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Home My WebLink About1981-03-02 - Minutes• ( F'AYETTEVILILE, ARKANSAS P. 0. DRAWER F 72701 (5011 531.7700 PARKS & RECREATION ADVISORY BOARD Monday, March 2, 1981 at 1:30 p.m. Present: Waite, Knight, Lashley, Brinner, Reagan, Widder, Clark, Beverly Melton Brinner reported on Swimpool meeting, February 28. Final decision: 1) Hailey - Powers and Fro.^, -g with n •'..C.CQd^ -Will i,.I,. and Yates; 91 Paul Young with McGoodwin-Williams and Yates; 3) Delvin Nation with McClelland. Bob Cantrell of Pool Committee spoke highly of Richard Nailor,who attended meeting and was interested in the job. David asks if Cantrell's pool expertise cannot be utilized in an advisory capacity. Motion by George that we accept Pool Committee's recommendation for Hailey- Powers-Froning to do preliminary pool study and grant proposal for $2,000. Second by Waite. Unanimous approval. Minutes of February 2 corrected to include Rodney Ryan as present. Also change $2,500 for preliminary pool study to $2,000. Alan Beauchamp presented proposal for a tennis center. Present usage at Wilson Park is 807 University students, courts filled 50% of the time. Bill asks how we could offer tennis program to kids who can't pay. Dale says children who are not able to pay in other Youth Center programs are offered discounts. School tournaments would be encouraged. Alan suggests a public meeting for input after this board makes a decision. He foresees opposition from University students and 15 people who are constant players and know when to find free courts. David decided we should read the proposal carefully and be prepared to make a decision next month 'Dale says lights un courts are noL payii:y for themselves. Will have met rs changed over to increase charge to 50C per 12 minutes. David presented G.O. Bond Project update. Balance $47,368.83. Agrees with City records. David talked with Wayne Jones -- meeting with HERS Friday on Walker projects. Bids now open. . Soccer projects at schools. Paul Shafer appealed to Dale. David offered financial -help from this board (G.O. Board) to improve practice soccer fields at schools. So far Root and Butterfield PTA's have asked for up to $500 (or half of cost). Motion by George, second by Brinner. Unanimous. Nine usable fields presently in use. • • David talked about excessive demands Greenspace Ordinance plat meetings are making on his time. Brought copies of map Waite Reagan, Larry Wood, Lashley, designating needy areas for parks. His present stance is: take money in lieu unless the subdivision falls within our needs as designated on this map. Reagan suggested co-opting experts from the community. David feels we need to keep a strong hand in as this new ordinance comes into its first use. David presented engineers plat of our land in Industrial Park 29.07 acres. Prospect of softball field there. Land woods and brush, a lot of it below flood plane. John Todd came in and asked that we consider honoring Jim Gibson posthumously by dedicating Babe Ruth fields to him or Youth Center auditorium. John also asked for consideration of the late Orby McClelland. Babe Ruth baseball people came to Dale for maintenance of their fields. Softball meeting Sunday. David asks that these teams be appreciative of our facilities and police premises after each game. • • TENNIS CENTER Why have one? 1. To direct the support of the tennis courts to those who play. 2. To have a broader program for those who play. 3. To have a place to dress and undress and to sit down. 4. To give players a place they can depend on getting a court. Disadvantages of trying to get one started 1. Opposition to one exists a. among those who play when there is no trouble getting a court b. among those who would rather wait than pay c. among those who believe government should support the courts 2. There is no guarantee that a tennis center will pay for itself 3. It will take some initial financing to get it started Possible ways of paying for a tennis center 1. Charge a court fee for playing If six courts were filled to 50C capacity (.3 courts) over a 10 -hour day for 300 days with people paying $2.00 an hour per court ($1.00 each for singles; $.50 each for doubles) the city would receive an income of $18,000 per year. 2. Charge a yearly fee for playing If a $50 per year fee were charged and 400 players paid that fee $20,000 a year would be received. 3. A combination of yearly charge and fee for court time This gives a person a choice and would reduce complaints in my opinion. Those who play a great many hours would be getting a good bargain and • those who played very little would have no complaint about paying $2.00 1 t • • • t 2 an hour for court time. This method might also make it more feasible to use just four courts for reservation and two courts open for free play and still obtain enough money to run the center. Factors affecting court usage Those likely to increase the court usage 1. Summerhill Racquet Club has reached maximum membership, and there may be a need for another outlet to play. 2. The dressing facilities would make playing at the park more desirable than ever. 3. The better kept nets and courts would make play there more desirable. 4. The tendency of players to come to a place where there is organized activity. Those likely to decrease the court usage 1. The new university facility 2. Initial resistance to having to pay for something previously free How many courts should be used? 6 courts Advantage --The most income would be derived, thus presenting the best chance to support the center. Disadvantage --The initial resistance may be the greatest to this proposal. 4 courts Advantage --Perhaps there will be less resistance to the center and perhaps a clear perspective of just how much the public really will accept the new center will best be gained. Disadvantage --Less income will be derived. 2 courts Advantage --This remains a possibility and could be run by the yearly fee • • • • C 3 method with little cost to the city, but it would have to be run through the Youth Center. Disadvantage --There would be no center building and no one to run a program and might cause more headache for the Youth Center director. How could the center be run? 1. Hire a full time person on salary. One scenario for this might be to pay a person $6,000 per year. The responsibilities of this tennis director would be to organize teaching and tournament programs, be in charge of the tennis center and its care, and with the help of the Parks Director to seek other employee help needed. The tennis director would be obligated to manning the center for 1,000 hours per year. In those hours the director alone would be taking care of the courts, taking reservations, planning, stringing rackets, etc. Beyond this time, the director would teach some city classes for which he or she would be separately paid primarily out of the funds received from those who participate in the classes. The director would also teach private lessons. There would have to be another person manning the tennis center for about 2,000 other hours during the year. This would involve another $6,000 in expense ($3/hour X 2,000 hours). 2. Hire individuals to take reservations only. At $3 per hour this would cost the city about $9,000 per year, $3,000 less than hiring someone who could run a full time program. What kind of building would be needed? The center building could be a small one about 12' X 30' fronting the restrooms toward the south. Since no plumbing would be needed and the building could be heated with a wood stove, the cost should run not much • • • over $5,000 if city workers built it. /Lo-c-tY\ r/Ivet/7r- 6241.122, c 4