Some Sun City West residents may be pleased to see the finishing touches put on another shared amenity for their community. But at least one voice has spoken out against the project.

Recreation Centers of Sun City West officials expect construction to be completed later this month in anticipation of a March opening for the meditation garden at Beardsley Recreation Center, 12755 W. Beardsley Road.

Grand opening will be scheduled once the lighting and vegetation are completed, said Cindy Knowlton, RCSCW recreation manager. Likely it will open by the end of February or sometime in March.

The project, which has been in the works since 2012, is primarily funded by the Sun City West Rotary Club, which provided the initial $13,800 investment to cover its design and will repay the $49,000 RCSCW invested in its construction. The Rotary Club plans to repay the cost by selling memorial bricks, which will later be installed at the site.

Frank Bagnato is a Sun City West resident who penned a letter to the editor (Mediation garden not likely needed, wanted, Sun City West Independent, Jan. 25, 2017) criticizing the project. Mr. Bagnato is a former RCSCW employee and frequent critic of rec centers management.

In the letter, Mr. Bagnato accuses officials of wasting money on a project residents do not want and of failing to give residents a voice in how their dues are spent.

Perhaps the most egregious example yet of our communitys willingness to say Yes, we can to anybody that asks is now underway the Beardsley Meditation Garden, Mr. Bagnato stated in his letter.

He further alleges the project was snuck in under the radar, that the board did not officially discuss the project, and residents were not given an opportunity to weigh in.

Ms. Knowlton disputes this allegation, saying the project arose from board discussions going back five years, having initially been suggested as part of a study conducted under the direction of previous board president Lake Westphal.

Lake was a bit of a visionary, he had some great ideas, said Ms. Knowlton. He made a priority of creating social gathering places.

The board conducted a study of rec centers core facilities, looking for ideas for new amenities for the community, according to Ms. Knowlton.

The garden area came out of that effort, as well as Kuentz Courtyard, she added.

Kuentz Courtyard is a busy place today, hosting a show per week from October through April, as well as twice-monthly happy hours and jam sessions. The Boomers Club and others use it regularly for events and luncheons.

Its a very heavily used and popular place, Ms. Knowlton said.

Following Mr. Westphal on the board, board member Diane Cheney took up the cause. When the Rotary Club came to invest in a project, Ms. Cheney shared with them the boards vision for a respite garden, according to Ms. Knowlton.

Responding to concerns raised last year, RCSCW Chief Financial Officer Tony Struck defended the project in a letter responding to Mr. Bagnato.

The initial budget for the meditation garden was established in June 2015 at $13,800 subsequent to receipt of a $15,000 donation from the Rotary Club, Mr. Struck stated in his letter. This donation initiated the project, which had been in the works for quite some time.

Mr. Bagnato offered no direct reply to Mr. Strucks letter or his attempt to explain how the project was planned and paid for. Nor did he accept Mr. Strucks invitation to discuss the project in person.

Once the design was completed, RCSCW General Manager Mike Whiting approved $49,000 for construction of the project and a request for bids went out to contractors. Because RCSCWs investment falls below the $50,000 threshold, no official board vote was required to approve the project. But at every step in the process, staff members have kept the board and the public apprised through various channels, according to Mr. Struck.

[The general managers] authority to authorize capital savings also included keeping the Governing Board informed, which he has done via various venues weekly GM report, GM annual goals, Properties Committee, Mr. Struck stated.

The monthly reports, which are published each week on the rec centers website, are formally presented twice monthly at the general managers operations meetings, as well as at regular board meetings. Mention of the meditation garden project is found in no fewer than 28 published GM reports over a 30-month period.

Notable among those reports are two entries.

July 21, 2014: The Rotary Club is working in conjunction with RCSCW Staff to establish a meditation Garden at Beardsley Park.

June 15, 2015: CFO Tony Stark and Cindy Knowlton met with the SCW Rotary Club last week and were presented with a check for $15,000 from the Club as a gift toward the Beardsley Meditation Garden project. Many thanks to the SCW Rotary Club! The Meditation Garden will be a wonderful addition to the Beardsley campus.

At every GM operations meeting, the public may attend and are provided with copies of the GMs report, which is subsequently published online. Board members read through each report and ask questions. They also invite attendees to ask questions and voice their opinions at the meetings. For those who cannot attend the operations meetings, the GM reports to the board at its regular meeting each month, where residents are also encouraged to ask questions and share their concerns.

Despite as many as 90 such public meetings being conducted over the past 2.5 years, Mr. Bagnato accuses staff of pushing the project through under the radar.

Despite attempts to determine who approved this project, we get no answers and told we must attend more meetings if we want to know details, Mr. Bagnato asserts in his letter.

Rec center staff and dozens of public documents tell a different story, according to Mr. Struck.

In recent years, club projects have been either partially or fully funded by the clubs. From Pickleball to the Auto Restoration Club, these projects enhance the value of the community, he said. At the end of the day, it is a capital asset of the association with corresponding revenues to offset the expenditures.

Continued here:

RCSCW officials defend Meditation Garden project - YourWestValley.com