6.5. SR 12-20-2004
Item 6.5.
MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Bill Maertz, Director of Parks and Recreation
DATE: December 20, 2004
SUBJECT: Parks and Recreation Update
Hot T opic( s) of the Month
We are beginning to schedule for ice rink attendants for the upcoming season. Additionally,
we will have an extra set of boards for organized hockey practices at Handke this season.
Coaches have alIeady started reserving dates. A small, speed skating Oval will surround the
two rinks.
Our January-February program guide is out and is in color with a glossy cover. We are very
pleased with the way it turned out and are excited to have such a nice looking guide for the
public.
Oak Wilt
The mild weather has provided an opportunity to begin removals of park trees killed by
oak wilt. Due to the large number of dead trees, crews will focus primarily on hazardous
trees adjacent to trails.
November Programs
Programs running in November are as follows:
Fitness classes, Women's Volleyball, Co Rec Volleyball, Parent and Tot Tumbling, Preschool
Tumbling, Parent and Tot Open Playtime, Eager Elks Tumbling, Eager Elks Floor Hockey,
Eager Elks Soccer, Eager Elks Kids Kardio, Girl Power, BLAST!, Parent's Night Out,
Santa's Workshop, Open Gyms, and Skating Academy.
Facili\y Use
We reserved approximately 200 hours of facility use for the month of November. 72
hours was for Lions Park Center, 75 hours was at Emporium, and the remainder was for
miscellaneous facilities.
Policy Updates
Association Policy
Our current field use policy identifies a Priority One User as:
One association/group per sport/ activity and population served. This association will be
the association with seniority if it serves rhe largest number of participants.
These groups do not pay for use of the fields and either they hire their own maintenance
staff in the case of Adult Softball or the City provides the service at a reduced rate. All
others pay a flat rate of $20 for residents and $40 for non-residents per day for each field
used. This fee includes no maintenance.
There are currently no provisions within the policy requiring a Priority One Use to have a
board, bylaws, regularly scheduled meetings, and open books. We believe these things are
important for accountability and liability.
To be considered a Priority One User, groups will be required to have a formalized board,
bylaws, regularly scheduled meetings, and open books. Any group or individual not meeting
these requirements would then fall under the Priority Two category.
Lions Park Center Deposit
The deposit amount set for Lions Park Center originally was $1,000. At this time users were
being issued keys to the building and no staff was present. Shortly thereafter, we changed
the policy to include a staff member on site at all times. We feel we no longer need to
charge someone $1,000 for a deposit. If damage was done valued at more than the deposit,
the group would be billed for it.
We have reduced the deposit to $100 for all rentals that include indoor use of Lions Park
Center. This is consistent with the Trott Brook Farms Barn policy.
Wellness Committee
We are planning next year and will finalize the calendar of events in December.