MONTICELLO, NY — The Sullivan County Legislature has approved $15 million for a combined swimming pool and track facility at SUNY Sullivan, half the cost of what could be a $30 million-dollar facility. 

The indoor arena will include an eight-lane pool, 25 meters long, and a 200-meter oval track. 

The legislature settled on the figure of $15 million during a back-and-forth discussion at its July 21 meeting. 

The original price: $5 million, as proposed by SUNY Sullivan president Jay Quaintance. 

Quaintance pitched the facility as a boon to the college and to the broader community. 

SUNY Sullivan had included plans for the arena in its 2019 facilities master planning process, he said. The facility could help the school retain and attract students; athletics had once been a draw. The college could also open the pool to members of the community, helping with health outcomes for the region’s youth, and could host events in the facility that would bring visitors and their dollars to the county. 

The project needed a commitment of funds from the legislature to unlock state money. New York State would match any funds committed by the county for educational capital projects: if the legislature authorized $5 million, the state would match that amount dollar-for-dollar, for a total contribution of $10 million. 

The legislature unanimously approved the project. The only question: how much would the project cost?

“When we put this plan together, you just can’t think about what we need for today,” said legislator Joe Perrello. “We need to think about what we need for tomorrow, and what we can use it for in the future.”

“Whether it’s a $5 million job or if we could do X amount of other things over and above, and it’ll cost us $10 million, we’re better off going with $10 million,” Perrello added. He and other legislators also worried about the impact of inflation on the project; with prices skyrocketing, a $10 million project today wouldn’t mean as much as a $10 million project a year ago. 

The college was pretty confident it could build a good facility for $10 million ($5 million from the county, $5 million from the state), said Quaintance. But there were benefits to asking for more now: it avoided a lengthy process of asking the state for more if the project ran over budget, and the college could use excess funds appropriated from the state at a future point for other projects. 

“In some senses, asking this legislature to say, ‘Instead of $5 million they’re willing to invest $7.5 million’... that might be better to have the buffer,” said Quaintance. 

Legislators agreed, and after haggling back and forth, settled on a figure of $15 million. 

Legislator Ira Steingart provided a note of caution to the proceedings. He wasn’t against the project, he said. He did have concerns about authorizing the project, not knowing where the funding was coming from and what the usage patterns would be from the college and from the community. 

“I know these are all negatives, but they’re really just, I think we haven’t done our due diligence yet to make a decision,” said Steingart.

“I don’t see those as negatives, I think they are the prudent questions to be asking,” said Quaintance. The point of the day’s proceedings was to get an initial commitment from the county so the project could get on the state’s 2023 budget cycle. Then, the college could issue an RFP for planning services to settle some of these questions. 

Typically, the county would pay the costs of projects like this upfront, and submit quarterly reimbursements to the state, said county manager Josh Potosek. There were a few pots of county money the project could pull from: fund balance, bonding and the like. 

Legislators ultimately voted 8-1 (with Steingart against) to authorize $15 million for the project. 

“This project will ensure not only increased enrollment moving forward, but provide a much-needed community hub for years to come. Having our students and community be able to access a state-of-the-art facility like this will transform both the college and the county,” said Quaintance, in a press release following the meeting.