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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/04/2008 04A Draft Minutes 01-29-2008 Study SessionSTUDY SESSION JANUARY 29, 2008 COUNCIL CHAMBERS - CITY HALL 8:00 A.M. — PUBLIC SESSION Roll Call _% A Present: Council: Mayor Dave Edler, presiding, Assistant Mayor Cawley, Council Members Kathy Coffey, Rick Ensey, Norm Johnson, Bill Lover, and Neil McClure Staff: City Manager Zais and City Clerk Moore 2. PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION The Parks & Recreation Commission members present were introduced: Tom Hinman, Sam Karr, Paul Williams, Mike Nixon and Maureen Adkison. Chairman Bob Busse was unavailable for the meeting. Mike Nixon opened the meeting and covered the importance of parks, the expense, and how revenue does not cover the costs. It is an important time in which we are dealing with the critical issues of swimming pools, golf, and the general cost of doing business. Other Commission members noted the difficulty of funding the need to help citizens have a higher quality of life, a Council goal. Each Commissioner relayed the importance of parks to them personally. Denise Nichols, Parks and Recreation Manager, pointed out that the challenge they have had has been to make the difficult choices when asked to reduce the Parks' budget. The Commission has been involved in the prioritization of services. The core responsibility of the Parks Commission is maintaining the parks system and they do a good job with that. The Commission would like to hear where Council sees us going, because each time they come forward with required reductions there is always a contingent of citizens that don't like the choice. They would like to know Council's priorities with regard to parks in the city. Last year Parks had to cut $200,000 and that is not expected to stop. It is becoming more and more difficult to sustain the things we offer. One critical issue is that all of our current park property, with the exception of five acres, is developed. We do not have any open park space for future generations to develop. That is critical as cost and availability of land is going up. Discussion covered community partners such as Americorp, Allied Arts, the YMCA and the Salvation Army. The difficulty of working with volunteers was noted. It is impossible to hire and train volunteers to work for less than 30 days and it was pointed out that volunteers aren't free; they require staff to recruit, supervise, train, encourage, etc. Each Council member commented on their experiences with the City parks and the need to rely on partnerships and to listen to the people and their priorities. 40 STUDY SESSION — PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION JANUARY 29, 2008 Mrs. Nichols mentioned that one of the biggest challenges is that the young people is 99 9 Y 9 P p are not coming out for activity; they are sitting at home, many times unsupervised, with video games and television. The challenge is to get the young people to the parks and to have parents feel that their kids are safe there. Other discussion points were future land acquisition, primarily west; changes at Kiwanis Park and future plans to continue it to the north; an aquatic center, and taking over the West Valley park. Mrs. Nichols encouraged Council to look at the downtown core as the little park on 2 I Avenue may go away. With regard to the Kiwanis park area, the long -term vision is to have a recreation corridor along the highway over to the Sun Dome. In the comprehensive plan, the biggest need was identified in the northeast area with it's high- density neighborhoods. Mayor Edler commented that we are strongly committed to the quality of life for Yakima citizens but are concerned with how to fund the issue. Staff has pursued grants as a necessary piece of funding along with private /public partnerships. We are going to have to prioritize and the programs are going to have to start carrying their own weight. If an aquatic center is ever realized, it will have to pay for itself as we will not be able to subsidize it. Chris Waarvick, Public Works Director, referred to a previously discussed concept of including parks funding in the public safety issue because it is definitely a method of diverting kids away from a life of crime. The idea of holding a summit discussion of all partners was suggested and discussed. In response to a suggestion about moving labor outside of City employees, Mr. Waarvick advised that it is a breach of the labor contract. He also mentioned that our experience with contractors is only as good as the supervision and the development of the actual contract. The City carries the liability. Simply contracting out work may have the sense of a quick solution but examples across the nation have not proven true. Mrs. Nichols added that many parks have been successful with volunteer programs, e.g. adopt -a -park; but, as she mentioned earlier, generally they are under a full -time coordinator. We have been successful on limited projects with community adoption, but generally just on one -time events. It takes a lot of care and commitment over the long haul and dedicated staff is needed to mentor those programs. Council Member Johnson commented that the labor issue should not stop us from looking into contracting because labor costs are going out of sight. Council Member Lover pointed out that a number of the programs that are almost entirely run by volunteers, e.g. little league, girls softball and Yakima youth baseball, are revenue makers. • Kiwanis Planning and Development Bob Alexander, representing the Parker Youth Sports Foundation, said they are working in concert with Parks on the developmental phase of Kiwanis Park. He expressed the Foundation's concern about how neighborhoods are continuing to be developed without green space. He referenced a letter prepared by service groups with regard to Kiwanis Park. They stated they would like to have the latitude to work directly with the Parks Department and the Parks Commission during the design phase in order to maximize the development of those properties and fields and maximize the potential to receive the best bang for the legislative • bucks. With regard to the incinerator, he feels there is great potential for making it a working feature rather than a monument and a target for graffiti. r �J 0 • STUDY SESSION — PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION JANUARY 29, 2008 • Transitions and future leadership - Council Member Johnson suggested the Parks Commission play a role in the selection process of new leadership in Parks required due to the upcoming retirement of Mrs. Nichols. City Manager Zais complimented Mrs. Nichols' performance as the Parks and Recreation Manager noting that it will likely be necessary to go outside the City to find her replacement. Mr. Nixon also pointed out the need to have a professional in the manager position, especially due to the need for knowledge about obtaining grants. He urged the Council to maintain this top management position. Council Member Lover volunteered to be the liaison on the Fisher Golf Course subcommittee. 3. Audience Participation None. 4. Adjourn CAWLEY MOVED AND McCLURE SECONDED TO ADJOURN. The meeting adjourned at 9:30 a.m. READ AND CERTIFIED ACCURATE BY COUNCIL MEMBER DATE COUNCIL MEMBER DATE ATTEST: CITY CLERK DAVID EDLER, MAYOR Minutes prepared by Linda Watkins. A CD and DVD of this meeting are available in the City Clerk's Office 3