Recreation Center Governing Board

CITY OF TALLMADGE Recreation Center Governing Board September 1, 2022 10:00 a.m. Council Chambers Meeting Chaired By: Mayor Kline Minutes: Tish Rowland 1. Call to Order: The Mayor called the meeting to order at 10:02 a.m. 2. Voting Members Present: Administrative Members: Mayor David Kline, Director of Law Megan Raber, Director of Finance Mollie Gilbride, Director of Public Service Mike Rorar School Members: Bill Johnson City/Community Members: Non-Voting Members: Parks and Recreation Superintendent Jessica Simons, Assistant Parks and Recreation Managers, Kelly Davis and Dan Enos, Program Director Kelly Ward 3. Adoption of Minutes for July 14, 2022: Mollie Gilbride moved to approve the Minutes of July 14th; seconded by Mayor Kline. Discussion: Dan Enos: I don’t recall President of Council Dennis Loughry being present at the July meeting. Gilbride: I agree he was not present and isn’t a voting member. Mayor: That’s correct. Mollie Gilbride moved to make the amendment to remove Councilman Loughry from the July minutes; seconded by Mayor Kine. Vote to approve: 5/0. Mayor Kline moved to approve the amended minutes; seconded by Mollie Gilbride. Vote to approve: 5/0. 4. Old Business A. Past Event Updates: Simons: Our big past events are Summer Camp and Maca. We were happy both went well and happy it’s over, we look forward to next year. Maca was inundated and we adjusted operations to help it run smoothly. We were very successful financially. The summer camp also did well, counselors were a little younger this year but did a great job. Mayor: Congratulations. Simons: We also had our concert series do well, the Neil Diamond band had the largest crowd. Mayor: I’m glad we didn’t cancel at 3:00 that day, it worked out well. B. Staff Updates: No staff updates. 5. New Business A. Price Changes – Programs 1. Community All Star Basketball League: Simons: We have several price changes, the first is with the Community All Star Basketball League. We raised prices at the last meeting but didn’t consider a $100 discount for a league registering four or more teams. That is on par with competitors and I think it will help us retain an edge. We only have 5-6 leagues that have more than four teams so it won’t be a big hit financially, but it will be a good selling point. Megan Raber moved to approve; seconded by Mollie Gilbride. Vote to approve: 5/0.  2. Winter Wonderland Dance: Simons: This is similar to the Holiday Ball last year, but instead of an open bar we’ll do a cash bar to lower the ticket price. The people that attended in the past don’t drink a lot and considered the price to be too high. Discussion: Gilbride: Did you consider doing beer tickets so we get the profits from alcohol sales instead of the Venue getting the profits? Simons: We didn’t because the attendees don’t drink much. I’m not sure how it would work. The Venue charges $5-$6 per drink so I don’t think we’ll make a profit from that. I’ll have JoAnn see if it’s a possibility. Raber: We thought the response last year was enough to warrant the time and effort to do it again? Simons: Yes. The biggest complaint was that $55-$75 was too much to pay; so instead of having resident and non-resident fees we’ll have one fee, which will also make it easier for staff. Mayor: So it will be $35 per person and a cash bar? Simons: Yes. Mayor Kline moved to approve; seconded by Megan Raber. Vote to approve: 4/0. (Mike Rorar stepped out of the meeting prior to this vote) 3. Before/After Care Price Increase: Simons: The next three items are related. We haven’t had an increase in many years. Last year we changed the option to both before and after care instead of allowing just one, so parents saw an increase there. A few years ago we removed the discount for ten or more weeks of summer camp so we’ve changed prices in that way, but we haven’t had an increase. We’re still less than other day cares in this area. We can weather a $10 increase per child/per week at Summer Camp and Before/After Care, and a $5 a day increase for our No School Day Camps. We can discuss separately but the rationale for each is the same. Rorar: The demand is there? Simons: Yes, the demand is there. Gilbride: For Before/After Care would this be immediate? Simons: No, this would take place next summer. Raber: We probably need effective dates for these. Simons: I’d like to amend the start date for Before/After Care to June 1, 2023, the same for Summer Camp. No School Day Camp will be effective for the 2023-24 school year. For No School Day Camps we issue a $15 credit per day to families in Before/After Care because they’re already paying for part of the day. This does not apply to Spring Break or Winter Break when it’s a full week off because they’re not paying for that already. Mayor: We’ll vote on this one at a time. Megan Raber moved to approve; seconded by Mike Rorar. Vote to approve: 5/0. 4. Summer Camp Price Increase: See discussion above. This will be effective June 1, 2023. Mollie Gilbride moved to approve; seconded by Mayor Kline. Vote to approve: 5/0. 