HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks Commission minutes - 07-12-17.docx
Yakima Parks and Recreation Commission
Meeting Minutes for
July 12, 2017
Commissioners Present: Vice Chairman Paul Williams, Jo Miles, Roger Lewis, Matt Tweedy, Stacy
Hackenmueller, Brynn Kloster and Dulce Gutierréz, Yakima City Council Liaison Absent and Excused:
Chairman Rod Bryant, Rosana Bravo and Josette Gonzales Staff present: Ken Wilkinson, Parks &
Recreation Manager and Jenise Sanders, Administrative Secretary for Parks & Recreation
Call to Order
Welcoming everyone in the audience and viewers watching on YPAC, Vice Chairman Paul Williams called
nd
the meeting to order at 5:33 p.m. at City Hall in the Council Chambers, 129 North 2 Street, Yakima,
Washington.
Introduction of New Parks & Recreation Commissioner – Brynn Kloster
Ken advised that long time Park Commissioner, Tom Hinman’s term has expired and he decided not to
reapply for the position. That left an open position and Ken introduced Brynn Kloster as the person that
has been appointed to fill that position. Brynn stated that she was born and raised in Yakima and has
played sports her whole life. She stated she coached fast pitch softball at YVC after graduating college.
She took at job at Yakima Valley Tourism and was not able to continue coaching. She stated she has a
son that is very involved in golf and that takes much of her time also. Paul welcomed Brynn to the Parks
and Recreation Commission.
Approval of the Meeting Minutes of May 10, 2017. It was Moved by Roger Lewis, Seconded by Stacy
Hackenmueller, to approve the Minutes as written from the May 10, 2017 Parks and Recreation
Commission Meeting. The motion carried unanimously.
$50K for Kids - Update
Ken reported that the Special Meeting with City Council in June was to discuss earmarking additional funds
for children’s programs this summer. Ken referenced his report that is included in their packet. He stated
Parks staff was able to meet with these organizations to discuss their programs and how it would fit with
the City Council’s vision. Salvation Army did not run their program this summer at Milroy but may be
looking at partnering again next year. OIC of Washington already runs a Summer Day Camp program at
the Henry Beauchamp Jr. Community Center for 100 kids and will be looking at increasing that number by
20. The Four Square Church runs Camp Robertson at Robertson Elementary and they were not able to
increase their numbers due space and their agreement with the School District. Ken stated that the YPAL
program at the Washington Fruit Community Center will be able to increase their programming to take part
in this funding for summer programs. Joe Willis, Executive Director of the YPAL, quickly put some activity
programs together; soccer program, culinary program with Pastor Shane Niles and a STEM (Science,
Technology, Engineering and Math) program. Ken advised them the two Parks and Recreation programs
are at Kissel Park and the newest one at Miller Park. Ken stated that the Kissel Park program is directed
by Kim Lopez, under the supervision of Tami Andringa, Recreation Supervisor. He reported there was a
waiting list of about 80 for the program that serves just over 100 per summer. In one afternoon, they were
able to add 30 more kids to the program from the waiting list. The Miller Park program is new this year and
Downtown Kiwanis Club donated $4,000 to help that program get underway. Juan Arias will be running
that program also under the supervision of Tami Andringa. That program was originally geared toward 50
kids and they were able to quickly pull a team together and is now able to accommodate 75 kids. Matt
Tweedy asked how much of the $50,000 has been spent. Ken advised that there is only about $3,400 after
the money that is allocated for OIC, YPAL and the two Parks and Recreation programs. Matt commended
the Parks and Recreation staff for being able to get all of this organized in just a few short days. Ken
stated that his biggest concern was being able to staff the programs with quality personal in such short
notice. Recruiting staff for the summer programs usually begin in February. Matt asked Dulce Gutierréz if
this is going to be a permanent line item in the City’s budget. Dulce stated that is highly doubtful. She
stated that the City will hopefully create a youth development plan, in which they will try to find a funding
source so that it is not coming out of the General Fund in the future. Roger Lewis asked what OIC is.
