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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Committees - Parks and Human Services - 07/18/2013 \ 40 0 v K�NT Parks and Human Services Committee Meeting Minutes for July 18, 2013 Council Committee Members Present: Chair Debbie Ranniger, Dana Ralph, Elizabeth Albertson Chair Debbie Ranniger called the meeting to order at 5:10 p.m. Item 1: Minutes of June 20, 2013 - Approve Committeemember Ralph moved to approve the minutes dated June 20, 2013. Committeemember Albertson seconded. The motion passed 3-0. Item 2: Riverbend Golf Complex - INFO ONLY Director Jeff Watling reported that since 2012, staff has provided Council with reports and informational discussions on the financial situation at the Riverbend Golf Complex. That led into the budget process last fall and the desire by Council and staff to create a strategy to get the Golf Fund into a healthier and more sustainable position financially. Based on those discussions, Council identified three major issues to seek resolution: 1. Reinvest Capital funds to an aging complex. 2. Develop a strategy to pay off the interfund loan. 3. Develop ways to handle operational efficiencies. Taking all of this into consideration, at a discussion this winter with the full Council, one of the options discussed was reducing the size of the operation of the golf complex. Within that consideration was whether to sell the Par 3. The goal of staff was to reach out to the general public and to gather citizen input for solutions to the current state of the Golf Fund. Two public open house meetings were hosted at Riverbend on June 15 and July 26. An online survey was posted on the city's web site to gather information as well. J. Watling thanked Councilmembers Ranniger, Ralph, and Higgins for attending one or both of the public meetings. An overview of the meetings and online comments is available for Council to review. J. Watling felt that both meetings were nicely attended and many residents expressed their concern with selling the Par 3. Committeemember Ralph felt that the information shared at the meetings was very educational and valuable. It was significant to hear how important the course is to these residents. Committeemember Ranniger agreed and added that everyone who attended the public meeting offered thoughtful comments, creative suggestions and shared a willingness to help out and be engaged. She feels they are looking to us to explore solutions that would allow us to maintain the golf course at a sustainable level. Page 1 J. Watling summarized some of the comments and concerns from the public meetings: • Should the golf course remain an enterprise, or should it be absorbed into the General Fund Budget? • The Par 3 golf course is a beautiful gateway into Kent. How do we ensure it stays that way if it is sold? • The Par 3 is the only local course that is an entry point to youth, junior golf, seniors, and beginners. This is an important role for the city. If the Par 3 is gone, how do we serve these demographics? • If the golf complex is operated under the General Fund Budget, it would be operated as a program or service subsidy, with general tax dollar support - like the Police and Public Works budgets. How would this addition impact the General Fund budget? D. Ralph asked what the thought process was when the golf complex was set up as an enterprise fund. Specifically, was it an auditor decision or policy decision? J. Watling responded that it was a policy decision by Council and not for statutory reasons. Albertson asked for a brief explanation of the difference between an enterprise and the general fund. J. Watling explained that an enterprise is a separate business unit within the city budget and is expected to operate on its own through fees and charges. This includes daily operational and internal expenses, plus all capital reinvestments. General Fund may have fees and charges attached to a program, but the support is through general tax dollars. For example, the Senior Center is partially subsidized and Police is completely supported through the General Fund. I Watling referenced next steps: • If Riverbend is still operated as an enterprise and if the city proceeds with some sale of the complex to reach financial sustainability, we need to mitigate the impacts to the junior, senior, and beginner groups. Within that, how do we make the 18-hole more accessible to these groups? • Work out how to continue to engage our interested audience: the senior group, Men's Club, Women's Club, Douglass Youth, First Tee and Hi Tee youth programs. • Staff needs to continue working with the Finance Department to solve pay back options and terms for the interfund loan, as well as work with them to carve out Capital funds for golf course renovations and lifecycle program. • The city needs to respond to State Auditor on how the city will pay off the debt. • Admissions Tax distribution needs to be discussed to see if it can go back to the golf course budget and identify what that means to the fund. Page 2 D. Ranniger asked about user demographics. Pete responded that because it's a public course and not privately owned with membership requirements, a variety of people use the golf course - from juniors to seniors. The typical public base is from North Tacoma to South Seattle. D. Ranniger suggested utilizing a portion of the Lodging Tax, since there is local revenue generated from golf course users. Committeemember Albertson asked about initiating a resident/non-resident fee. P. Petersen responded that Riverbend does offer resident discount rates from Monday through Friday. Petersen added that the golf industry nation-wide has been struggling and approximately 30% of Par 3 courses have closed. Core golfers want to play 18-hole courses. There are three Par 3 golf courses in the King County area and they do pretty well during the user season which is April through September. Albertson asked, if Par 3 courses are the entry way to golf, where will new golfers go? She feels the Par 3 brings long-term users to the 18-hole golf course. P. Petersen said programs like First Tee and Douglass Youth are bringing kids to the game. The PGA and LTGA have the "Tee it Forward" program that encourages juniors, seniors and beginners to play on 18-hole courses. Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of funds available for junior programs. Committeemember Ranniger referred to other industries and how they handle budget shortfalls. The City of Renton shuts their pool down during the winter to safe costs. J. Watling said this relates to operational efficiencies, but won't address the debt. He added that it is worth considering. Pete responded that both courses need to be consistently maintained anyway, so there is no opportunity to save money. Pete said they are considering reducing staff and depending on the honor system at the Par 3 and Driving Range. Also being considered is reducing hours during the winter months. Committeemember Albertson asked what it looks like if the inter-fund debt is paid off. Pete responded that the 18-hole is 24 years old and the Par 3 is approximately 50 years old. Both courses need new sprinkler heads, controllers, maintenance equipment, and the turf at the Driving Range needs to be replaced. Parts to equipment aren't available because they are so old. J. Watling replied that by law, as an enterprise, if an enterprise owes money to a city fund, there needs to be a plan to pay it off. The operational budget in rough numbers is at $400,000-$600,000 per year and includes all the facilities at Riverbend. Debt repayment could potentially be $200,000 - $250,000 per year, based on the debit service of $2.25M. This is why selling the Par 3 is even a consideration. This is a creative but very difficult decision, but it is a way help to pay off the debt service fund, offer support to operational efficiencies and cover much of the capital reinvestment. J. Watling confirmed that, even if the complex was under the General Fund, the interfund loan still needs to be paid off. Page 3 Committeemember Ranniger asked if the city could sell other assets to assist in paying off the loan. J. Watling said that selling any assets would have to be discussed with Finance. It depends on how the property purchase was funded. If it was with grant money, there can be restrictions on how the property can be used, sold, or renovated. J. Watling agreed it is worth exploring and best to have representation from the Finance Department to help make that decision. Committeemember Albertson asked if there would be savings if the budget was changed from an enterprise fund to the general fund. She also wants to know if it would affect the internal service charges. J. Watling responded that there are some intergovernmental charges that are above and beyond internal service charges because it's an enterprise, adding that the Admissions tax is topic for discussion. The committee members agreed that these funds should be studied, as well as the Admissions Tax. Committeemember Ralph wants to know the formula used to determine the intergovernmental charges — also, where it goes and why the numbers change. Committeemember Ranniger feels this discussion needs to go to full Council at a workshop in order to answer many questions. Committeemember Albertson said she's heard from the community about the entry being a green gateway into the city and their requests not to get rid of the open space. J. Watling agreed that he's heard from residents and feels there is public good derived from that entry point. Committeemember Ralph asked about getting a list of the suggestions from the public meetings. J. Watling shared that comments from the public meetings and the online survey are available and staff will be working through some of the suggestions. She asked, if a number of the suggestions were implemented, would it generate enough funds to be considered. Committeemember Ranniger said that this item should come back to the Parks and Human Services Committee to hear options before going to a Council Workshop. J. Watling agreed to work on options to present at a future meeting. RC Sample attended the meeting and was asked to share his comments. He acknowledged that government numbers, as they are provided, are difficult to understand. He asked for public comment and the minutes from the meeting. Committeemember Ranniger replied that the minutes will be available next month. Mr. Sample felt the focus on the golf complex issues has been on the expense side and not revenue - like increasing play at the Par 3. Since play has been down, we should be able to build it back up by recruiting new players from the other courses that have closed down, or offer Jack and Jill plays. He said 20% or more of the players at the 9-hole on Tuesdays are from outside Kent because there are no other Par 3 courses in the area. He stated that it makes no sense that Par 3 courses are being sold in order to make ends meet. Committeemember Ranniger complimented Mr. Sample on his ideas and suggested that a small task force be created to discuss options for the financial issues at Riverbend. Mr. Sample is very interested in participating and wants to attend other Page 4 city meetings as well. Committeemember Ranniger let him know that Council Workshops are open to the public. Mr. Sample apologized for being a challenge to work with, but explained that he is very passionate about this issue. He wants to get his hands around the financial situation and work with the city to make it right. He found it disturbing that the internal services charges are higher during years that the course was low in attendance. He understands that city services are necessary in order to operate the golf complex, and at the same time, the numbers seem very high. After reviewing the budget line items, he notes that Riverbend is actually doing well and even paying for city services. He feels that the city is trying to take money from one pocket and putting it in the other. He thinks the golf course may be run more cost effectively by using outside services. He questioned the $2.25M loan and referenced cost allocations. He stated that the property's worth far exceeds the size of the debt. He wants the city to withdraw from selling the Par 3 and he'd like the opportunity to assist in finding ways to increase revenue at the golf complex, and work with the community to find a solution. Committeemember Albertson referenced last year when the Parks and Streets Levy was shot down by voters. She feels that Council is receiving a mixed message from the community. Even though the levy was for park properties and not Riverbend, the message was strong that the community doesn't want to pay anymore. As an example of how Mr. Sample feels it doesn't make sense to sell the Par 3, he said it would be like the city selling a hallmark city structure, such as City Hall, tearing it down, and putting a double wide on the property for staff to work in. Second Quarter Reports J. Watling stated that many great things happened in the second quarter. He shared that he is extremely proud to work with the Park's team and with Council for the investments that Council allows us to make in the community. He asked the committee members to take some time to review the second quarter reports. Director's Report Turnkey Park One of the great projects that staff worked on in the second quarter was at Turnkey Park with the volunteers, Disney and KaBOOM. The park will be dedicated July 20, at 4:00 p.m. Kent Valley Loop Trail J. Watling distributed a schematic of the Kent Valley Loop Trail. Previously, staff shared with Council the RFP process for the project. Since then, the Consultant, Berger Partnership, is on board. Also, an art component has begun through the Arts Commission. In short, as with all of our projects, we are trying to better leverage our assets and further take care of what we have to create a great civic asset. Page 5 Two of Council's Strategic goals are to Beautify Kent and Create Connectivity, and this project exemplifies these goals. Public Works and Economic and Community Development are integral partners in this effort. Some great outreach efforts will be launched in the coming months. The summer programs are going extremely well. Camps, playground programs, and the Phoenix Academy are all very busy. Phoenix Academy is one of the sites of National Night Out again this year. The meeting adjourned at 6:15 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Teri Petrole TeY,� Pefivo(e Council Committee Secretary Page 6