A report presented to council Monday night showed that Servus Credit Union Place is better off run by the city instead of a third-party contractor.
The report was a result of a council request made in 2005, when a private contractor came forward at the time with a proposal to run the multi-use facility for the city. Although the council of the day chose to allow the city to run the facility, they requested a follow up report be penned five years later to update the situation.
Servus Place director Diane Enger said a recent customer service survey showed that 68 per cent of visitors to the centre used the fitness and wellness area while 89 per cent reported they were happy with the service they received.
“In the three years Servus Place has been in operation, the level and quality of customer service has remained strong,” Enger told council during her presentation. “The current model allows administration to ensure there is a high level of quality customer service.”
She added that staff often trained in a variety of areas so they were flexible in their work, and said that employees were paid on a level that was equal to other fitness centre staff across the province. A report provided to city council also stated that employees are expected to hold a degree related to physical fitness.
Enger said that while researching the issue, she could not find any example of a private contractor taking over the services of a public fitness centre on the scale of Servus Place.
“It would cost the city less per year to operate it internally instead of contracting it out,” she said, adding that no one has inquired about privately contracting services at the fitness centre since the original proposal in 2005.
Coun. James Burrows said the centre’s customer satisfaction rating was an indication that the city’s current method of running Servus Place was working well for both the community and the city. He later added that there have been many positive changes over the last three years, making Servus more of a community mainstay than it was.
“The whole ship’s been turned around,” he said. “If you need a St. Albert business success story, it’s Servus Place.”
The question of interference with private fitness centres was raised by Coun. Carol Watamaniuk, who said she could recall the questions surrounding the effects back when Servus Place was being designed and built.
“None of those concerns have been brought to us,” replied Enger, who added that a design review is currently under way to look at better ways to utilize the current space, as well as look at possible places to expand in the future.
Mayor Nolan Crouse admitted he voted against the idea of allowing Servus Place to be city-run while he was a councillor in 2005. However, he added that he was impressed at what the city staff at the centre has done in that time and now believes it is in the right hands.
“I felt the private sector could do a good job,” said Crouse. “You (Enger) and your staff have done a good job.”
