Alice City Council Authorizes Manager to Finalize Natatorium, Water Park Agreement

The Alice City Council authorized the city manager at its regular third-Tuesday meeting the week of Feb. 16–17 to finalize and sign a management agreement with NRC Alice Waterhub LLC to operate the Alice Natatorium and Water Park, with city staff saying the draft requires only minor edits before signature. City staff told council the authorization follows prior direction to negotiate terms with NRC and that the agreement remains in draft form pending completion of those edits.

Council approved the motion by voice vote; the meeting transcript records no roll-call assigning individual member votes. NRC representatives Vincent Madquez and Toby Flores attended the council discussion, and councilmembers who spoke said they had reviewed the draft and found it thorough, with several thanking NRC for engaging on operations planning.

The authorization is expressly framed by staff as allowing the city to move forward with operator oversight and local programming at the natatorium and water park. City materials show the move comes after the Council voted unanimously on Dec. 14 to suspend aquatic operations, a decision the city said was necessary while administration and finance develop a plan to sustain future aquatic programming and continue hosting special events at the multi-use complex.

That Dec. 14 suspension followed a contentious six-month stretch: the facility opened in June, held a grand opening July 1 featuring swim clubs and a mariachi band, and was closed about six months after that celebration. Denise Koenning Blanchard of the Natatorium and Water Park Committee said, “We were caught completely off guard by the (council's) decision,” and the committee issued a written statement disputing city financial figures for the facility.

Financial figures remain contested in public records. KRIS 6 reported a $14 million price tag for the pool while a city audit cited by Caller found costs for the complex topped $22 million. The Water Park Committee provided operational numbers for months the facility ran, saying revenue from June to September totaled $279,853 against $238,013 in expenses, while city administration reported facility costs of $121,839 in the 2016 fiscal year.

Negotiations with Alice ISD also factored into the fallout. Alice ISD Superintendent Dr. Carl Scarborough said, “We were pretty much at a point where we felt good about it,” referring to a proposed lease he described as $59,900 a year. Kristv reported the council later directed the city manager to pursue a $100,000-a-year lease, prompting Scarborough to say, “Once we heard that it was going to be $100,000, we knew it was going to be a stretch.” Kristv also reports Scarborough saying the district did not receive the council’s counteroffer until three-and-a-half hours before Tuesday’s meeting, and Mayor Jolene Vanover saying, “We didn't receive back from Alice ISD, and it wasn't put back on the agenda to renegotiate, or counteroffer.”

With the city manager now authorized to finalize and sign the NRC management agreement after outstanding edits are resolved, the city has taken a concrete step toward placing operations with a private operator; staff told council the move is intended to restore operator oversight and local programming at the natatorium and water park, though the draft agreement itself and a reopening timeline remain pending.