additional economic benefits from the facility: an estimated 200,000 visitors in the first six months (average dwell time 2+ hours), with 2% visiting nearby businesses like Torchy's, and 30 of 40 tournament weekends generating overnight hotel stays, boosting sales and hotel/motel tax revenues.
- Council members asked about staffing, supply offerings (Coke products, nachos, hot dogs, popcorn, fresh fruit, breakfast items, and partnerships with local restaurants like Ray's Barbecue and Chick-fil-A), and plans for monitoring financial performance via a new cost center within YFAC. Council member Gainsburg inquired about increasing host fees to attract larger tournaments; staff noted that YFAC's 8-court configuration is unique in the metro area, but larger events (e.g., Adidas tournaments) require 16 courts within a 10-mile radius, which would require additional facilities. Council member Dixon thanked Beanstalk owners Jenny and Adrian for their service.
- Council member Montoya questioned the finance department's involvement in budget analysis; staff confirmed coordination. Council member also raised the possibility of charging for parking to fund parking expansion, referencing Embassy Suites' paid parking model, though enforcement was noted as uncertain. Staff agreed to share detailed revenue breakdowns by category (pool, gym, memberships) with council via email.
Key Outcomes
- Resolution R2526-38: Discussion concluded with council support for the contract reassignment to the Norman-based nonprofit. The resolution will be placed on the consent agenda for formal approval at the regular council meeting.
- YFAC Cafe Operations: Council expressed general support for the city operating the concession stand. Staff will create a separate cost center, hire three permanent part-time positions, and bring back a budget adjustment request (likely small) for additional funding. The cafe is expected to reopen in October 2025. No formal vote was taken during the study session.
Meeting Transcript
So we will see that Jason's too much. Yeah. Actually, I think she said she would probably be a little late. So okay, it is 5 30, so we'll go ahead and get started. Um sort of logic to join us here shortly. But we have two items on the agenda for the city council conference for Tuesday, August 26th. The first item is a discussion regarding resolution R 2526-38 between the City of Norman and Healthy Living Center Norman L. And we have city staff here to talk about that. Catherine's here to break up my my awesome storytelling. And hopefully I don't embarrass myself too bad. That's the reason she's sitting next to me. So we're going to talk to about the adult wellness and education operator. Uh we are gonna um tonight you're gonna have a resolution to reassign the contract from one organization to another, but they're basically been operating pretty close, and you'll find out there's a lot of similarities between the the group. Uh before we head too far into that, let's go over some key dates with our operator, especially um as it has to do with our adult wellness and education center in November 2020. We put an RFP for an operator. At that time, the project was called Senior Wellness Center. Uh, in April of 21, we signed an MOU with Healthy Living and Fitness Incorporated. They were the selected operator for uh the what was also still known then as a senior wellness center. Uh, as we started getting closer in May 23rd of 23, we did sign a contract uh with uh it was still held healthy living and fitness, but they set up an LLC to oversee their operation in Norman so that they could separate entities between their Oklahoma City operation and the Norman operation. Uh in on November 11th, 2023. We opened the Adult Wellness and Education Center right before that. I think a few months before that, our ad hoc committee did settle on that adult wellness center name. Uh and then December 2024, uh, we did get notification from uh Healthy Living Center Norman LLC that they wanted to form a different uh uh incorporation to further separate themselves from their operation in Oklahoma City and Norman. Uh at that time uh they did try to uh put a lot of uh members uh of their board from Oklahoma City. Uh then we um then eventually got to the point where we thought it was best for both partners for uh our residents of Norman to be operating that facility, and that's kind of where we're leading today. Uh we finally got to that point um as we're talking about assigning the contractors, not to the terms in the contract are aren't changing. What is changing is who the contract is assigned to. Uh and I wanted to go over a few of the details before we got into the what we're talking about contract assignment. Uh very high level details, what's in that contract? The uh the operator will operate and manage and uh maintain the property for five-year terms. We do have uh the option to extend that for three additional five-year turns, terms, excuse me, utility assistance. Uh the city will uh assist with utilities for the first three years of operation. We're still still in that window. Uh it is a tier system that we use with a lot of our contract, especially our new operators. It's 100% uh utility assistant that first year, and then it goes down by 40% um each year until it gets to basically zero in that fourth year. We're also paying for janitorial services uh right now, and that's for the first three years of operation. Uh landscaping and uh lawn services is also uh we're paying for uh poll maintenance, which is a big one for us. Uh and and we learn from talking to Oklahoma City with the same organization, um, um healthy living that it is very important for the the city to take a ownership in that pool because if something goes south, uh it can go south very, very quickly. I always like to compare to a polls to like weddings. Anytime you throw the word poll or wedding in front of a service, it like triples the cost of it. So that's the reason that that we want to uh make sure that we stay involved with that. But that's for the first five years of operation uh and that first section of contract. So all that stuff could uh could change as we go in there uh or talk about the second five years. But the uh this is what we're kind of hitting on today. So uh contract assignment, we're taking it um from basically where the Oklahoma City uh Incorporation is gonna hand it over to the Norman New Incorporation, and they're also gonna um eventually be a uh nonprofit as they're working towards that status. But uh section 710 of the contract they sign, and this is pretty much norm in any of our operator contracts. This gives the ability of an operator to reassign the contract to another operator with the permission of the city, and that's kind of where we are tonight. Um we have uh got a resolution from both the what would be the Oklahoma City of Corporation and the newly formed corporation in Norman. They are both agreement in reassigning it, and uh the city is very supportive of this move. And uh you're gonna vote on it hopefully tonight after this meeting.
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