New fitness facility: Do it right, or don’t do it at all
Nov 17, 2009 | 1115 views | 13 
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I recently read with great interest about the latest efforts of Rodney Waters, the owner of Rock Fitness, to utilize the Catoosa County government yet again to protect his monopoly on large fitness centers in the area.
Two years ago Erlanger and the YMCA were poised to enter into a joint venture that would have provided the citizens of our county a $5-6 million dollar YMCA and primary health care facility. Private funding was secured, construction equipment was on-site on Battlefield Parkway and only a pro forma approval of the tax exempt status of both organiza-tions was needed. Evidently this greatly disturbed Mr. Waters and he utilized his friendship with former County Commission chairman Bill Clark to put up some legal roadblocks.
Despite the assertion by our own county attorney that both organizations were tax ex-empt, Mr. Clark used thousands of dollars of taxpayer funds to hire an outside attorney from Gainesville to come in and give a differing opinion. It took over a year to clear these hastily thrown-up legal hurdles. During that time the economy turned sour, the YMCA leadership changed, and the project was put on hold despite Erlanger wishing to proceed once the tax issue was resolved in the favor of tax exempt status. Mr. Waters’ monopoly was protected. In the intervening Mr. Clark was soundly voted out of office by an overwhelming majority, this issue not least amongst the many for his ouster.
Now we see that the YMCA is working on bringing a larger building and a higher level of service to the citizens of Catoosa County. Once again Mr. Waters is asking the Catoosa County government to intervene to protect his business. While I agree with Mr. Waters that county funds should not be used to build or support the YMCA, I find it quite ironic he uttered not a peep two years ago about the thousands of taxpayer dollars spent to hire outside counsel to give an opinion that he believed would benefit him personally. Let’s not kid ourselves — it’s not about the use of county funds, it’s about protecting his monopoly.
Personally, I don’t understand Mr. Waters’ concerns. We need look no further than down-town Chattanooga to see that a Rush Fitness Center, the downtown YMCA, and the Sports Barn all coexist and thrive within a half-mile of each other. Each has a demographic they serve and they all do an excellent job. The YMCA is not targeting the same type of cli-ent/member that Mr. Waters covets. Mr. Waters has shown no desire to provide summer camps for young children. He’s shown no interest in providing after-school programs for those same kids during the school year. He’s shown no interest in developing and maintain-ing health and fitness programs for senior citizens. Such activities are all core foundations of the YMCA mission.
Finally, Mr. Waters has shown absolutely no interest in providing free or reduced fees for any and all of his clients who can’t afford full memberships fees. He’s a private business, and I don’t blame him for wanting paying customers. However, the YMCA turns no one away for inability to pay and spends a large amount of time raising funds to support the participa-tion of needy children in their after school and summer programs.
Mr. Waters needs to realize that a YMCA will not likely harm his business model. Should such harm occur then, like any business, he’ll need to adapt to the changing business cli-mate. On the other hand the YMCA leadership needs to either fully commit to privately funding a large facility like the Hamilton YMCA or simply leave things as they are currently.
Continually teasing the citizens of Catoosa County with the promise of this much-needed facility and repeatedly not following through on those promises is getting old. Building a small facility lacking the amenities of all the other local YMCA facilities is simply putting a band aid on a large wound and is far from the ideal situation. Either do it right, or don’t do it at all. Furthermore, asking the citizens of this county to pay for any YMCA building through the use of tax dollars is entirely inappropriate, especially considering hundreds of them (myself included) willingly made large multi-year monetary pledges to support the proposed partnership with the YMCA and Erlanger two years ago.
It’s my hope that Mr. Waters continues to see success with his business venture and sees his facility expand and grow. Success and growth of local privately owned businesses is essential for this county. It’s also my hope the YMCA leadership fully commits to providing a much-needed full-service, privately-funded facility that would undoubtedly be an over-whelming success in this community. Both businesses can and will provide/continue to pro-vide much-needed services to their own unique segment of our population, thus improving the health and well-being of our citizenry as a whole.
Christopher G. Haddock M.D., Ringgold
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It can't be hard for you to see why Mr. Waters doesn't want the YMCA. It all business and good ole boy network working behind the scene!
