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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Committees - Parks and Human Services - 04/18/2013 Parks and Human Services Committee Meeting /'�► April 18, 2013 'Z KENT W nS XINGTON Council Committee Members: Chair Debbie Ranniger, Elizabeth Albertson, Dana Ralph Chair Debbie Ranniger called the meeting to order at 5:03 p.m. Item 1: Minutes of March 28, 2013 - Approve Committeemember Ralph moved to approve the minutes dated March 28, 2013. Committeemember Albertson seconded. The motion passed 3-0. Item 2: Namina of Fire/Police Department Exercise Room - INFO ONLY Fire Chief Jim Schneider spoke of City of Kent Firefighter Marty Hauer who was an International Association of Firefighters Peer Fitness Trainer. He devoted his entire career to the promotion of health and wellness, as well as advocating for early detection of cancer. Firefighter Hauer contracted a rare form of cancer that was not detected in prescreening and he passed away at the age of 41. Marty spent his last five years on the development of a Regional Wellness Center designed to serve many fire and police departments in the Seattle, Kent, and Tacoma area. Because of Marty's dedication, the Kent Fire Department RFA would like to name the Joint Fire/Police exercise room, at Fire Station 74, located at 24611 116th Avenue SE, in memory of Firefighter Marty Hauer. The Kent Fire Department RFA leases Fire Station 74 from the City of Kent so Chief Schneider conferred with CAO John Hodgson and Police Chief Thomas and received approval. Chief Schneider noted that since the naming policy refers to facilities and parks, naming a room does not require a formal process. If moving forward, the dedication would occur on Wednesday, June 19, 2013 at the scheduled Kent Fire Department RFA Governance Board meeting. Director Watling reiterated that this exercise room is used by public safety staff only and not a public space, so there is no need to take formal action as traditionally required through Parks and Recreation Policy 1.14 - Naming Parks and Facilities. The Comm itteemembers unanimously agreed that it is a wonderful idea and fully support it. They felt no reason to take formal action. Facilities staff will be directed to proceed with Chief Schneider on naming the room. 3. Kina Conservation District Grant Agreement for Green Kent Partnership - Accept/Authorize Park Planning and Development Manager Hope Gibson reported that this is year four that staff applied for and received a grant from the King Conservation District to continue implementation of the Green Kent Partnership. Specifically, this grant funding breakdown is: $29,747.76 for a Green Kent temporary employee (includes Page 1 allowable mileage stipend) and $2,365.78 for an intern, both to supplement available Parks personnel and provide field support to stewards, $15,794 to Forterra for regional coordination and trainings, $9,000 for contracted crew work, $1,370 for tools and plants, and $4,125 to offset the Special Programs Manager's time overseeing the project. Director Watling commented on the positive three way partnership with Forterra, King Conservation District, and the City of Kent. Director Watling commended the Park Planning staff on taking the lead on this funding and the successful management of the Green Kent Program. Committeemember Albertson moved to recommend accepting the $62,402.54 King Conservation District grant, authorizing the Mayor to sign the agreement and approving the expenditure of funds in the Green Kent Partnership budget. Committeemember Ralph seconded. The motion passed 3-0. Item 4: 2013 First Quarter Fee-in-Lieu Funds — Accept Manager Gibson reported that between January 1, 2013 and March 31, 2013, the City of Kent received a total of $70,125.00 from the following developer who voluntarily paid fees in lieu of dedicating park land to mitigate the development of single family homes in local subdivisions: • Springwood Park budget: $54,825.00 from Henley USA LLC • Springwood Park budget: $15,300.00 from Henley USA LLC Committeemember Ralph moved to recommend accepting the $70,125.00 fee-in-lieu funds and amending the Community Parks Reinvestment budget for future expenditure of funds in the Springwood Park budget. Committeemember Albertson seconded. The motion passed 3-0. Item 5: Recreation Conservation Office Grant Agreement Amendment - Acceot/Authorize Manager Gibson stated that Victoria Andrews is extraordinary in obtaining grants for some of the programmatic work we do and Brian Levenhagen is exceptional in obtaining grants for some of the park development projects. The city has an agreement with the Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO) Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program and this amendment awards the city $144,880.00 in additional funds to reimburse the purchase of the Schulte property. This .71 acre site will be included in the Clark Lake Assemblage. Director Watling added that these funds are part of completing the land acquisition of the Schulte property with full grant funding. Director Watling also complimented Brian Levenhagen in doing a fantastic job as we've been very strategic in our acquisitions and our grant funding options. Page 2 Committeemember Albertson moved to recommend authorizing the Mayor to sign the Recreation and Conservation Office grant amendment to receive $144,880.00 in funds to reimburse land acquisition at Clark Lake. Committeemember Ralph seconded. The motion passed 3-0. 2013 First Ouarter Report and Contributions Report - INFO ONLY Director Watling highlighted division programs and services, as well as in-kind, and/or cash contributions received during the first quarter of 2013. Riverbend. In looking closely at the first quarter of 2013, the revenues are up in all four revenue centers at the Riverbend Golf Complex. That is 30% up in revenue from 2011 and 2012 comparably, and it is approximately a $90,000 improvement in the first quarter alone. Park Operations. During the spring season, we have a lot of preparation happening within our park acreage. The crews are conducting safety compaction in our play areas during the first quarter of the year and bringing in two cubic yards of bark for our play areas. Athletic Complexes. Staff is prepping for a busy tournament season as we are careful to amend the soil to have the right mix. Approximately 26 tons of infield mix has been spread onto our fields to minimize injuries and maximize use. Kent Commons. We had over 65,000 customers at Kent Commons during the first quarter of 2013. A couple years ago, due to budget decisions, we consolidated Adaptive Recreation and Youth/Teen staff and services over to Kent Commons. We have begun to see high synergy within the programs at Kent Commons. One very popular family program is the Indoor Park with an average of 70 customers per day. Rentals. We've added four additional shelter spaces to rent this year. We anticipate over 70,000 people will be served through our reservation program. Phoenix Academy. The center continues to be very innovative. Director Watling commended super volunteer Tremain McPherson. Tremain provides supervision in the game room at Phoenix Academy. Besides offering regular activities such as pool, ping pong, foosball and video game tournaments, we have begun to train teens for job skills and resume building. The two teens that committed to the program and worked with Tremain have jobs now. Contributions Report. This report demonstrates the work of our staff throughout the department. This is reflective of donations of $5,000 and less, none that require formal action. We received over $21,000 from residents and businesses from cash and in-kind gifts. We are very thankful and honored to partner with them. Quarterly Reporting. Director Watling asked Comm itteemembers if the Quarterly Report is of value and if they'd like it packaged differently. Comm itteemembers Ralph and Albertson were in agreement that the report holds a wealth of knowledge and they appreciate seeing the depth of our services and they impact the community. Page 3 To share this information with the remaining Councilmembers and the public, Chair Ranniger suggested presenting a quarterly report at the City Council meetings. Comm itteemembers recommended a distilled report, modeled after the Public Safety Report, showing graphs, statistics, and trends with a focus on key seasonal programs. Debbie will talk to President Higgins for approval. Director's Report Volunteer events. Earth Day Saturday, April 20 at Clark Lake Park is already full. Arbor Day is on April 27 at West Fenwick Park and National Trails Day is May 18 at Lake Fenwick Park. Registrations are going great. Committeemembers were invited to stop by. Tournament Season. We received some proof of the economic benefit resulting from our tournaments. Service Clubs up on East Hill has become a haven for our girls fast pitch tournaments. We recently received a call from Safeway up at Kent Kangley, asking for a tournament schedule because their deli was sold out by two teams from Canada playing in a tournament at Service Club Ballfields. King County Parks Levy. Director Watling addressed the Council's request for an update on the proposed King County Parks Levy going on the ballot in August. Director Watling served on the task force that helped shape what that levy looked like. This is a renewal - in 2004, the levy was on the ballot for 5 cents per $100,000 and was a stop gap to keep parks open. In 2008, it was renewed as two levies that totaled 10 cents per $100,000. The 2013 proposed levy is 18.9 cents per $100,000. It is important to note that the levy has become King County Park's primary funding source. It is not a levy for local and regional parks. A majority of the funds would support operation of King County's larger regional facilities such as: Burke Gilman Trail, East Lake Sammamish Trail, portions of the Green River Trail, the Cedar Trail, Marymoor Park, and the Woodland Park Zoo. This levy supports King County operating expenses for the regional system, capital reinvestment, deferred maintenance, as well as their strategic plan for acquisitions. From the 18.9 cents, 1.3 cents is proposed to be divided up by 39 cities, based on population and acreage. Previously, County levy funding was for acquisition or trail funding. In this proposed levy, the 1.3 cents for local cities would support any capital needs within its local system. For Kent, it would represent about $200,000 per year. It's now with the King County Council to make the decision. If the levy is placed on the August ballot, it would then transition into campaign mode. Director Watling feels it is a very important measure for the regional system, but it is tough knowing the plight of local systems - including our own aging infrastructure. He is concerned about sustainability and that this growing levy is only supporting the regional system, not the local systems. He feels we need to find ways to get funding back into our local systems. Committeemember Albertson believes local cities should get a bigger portion of the levy. She struggles with residents thinking the levy sends sufficient funds to local cities. This may cause tension from residents wondering why local cities don't have enough reinvestment funding for parks if they just passed a parks levy. Page 4 Committeemember Ralph feels it's a struggle for system capacity. At some point system-wide, we are going hit that capacity and the dollars aren't necessarily going to be available. In integrating the parks we've acquired from the regional system into the city, the money hasn't followed. It's not enough funding to bring those parks up to city standard. Director Watling said that if we really want to think about sustainability, we need to look at the relationship between the regional and the local system. The city has been part of solving the County budget problem since 2003, when they transferred their high use parks and facilities to local cities. Cities continue to fund the operation of those parks as well. They are united systems that lean on each other. As residents think of park systems, it consists of both local and regional park amenities. It is going to be very important to make sure both regional and local parks are supported, funded and vibrant. Committeemember Albertson is concerned with the consequences if the levy doesn't pass. As King County's primary funding source, what happens in shoring up the regional assets she's paid for and enjoyed for so long? It is similar to school districts using levy funding for day-to-day operations and not system improvements and larger projects. Committeemember Albertson asked for clarification on cities having the opportunity to submit a list of parks for funding, if the levy passed. Director Watling responded no, there is no application process to King County. There is just the potential of Kent getting approximately $200,000 based on the 1.3 cents. Continuing, Director Watling said, when we looked at the work with our citizens group and some of the reinvestment needs we have, Wilson Playfields Renovation is at $1.8M and the Lake Meridian new dock is at $1.5M. The two hundred thousand dollars will help, but it's a different list in terms of how we reinvest those funds in order to keep our parks functioning. Chair Ranniger adjourned the meeting at 5:43 p.m. Respectfully submitted, "Peril Pett^o-lz Teri Petrole Council Committee Secretary Page 5