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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Committees - Parks and Human Services - 05/19/2011 5/19/11 Meeting Minutes Page 1 City of Kent Parks and Human Services Committee Meeting Minutes of May 19, 2011 Council Present: Chair Debbie Ranniger and Dennis Higgins. Council Absent: Elizabeth Albertson Call to Order: Debbie Ranniger called the meeting to order at 5:05 p.m. 1. Minutes of April 21, 2011 - Approve Dennis Higgins moved to approve the minutes of April 21, 2011. Debbie Ranniger seconded. The motion passed 3-0 with concurrence with from Councilmember Albertson. 2. 4Culture Grant Agreement - Authorize Ronda Billerbeck informed the committee that 4Culture has awarded the Kent Arts Commission $17,000 in Sustained Support funding through a competitive grant process. The funding will support 2011 programs, including Spotlight Series performances, Kent Kids’ Arts Day and Kent Summer Concert Series. Debbie Ranniger referenced the tenuous funding situation with 4Culture funding. Ronda said that 4Culture funding is set to expire in 2012, but one more Senate Bill is being considered that has a funding package. Dennis Higgins asked what happens to staffing and performances if 4Culture funding goes away. Ronda and Jeff responded that staff would have to find creative ways to find sponsors to fill the holes and offer as many events as we can. Ronda added that this is not the only funding we receive from 4Culture, we typically get $25,000 - 35,000 for other site specific performances or public art projects each year. Dennis Higgins moved to recommend accepting the grant from 4Culture Sustained Support in the amount of $17,000, approving the expenditure of the funds, amending the 2011 Kent Arts Commission Budget in accordance with the grant agreement, and authorizing the Mayor to sign all necessary documents. Debbie Ranniger seconded. The motion passed 3-0 with concurrence from Councilmember Albertson. 5/19/11 Meeting Minutes Page 2 3. Consultant Services Agreement with Cascade Land Conservancy - Accept Jeff stated that staff is always looking for ways to leverage our internal resources with external resources. This contract covers the scope of work to be performed by Cascade Land Conservancy for year two of the Green Kent Initiative. It’s covered through a $50,000 grant that we received from the King Conservation District. The core of the CLC work will provide: collecting and tracking of field work done by volunteer stewards, annual steward work plans, technical input, recruitment outreach, and leadership, as needed. Dennis Higgins asked what we are doing with the balance of funds left over from the $50,000 grant. Jeff thinks it supports some volunteer work, but get back to Council. Dennis Higgins moved to recommend authorizing the Mayor to sign the agreement with Cascade Land Conservancy in the amount of $38,549.00 for implementation of the Green Kent Partnership. Debbie Ranniger seconded. The motion passed 3-0 with concurrence from Councilmember Albertson. Debbie Ranniger attended a fund raising seminar on deferred gifts and charitable contributions. She asked what the direct costs are to produce our events. Seattle Sympathy is recruiting donors with naming rights for their performances. She felt that we could explore this for some of the concert series and stewardship programs. Jeff said this could be built upon within the Kent Park Foundation, using our current Gifting Program. 4. Limited Use Permit with Puget Sound Energy - Authorize Jeff reported that the City of Kent Parks Department would like to sign a Limited Use Permit with Puget Sound Energy for Uplands Playfields, Uplands Extension, the Rotary Basketball Court, and the Lions Skate Park. This is an extension of a past agreement that requires the City to pay $2,000 for 10 years of use, which began on February 28, 2010. This represents an increase from $100 per year to $200 per year. Dennis Higgins appreciates PSE letting the City use the land and asked if it would more cost efficient over time to own the land outright rather than pay for a limited use permit. Jeff will explore the idea and get back to Council. Dennis Higgins moved to recommend authorizing the Mayor to sign Puget Sound Energy’s permit for limited use of operating property for Uplands Playfield, Uplands Extension, the Rotary Basketball Court, and the Lions Skatepark, subject to final terms and conditions acceptable to the City Attorney. Debbie Ranniger seconded. The motion passed 3-0 5/19/11 Meeting Minutes Page 3 with concurrence from Councilmember Albertson. 5. Addendum No. Two with Kent School District for Joint Use of the Community Center - Authorize Jeff informed the Committee that Addendum Number One to the Interlocal Agreement with the Kent School District, initiated in 2007, allowed us to manage and operate the former Sequoia Middle School campus as a Community Center. Addendum Number Two to the agreement takes the identified fitness room at the Community Center and adds that space to the agreement. We are working with the Kent Boxing Club to finalize a Facilities Use Agreement to start a boxing program at the Community Center, utilizing the fitness room. This Addendum is scheduled to be presented to the Kent School District Board on May 25. A number of meetings have taken place with Leslie Hamada and Kent School District staff to begin framing some of the detailed discussion of on-sight, day-to-day coordination. The program is set to