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Rolla mayor outlines fast-track plan with Phelps Health while council adopts FY2026 budget
Summary
The Rolla City Council approved its FY2026 budget and a sewer fee increase, while the mayor detailed negotiations with Phelps Health to lease most of the recreation center and warned the city must act quickly to address the natatorium’s operating losses and capital needs before an April 2026 ballot decision.
Rolla’s mayor told the City Council on Tuesday that the city has a letter of intent with Phelps Health to lease most of the community recreation center — excluding the natatorium — and urged a compressed, 90-day community engagement process to decide whether voters will approve funding to keep the pool open.
The council approved the FY2026 budget, a $45 million spending plan that staff said includes a $2.5 million stormwater grant, expanded pavement work and a $404,100 allocation toward the recreation center. Darren, the city’s wastewater/engineering lead, also explained a separate ordinance raising the sewer availability fee from $13 to $14 per month.
"The natatorium is operating at an annual deficit of at least $200,000 a year, closer to $300,000," the mayor said, and added staff has identified about $700,000 in near-term capital needs including an air-handling "pool pack," plaster repairs and slide work. The mayor said the general fund cannot absorb those costs without compromising other services and that a sales-tax question on the April 2026 ballot would require council action on ballot language by January.
Under the emerging plan, the city would continue to own the building and grounds while Phelps Health would lease and operate much of the center. The mayor said Phelps Health and the city aim "to turn over the facility to them on January 1," and that the partnership would allow the city to refocus resources on core services while Phelps expands medical-fitness programming already being piloted at the center.
Council members and residents pressed staff on options for the natatorium, including temporary closure, phasing in changes, or redesigns that would separate lap lanes from warmer therapy areas. Councilmember William moved and the council later approved an amendment requiring clearer monthly reporting on ordinance-level expenditures as a transparency measure.
The mayor warned that, even if voters approved a tax in April, the city would not receive the first tax receipts until December of that year and would likely need to borrow for immediate repairs. He recommended hiring a planning/feasibility firm familiar with natatoriums to produce several conceptual options and price ranges, then hold public workshops and statistically valid surveys to test likely-voter support.
Public commenters urged the council to keep the pool open until April and to broaden the proposal’s appeal beyond current users. Charlie Courts, a resident of Rolla Towers, used the public-comment period to allege discriminatory enforcement of a display policy at a public-housing site; the mayor said the housing authority is a separate legal entity with its own board and that council’s authority there is limited.
Next steps: staff will prepare a project timeline and recommend hiring consultants and running public workshops; the council must decide ballot language in January if it seeks voter approval in April 2026.
