Recreation Center Governing Board

CITY OF TALLMADGE Recreation Center Governing Board Special Meeting December 1, 2022 9:00 a.m. Lower Conference Room Meeting Chaired By: Mayor David Kline Minutes: Tish Rowland 1. Call to Order: Mayor Kline called the meeting to order at 9:06 a.m. 2. Voting Members Present: Mayor Kline, Law Director Megan Raber, Director of Finance Mollie Gilbride, Director of Public Service Rorar 3. Non-Voting Members: Parks and Recreation Superintendent Jessica Simons, Administrative Assistant Dan Enos 4. Adoption of Minutes for October 24, 2022: Megan Raber moved to approve the minutes of October 24th meeting; seconded by Mollie Gilbride. Vote to approve: 4/0. 5. Old Business: a. Past Event Updates: Simons: We’ve put out Santa’s mailbox. We had registration for Community All Stars; based on that we have pricing recommendations. b. Staff Updates: Enos: Continuing to hire as we can. 6. New Business: a. Price Changes – Community All Star Basketball: Simons: Registration is down from last year; competitors offer lower pricing. We suggest lowering team rates to $425, with a $50 discount for returning organizations. Admission rates for all will be $3 next year. Raber: We can make a recommendation for the Council Grid but cannot approve it. Simons: Correct, I made changes and if approved I can amend the Council Grid to send to Council. Gilbride: What is the price now and will new pricing be competitive? Simons: This season is $525 due to the referee increase, but the market can’t bear that. New pricing is similar to competitors, we will still make a 40% profit. Raber: Are there enough kids in the program? Simons: Yes, but it is smaller than last year; a private organization allowed Tallmadge teams to go for free. Gilbride: Did we offer multi team discounts before? Simons: Yes, for 4 or more teams the 4th team got $100 off. That is replaced by the new, lower rates and will apply to all organizations. Gilbride: What is the incentive for teams that left to return? Simons: The lower prices will be much more competitive, and we’re known to be more organized than others.  Gilbride: Advertising pricing for next year gives competitors time to adjust. Simons: We asked teams that left, and they want to come back. Paying $525 was too much, especially for multiple teams. Rorar: Can this be introduced after January 1 to avoid competitors knowing? Simons: If in place before the end of this season teams will know about lower pricing and be encouraged to return. Raber: If someone is giving it away for free, will the lower price incentivize teams to return? Simons: Yes. A lot are already playing in our league, adding teams offers better competitions. Inexperienced refs, no scorekeeper, schedule problems are issues with competitors. We don’t have those problems, so with a lower price we’ll get teams back. Megan Raber moved to approve; seconded by Mike Rorar. Vote to approve 4/0. b. Price Changes – Additional Recommendations for Council Grid: Simons: Veterans added to the Military category. Monthly rates for Blue/Gold Military memberships will be half the (annual eft) rate for Residents/Non-Residents. Mayor: How many will this affect and are they eligible for Silver Sneakers? Simons: We have 2-3 Military per month. This is a community service, but our price is much lower than the Nat so we may get new members. Silver Sneakers depends on insurance. Community All Star League admission fee for all attendants will be $3 effective March 1, 2023. A $2500 Wedding/Banquet Rental from early Friday through 1 p.m. Sunday, with a $500 resident discount and 25% church discount was added. Raber: Should we add that alcohol and security are not included? Simons: I will include that. Mayor: A Friday rehearsal dinner with alcohol would need security, correct? Simons: Yes, but normally Friday would be decorating the hall, etc. Rorar: And $2500 is appropriate? Simons: Yes, I was told I could go as high as $4000. Raber: If someone wanted early entrance Friday with a wedding Saturday it would be $900 rental, $100 early entry, and $200 cleaning fee, total $1200, but it’s $2500 for this. Simons: We can raise the early entry fee; to rent from 11a.m. to 11p.m. Friday- Sunday would be $2700. Raber: It should be clear. Simons: Yes. Enos: Raising the early entry free will hurt organizations that use it for a quick setup. Gilbride: Can it be hourly across the board? Simons: Yes, we can remove the early entry fee and charge by the hour. We also added that Blick Center, Greater Akron Aquatic Society, and Living Church of God receive the resident rate. They have rented monthly for a very long time with no issues and cannot afford the new non-resident rate. Rorar: Can you get us more details about the length of time, history etc. because it could cause some issues? Enos: We could extend the 30% discount to all non-profits. Simons: My concern is a 30% discount won’t cover the increase we’re implementing. Gilbride: Non-profit groups serving Summit and Portage counties can get the resident rate, Tallmadge based non-profits will receive an additional 30% off the resident rate. Raber: I prefer that to naming individual organizations. Rorar: I’m glad you looked into this.  Simons: I also prefer not naming organizations, I will adjust Ritchie’s to match the Community Center wording about non-profits. The other change is pavilions. Non- residents will have an increase, but not as much as originally planned because we’re lowering the resident rate. We are very high compared to competitors, so I decreased the resident rate to $50/$60, non-residents to $90/$100 based on location. Gilbride: We have in the budget another pavilion at Lion’s Park, correct? Simons: Yes, I’ll add that in at the higher rate. Mayor: What is the average rate for outdoor pavilions? Simons: The highest non-resident rate is $75. Raber: I move to approve changes in the grid per the on-record discussion today; Mike Rorar seconded. Vote to approve: 4/0. 7. Monthly Reports a. TRC Membership Report: Jessica: Memberships continue to increase. Insurance- based memberships are up due to open enrollment. No-insurance members are up 107 from last year. We remain 300-400 below 2019 prior to the pandemic, but we continue to grow. b. Financial Report: Gilbride: See October report. Memberships have increased, especially in walk-ins. We’re 42% ahead of last year. Raber: Are we doing any advertising for the holiday? Simons: No billboards this year but we’ll find other things to do. c. Donation Request Report: Enos: No donation report Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 9:47 a.m.