begin in the Fall with possible open houses scheduled this Summer. Debbie Ranniger said this is a great way of doing business in collaboration with the Kent School District and non-profits. It creates an opportunity to offer services that we don’t have the budget to support. Dennis congratulated and thanked staff, the Kent School District and PAL Boxing for their coordinated work efforts. He expressed many thanks to Leslie Hamada for her work in putting this together. He found in his research of PAL that they are well respected and run a very successful program in attracting kids and young adults that aren’t well served by a lot of school districts and city programs. Dennis Higgins moved to recommend authorizing the Mayor to sign Addendum Number Two with the Kent School District for Joint Use of the Community Center at Phoenix Academy, subject to final terms and conditions acceptable to the City Attorney. Debbie Ranniger seconded. The motion passed 3-0 with concurrence from Councilmember Albertson. 6. First Quarter Department Reports/First Quarter Contributions Report - Informational Jeff wanted to highlight the Strategic Plan. That it can be seen within our ongoing work and not just in the target initiatives. One example is, Connecting People and Places. There is a lot of talk about trail connections and physical connections, but a lot of it relates to social connections. For example, the Teen Job Fair during the first quarter of the year had 29 vendors participating, and 300 kids attending. Related to teen jobs, 50 students worked as sports officials and track staff. We not only provide programs and services to families and the 5/19/11 Meeting Minutes Page 4 youth, but we are an important job center that teaches important leadership skills. Debbie Ranniger referred to a robust discussion about measurement tools at the April Parks Committee. She asked that impacts be integrated into the quarterly reports. For example, list how many people attended an event/program and show the impact it had as well. Debbie also asked if we can show how many teens were hired directly because of the Job Fair. Jeff referenced previous conversations on this topic and reiterated that yes, it is our goal to provide data on outcomes. Debbie asked Stacy Judd, the Police Public Education Specialist in the audience, for the same outcome data from the Police Youth Board. Jeff shared that there were 1,400 visits to the Senior Center fitness center. And, in connecting vulnerable people, the Kent Cold Weather Shelter was opened eight times during the first quarter. This is a great relationship with the Kent Lutheran Church. Approximately 150 unduplicated people were assisted. This is a good example of how do we meet and serve the people where they are as opposed to having them come to us. Contributions Report Over $12,000 was received in donations and in-kind gifts for the first quarter of 2011. Every donation is very meaningful. It leverages our existing resources to serve more and reach more of our residents. We are very grateful for the support of the community. 7. Director’s Report Be The Spark The City purchased 60+ tickets for local teens to attend the “Be the Spark” event with Desmond Tutu at the Tacoma Dome. The tickets were distributed to a number of youth-based groups in the community. Stacy Judd Public Education Officer for Kent Police attended the meeting and wanted to thank the Parks Department for the opportunity to go to the event. Three Youth Board Members attended the event and were very grateful for the opportunity. Stacey read two statements from two youth board members that couldn’t attend the meeting. Zena, who’s been a member of the Youth Board since the 8th grade and is now a senior, said that “Be the Spark” was a once in a lifetime opportunity. She felt lucky to be there and was amazed to be in the Tacoma Dome with an audience of 15,000 teens. She was amazed by the energy of the crowd and the positive attitude of the speakers. She said Desmond Tutu’s speech was so inspirational, it gave her a push to her leadership skills, which will help her take action in the community. 5/19/11 Meeting Minutes Page 5 Carley, a junior on the Youth Board, said the experience taught her that it doesn’t’ matter how old you are or where you live, there are ways to get involved in your community. She said that the best thing you can do is light the spark in others and get them to do the same. That you have to find something you are passionate about and then figure out how you can help do it. Shania, an 8th grader at Mill Creek said it was very interesting to see how many teens were interested in going to the event and that the speakers really grabbed their attention. After getting hyped up from performers, she said it was very motivating to hear from Desmond Tutu that anyone can make a change in their community, and it doesn’t matter who you are. She feels that the Youth Board can do a project to teach other kids that they can make a change in their community too. Jeff thanked Stacy for participating and announced that a meeting has been scheduled on May 26, at 6:00 p.m. at the Community Center. They will discuss the event and have a dialogue on how we can bring this spark to Kent - either collectively or individually through each agency. Debbie Ranniger was very excited to know that she was the spark that inspired the purchase of the tickets. She hopes it spreads and that the meeting results in some great projects. Dennis Higgins thanked them for