Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.
The Plano City Council convened on November 10, 2025, to first recess into executive session to discuss legal, economic development, and real estate matters. Upon reconvening, the main discussion item was an update on the Plano Arabat (Arapahoe) Gymnastics program, which the city plans to sunset by May 31, 2026, due to sustained financial losses and the availability of many private gymnastics clubs in the area.
The council recessed into a closed executive session in Training Room A to consult with the attorney, discuss litigation, economic development, and real estate matters, as authorized by the Texas Open Meetings Act (Sections 551.071, 551.087, and 551.072). No action was reported following the session.
Note: The meeting adjourned to recess at 7:00 PM after addressing consent agenda items (no details provided).
I now declare the Plano City Council is convened in open session that all council members are present. The council will now recess into executive session in training room A to hold a closed executive meeting pursuant to the provisions of Vernon's Texas Codes, annotated government code, Chapter 551, the Open Meetings Act in accordance with the authority contained in Section 551071 to consult with the attorney to receive legal advice and discuss litigation. Section 551087 to discuss economic development matters and Section 551.72 to discuss real estate matters. Thank you. Our first item on the preliminary agenda is consideration and action resulting from the executive session. Our next item is Plano Arabat program update. Dr. Susie Hergenreiter. Welcome. And is you Hergenraider, Assistant Director over Recreation. I'm here today to just give you an update on the Arabatz gymnastics program. The Plano Arabas Gymnastics. There we go. Began in 1976 out at Weatherford Elementary School in their gymnasium, believe it or not. And in 1990, when Carpenter Park Recreation Center was built, the program received a space of its own. And then again, when Oak Point Recreation Center was built, the program expanded to two gyms. During that time, we averaged about six to seven hundred gymnasts in the program. We also had a waiting list of about a year to get into the program. So it's very profitable and very healthy program at that time. Today's environment is very different since then. Other than the Plano Arabats, there is only one other competitive gymnastics program that is part of a municipal program, and that's Richardson Gymnastics. So as you can see by this map here, there are roughly 17 competitive clubs in the Plano and surrounding city area. In our efforts to minimize financial losses, we eliminated a full-time coaching position through attrition in 2020. And then in 2023, we consolidated the program to one gym only. So we explored some additional options to keep the program afloat. However, none were sustainable. Effective October 31st, giving team members the opportunity to secure a place at another private gym in time for the competitive season that begins in January. After receiving lots of feedback from uh participants indicating that they wanted and needed more time, we were advised to keep the program operating at Oak Point Recreation Center through May of 2026. The response from the community has been very positive and appreciative. Given the large number of competitive as well as non-competitive gymnastics clubs in the Plano and surrounding communities, and the fact that we are held responsible for covering full cost recovery within the rec revolving fund. Our plan is to sunset the program May 31st, 2026, and consider alternative uses for this space. And that is all I have, and happy to answer any questions you might have. Any questions for Susie? Councilmember Levine. Susie, could you give us an idea of what some of those alternative uses for the space might uh entail and uh whether they would have uh revenue implications? Yes, so we could potentially um lease that space out to that that was brought up during this discussion, we could lease this out to a private gym, um, and that would generate revenue. Uh so a gymnastics program would operate in that space. We could um clear the space and make it more of a multi-use court space. We have a lot of demand in our gymnasiums for pickleball, table tennis, uh badminton volleyball, and that would be a large enough space with a high enough ceiling to accommodate more of that. Uh we could continue to run just six or eight-week type gymnastics classes, not a team, um, but one that would generate more revenue that way. Uh a competitive program typically costs us money, whereas um just regular gymnastics classes earn us revenue.