ROCKLAND — Members of Rockland City Council approved a draft lease of the Recreation Center to Pen Bay YMCA in first reading during the Monday, Aug. 10, city council meeting. Councilors will vote again next month in order to allow final approval.

In the meantime, Rockland City Manager James Chaousis II continues to seek a date for a second public forum to hear suggestions and concerns regarding a partnership with the Pen Bay YMCA.

Chaousis told councilors during the meeting that he met with the YMCA last Thursday in order to work on a draft lease, including “all parameters of the operating agreement” discussed by Councilor Larry Pritchett during the agenda-setting meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 4.

“We think we can make that happen, but we’d like to still keep open the opportunity to use this lease.... We’d like it to pass through first reading [of the City Council] as an option. We may ask to kill it in the second reading, but we want to make sure that that option is available to us,” Chaousis said.

One of those parameters would allow continued use of office space by the Rockland District Nurses Association. However, maintaining public access to the ‘Community Building,’ especially when the city doesn’t have a clear vision of dates and usage needs for the facility, have been tougher to negotiate.

Pritchett, who along with Councilor Will Clayton lobbied for the Rec. Center in 2011, spoke positively of the Y’s interest in taking over programs.

“I think the mixture of experience and background skills that the Y brings is very well suited,” to providing community programming at a higher level, he said.

In January, the Rockland Harbor branch of the Penobscot Bay YMCA opened its doors between Boston Financial and Archer’s restaurant on Ocean Street. In the seven months of its operation, this branch has enrolled 800 members.

Overall, 1,000 Rockland residents use the services provided by the Penobscot Bay YMCA, which translates into one out of seven Rocklanders, according to Community Development Director Audra Caler-Bell.

Mayor Frank Isganitis said during the council meeting that partnering with the Y allows for a 50 percent saving to the citizens of Rockland, which has had to slash funding for many municipal departments.

Isganitis said: “When we put our hand out, we get it chopped off. The YMCA is a global organization whose philanthropy is legendary, and who has the ability to put their hand out and people write big checks. So why would we not want to work with a partner that can enhance our community...?”