coming to the meeting and sharing their stories. Community Development Block Grant The Federal Government came up with their fiscal year budget and it reflects a 16% reduction that impacts us. Jeff met with Mayor Cooke and John Hodgson to put together a list of recommendations of how to deal with this impact. Our CDBG funds affect some Capital programs. The allocation of funds we contract out is 15%. The reduction is minimal to the agencies we fund. The biggest impact is in planning and administration costs. To absorb this impact, staff made the decision to consolidate two office positions; the vacant .75 office position in Facilities and the CDBG funded position in Human Services. This will provide 3 days of support in Facilities and 2 days of support in Human Services. Jeff will keep Council updated. Earthworks/Mill Creek Park Jeff reported that there is lots of work on variety of levels at Mill Creek. We are coordinating multiple efforts at Mill Creek with a long-term vision in three categories: Park Operations and maintenance, the renovation using PIP grant funds, and the Master Plan. There are some complex issues we need to resolve. Working with Park Operations we are endeavoring some work this summer. Specifically, resolution of drainage issues and cleaning the channels. We will continue to 5/19/11 Meeting Minutes Page 6 identify and work on volunteer projects throughout the Canyon and into Earthworks. Coupled with the Operations work and some of the design solutions and cost estimates we are receiving, we want to focus that renovation funding on drainage issues. We are being strategic to make sure the near term needs and the long term perspectives are met. A Request for Proposals for the Master Plan was advertised and an interview panel was chosen. The panel heard presentations from local firms and recommended JA Brennan to complete the plan because they presented a multi-disciplinary perspective, which addresses the City’s goal. Jeff added that it‘s not just a park project, it’s a civil infrastructure master plan. We also have internal work involving the master plan that we are doing with Public Works Environmental, Planning, and Community Development. Interactions and site analysis will continue through the Summer. Any kick off for the Master Plan will be late 2011/early 2012. That gives us the time and attention to complete the initial site work and internal work to make sure the Master Plan is done right and done well, with a lot of community feedback and interaction. Dennis Higgins asked when the Master Plan will be presented to Council for approval. Jeff responded that the plan should be ready around late Summer/early Fall. Resource Center Request for Proposal Jeff stated that the RFP for the Resource Center was re-released earlier this week with clarification in the language. Two tours were conducted at the Resource Center. There has been a lot of interest and many agencies are working on partnered proposals. Jeff worked with Mayor Cooke and John Hodgson on the makeup of the review panel. It will consist of seven to eight members with representation from professional and community groups - profit and non-profits sector, plus three staff members. The deadline for proposals is June 10, at 5:00 p.m. Lake Meridian Playground Equipment The Playground Expansion Project is under construction at Lake Meridian. We are looking at mid-late June for completion date. The grand opening will not be a formal dedication, but a meet and greet with Council and the Mayor during the Fourth of July Splash event. Rainouts Jeff announced that since March 11, we’ve had 24 rainout days. That equals 31% and represents 475 games that we’ve had to re-schedule. Rainouts impact a variety of user groups including the school district, little league, and City programs. Many thanks go to the Maintenance crew for their hard work in getting the fields ready and to the Athletic staff for their hard work in re-scheduling. 5/19/11 Meeting Minutes Page 7 Jeff said that something to note is the value of synthetic turf. In previous conversations he referenced the new approach of partnering with the school districts and other agencies to incorporate more synthetic turf in existing fields. The value of synthetic turf not only benefits multiple use like soccer, baseball, and La Cross, but there are no rainouts. Dennis Higgins commented on the revenue hits we have with rainouts and that we don’t get paid when games are rained out. Debbie Ranniger asked about the lifecycle of synthetic turf. Jeff said that first generation of turf is typically 10-15 years and we probably have another 3 years at Wilson with proper maintenance. Jeff added that we are, in essence, replacing the carpet, not duplicating the initial Capital cost. This August maintenance work is planned for Wilson Playfield’s synthetic turf. Jeff expressed his excitement about conversations with the School Districts and a cooperative effort to . We have opportunities at our existing baseball-only complexes. Kent Memorial Park and Service Club Ballfields are currently six month-use complexes. With the investment of synthetic turf, they could be year-round complexes with the benefit of no rainouts. Another advantage and cost savings to renovating existing fields is not having to build new parking lots or restrooms. Dennis Higgins thanked Jeff for a good report. Debbie Ranniger adjourned the meeting at 5:50 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Teri Petrole Council Committee Recorder