Sorry it upsets you so that I brought to light some issues from the past. I felt it necessary to shed such light on the situation due to Mr. Waters again trying to stop the YMCA from starting a facility within a driver and a wedge from his facility. You consider it "pouting and crying" and I consider it an airing of the facts of the case. If I wanted to cry and pout about it you'd have read all of this two years ago. Also, do not forget to not that my original letter is not only critical of the actions of Chairman Clark and Mr. Waters but the YMCA as well.
Yes a new office would have been nice. The opportunity to "just" build an office has been there for years but we were looking to partner with the YMCA to make a greater use of the available space as a benefit to the community as a whole. It's not just about us and the desire for a new office. At heart Erlanger is about the health and well being of the surrounding community and we have wanted to maximize the use of this property to that end. The YMCA was/is desperate for space for expansion in the NW GA area and we were able to provide what seemed to be the perfect partnership until the aforementioned legal issues brought forth/created by the former county chairman.
Only recently has the YMCA seemingly given up all desire to partner with Erlanger apparently due to their reticence to build a complete facility at one time. Therefore we are now building "just" an office and construction will begin soon. However, this still leaves the majority of land on site for future development. As a citizen of this county for over thirty years it's my hope than we can find something to do at our location on Battlefield Parkway that will benefit our community as a whole and not just be limited to the patients.
I apologize for the lateness of my response. Just today noted your reply as I printed up this page to show a local supporter of the YMCA.
First of all in simple terms slander is spoken and libel is written. If anyone wants to accuse me of something I have to insist they at least get the accusation right, in other words use the term libel. Somewhere an old civics teacher is smiling.
Secondly, the YMCA and Erlanger had reached a mutually agreeable contract concerning the land and the building. It was a done deal. Both parties were happy. Construction equipment was on site and ready to start ground prep the morning after the final approval of tax exempt status by the county.
As mentioned before this facility would have been a YMCA as well as primary care offices. Yes, one of those offices would have been mine. However, I would not "profit" from it. I'm a salaried employee of Erlanger. Such a facility would do nothing to benefit me financially. All such a space would have allowed is my patients and citizens of Catoosa County to "profit" from better access to healthier lifestyles, health and fitness information, and a better ability to provide high level primary care. It was a true "win-win" situation for everyone involved. T
Yes, I posted it on Facebook. Heck, I wrote it to the local paper. Do you think I'm trying to hide it? My feelings, my name, and my job are all part of the public record. I choose not to hide behind the moniker of "anonymous" on a comment thread on this message board. Your words would carry much more weight should you care to remove the cloak of anonymity and engage in open discourse of this issue as I have.
In my understanding of what happened two years ago, the hospital looked closely at what they were actually giving the YMCA (value of the land) and what they were getting in return which were some office buildings and Dr.'s Offices. It didnt add up because why would they give up that much to the Y and get some just a little bit of office space in return.People should be aware that you were one of the people wanting a new office and therefore of course you were pushing for the Y so you could get it, its also one of the reasons your pushing for a big one because if not you will not get your office.
Just like Karma has after his/her name "Beware the counsel of someone who stands to profit from it." Like you would with a new office if that deal would have went through.
Also, i might post this on my facebook page like you did. That way all my friends could tell me how right i am and how stupid this Dr is. I dont need other people patting me on the back. However, im a little above doing that. As well as above writing into the paper making false acusations. You in no way mention in any of your past posts how the YMCA would have benefited you. It all gets shown in a different light now that you were to gain something from it.
I would rather the YMCA come from private donations than tax money, but highly disagree on why you are disappointed it didnt happen.
You may wish to further educate yourself as to the definition of slander. I can emphatically state no slander has occured.
As for for the facts as presented we know Mr. Waters and Commissioner Clark are friends/acquaintances. Mr. Clark's actions two years ago are in the public record, I will not link them here. One does not have to be overly intelligent to analyze the situation and reach certain conclusions. Mr. Waters's actions before the Board last week were published in this very forum. As for the business model of The Rock, I stand by my statements as to the differences between it and the YMCA.
Finally, I'll state again that Mr. Waters runs a good business. It's a success and the best of its kind in this county. He's to be applauded for that and I hope that remains the case for many years to come. I'm an ardent supporter of local businesses, entrepreneurship, and capitalism as a whole. I just wish he'd quit utilizing/attempting to utilize the county government to squelch any perceived competition from the YMCA. Is that so hard to understand?
Should have any information that can explain the actions of two years ago or of the past few weeks I'm more than willing to listen to other explanations.
