City of
PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION
STUDY SESSION
MINUTES
January 11, 2007
Present: Commissioners Eggers, Gardiner, Lewis, Noraas, Rosenthal; Director Robertson; Superintendents Gies and Teige; Facilities Manager Lang
Absent: None
Rosenthal called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. at the Parks Office,
FACILITIES FEES AND CHARGES REVIEW
Teige presented a background on facilities fees and charges, reporting that rates for facilities and associated policies had not been reviewed or adjusted in eight to ten years and the department currently was recovering expenses at a rate of 17.5%. She reminded the commission that this was the third consecutive study session relating to the topic of facilities fees and policies and that staff would make final recommendations at the January 22 regular commission meeting.
Teige listed the ten free-of-charge users, stating that the City of
Issues to be resolved included: 1) Historical use and whether to continue allowing free-of-charge facilities usage; 2) discounted usage; 3) cost of service versus revenue / hourly rates; and 4) access to buildings. She indicated that some of the issues could be resolved within the next fiscal year while others might take longer.
Teige recommended annual phased fee adjustments, simplifying the fee schedule, determining a percentage rate of cost recovery, and creating a wedding package for
Proposed fee adjustments included:
o Pioneer Hall and Community Center: Weekday hourly: $13/hour; weekend hourly: $21/hour
o Non-refundable alcohol deposit: $100
o The Grove, full facility: Weekday hourly: $26; weekend hourly: $32
o Senior Center: Non-profit: $12/hour; profit: $14/hour
o All-day rentals: Eliminate for all facilities
o Security access codes: Eliminate present system and replace with more secure system
o Long-term users hourly rate: Raise from $9/hour to $10/hour and request flexibility in moving groups to another facility as needed
Public Input
Pete Barnes,
Art Clemons, 175 California Street, representing the Ashland Folk Dancers, stated that his group had rented the Community Center every week for over 30 years and was a valuable community resource. He reported that: 1) most dancers are drop-ins; 2) approximately 20 dancers attend per week; and 3) the folk dancing organization consistently pays Parks for use of the building on Friday evenings.
Other groups in attendance were the American Legion, the Eckankar group, AARP, and Boy Scouts of America Troop 112.
Discussion Among Commissioners
Commissioners discussed Teige’s recommendations and talked about evaluating and raising fees each year to bring them into line with maintenance and operations expenses. Commissioners agreed about the sensitive nature of the topic and the need to simplify the fee schedule and raise rates to recover more than 17.5% of expenses, and also discussed the possibility of charging service groups less for use of the buildings. The commission thanked Teige for her work and expressed appreciation to the community organizations for participating in the process.
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Robertson reminded the commission of the proposal by “Ashland Ice” to place a full-sized hockey rink in the space currently occupied by the Darex Family Ice Rink in
Moeglein updated the commission on the work of “Ashland Ice.” His presentation included a market and schedule analysis, annual budget, project scope and goals, capital cost estimates, fund-raising efforts, and next steps for the project.
Discussion Among Commissioners
Commissioners expressed appreciation for Moeglein’s efforts, with some stating that the project was out of scale for the area in which it was proposed for placement [the
ADJOURNMENT INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION
o Executive Session: Real Property ORS 192.660 (1)(e)
ADJOURNMENT OUT OF EXECUTIVE SESSION
ADJOURNMENT – By consensus, with no further business, Rosenthal adjourned the meeting at 9:45 PM.
Respectfully submitted, Susan Dyssegard, Ashland Parks and Recreation