HomeMy WebLinkAbout1989-01-16 - MinutesPAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT P. 0. DRAWER F 72702 (501) 521-7700 PRAB REGULAR MEETING JANUARY 16, 1989 Chairman Bill Waite called the Regular Meeting of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board to order at 5:10 p.m. Members Present: Staff Present: BUSINESS: Colwell, Lashley, Lucas, Melton, Ryan, Sego, Waite, Yarbrough Clark, Edmonston, Metzger Minutes of the Regular Meeting, held January 16, 1989, were approved with the following correction: V. Wade Colwell reported that Civitan Club is going to sponsor a "2 Mile Cross'Country Run" at Gulley Park on Saturday, February 18. II. Discussion of Annual PRAB City Board Meeting Items to be discussed at upcoming meeting: 1. Historical view of Parks and Recreation 2. Facilities Report 3. Number of citizens served 4. The future of Parks and Recreation and the economic impact 5. Park Master Plan 6. Green Space Revenues by quadrants Chairman Bill Waite will contact Mayor Bill Martin to set the date for the Annual PRAB Report to the the City Board of Directors as stated in Ordinance 1526. The date of February 28, 1989 is being considered. Other Business Dale Clark will be contacting Public School Superintendent Winston Simpson and Assistant Superintendent Charlie Russell about what indoor facilities can be made available for recreational purposes. Meeting Adjourned• 6:00 Minutes Approved: Secretary Next Meeting: February 6, 1989 PROGRAM REPORT January 9, 1989 # of Teams Participants Co -Ed Volleyball 16 180 Industrial League Basketball 15 200 Open League Basketball 12 150 Church League Basketball 10 160 Judo 40 Karate 25 Belly Dance 12 Aerobics 12 Adult Noon Basketball (Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday) average each day 15-25 Adult Noon Volleyball (Monday, Thursday) average each day 12-18 • Youth Dance Center **FREE Dance Day** Saturday, January 14, 1989 Jazz, tap and ballet classes begin on Monday, January 16. Classes for ages 3 - Sr. High held at the Youth Center. The cost for the program is $20.00 for ages 3-4 and $24.00 for grades K -Sr. High. The instructor's name is Suzanne Caldwell. Suzanne has taught at Little Rock School of Dance and La Donna's School of Dance in Sheridan_, AR and been involved with the Dance Olympus Convention. Youth Basketball 4 - 6 grade 45 430 7th grade 13 125 B - 9 grade B 75 High School 20 175 • October 12, 1988 Mayor Marilyn Johnson City Board of Directors City Hall Fayetteville, AR'72701 Dear Honorable Mayor Johnson and Board Directors: This letter is to express the concern of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board regarding apportionment of anticipated revenues of the one -cent sales tax. For virtually every department of the city government, passage of this tax presents an opportunity to rectify past neglect of infrastructure and even improve services and facilities. The notable exception to this is the Parks and Recreation Department.' The figure given this department for planning of capital improvements assuming passage of this tax does not represent an anticipated step forward, but rather a continuation of financial deprivation toward the Parks Department. This attitude is in direct contradiction to that expressed by the citizens of Fayetteville at every opportunity, both by their votes and by their demonstrated support and concern for improvements in the quality of life and environment such as provided by parks and recreation. Before discussing the impact of these budget planning figures, let me briefly review the funding history for:capital improvements to Parks and Recreation facilities. Prior to passage of the initial one -cent sales tax, departmental capital improvement funds were virtually non-e..istent as a city budget item. Any funds provided for this purpose were on a case-by-case special petition to the City Board. Even with this restriction, several substantial developments were accomplished, such as that of Lake Fayetteville, Walker Park South and North, Finger Park, etc. Funds for these projects were acquired primarily from federal agencies such as the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation (BOR), Community Development (CD), and Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service (HORS). The matching funds needed to acquire many of these grants were obtained from private and corporate. donations supplemented by special interest appropriations by the City Board. The bulk of the funds obtained (private, corporate, and city) played a key role in supporting proposals and providing matching funds which made it possible to obtain the substantial federal and state grants. Since the early 1980's, the. funds :from federal agencies have shrunk to virtually zero. The only