5. No School Day Price Increase: See discussion above. This will be effective the 2023-24 school year. Simon: We can make it effective June 1, 2023 so all three have the same date. Megan Raber moved to approve; seconded by Mollie Gilbride. Vote to approve: 5/0. B. Price Changes – Council Grid 1. Basketball Court Rental Rate Increase: We have not increased fees since 2019. Our courts are in high demand, especially with more Travel Teams and private renters coming out. For Tallmadge based teams this only equates to a $5/hr difference because they get a discount. Because the condition of our courts is nicer and demand is high, this increase is appropriate. This would be effective on or after June 1, 2023, prices would stay the same +this winter. Megan Raber moved to approve; seconded by Mike Rorar. Discussion: Gilbride: Is there a lot of competition in this area? Simons: There is not a lot of competition and the demand is high. Vote to approve: 5/0. 2. Ballfield Rental Rate Increase and Tournament Fee Change: Simons: We want to increase ballfield rental rates by $5 across the board for practice only, $10 for game ready rentals, $25 for all day rentals, and $5 for the lights. Fields were in high demand this year due to travel teams and people aging out of Little League, especially for weekday rentals. We also want to limit the number of hours  for tournament maintenance fees. Obviously if there is an issue we’ll come out, but providing a dedicated staff person 12-13 hours a day for bathrooms and trash on weekends costs more than is justified with the fee received. Discussion: Gilbride: Are we doing that and do we need to? Rorar: Yes. Little League is the only group paying this and they complain every year. Simons: This is the first year they paid the full fee. Rorar: Because we gave them a discount. Simons: They’re the only ones that use more than two fields because they control all the fields except the two we rent. Raber: Can we charge per hour and bill afterwards instead of a flat fee? Simons: That is doable, I would like to include a minimum number of hours. If we don’t charge a fee, we still use the same time to clean the trash and pavilions. Rorar: Yes, we’re there anyway we just weren’t reaping any rewards. Gilbride: Then if we say six hours that wouldn’t be accurate because we’d be out more than that cleaning up. Simons: Correct. I’m ok with an hourly rate. Gilbride: We can increase the fee explaining we’ve done this for two years and realized the current fee doesn’t cover the 12-13 hours of work needed. Simons: It would have to be $200-$250 to cover staff cost. Little League will not be happy and will go to Council again asking to have the fee lowered. Gilbride: As Administrators we must tell Council what we need. If they want to submit to Little League that the city will eat the cost, that’s on Council. Rorar: Can we scratch the tournament fees short term and go with the rest of your recommendations? Simons: We can but this has to be approved by Council. I’d like it in place by January 1 so they’re not upset they didn’t know about the fees. Gilbride: We have until the end of October to get through Council with three readings. Simons: Then we can meet again at the beginning of October? Gilbride: Yes, we can research this with sufficient time to have this on a grid for Council. Simons: So this would take effect with our rentals for 2023? We start booking ballfields in February. Raber: There are a lot of changes you need and going to Council once would be better. Simons: I agree, we can discuss at our October meeting. Kline: We’ll table #2 for now. 3. Pavilion Rental Price Increase: Simons: This is due to how pavilions are left after being rented. We can’t charge a security deposit because if one is rented multiple times a day we don’t have staff to check after a party leaves. We’re proposing a $5 per pavilion per day increase effective January 1, 2023 for those not already booked. This is higher than other pavilions in the area so I’m reluctant to raise it higher, but this will help cover our costs. Raber: Where are we compared to other areas? Simons: Some are $25-$30 a day, some closer to us are $60 a day. Raber: What do the Metro Parks charge? Kline: Those are open, not available for rental. Megan Raber moved to approve; seconded by Mike Rorar. Vote to approve: 5/0 6. Other No other items 7. Monthly Reports A. TRC Membership Report: Simons: Our report is very encouraging. Our paid/ non-insurance based memberships are up 25% from this time last year. Our attendance reports show more people coming in early this season, we usually don’t have an uptick until September or October. School is back in so students are coming in after school. B. Financial Report: Gilbride: August’s report is not ready so this is from July. We’re seeing numbers come back, walk-ins are driving the increases. Many are opting to pay the daily fee instead of getting a pass. We’re moving in the right direction. C. TRC Donation Request Report: No Donation Request Report. Adjournment: Meeting was adjourned at 10:31 a.m.