Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks And Recreation Board - Minutes - 01/24/2007Call Meeting to Order: Greg called the meeting to order at 5:45 Agenda Review: Marty reminded the Board that election for officers will take place at the February meeting. Citizen Participation: None Approval of Minutes: On a motion made by Ann seconded by Michael the Board approved the November 29, 2006 Minutes 5:0 Introduce New Board Member The Board welcomed their new member, William Pickering. William gave a brief introduction and said he is looking forward to serving on the Board. Darin Atteberry City Reoreanization City Manager Darin Atteber y came to discuss the City's reorganization with the Board and how the changes would affect CLRS (Cultural, Library and Recreational Services). He informed the Board that he had set aside some money during the 2006-2007 budget process, with Council's approval, to do the reorganization. Darin said that the last modification was 20 years ago. The initial focus was on Transportation, Planning and Utilities services. He feels there is some opportunity to better collaborate between the departments. Management Partners is the consulting firm that Darin has hired to help with the reorganization and he feels they are doing a great job. This firm has compared Fort Collins to16 other peer cities. Once the project manager reviewed the current organizational chart she came to Darin and said that they had some additional suggestions in regards to the current structure. Darin currently has 12 direct reports and it was suggested that they get that down to 5. They recommend that Darin utilize his staff and allow them to direct more. Darin then reviewed the current organizational chart and what they are anticipating it to look like with the changes. He informed the Board that Marty will now report to the Deputy City Manager, Diane Jones in order to get his responses met faster. He explained being as responsive as he would like was difficult at times because he not only has a large number of direct reports but he is also on 5 external committees. He then reminded the Board that Library Services will soon be leaving the City and Marty has been working on this transition. He explained the CPES (Community Planning and Environmental Services) and Transportation departments we are merging. He also said that Natural Resources and Environmental Services will be moving to Marty's area. He explained that there are opportunities because of the similarities between parks, trails and natural areas. This may allow us to cross -train for better efficiency. Darin explained that the initial idea was to transition the Library District and then focus on moving Natural Resources out. It was then decided that it was in our best interest to move Natural Resources sooner. Darin said he is looking forward to the transition between Natural Resources & Parks and Recreation and he believes these changes will benefit the organization. Parks and Recreation Board Minutes January 24, 2007 Page 2 Greg asked what cities the consulting firm compared Fort Collins to and how their structures compare to the structure that we are considering. Darin went through the cities and explained that very few cities have such extensive Natural Resources and Environmental programs other than Boulder. Marty stated that it is not unusual in other cities to have Natural Resources and Parks in the same area. Darin stated that the suggested structure is more aligned with the other communities. Cathy asked if Parks and Recreation is a priority for City management. In Darin's opinion Parks and Recreation may be at risk for future issues. He stated that the entire City has cut a lot in order to help with the budget issues and our revenue just isn't raising enough to meet the increasing costs. Darin believes that the type of service we expect is not being funded appropriately. He reminded the Board that we suggested a Park Maintenance Fee and Transportation Maintenance Fee to Council but they felt it wasn't the solution for the community right now. He said that he would like Council to consider increasing our sales tax rate because it is too low to support our community. Marty said that Council may not have supported the fees because the formation of the Library District freed up sufficient General Fund dollars to balance the budget. Darin suggested that staff and the Parks and Recreation Board make sure we can bring on future parks and be able to maintain them. He asked Craig how many future parks we are planning to bring on and Craig said that it is 17-18. Darin said that we know we will have the money to build them but we really need to make sure we can maintain them. Based on our current revenue stream he is concerned with that. He said we have to balance ours wants and needs. He informed the Board that over the last 20 years we have had 8-12 percent revenue growth and now we're at 1-3 percent. He wanted to clarify that he is not asking them to shoot down the plan he is asking them to balance things. He then provided the Board with a draft copy of the organizational chart and said that we are currently working on the name of Marty's service area. Ann asked if the P&R Board and the Natural Resources Board would be merging. Michael asked about holding some joint meetings. Marty said that he doesn't think the boards will merge but they are welcome to hold joint meetings as they have in the past. He informed them that the new manager of Parks will co-chair the P&R Board along with Craig. Marty explained that he is picking up so many boards that he will be asking that of Craig and the new manager. Jessica then expressed her concern about building new parks because of the maintenance issue and she feels we should consider reducing that number. Parks and Recreation Policy Plan Update --Green Play Marty welcomed Green Play, the consulting firm that was hired to help put together the Parks and Recreation Policy Plan update. Karen Grannen gave a brief description of the services Green Play provides. She informed the Board that Green Play has worked in Colorado as well as nationally. Karen feels that they have a great team that is working on the Parks and Recreation Policy Plan. She introduced Rob Layton from Design Concepts and Roger Sherman with BHA Design. The other team members that will be working on the plan as well are RRC Associates, a survey firm out of Boulder, and GOWEST, a GIS firm. She said that they have done a great deal of work in Colorado. She then gave a brief overview of what would be covered tonight. She said that they have discussed the current plan with staff to get a good idea of what has and hasn't worked and what their internal challenges are. She said that Green Play feels the current plan is a reflection of it's time. She said that it is very common for plans around the 90's to focus solely on physical planning and not the management aspects with little focus on funding for maintenance. Karen expressed the importance of future planning efforts. She said that they are putting together focus groups in February which will include a wide variety of user groups and organizations to provide input. They will also send out a survey for the public to fill out. This information will give them an idea of what the City has in place and will establish a benchmark Parks and Recreation Board Minutes January 24, 2007 Page 3 to figure out how we are currently meeting the needs of the community and with future growth where we need to go. She addressed the budget issues the City is continuing to face and said that their team prides themselves on making recommendations that balance the community's needs with their resources. Karen