Dear residents of Five Forks,

I got this wrong, see my update below:

Dear Fellow Residents,

Today, I met with representatives from the YMCA at the Brookwood location (which y'all can do too by just calling and asking for a meeting 864-963-3605).

At the meeting they debunked many of my points including:

·       Cash - the Y is not cash rich and has no cash to expand/improve their facilities (they have assets but they are all restricted and cannot access the principal).

·       9 acres - they already have the 9 acres next to them (no exchange/purchase as they already own)

·       25 acres to 9 acres – they have plans to replicate all the ball fields and will not lose any ball field programs (soccer, flag football, etc. – no change or even expand at new location)

·       Activities - they will maintain all the activities that are currently at Adams Mill after expansion (during expansion will they use Adams Mill with agreement with Fellowship Greenville – they wouldn’t disclose Fellowship Greenville’s name but its was announced by Fellowship Greenville at their church service)

·       Parking - they have a parking plan, traffic plan, etc. all well thought out, they will even be able to accommodate for future growth of the area 

·       Expansion - the only way to expand (expansion is needed as the Y is busy) is by selling something and that is Adams Mill Road.  They have no cash for expansion.  They will use the sale proceeds (should be around $5.5million per my estimates) to expand Brookwood location - they don’t have to purchase the 9 acres as they already own it

·       During Construction - the buyer of Adams Mill Road (which is Fellowship Greenville), agreed to let them use the fields during the construction process. 

·       the expansion at Brookwood will be even more than the $5.5million and they will have to fundraise. 

·       Warm Water Pool - Not sure about the warm water pool at new location - I saw some posts in Nextdoor that seemed like it was going to happen but I have no idea and they didn’t comment.  I do know they are committed to the community (they even did a professional survey of some of the Adams Mill Road program users to see if they would mind moving to their programs at Brookwood location – which is impressive they thought enough about their members to do that).   

In summary, I got many points wrong, which is humbling to say.  I took down the petition (1st and last time I am doing that).  Note, the YMCA could have done a much better job of communicating their intentions instead of having it first mentioned by Fellowship Greenville during a Sunday service where thousands attend (bad idea – marketing 101).  Alternatively, I could have called them 1st and asked for a meeting (bad idea here as well to jump to conclusions before all the facts are in). 

Once they presented the outline of their plans, I am on board and support the sale of the Adams Mill Road location.  What a reversal but its true.  I do hope they will install a warm water pool at the new location (which I think they may – but again, no idea).  Rob Johnson