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HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks Commission minutes - 03-09-16.docx Yakima Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting Minutes for March 9, 2016 Commissioners Present: Chairman Rod Bryant, Vice Chairman Sam Karr, Tom Hinman, Paul Williams, Jo Miles, Roger Lewis, Matt Tweedy, Rosana Bravo and Dulce Gutierréz, Yakima City Council Liaison Absent and Excused: 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, Chairman Rod Bryant called the nd meeting to order at 5:35 p.m. at City Hall in the Council Chambers, 129 North 2 Street, Yakima, Washington. Approval of the Meeting Minutes of February 10, 2016. Roger Lewis asked for clarification regarding a couple of items from the February meeting, as he was not present. He asked if we expect to get a grant from the Department of Ecology. Ken Wilkinson stated we will continue applying for that grant to make the improvements to the pond which will improve the water quality. Roger also asked what the NEPA is. Ken advised that it is the environmental assessment that will need to be done if federal money was used in the development and if there is a possible environmental impact. It is a similar process to the SEPA. Ken stated he has never done one and that a consultant will mostly be brought in to help. It was Moved by Jo Miles, Seconded by Sam Karr, to approve the Minutes as written from the February 10, 2016 Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting. The motion carried unanimously. Introduction of New City Council Liaison – Dulce Gutierréz Ken welcomed Councilwoman Dulce to Park Commission. He thanked her for being willing to serve as the City Council Liaison. He stated that Maureen Adkison served for many years and we appreciate both of their time and willingness to serve. Summer Playground Program Fee Proposal Ken introduced City Finance Director, Cindy Epperson. Cindy stated that the City is facing a budget deficit and this is part of why this is being proposed. City stated that they are working on getting the budget balanced within a short amount of time. The revenue was down due to the drought. Jo confirmed that the program fee proposal is related to the budget shortfall. Cindy stated it is in response to the budget shortfall. Matt asked in what way the revenue was impacted by the drought. Cindy advised that sales tax was down almost 50% of what we had been running. She stated that the raw utility prices dropped also. Matt asked if the $750,000 deficit is projected. Cindy stated it is based on revenue and expenditure estimates. Jo asked what the fee proposal is for the playground program. Ken stated that when we are faced with budget deficits, we have to look at ways of increasing revenue or decreasing expenditures. He advised their packet includes the cost for the Summer Playground Program that we provide the community which is held at Kissel Park. He stated they do attend Franklin Pool to swim once a week as part of the program. The program receives a grant that provided lunch. Kim Lopez, Recreation Coordinator oversees the program. The program budget includes two site leads and nine staff assistants. There are approximately 100 kids per day from 9:00 am – 4:00 pm Monday – Friday for the 10 week program. The program includes all kinds of crafts, sports, and playground activities every day. Staffing is our biggest cost for the program. Currently we charge a $20 registration fee per child for the entire 10 week program. There are a couple of options to help with the budget using this program. Eliminating the program entirely would save $51,000. The alternative would be to charge a fee to cover half or all of the costs. The fee to cover half the cost would be $300 per child and $600 per child for the 10 week program to cover all of our costs. Ken stated he wanted to bring this to Park Commission to discuss and possibly give a recommendation before it goes to City Council for approval. Since we are currently not charging a fee for the program, it does need to go before City Council to approve charging a fee. It will most likely be proposed to them at their April 19, 2016 meeting. All of the Divisions whose budgets come out of the General Fund are doing their part to increase revenue or decrease expenses. Jo Miles commented that it is a coincidence that the amount of the deficit is the same amount of the $750,000 charter amendment for Parks Capital. Ken and Cindy stated that it is in fact just that, a coincidence. Matt Tweedy asked how many kids are involved in this program. Ken advised the program is capped at 100 children, so there may not be 100 kids every day, due to family vacations and other things. Rod Bryant asked if it is the same 100 kids throughout the summer. Ken stated that for the most part it is. There may be some that drop out and they would be replaced by one on the waiting list, which we always have. Rod commented about the fact that some of the children will not be able to participate as their parents may not be able to afford the program. Ken stated that is one of the concerns we have about charging for the program. Matt asked if we currently have to turn people away. Ken advised that we have parents lining up outside Public Works at 4:30 am to sign their children up for the program when our office opens at 8:00 am and we always have a waiting list, usually larger than the number of children in the program. Discussion followed regarding the number of children that will be able to participate in the program if the fee is increased. Matt asked if we know what the demographics of the participants. Ken advised we do not. Sam Karr commented there are 11 staff members for 7 hours a day. Ken stated a 1:10 ratio is about what you have to have for safety. Ken advised he is not expecting a decision from them right now, he more so just wanted to bring it to their attention as it will eventually be a City Administration and City Council decision. Paul Williams asked if they would be able to find out what the other Divisions are offering up to help with the budget deficit. Ken stated that we have not seen that list yet. He did advised that Parks and Recreation is also delaying the purchase of a new pick-up that the department is in need of but can hold off buying until next year. Ken said that we have some equipment that is about to the point of not being worth fixing any further and will need to be replaced soon. We did purchase a new trim mower and that will be here this week. Matt asked Ken if he was tasked with coming up with a certain amount to cut. Ken stated he was not, they were just asked to try and come up with ways of saving. Discussion followed. Jo stated that it does not seem out of the question to charge more than $20, but $600 may be prohibitive. He suggested $20 per week may be more reasonable. Discussion followed. Matt asked if part-time or full-time staff is used for this program. Ken advised they are temporary employees that we bring on. Matt asked if this was the least painful solution. Ken stated that it is the easiest package to help reduce the budget. It is easier than trying to cut back hours or raise rates for other things. Discussion followed. Ken advised there