said the focus groups are a time for them to let everyone in the community know about this project. She said around 75 organizations will be invited to participate in the focus groups and they will also send a survey to 3,500-4,000 households in the community. She feels this will be a good representation of the community. Jessica asked how long the process would be and Karen said it would be about a 4-6 week process. Karen asked if the Board had any questions or comments on the questionnaire they were provided. Greg said that he read through it and that Karen addressed some of his questions. He commented that Fort Collins needs a large sports complex. Cathy believes it's important to get the communities opinion on how important parks and recreation services are to them. Karen responded that they will ask the community to rate services in the community in order to get an idea of what people value for their tax dollars. Marty asked if Karen felt the answers they receive from focus group would give them what they need to go forward. Karen said yes and that they will more than likely see that the survey results echo what they hear in the focus groups. Ann asked how the survey and the information presented to the focus groups compare and Karen said that the survey is much more specific. She said that they do national trends research to find out what the trends are. Jessica asked what some of the trends were. Rob said that indoor recreation is popular. Karen then encouraged the Board members to participate in the focus groups. Cathy feels that they need to contact people who are currently using the facilities and participate in the parks and recreation activities. She suggested reaching out to these individuals by putting a survey in the back of the Recreator. Jessica asked if the public outreach information will be published in the paper and Craig said it would and it would also be on the City's website. Rob then explained their methodology called GRAPS Analysis for recreation facilities. He said that they use this methodology nation wide. It's based on community input to find out what the expectations are. He said that they are looking at quality as well as quantity. The old standards looked at how many things you have and if you have enough you're fine. They are looking at all of the facilities and services that the City provides to identify what the issues are. Roger discussed the sales tax issue that the City is having and said that they will be looking at other possible funding sources. He feels that the survey will give them a good indication of whether or not people would support a possible fee or tax increase in order to support the level of service expected. He said that they would like to meet with the Board again in March. Roger then asked the Board if they had any questions or comments. William asked if they would be pointing us in direction of parks and recreation grants. Karen said yes, and that falls under alternative funding. Jessica asked when the YAC was scheduled to close and Marty thought it would be around August. Jessica feels the closing of the YAC will be an issue. Karen said that isn't addressed on the survey but there will be a comment section if someone wants to address that. Jessica asked how many questions were on the survey and Karen said around 30. Roger informed the Board that Larimer County is in the process of trying to come up with something to fill the gap from the YAC closing. Marty asked Roger if the County was funding the project and Roger said that they are helping to facilitate it. He said that they will also look at all the activities that are in place and not just what the City provides. Ann asked how you inform the public so they are aware of these factors. He said that we can alert them of these possibilities but it's at a very preliminary stage. Greg asked how much involvement Council will have in the plan. Rob said staff usually has a good understanding of what involvement is needed from Council. Karen said that they recommend that Council attend the Public Meeting in order to get a better Parks and Recreation Board Minutes January 24, 2007 Page 4 understanding of the process. Marty said that Council will need to adopt the plan so we may take it to a work session and a regular Council meeting. Michael asked if they would also be looking at what our surrounding communities have and will they take into account the fact they may utilize these facilities. Rob said for example if an indoor recreation center was suggested then they would look at the entire market. Greg asked if they could elaborate more on what some of the trends are. Rob said that they have seen private parks and parks in subdivisions. He said that developers encourage parks and sometimes those parks don't have a long lifespan and are expensive to maintain so the community ends up taking over because the HOA can't afford to maintain them. This can also become a burden on the community because they are expensive to maintain. He said that trails are also a trend, which Fort Collins is already doing a good job with, and also indoor recreation. Karen said that partnerships are also popular. Rob said that some communities have looked at something that isn't utilized as much as they would like and they are converting it to something new. Cathy asked if they had any additional ideas abut reducing maintenance. Rob said that that is a very common issue. He said that Florida is gearing more toward gated parks not just for safety but some also charge a fee. Jessica feels that we need to address this issue in more than one way. She also feels that our sales tax is fairly low and at some point we need to implement a fee. Jessica also believes we would generate more revenue if we would rebuild the mall. Marty told the Board not to be discouraged about the Park Maintenance fee not passing. He said that it went pretty far and he believes the outcome may have been different if the Library District hadn't passed. Marty informed the Board that we have been working on a state model to base our revenues on and it was working well for a long time. It hasn't been working as well over the last few years. The City hired a consultant to create a better model for Fort Collins which should help to keep projected revenues in line with actual revenues. Adopt the 2006 Annual Report The Board had received the report in their monthly packet. Jessica asked if everyone had a chance to review it; all Board members affirmed that they did. Greg moved to approve the 2006 Annual Report as submitted and Jessica seconded the motion. All Board members were in favor. Board Member and Staff Comments Marty reminded the Board again that they need to elect officers at the February meeting. Both Jessica and Greg felt it was time to get in new officers. Marty said to let him or Dawn know if they are interested or would like to recommend another member. Proiect Updates Craig also encouraged the Board to attend the Public Meeting because it may give them an even better understanding of the process. He then informed the Board that we have bid out the BCC sidewalks. He said we received 10 bids and the low bids were around $120,000, well below preliminary estimates, because the price of concrete has gone down. Parks and Recreation Board Minutes January 24, 2007 Page 5 Other Business Correspondence Adjournment: The Board unanimously agreed to adjourn at 8:00 p.m. spectfullyy suubb►�miitte , awn Worth Administrative Aide Board Attendance Board Members: Michael Chalona, Ann Hunt, Cathy Kipp, Greg Miller, Jessica MacMillan, William Pickering Staff: Steve Budner, Craig Foreman, Marty Heffernan, Dawn Worth Guests: Rob Layton, Karen, Roger Sherman