Paul advised it is Opportunities Industrialization Center. Discussion followed regarding the programs and
training they provide for both youth and adults in the community.
2018 Parks & Recreation Fees Increase Discussion
Ken advised their packet includes the current fees that we use for our fee ordinance. The last time that the
fees were increased was 2013. Ken stated that it is important for Parks and Recreation to keep fees as
low as possible, the higher the fee usually means lower participation. This increase may be necessary due
to the increase in our operating costs, especially minimum wage. Many of the temporary staff were making
$9.47 per hour and that increased to $11.00 per hour, an increase for the Parks budget of about $67,000 in
2017. Minimum wage will be increasing again in 2018 to $11.50 per hour, which will be about another
$25,000. Staff began discussing an increase of about 6-7% across the board. Ken stated that once staff
makes the adjustments, it will come back to Park Commission and then go before City Council in the form
of a Policy Issue. City Council will make the decision to say yes or no or suggest making smaller
increases. The 2018 Budget planning process begins toward the end of July. Ken stated he would like
them to review the spreadsheet and give feedback. Matt asked where the bulk of Parks revenue comes
from. Ken stated it comes from park and picnic shelter reservations along with children and adult program
fees. Matt asked if the fees are the same as what we charge the School District or other private
organizations. Ken stated we have a joint use agreement with the School District. We charge them very
little or no fee for the facilities that they use of ours and we in turn use their facilities. They do pay to use
Lions Pool and Fisher Park Golf Course. Matt asked what percent of Parks budget constitutes the revenue
from these fees. Ken stated that of the $5.6 million, roughly ¼ of it comes from fees, ¼ of it comes from in
lieu tax, which is the tax on utility bills, and the rest comes from property tax. Matt reiterated that $1.3
million comes from fees. Ken confirmed that and stated that it can fluctuate from year to year. Matt asked
if Parks gets a push back from out of town groups renting the ballfields for $550 per day or do they think
that is a bargain. Ken stated that is a bargain for the service and the quality of the facility that we provide.
Bill Wells and his staff, under the supervision of Tami Andringa, put forth quality fields to provide quality
tournaments. Matt suggested instead of a 6-7% increase across the board, may cherry pick a few of the
one that could handle a larger increase rather than increasing some the one that we are trying to keep
affordable to the community. Paul agreed that increasing the fee on a space or facility rather than an
individual participation fee may be better. Paul also stated that we will at some point have to increase fees
in order to keep quality employees. Stacy Hackenmueller agreed with increasing fees in some areas to
help subsidize other areas. Discussion followed. Stacy suggested possibly increasing fees for out of town
users and leaving the community member fees the same or possibly looking at different areas of the city
having increased fees and other low income areas stay the same. Discussion followed. Ken advised that
the staff will discuss and bring the proposed fee increase back for Park Commission to review. Jo Miles
requested that along with the proposed increase fee schedule, we also have a copy of the revenue page
from the budget that shows each of the line items we are proposing to increase. Ken advised we will have
a revenue chart with 2016 & 2017.
2017-2022 Parks and Recreation Comprehensive Plan Update
Ken advised there are a couple of rough drafts of the Comprehensive Plan that Park has been working on
for the last year for their review. Ken stated there are over 600 comments that were written in the surveys
that were taken. Ken stated that some of the comments are very critical and some are very positive. Ken
advised that we are changing the layout of the new Comprehensive Plan and all the work is being done in-
house. Keeping the work on the Comp Plan in-house and not having to pay a consultant is probably
saving Parks and Recreation close to $30,000. Jo asked if there is a plan to group all of the aquatics
comments together and volunteered to help do that. There may be a way to do that using the keyword
feature. Ken stated that he appreciated that people took the time to comment. Matt asked if there were
certain topics that were commented on repeatedly. Jenise Sanders advised there were a lot of aquatics,
swimming pool, spray park and dog park comments. Matt asked what type of comments they were.
