Loading...
4.5. SR 06-17-2002TO: FROM: DATE: SUBJECT: MEMORANDUM The Mayor and City Council Michele Bergh, Recreation Manager June 12, 2002 Lions Park Center Policy Item #4.5. Attached you will find a revised draft of the Lions Park Center policy changes. I think the new format may be easier to understand. The following changes have been made: · We have eliminated "priorities" as these don't apply unless two groups were to come in at the same time wanting the same day since the facility is f~rst come, f~rst serve. · The Lions will pay a small fee for use. · Everyone except the Lions will pay for building supervision after 4pm on Recreation Department business day and all weekend and holiday use. · The deposit breakdown has been simplified to two levels if based on the number of people. Some uses would still pay the $1,000 deposit. · Fees have been adjusted slightly. Non-resident fees for the meeting room space are more than they were and others are slightly less due to the building supervision expenses. We were concerned that ~vith both rent and building supervision some of the groups may not be able to afford the facility. · An event lasting less than 2 hours is a different fee than those lasting longer than 2 hours. This was 2.5 hours in the original policy. We would like to add the building supervision as we feel that better security and supervision is needed for the facility. We have had concerns expressed over people coming in and out of the building when it is open. We also have concerns about parking. As you know, ~ve have limited parking at this time. For a few of the larger activities people have parked on the grass, parked in a way that an emergency vehicle could not get to the building, and driven on the trails. This is difficult to control without a staff person on hand. I have also been present on two separate occasions where people have come in to use the building prior to their scheduled set up time. When issuing keys to a group, there is no way to manage whether they come and go at the time they are scheduled for. In many cases, this could affect the fees. Lions Park Center and the Lions Park are such assets for the community and we would like to take steps to protect them. We believe a building supervisor would help with this. We tried to be affordable for the groups that the building was intended for and I think it's better to be on the low side and see people using the building versus being too expensive and having it go unused. It will be easier to increase fees as needed than to decrease them and get users back once they've gone elsewhere for space. I have also attached the IRS definition of a group qualifying for 501 (c)3 status. We would require groups to provide paperwork supporting this status or their mission statement. The policy would still state that the facility may not be used for prayer or worship purposes. This group would also include service organizations that were identified by the Lions as the Rotary, Kiwanis, Masons, Knights of Columbus, Jaycees, American Legion and Auxiliary, VFW and Auxiliary, Lioness, and the Eagles and Auxiliary. We realize there are other service organizations out there and listing them all would be difficult. We felt the easiest way to address this would be as the need arises. We are requesting the council approve these changes to the Lions Park Center policy. 0 ~ ~ 0 ~Z ~ 0 0 0 The exempt purposes set forth in § 501(c)(3) are charitable, religious, educational, scientific, literary, testing for public safety, fostering national or international amateur sports competition, and the prevention of cruelty to children or animals. The term charitable is used in its generally accepted legal sense and includes relief of the poor, the distressed, or the underprivileged; advancement of religion; advancement of education or science; erection or maintenance of public buildings, monuments, or works; lessening the burdens of government; lessening of neighborhood tensions; elimination of prejudice and discrimination; defense of human and civil rights secured by law; and combating community deterioration and juvenile delinquency. MEMORANDUM TO: FROM: DATE: Mayor and City Council Pat Klaers, City~n~inistrator June 17, 2002 SUBJECT: Lions Park Center Policy The city has had a number of conversations with representatives with the Lions club regarding the scheduling, fees, and use of the Lions Park Center (LPC). Concerns from the Lions Club relate to overuse of the facility by the City Recreation Department and providing adequate availability and a low fee for use of the facility for the local service organizations. Addressing the local service organizations can be tricky. This issue was discussed by the City Council in May and defining a local service organization is open to interpretation. A list of local service organizations has been provided to the city by the Lions Club. We could add this phrase "local service organizations" to the 501 (c)(3) group of users. Other groups that want to qualify under this local service organization label would have to appeal to the City Council (or the City Administrator). The benefit of this label comes in the payment of fees for use of the facility. The payment for the 501 (c)(3) groups is less than the payment for the residents group, which is where most of the organizations would fall if they are not within the 501 (c)(3) group. Attached for your information is a statement from the Lions Club regarding this facility and their usage preferences. The other main issue of the Lions Club related to City Recreation use of the facility. This issue will need some work in order to get resolved. Everyone desires to have the Recreation Department use the facility when available, but no one wants the Recreation Department to overuse the facility and subsequently not have it available for public use. The difficulty comes in scheduling, whereby the Recreation Department needs to schedule the facility 2-4 months in advance because of the publication of the Recreation brochure and the advanced registration requirements. This past spring the Recreation Department had the facility scheduled into the summer and while not too many conflicts arose there were some and, as we are just starting to manage this facility, the conflicts seemed to get amplified. Typically, summer is the busy Recreation period and few conflicts are anticipated in the non-summer months. Again, this issue ~vill be a work in progress and is not really the main topic for this City Council agenda item. The LPC policy is certain to undergo future changes as we learn more about who is using the facility. There will likely be resmctions on such activities as rummage sales and the parking lot size may unfortunately limit the times when LPC can be rented due to large activities m the park itself. Possible changes will be evaluated and presented to the Council later m the year. s: ~ council~pat~lpcpol.doc TH[ ELK RIVER LIONS CLUB CONTRACTED FOR, HAD CONSTRUCTED, AND PAID FOR BUILDING WHICH THE CITY OF ELK RIVER NAMED LIONS CENTER. WHEN TH[ BUILDING WAS FINISHED, DONATED THE BUILDING TO TH[ CITY OF ELK RIVER. THIS PARK TH[ UONS THE CITY ADDED ONTO THE ORIGINAL PLANS - AND PAID FOR TH[SE MODIFICATIONS -- IN ORDER TO ALLOW OFFICE SPACE FOR TH[ ELK RIVER PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT. TH[ CITY WILL MAINTAIN, SCHEDULE, AND MONITOR TH[ USE OF LIONS PARK CENTER THE LIONS' INTENT IN PLANNING FOR AND CONSTRUCTING THIS BUILDING WAS TO PROVIDE MEETING SPACE FOR THE CITIZENS AND ORGANIZATIONS OF ELK RIVER. THE ELK RIVER LIONS CLUB AND THE ELK RIVER CITY COUNCIL WORKED TOGETHER IN DEFINING PRIORITIES FOR SUCH USAGE WITH PREFERENCES TO BE ASSIGNED TO LOCAL SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS. WE, THE ELK RIVER LIONS CLUB, HOPE YOU WILL ENJOY USING THIS BUILDING AND TREAT IT Wn'H RESPECT. THANK YOU!