remaining source is the CD program, however, this program has stringent restrictions on areas which qualify (must be low income) and the type of development (must be strictly confined to low income neighborhood). In addition, the other local social services programs were suffering a squeeze similar to that exerted in the Parks Department and were forced to compete even more vigorously for the scarce remaining funds. As far back as 1980, the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board was pointing out to the City Board the stated intent of the federal government to discontinue many of the grant programs. The tax revisions of the 1980's were to enable local governments to pick up the funding of these activities. This meant that in the future capital improvements for Park and Recreation 'Would have to be locally funded and budgeted. • At or near this same time (1931), the situation with'. the city swimming pool was approaching a crisis. Without the expenditure of substantial funds (nb longer available through federal grants) for replacement or repair of the Wilson Park pool, the city would be left without an outdoor pool. This, as well as other needs of the Park= and Recreation Department, was used to help obtain passage of the briginal one -cent sales tax. In this original proposal, the Parks and Recreation Department was to receive 15% of.the additional revenue to improve facilities and services. Obviously, the bulk of the revenue from .this source would initially be reouired to pay for the pool renovation and additional personnel: to handle the expanded programs at the city pool and other; areas. Now, let's look at what has happened to these funds which were to be allocated to Parks and Recreation. The sales tax funds were separately:accounted for', only for the portion: of 1982 during' which they were collected, and for 1983 and 1984. After this, no separate accounting of these funds was provided.: Parks Allocation of One -cent Sales Tax (originally to be 15% of total) Operations Capital Total Remark_ Improvements 1982 26 , 237 71,918 1983 65.299 417.297 1984 99,415 189,118 As which time completed, reduced. Although the sales 98,155 part year 482,596 full amount or 15% of revenue 288,533 reduced amount you can see, during the second full year of operation at the major expenditures for the city pool were the Parks' share of these revenues was significantly' tax funds were no longer accounted for after 1984, this erosion of funds for parks development May -be seen by viewing the parks budget for capital improvements over a period of years. Parks Department Expenditures and for Capital Improvements (Actual Expenditures) Amount 1976 $ 6,112 1977 $ 37,747 1978 $ -0- 1979 $ 100,000 1980 $ 27,063 1981 $ 90,970 1982 $ 68,031 1983 $ 454,943 1984 $ 94,776 **** Sales tax and general 1985 $ 135,373 1986 $ 152,596 1987 $ 114,875 1988 $ 37,070 Budget Remarks matching funds for Walker Pk South major repairs to city pool sales' tax began budget combined. $18,310 of this is payment for Gulley Park. As you can see, the sales tax as originally passed would by now be providing over $500,000 per year in capital, improvement funds for Parks and Recreation, yet the actual funds allocated have virtually shrunk to nothing. We are back to the old days of • no budget, therefore no planning, thus simply reacting to each crisis in maintenance as it occurs.., With this history, let us now consider the planning figure for Parks and Recreation Department capital improvements put forth by the city administration. This figure is $500,000 for the next five years. At first glance, this would .appear to be $100,000 a year which itself is a very austere budget. However, the situation is far worse than even this appears. Consider just the following two circumstances: 1. The payments for Gulley Park acquisition which continue for an additional nine years must be subtracted from this figure leaving only.$408,450 total:or $81,690 per year.. 2. For the past two years, the PRAB has appraised the City Board of the impending crisis with.the_Youth Center indoor pool. This situation is much the same as that encountered earlier with the Wilson Park pool. If funds are not provided for renovation there will soon be no choice but' to close this facility. This will mean discontinuing virtually all city and school swimming programs which involve literally hundreds of people. This item has been the No. 1 priority of the proposed Parks budget for the past two years and has been struck both times with the admonition to wait until the sales tax was rededicated. If the Parks Department attempts to accomplish renovation with, the funds budgeted, the impact will be severe. The amount needed is estimated at $225,000 thus even if the entire budget were