Jenise reply that most of them were that we need more water, whether it swimming, spray parks or even
waterparks or aquatic centers, and people love the dog park. Discussion followed. Roger asked if we
could generalize from the survey what people are saying. Ken stated that most people like what Parks and
Recreation is doing and they want us to do more. Ken continued that the big question is where is the
money going to come from. Jenise stated that the comments are from the mailed, online and all the paper
surveys that were returned. Stacy asked why the online surveys were not included in the data report. Ken
advised that for the survey to be considered scientific, you can only use the data from the mailed survey
returns. The information from the online and other paper surveys will still be used in our information
gathering, just not included in the scientific data. Discussion followed. Stacy commented that the majority
of the people that returned the survey were senior citizens. Ken stated that is true but we also know that a
lot of the people that take surveys are answering for their entire family, not just themselves. Dulce stated
she would like to get a list of comments that are related to public safety. Discussion followed. Jenise will
send the comments to all the Park Commissioners for their review. Ken thanked staff for their work on the
Comp Plan.
Randall Park Improvement Update
th
Ken reported that Park Maintenance will begin removing the trees in the 48 Ave. parking lot possibly
tomorrow. Everything in that parking lot will be removed and will be completely redone. Construction will
st
begin August 1. TTC is the company that received the bid for that work. The Streets Division will be
repaving the parking lot. The renovation of the pond is to begin late this month or early August. Stacy
asked when the parking lot will reopen. Ken advised it will be at least one month. Ken stated there is
thth
parking at the dog park on 48 Ave. Jo asked when the 44 Ave. parking lot is going to be redone. Ken
said that it will most likely be done next year along with the walkways. Stacy asked if Parks staff has used
Facebook to let the public know about the work being done. Ken stated we will be sending out press
release. Matt asked if the pond work is going to be done by the same company as the parking lot. Ken
advised it is a different company. Discussion followed.
Eastside Swimming Pool Ad Hoc Committee Update
Ken advised we are calling it the Community Swimming Pool Ad Hoc Committee. Ken reminded the Park
Commissioners that he had done a presentation to City Council at the end of May on the possibilities of a
pool on the east side of town. He stated that City Council determined that a committee should be formed
nd
to study the issue further. The first meeting will be held next Monday at 5:00 pm in the 2 Floor
Conference Room. The committee will be comprised of three Council Members, Dulce, Avina and Holly,
three Park Commissioners, Matt, Stacy and Josette, and three Parks and Recreation Staff, Ken , Jason
and Jenise and three Community Members. Ken advised that there are five applicants for the three
Community Member positions. A brief interview will be held on Monday night to decide which of the three
will serve on the committee. Ken advised that they will decide on purpose statement and decide on a set
number of meetings and go from there. Dulce asked when the deadline is for applications for Community
Members. Ken advised the deadline was today, but it is still on line for now.
Manager’s Report
Ken stated it has been very busy with some irrigation issues and extra vandalism, but that is normal for the
summer months. Ken advised that Leslie Richards has been hired as Recreation Program Supervisor at
th
the Harman Center and her first day was July 5. She is originally from Alabama, but did work for a while
in Tacoma. He stated he is going to ask her to come to the September meeting. Jo asked if there is a
reception planned for Leslie. Ken said there is a meet and greet tomorrow after the Seniors Inc. meeting at
about 2:00 pm at the Harman Center.
For the Good of the Order
Matt asked about the status of the Gardner Park bathroom. Ken advised that we are still waiting for PP&L
to get there to hook up the power and put in the new meter. It has been over 3 months since the building
was complete. Dulce stated there was a transient sleeping on the sidewalk at Miller and one of the Park
Maintenance staff was there to help ask him to move. Dulce asked if there is a communication line
between park staff and the bicycle police officers. Ken advised that we have been instructed to just contact
dispatch.
Adjournment
The next Parks and Recreation Commission meeting will be August 9, 2017. The meeting adjourned at
6:34 p.m.