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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Committees - Parks and Human Services - 06/20/2013 KEN-- Parks and Human Services Committee Meeting Minutes June 20, 2013 Council Committee Members: Chair Debbie Ranniger, Dana Ralph. Elizabeth Albertson was absent. Chair Debbie Ranniger called the meeting to order at 5:03 p.m. Item 1: Minutes of May 16, 2013 - Approve Committeemember Ralph moved to approve the minutes dated May 16, 2013. Chair Ranniger seconded. The motion passed 3-0 with concurrence from Committeemember Albertson. Item 2: Recreation Division: Resource Allocation and Cost Recovery Methodology - INFO ONLY Chair Ranniger introduced Jeff Watling, Parks, Recreation and Community Services Director and Lori Hogan, Superintendent of Recreation and Cultural Services, explaining that at the retreat earlier in 2013, Council asked staff to examine and explore resource allocation and cost recovery within recreation programs and services. Parks Director Jeff Watling referenced the Council's request to take a deeper look at the programs and services that the Recreation Division offers. To look at how staff prioritizes these services and how fees and subsidies are balanced. Watling said the exercise will be a great resource and management tool for Council to make policy decisions on programs and services. Watling explained that there is a general fund support in what recreation does, as well fees charged for services. That combination frames the term of cost recovery. Watling and Hogan explored different tools and frameworks and came up with an option. Before sharing that option, Watling wanted to share information and to get more feedback from Council. Watling summarized his recounting of Council's requests: • To have a better understanding of cost recovery and why certain programs areas have a different cost recovery than others, i.e. Adult Sports and Youth/Teen services. Why one investment is prioritized one way and participants pay a higher cost in other areas. • To see how we prioritize and are looking at the benefits, outcomes and the return on investment and how it all fits into the equation. Understanding that the return on investment in a lot of these offerings, whether it's a public space, community park, or a community program or service is often not just financial, but has social and community benefits as well. Ranniger responded that Council wants to have a decision-making tool to help them better understand what is the "bang for the buck" on the different programs. If another budget situation arises, Council has to look at what the city cannot provide within the current level of service. Council needs analytics and resources, to look at the subsidy, value, cost recovery, how many people are we serving, see what we can and can't do. It will give Council more tools for consideration and deliberation in making tough decisions and would eliminate supporting a favorite program. Committeemember Ralph said Council wanted a tool to assist in making decisions on programs. To evenly apply the same measure to each of the programs. It involves dollars and figuring out a way to monetize the social benefit, as well as the community benefit. To figure out how to assign programs as a whole. She sees it at the 10,000 foot level and not on an individual offering level. It's an important exercise to either validate the programs we are doing or decide if the program isn't working. To analyze the benefit of programs and cost recovery in order to make decisions. Ranniger stated that another thing to keep in mind is taking into consideration that we aren't seeking to make services equal, but equitable. For example, there may be a program that serves an underserved population and it may be the only program of its type that serves that population, whereas there may be three different programs that serves a different population. We need to determine which program to keep or eliminate and examine if that group is being served elsewhere, or can it be served elsewhere, or is it the only one of its kind meeting the needs of that demographic in the community. Committeemember Ralph feels that is when we have to look at the social benefit, to look the value of the program that doesn't exist elsewhere. Watling said there are many filters that staff inherently run on every service we offer - maintaining a perspective of who the program is serving and if other agencies in the market are providing the same service. All of this helps to identify cost recovery methodology. We need to know how we formalize some of what programs we've offered for a long time. During the recession we had to go through some prioritization work and make some very hard decisions on services that we could no longer provide. We need to make policy decisions that will enable us to provide data that will assist us in making these decisions. Chair Ranniger commented that we don't have the same dollars we used to and we need to be strategic with dollars and management of services. This could be a tool to identify programs or activities where we are currently not serving a certain population that needs to be served, and see if we need to reallocate. Some events were eliminated in the past because we weren't serving the needs of our local community, i.e. the Renaissance Fair. Staff created events like the Kent International Festival and the You Me We events that both resonate with our community. Watling added that some of the great work by Lori Hogan and the Youth/Teen staff achieves the goal of serving the needs of the community and preserving these resources, for example, the Phoenix Community Center. We need to answer how are we best position these resources and invest in them to serve the needs of the community. Watling distributed "Cost Recovery Pyramid Methodology" materials from Green Play, a Leading Edge in Parks, Recreation and Open Space Consulting to discuss the framework of what staff needs to do. It shows an option that other cities have used - giving a fresh set of eyes to what we do. It gives us the opportunity to review our programs and services and to assess the benefits. It provides a variety of filters to run the services through for us to get to the investment. It lends to important questions such as; who are we serving, what is the benefit, and how do we quantify the benefit? The pyramid prioritizes those programs that have a full public good and those programs with primarily a private good. Understanding that a lot of what is offered in the private sector is a mix between public good and private good. Within all of this work, it allows us to set and determine cost recovery targets that help position the programs from a budgetary and policy making standpoint, as well as from a management viewpoint. It becomes a great annual tool. Chair Ranniger stated it was exactly what Council wanted. Committeemember Ralph's only concern is creating more work just to create a report that won't be used. She feels staff is already working so lean as it is. It appears to be a valid tool that could be used in designing and developing what programs we need and what programs are doing very well. She supports it, as long as it provides the tools to examine if the programs are a smart investment of both time and resources. Watling responded that he sees using this tool to grow with us and to use for many years to come. The next steps are to put together a scope of work and bring back a contract to Council for approval. There will be a staff leadership key group to help lead this effort. One thought is to have a Councilmember be a part of this group. There still is time to think through this part of the process. Chair Ranniger asked about the timeframe for Councilmember participation. Watling responded that it will be approximately a 4-6 month process, beginning in the fall. Hogan added that it won't be weekly meetings, or time intensive. Meetings will be scheduled on an as-needed basis. Watling added that another key piece in the scope will be a public outreach component. Item 3: Director's Report The last couple years Human Services has been waiting for the Community Development Block Grant allotment to catch up with the annexation numbers and consensus data. Each year, Council adopts the Annual Action Plan which includes a contingency component for funds that are above or below a specific amount. All of the city's summer programs have begun that include preparation for baseball and softball tournaments every weekend and events during the week. Staff is busy preparing for the Fourth of July celebration at Lake Meridian Park when annually host 15,000+ at the park. Jeff commended Lori Hogan and the Recreation team for putting on such a great event, plus our partnerships with Police and Fire. The Summer Concert Series begins on Tuesday, July 9 at Kent Station, Wednesdays at Town Square Plaza and Thursdays at Lake Meridian. Staff is in communication with Public Works and the contractor of The Platform construction at Town Square Plaza to coordinate summer events with the construction schedule. The Jazz and Art Event is June 27 at the Senior Center from 5:00 p.m. until dusk with local artists will displaying their artwork and entertainment provided by local jazz musicians. Our partners at Stafford Suites are providing free boxed dinners for the first 100 people who attend. Chair Ranniger adjourned the meeting at 5:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, 7'011 J'etrlol� Teri Petrole Council Committee Secretary Page 4