Sealy City Council Approves YMCA Plan But, Not Everyone Is Pleased [VIDEO]

The Sealy City Council approved the final design for the YMCA building to be built in Sealy at Tuesday night’s city council meeting March 8th.  However, the approval was not favored by everyone in the council chamber.  Ryan Reichardt, board member for the Sealy YMCA, voiced his disapproval of the decision as it became clear that the city council was favoring the second design of the proposed YMCA over the first one.  (The two separate designs can be viewed starting at the 00:01:10 mark of the video)

His dissatisfaction came in the form of several interruptions of the mayor during the discussion concerning which design to choose.  Tension rose when Mayor Mark Stolarski threatened to have him removed after the third interruption (viewable at 00:04:30 mark of the video) while the mayor had the floor.   Reichardt’s frustration was due to his concern that fundraising for the YMCA would be severely handicapped if the council chose the second plan over the first.   He also made it clear that the council’s decision could lead to the city having to foot more of the bill if they did choose the second design.  (This discussion is at the 00:13:57 part of the video)

However, despite these concerns the council unanimously approved the second design.  One of the biggest reasons for the council choosing the second plan over the first was in part because of recommendations made to them by the Sealy Chief of Police, the city planner, the city attorney and the fire marshal.  But, several council members also voiced their own personal reservations during the council meeting.  The biggest factor for the choice was because the first plan had a road running along the side of the YMCA Building.  The chief of police’s primary concern over this was that the road would be on private property.  The fact that the road was on private property removed the police’s ability to enforce any form of speed deterrent placed on it.  This concern was compounded over the fact that children would be utilizing the new facility in high numbers.  The other concern over the road was also due to the fact that there are plans for a 300 unit apartment complex in the future.  There was vocalized concern that these tenants would utilize the private road as a thoroughfare access to get from one block to the other.

You can watch the entire discussion and vote in the video below: