Recreation Commission

City of Saratoga Springs Derrick LeGall Recreation Commission Chair RECREATION COMMISSION Alphonse Lambert 15 Vanderbilt Avenue, Saratoga Springs, New York 12866 Amy Smith Robert Manasier 518-587-3550 x2300 Fax 518-584-1748 Cheryl Smith John Dowd www.SaratogaRec.com Michelle Merola Recreation Commission Meeting Tuesday, October 30, 2018 6:30pm Minutes Saratoga Springs Recreation Center Attendance – Robert Manasier, Amy Smith, Michelle Merola, & Cheryl Smith Derrick Legall, Alphonse Lambert, John Hirliman, Vincent DeLeonardis, City Attorney, Anthony Izzo, City Attorney, Deputy Commissioner of Finance, Michael Sharp, Liz Bryson, Scott Bryson. The Saratoga Springs Recreation Commission meeting was called to order by Amy Smith at 6:35pm. Public Comment – There was no public comment. Presentation: Charter Commission – Vincent DeLeonardis and Michael Sharp presented to the Recreation Commission. Chairman Vincent DeLeonardis outlined the proposal. He explained how the charter updates will affect the Recreation Department and the Recreation Commission. Vincent DeLeonardis gave the background of the Charter Commission. They reviewed the current charter. There are only two commission forms of government in New York State. It has been 17 years since the Charter has been updated. The Commission worked within the current government. The City Charter is the foundational governing document for the City of Saratoga Springs, which provides the legal framework for the City’s form of government and the responsibilities of each elected official. Also included in the charter are other required roles and certain practices and procedures. The Charter operates in conjunction with local laws, ordinances, and other policies approved by the City Council. Certain revisions to the Charter need to be approved by City residents through a ballot referendum, and the last successful Charter vote was in 2001. There have been several unsuccessful Charter votes since then, all of which attempted to change the City’s form of government. Following the failed 2017 attempt, the 2018 Charter Review Commission (“CRC”) was formed on March 6, 2018 by Mayor Meg Kelly with the goal of “finding efficiencies and organizational improvements to better serve the people who live and work in the City of Saratoga Springs,” all while keeping the commission form of government. The CRC’s Proposed Charter was unanimously supported by members and will be voted on by City residents via referendum on the November 6, 2018 ballot. CRC members include Vincent DeLeonardis, Chair, Mike Sharp, Vice Chair, John Daley, Secretary, Anthony Skip Scirocco, John Franck, Peter Martin, Lisa Shields, Joe O’Neill and Maire Masterson. The amendments in the proposed charter can largely be broken down into the following categories: increasing professionalism across City Hall, realigning certain functions, removing unilateral appointments, increasing flexibility of City operations, improving consistency and readability of the Charter and increasing opportunities for individuals to participate in City Government. There will be two referendum questions on voter ballots this November. (1) Shall the Saratoga Springs City Charter be amended as proposed by the 2018 Charter Review Commission? (2) Shall the Saratoga Springs City Charter be further amended to provide two (2) additional City Council members whose authority shall be legislative only? Ballot question (1) refers to the 2018 Proposed Charter with enhanced efficiencies and organizational improvements and maintains the five-member City Council. Ballot Question (2) refers to the 2018 Proposed City Charter but also increases the City Council to seven members. If Question (1) is approved and not questions (2) All amendments other than the expansion will go into place 1/1/19 with an estimated cost of $0. If both question (1) and (2) are approved, All amendments go into place 1/1/19. City Council expands to seven after the 2019 election, with terms commencing 1/1/20. The Estimated total annual cost starting in 2020 of $31,218 or $81,846, assuming new members are paid the same salary and if health care benefits are offered (the family plan costs were used.) Additional CRC information is available at www.saratoga- springs.org/charter. 2018-10-30 Recreation Commission Meeting Minutes Page 1 of 4  City of Saratoga Springs Derrick LeGall Recreation Commission Chair RECREATION COMMISSION Alphonse Lambert 15 Vanderbilt Avenue, Saratoga Springs, New York 12866 Amy Smith Robert Manasier 518-587-3550 x2300 Fax 518-584-1748 Cheryl Smith John Dowd www.SaratogaRec.com Michelle Merola Among the proposed amendments to our City Charter, is the proposal to formally combine Parks with Recreation and to move them from Title 3 (Mayor) to Title 5 (Department of Public Works). This recommendation is intended to increase efficiency and improve operations for recreation facilities and programs and recognizes the relationship which currently exists between the Recreation Department and DPW. The proposal was based upon input from the public. The Recreation Department currently operates with an annual budget of $2.3 Million, the majority of which is already under DPW lines. DPW is currently responsible for the maintenance, repair and upkeep of all parks, and recreation facilities. Under the proposed Charter, the Commissioner of Public Works shall, in coordination with the Recreation Commission, develop policies and procedures for recreation programs and activities, which shall be subject to approval by Council. The proposed updates and amendments to the City Charter relating to Parks and Recreation are cost neutral. Section 5.4 of the Proposed Charter provides Park and Recreation. The CRC used some suggestions from the last commission and Matt Jones subcommittee draft. There are decades of experience on the CRC. The commission had 20 meetings, 2 public meeting, questionnaire, and two workshops. There has been extensive public comment. There were 250 responses to the survey. The City Attorney’s office, Human Resources and IT will report to the entire council. Risk and Safety will be moved to Legal. Recreation Department will be moving to the Department of Public Works. The functions were put into the charter instead of titles. This will increase flexibility. State law requires that there will be two questions on the ballot. The first question is voting for/against the charter amendments. The second question is for the expansion of the City Council by adding two at large members. If the first question fails then both will fail. The Commission was charged with reviewing the current charter and making amendments. The charter amendments are cost neutral. The recommendation is to have a Parks and Recreation Department moving to the Department of Public Works. The Open Space and Land Preservation will remain separate as they can be in conflict. Open Space and land preservation does not include active recreation. The Recreation Department already works with the Department of Public Works. The amendment should enhance the relationship. The charter verbiage was revised. A Parks and Recreation Policy and Procedures Manual is being recommended. The Recreation Commission will remain. If approved, the Commissioner of Public Works would appoint members of the Commission in the future. Amy Smith asked that with the mandate by the City Charter, what happens if it is not done? The City Council can take action. HR will be its own department. IT will not be under a specific commissioner having access to all. Risk and Safety would be coming from Accounts to Legal. If approved at next week’s vote, the amendments will go into effect January 2019. The two City Council Members will be elected in 2019 for January 2020. Amy Smith asked about Recreation standing alone. The Commission did not want duplication of services. DPW by charter maintains facilities. The Commission had questions regarding the manual. Recreation will be working on the programming. The Mayor and DPW Commissioner currently have a good working relationship. Currently the public calls the Mayor for Public works items. This will have streamline process with one point of contact. Robert Manasier had a question on how the changes would affect the budget process. Deputy Commisssioner Sharp explained the budget process. There are already line items for Recreation and DPW (3000). The goal is to improve the process. This will unite forces. The Capital Committee is changing. The Capital Committee members will be reduced to five. There will be 5 City Council members who will remain as the administrative and legislative members. The Commission is recommending having two additional council members who have only legislative power. All votes will be equal. The Charter Commission meetings, minutes, survey information and FAQs are on the City’s website. There is a full redlined version of the charter as well as the revised charter. Amy Smith asked if there was much feedback. Vincent DeLeonardis said there was much feedback. There was a concern that moving Recreation to DPW weakens the Mayor’s position. Currently, the City Council members each have the same power whether they have 6 staff or 30 times that. Amy Smith asked what DPW’s feedback is. John Hirliman said DPW was in favor of this and streamlining the process. Michelle Merola asked how long the manual will take to complete. Amy Smith said that there will be improvement. Robert Manasier said thing will improve. The budget lines will not change. The budget process remains the same. There will be collaboration. 5.4.1 will not be changing as DPW already has oversight of facilities. 5.4.8-There will be a change from Mayor oversight to DPW. Michelle Merola stated that the Recreation Department will help draft the manual. Amy Smith said that hopefully by having a manual, things are moving forward. Derrick Legal said It’s a Win-Win. It forces us to work directly with the Department of Public Works. There is a commitment. 2018-10-30 Recreation Commission Meeting Minutes Page 2 of 4  City of Saratoga Springs Derrick LeGall Recreation Commission Chair RECREATION COMMISSION Alphonse Lambert 15 Vanderbilt Avenue, Saratoga Springs, New York 12866 Amy Smith Robert Manasier 518-587-3550 x2300 Fax 518-584-1748 Cheryl Smith John Dowd www.SaratogaRec.com Michelle Merola The motion to send out a letter regarding the Commission’s view on the Charter Proposal was made by Alphonse Lambert and seconded by Robert Manasier. The motion was approved by voice vote. Discussion: The City Attorney will review and revise the memo prior to the information going out. The Recreation Commission reviewed the Recreation Commission minutes. Discussion and vote: Police Department Request The Saratoga Springs Police Department is requesting for the possibility of the ice time being donated for the Police vs Fire Department Charity game. This year, they have partnered up with the Franklin Community Center and Project Lift to collect toys for the less fortunate kids in Saratoga Springs. The game will be on Sunday December 11, 2018. The value of the donations will be 1.5 hours x $165.00, totaling $247.50. If approved, the request will go to the City Council. The motion to recommend that the Ice Time for the Police vs Fire Department Charity game be waived was made by Michelle Merola and seconded by Robert Manasier. The motion was approved by voice vote. Discussion and vote: Skate Park Pyramid – The Recreation Department is requesting to repair the Skate Park Pyramid in the amount of $5,000.00 to the American Ramp Company. The ramp needs to be fixed. The motion to repair the Skate Park Pyramid was made by Robert Manasier and seconded by Michelle Merola. The motion was approved by voice vote. Discussion: Amy Smith reminded the Commission that the City has spent money on the Skate Park. When Charlie Samuels had come to the Recreation Commission and to the City, he was told that there was no money. Amy Smith said that Charlie Samuels said he would come up with the money for the Skate Park. He has not. Discussion and vote: Accept $180.00 Field Hockey donation from Friends of Recreation and $1,800.00 for installation of the North Side Playground Shade Structure. The motion to accept the Friends of Recreation donations was made by Amy Smith and seconded by Michelle Merola. The motion was approved by voice vote. The donation will go to the City Council for approval. Discussion and vote: East Side Recreation Playground tot swing replacement at $620.00. The East Side Recreation Playground tot swing needs to be replaced. The cost is $620.00. The motion to replace the East Side Playground Tot swing was made by Amy Smith and seconded by Cheryl Smith. The motion was approved by voice vote. Discussion and vote: Active Network/Maximum Solutions Max Galaxy Credit Card fees – The Recreation Department is working with MaxGalaxy to incorporate online registration. As part of the online registration there are company fees. MaxGalaxy works with WorldPay for their credit card transactions. The cost ranges from 1.71%- 3.15% plus $.20 per transaction. The company also charges $14.95/month. The City of Saratoga Springs currently uses other companies who work with their financial packages. There are currently are no fees/costs to the City from these other companies. Any fees/charges are paid by the consumer. The public will be able to use Debit Cards as well. The agreement distributed to the Recreation Commission will be forwarded to the City Attorney and Risk and Safety. The City would like the Consumer to pay for the fees associated with online payments. The public will still be able to pay cash and/or check at the Recreation Department. The motion to allow online line payments was made by Michelle Merola and seconded by Amy Smith. The motion was approved by voice vote. The agreement will go to Risk and Safety, the City Attorney and the City Council for approval. Discussion and vote: Playground Initiative Geyser Crest and Rec. Center Concept. The Recreation Commission will be reviewing the concept of Geyser Crest and Recreation Center playground designs. The Administrative Director-Recreation brought sample concepts to the Commission. The first concept was valued at $45,818.02 for the Geyser Crest Courts and the Recreation Center Concept for ages 2-5 was valued at $98,138.78. Cheryl Smith asked if this is the best use funds. Alphonse Lambert felt it was a tight area. The Commission asked about the Veterans Memorial Park as they felt it was a priority. The Administrative Director-Recreation explained that there was not enough money right now to complete the Veterans Memorial Park project. The Commission wanted to see if the prices could be cheaper (talk them down). The motion to move forward was made by Alphonse Lambert and seconded by Amy Smith. 2018-10-30 Recreation Commission Meeting Minutes Page 3 of 4  City of Saratoga Springs Derrick LeGall Recreation Commission Chair RECREATION COMMISSION Alphonse Lambert 15 Vanderbilt Avenue, Saratoga Springs, New York 12866 Amy Smith Robert Manasier 518-587-3550 x2300 Fax 518-584-1748 Cheryl Smith John Dowd www.SaratogaRec.com Michelle Merola Discussion and vote: Program and Field Supplies – up to $9,500.00 included $4,100.00 for field supplies (bases, etc.), $3,000.00 for Ice Rinks supplies (skates, pucks, sharpener), and $2,400.00 in soccer goals. The motion to purchase up to $9,500.00 for Field supplies, Ice Rink Supplies and Soccer goals was made by Cheryl Smith and seconded by Robert Manasier. The motion was approved by voice vote. Discussion and vote: Waive Public Skating fees for the 25th Anniversary on December 16 1-5pm. The motion to waive the public skating fees was made by Amy Smith and seconded by Robert Manasier. The motion was approved by voice vote. Discussion: Master Plan Update – The Recreation Master Plan time line was discussed. The Commission is expecting a final draft by November 12, 2018, with updates back to Green Play by November 28, 2018. The Commission will review the finalized version at the December 11, 2018 Recreation Commission meeting prior to the City Council Presentation on December 18, 2018. Discussion: Saratoga Springs Great Outdoors Project – The Recreation Commission discussed the Great Outdoors Project. Discussion: Camp Saradac – The Recreation Commission discussed the School District’s proposal regarding busing for next year’s camp. There is a shortage of bus drivers. The School District will be keeping their drivers on the School Payroll. At the meeting with the School District, it was discussed about reducing the number of buses needed and working with Greenfield to make the runs more enticing. Discussion: Basketball Program – The Tiny B’ball, Intro, grades 2/3, grades 6-8, and grades 9-12 are coed. There is a boys grades 4-5 and girls grades 4-6. The number of players are less than last year. Discussion: General Budget – The Recreation Commission discussed the MUNIS financial reports. Discussion: Director’s Report-The City Council, land use boards, and other various public meetings will be at the Recreation Center by the end of the year. The Grande family is working with the sign company to finalize the recognition plaque and stone. Soccer registrations are down 11%. The field hockey program continues to grow. Volleyball time change was tough for some. T’ball had to be cancelled once due to weather. The Introduction to Ice Tuesday 10am-11am was cancelled. There are 30 kids in early fall session. The Youth Boxing clinic starts November 12. The feedback has been outstanding. The Friends of Recreation met on October 22 and approved the following: $180.00 for the field hockey program, $275.00 for youth basketball team sponsor, install the shape structure at North Side Playground, and purchase and install two adaptive swings (1 East Side and 1 West Side) - $6,000.00-$8,000.00. Discussion: Program Report – The Recreation Commission reviewed the Program Report. Adjournment – The motion to adjourn was made by Amy Smith and seconded by Michelle Meorla. The motion was approved by voice vote. The Next meeting will be Tuesday, November 27, 2018 6:30pm at the Saratoga Springs Recreation Center. Respectfully submitted, Kathleen Lanfear 2018-10-30 Recreation Commission Meeting Minutes Page 4 of 4