Scotts Valley will acquire the cavernous Scotts Valley Sports and Event Center for $4.5 million and convert most of it into a new library branch that could be open as early as next year.
The City Council OK’d the purchase Wednesday, June 3, despite objections from resident Paul Bach, who questioned the purchase amount and the item’s placement on the “consent agenda,” which precludes any discussion by council members or the public.
The item was moved to the regular agenda after City Manager Steve Ando said its placement had been a mistake.
The deal with Bob Slawinski and his family, owners of the 22,600-square-foot center on Kings Village Road, comes after seven years of breaking even or losing money on the enterprise, Slawinski said.
Slawinksi said he sometimes lost $100,000 to $120,000 a year, but subsidized it with his Slawinski Auction Co.
“I love that center, and I really enjoyed what I’ve done for the past seven years,” Slawinksi said.
Council members already had authorized negotiations for the center in closed session May 20, Ando said in a report.
A city council can legally determine the price and payment terms of a proposed real estate deal behind closed doors, but any other discussion must take place in public, according to the state’s open-meeting law.
Closure of the center will impact its many users, including roller hockey and indoor soccer programs, service clubs, fundraising events, individual roller skaters and others. No nearby venue is nearly as large — The Chaminade resort offers 12,000 square feet of space, the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium 8,600, the Cocoanut Grove ballroom at the Boardwalk 6,300 and the Scotts Valley Hilton 3,500.
Slawinski approached the city with an offer to sell the building, Ando said. Funds for the purchase will come from the city Redevelopment Agency and impact fees paid by residential developers. The city has been saving these funds for years to pay for a planned Town Center library, and they do not affect the city’s general fund.
The plan will enlarge and change the layout for the Town Center commercial-residential development, which had the library as a centerpiece at the head of a city green. The sports center is near the planned site and already in the Town Center planning area.
Scotts Valley’s current branch library is 5,300 square feet, and the proposed new branch would triple its size.
City Councilman Jim Reed, who represents the city on the county library system board, said it would be “sad” to see the center close but added that the city will benefit from the enlarged library.
However, the change in ownership means the property will be taken off the property tax rolls. Its most recent single-year tax bill was $32,964.
The agreed-upon price of $4.5 million is less than the property’s appraised value of $4.65 million. The city will pay $1.6 million up front and finance the remaining $3.9 million at 6.5 percent interest over a year.
City staffers had determined that buying and remodeling the sports center as a library would cost $7.56 million, compared with $10.23 million to build a new library.
Slawinski said he probably will look for a smaller building to house his auction business, which had operated in Felton for many years before he moved it to Scotts Valley in 2002 to be part of the sports center.