was much discussion but at the end of the day we do not want to cut back on maintenance of the parks and a lot of the other programs bring in revenue. If we cut a Park Maintenance position, we still have to maintain the parks and possibly backfill with temps. This is a standalone program that if you don’t do it, there is quite a saving. Jo commented that in 2014 when they voiced their concerns about the $750,000 coming out of the General Fund and going into Parks Capital, they were told it was just a “drop in the bucket” and “there is nothing to worry about”, but now we have to start worrying about it. Tom Hinman asked if Ken would like a proposal or recommendation. Ken stated he is not asking for one but if they would like to give one that is up to them. He just wanted to make them aware of the situation. Rod asked if parks has committed to taking on anything new for this year. Ken advised not to his knowledge. Ken advised we do have another meeting before this goes to City Council. Tom moved to bring this back to the next meeting in 30 days to make a recommendation. Roger Lewis seconded it. Matt stated it sounds as though they are not asking for a recommendation. Paul said he believes as the Park Commission they should have the discussion next month and give the proposal. He stated they were not given this opportunity on some previous projects and he is grateful to have the chance to discuss this tonight. Motion carried unanimously. 2017-2022 Parks and Recreation Comprehensive Plan – Goals & Objectives Review Ken Wilkinson stated we are discussing and starting the process of our Comprehensive Master Plan. We are required to do that by the State in order for us to be eligible for grants. It is also a great tool for us when we are doing our strategic planning. He advised their packets include the Park Operations segment from our current plan that will expire in April of 2017. We are looking to send out our survey to the community possibly in May. Once we receive the information back we will put it in a format that we can easily understand and discuss. Ken commented that we went over the Recreation segment last month and tonight we will be discussing Park Operations. He stated Park Maintenance has been fairly short staffed. Ken gave credit to Randy Murphy and his staff for the hard work they do. Ken proceeded to the PowerPoint presentation on Park Operations. Ken discussed the Maintenance Management Plan and the report that went to City Council last month, which is also included in their packets. The maintenance management plan has information regarding each park and its amenities. It includes the cost and time it takes to maintain each individual park. It was very useful in preparing the report for City Council. The new Comprehensive Master Plan will be done in the same format that the City Council report was done. Rod asked if the report will be cleaned up, as it makes reference to some organizations and programs that no longer exist. Ken advised it will be revised and updated. Sam asked if the SOZO property would be added to our park inventory. Ken advised it would be considered new park property even though it will be operated by another organization, it will be owned by the City and available for public recreation. Rod stated that it will not impact Parks financially. Ken confirmed that is his understanding, we will not be maintaining it or have any staff working there. Dulce Gutierréz asked about the parcel of land at the SOZO complex that will be replacement property for the Chesterley Park conversion. She questioned whether the replacement property will impact the Parks Division financially since it is the replacement for a public park. Ken stated that his understanding is that we will not be responsible for that. She stated she will double check that with Jeff Cutter, Interim City Manager. Ken advised that he will present the Administration segment at the next meeting. Rod asked about plans for the old mill site property. Ken stated that is probably a better question for Community and Economic Development. Randall Park Improvement Project Update Ken advised the restroom is schedule to be installed in mid April. We have an agreement with Sunrise Rotary ready to go to City Council in April for the two picnic shelters that they will be donating and constructing. Southwest Rotary President Bill Gilmore has agreed to redo the basketball court as his project. That will be starting soon. The weather has delayed the Streets Division removing the old one and getting the site prep done. The new basketball court is scheduled to be completed around mid to late April. The basketball goals are being paid for out of Parks Capital. The cost for 6 goals is approximately $14,000 and those will be delivered tomorrow. We have an agreement going to City Council Tuesday night. The agreement is with HLA, a civil engineering organization for the design of our walkways, parking lots, bridges and some lighting at Randall Park. Ken advised that we did have some flooding at Randall Park and Randall Dog Park. Ken stated that we had the volunteers from Triumph Actuation Systems clean up the woody debris along Wide Hollow Creek last September. There were comments made that we cut down some trees but we in fact did not, we just removed a lot of the dead wood, which could have been very damaging during this flood event. The staff has been working very hard the last couple of days trying to get the debris and water cleaned up in the parks that flood and had damage. Discussion followed. Manager’s Report Ken advised that its spring and our Seasonal Employees have returned to work. We are looking at purchasing 225 banquet chairs for the Harman Center. We need to replace the chairs we currently have as we have had them since the facility opened and they look a little beat up. Ken reminded the commissioners that Randy Murphy will be retiring at the end of June. He stated he will ask Randy to come to a Commission meeting so we can thank him for his 34 years of service. We currently have the Recreation Supervisor position open as well as the Senior Center Assistant position. Erin Hull, who was hired in May, has resigned as she and her husband have adopted a child. We are also hiring for a Park Maintenance Worker position within the next couple of weeks. This position has been open for over a year. Matt asked how many park maintenance positions we have. Ken advised we have 13 with the 9 month seasons including Randy. Matt asked if that includes the Golf Course. Ken advised it does. We also have our temporary employees which are basically our summer help. Ken advised that we have full-time year round, full-time 9 months and temporaries. Matt asked if there is an heir apparent for Randy’s job or will that be hired from the outside or from within. Ken stated that we will post it like we do for all of our jobs. It is a fairly lengthy process. Matt stated he will be hard to replace as he is Ken’s right hand man. Ken agreed and stated we used to have 3 supervisory positions in Park Maintenance. Discussion followed. For the Good of the Order Nothing discussed. Adjournment The next Parks and Recreation Commission meeting will be April 13, 2016. The meeting adjourned at 6:30 p.m.