Yes im calling you out on the not going into detail part. As you say your first message is full of detail- detail straight from you. You have no basis for this and if you were privy to all the insider information you would be able to call out instances of how Mr. Waters was involved and what he actually did the first time to keep Your Donated YMCA from coming. If you do not have facts to back up what you claim that he did you should not talk. Nice comment on the footnotes or it not being cited but to make those claims you might wanna have evidence to back them. There is such a thing called slander, which you are doing.
First of all I did not write the headline given my letter. That was done by the editorial staff at the paper.
Secondly, we can argue semantics all day but The Rock is the only facility of it's size and scope in Catoosa County.
Again, we'll agree to disagree about whether this county can support a large scale YMCA with or without county subsidies. Obviously you disagree with the in depth studies done by the YMCA and you're welcome to that opinion.
Not go into detail? I think there is plenty of detail in my original letter. Granted it's not cited and footnoted by there's plenty of detail there to get the point across even if that does not meet your particular burden of proof.
As for the current commission I applaud them for not spending our county funds to support the YMCA. However this time the proper use of county funds was the forefront of the decision making process and not some backroom shenanigans to benefit a friend in the community. You, myself, and Mr. Waters are actually in agreement here as I can see the land being donated by the county but the YMCA asking the county for prep work, lighting, parking, etc is simply inexcusable.
Im sure the YMCA did their homework with populations and other demographic studies, and they know what they have to do to be successful and thats some of the reason they are not here and part of the reason why they are asking for so much money in this deal. I feel that they will get the land which is fair bc it has limited use due to it being owned by the county, but they need to find other ways to get funds.
However, i still feel that you should not talk about anything that you cannot go in to detail about.Whole truth or no truth.Anyone can say something, but it holds no value without facts its just bad mouthing. I wouldnt have said you were bad mouthing if that wasnt what it appeared to be. It was titled do it right or not at all, then all of a sudden it was all about what the commissoners did and how MR. Waters was the ringleader. Now again he comes out this time with something you agree with on tax money but he is still bad regardless if it is right or wrong. Just what it seems...... by reading it.
Kinda suprised you didnt mention any of the current commisoners and how they were in Mr waters pocket as well.
Catoosa can support a larger YMCA. The Chattanooga market exists because all of them have different clients. The same people that work out at the YMCA aren't exactly the same as Sports Barns, Rush, etc.
We aren't just talking about a workout facility. I understand we have to pay for extra stuff but we want them.
The YMCA did due diligence by commissioning several studies of the population of our county that took into account growth, current membership at the NWGA YMCA, and other factors. All signs pointed to a large scale YMCA such as the Hamilton YMCA being successful.
I considered Mr. Water's facility a monopoly on "large fitness centers" as The Rock is far and away the largest, best equipped, and offers more services than the other much smaller aniquated gyms you mentioned.
As for my knowlege of the situation a few years ago I can only state that as a citizen of this county for over 31 years I'm quite aware of the way things work here politically. As someone involved intimately with the planning and implementation of the proposed YMCA/Erlanger joint venture I was privy to a lot of information I will not share publicly but I have confident in the veracity of previous statement.
I was not tooting my horn but the horn of literally hundreds if not thousands of my fellow citizens who pledged support for the proposed YMCA. They and the rest of the community have been done a grave disfavor in the actions of our county commission/tax board two years ago.
I didn't write this letter to "bad mouth" Mr. Waters. I wrote it to expose the situation to our community so that the light of day may make it much clearer to more of our populace. Mr Waters runs a good business, the best of its kind in this county in my opinion. My point is he does not need the help of our county government to protect it. He'll be successful irregardless of the presence of a large YMCA in the community.
Im also suprised you would consider Mr. Waters business as a monopoly as there are several other gyms in the area including: YMCA North GA, The Wave, Curves, Jack Silvermans, and Benifit for Women.
Its sad when one county citizen thinks he has the right to bad mouth others bc he has money and a phd.... How do you know who was involved the last time the Y tried to come? Did you see him directly involved? Tell us how he conspired to make sure it didnt come since he is so influential or dont speak of it at all. Oh but dont forget to mention you were going to donate might as well tell us how much, toot that horn a little more.
Karma- if you are really going to pray for someone please dont bad mouth them. It shows a true lack of understanding of what it means and again if he has hurt so many people please give examples so we can see what you are actually meaning.
"Beware the counsel of someone who stands to profit from it."