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Parks Comm MINS 06-03-2010 CITY OF FEDERAL WAY PARKS, RECREATION AND CULTURAL SERVICES PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION Thursday, June 3, 2010 Hylebos Conference Room 6:00 p.m. 0 City Hall MINUTES Chair Konkell called the meeting to order at 6:02 p.m. Present: Chair Fred Konkell, Vice Chair Brian Ailinger, Martin Moore, Carol Otto, George Pfeiffer, Marie Sciacqua, Jack Sharlock, Louise Wessel and Karl Zinner. Excused: Dwight Otto and Justin Schmitter. Unexcused: Julio Diaz. Staff: Cary Roe, Parks, Public Works and Emergency Management Director, Steve Ikerd, Parks and Facilities Manager and Peggy Wright, Administrative Assistant. Guests: Council member Jeanne Burbidge and Acting Deputy Chief of Police, Stan McCall. Approval of Minutes: The May Parks and Recreation Commission meeting minutes were approved after correction. PUBLIC FORUM H. David Kaplan — Kaplan read a statement voicing his concerns with the current fiscal situation. He thinks neither the, Parks and Recreation Commission nor the Parks Department are fulfilling their mission statement of "stewardship of parks and programs that enrich the lives of our citizens." He said the Parks Maintenance division had been cut to "bare bones" level and could result in a massive failure with no chance to recover He challenged the commission to recommend to the Council Committee and City Council on ways to sustain a reasonable level of service and meaningful staffing levels to provide adequate programs /services to residents. He asked that public meetings be held if they are unable to come up with suggestions for suitable alternatives. Barbara Reid — as a former Chair of the Parks and Recreation Commission, she supports Kaplan's comments and has concerns when she hears of staff reductions during the budget process. She does not like to see the parks getting "second place" through the budget process. Reid said in visiting Steel Lake Park one weekend, she was amazed at the number of people in attendance and doesn't see how level of services could be cut. Residents living in apartments need the neighborhood parks and to cut the level of service to these parks would have a major impact on their quality of life in the City. COMMISSION BUSINESS Chair Konkell added two items to the agenda under "Commission Business" — naming the Brooklake Overlook area and a preliminary budget presentation by Director Roe. Report on Animal Services — Acting Deputy Chief of Police Stan McCall reported that Federal Way will assume animal services on July 1, 2010 from King County. The truck is on -site being decaled and two employees have been hired. The city ordinances pertaining to the new animal services has passed with council approval. There will be one person in the field Monday — Friday with weekend coverage handled by police department. Animal shelter services will be done through local veterinarians, special interest animal groups and has also been contracted with Pierce County Humane Society. Off- leash dogs in parks will be enforced, according to McCall. Report on Special Operations Unit (Bike Patrol) — Acting Deputy Chief of Police Stan McCall reported on the bike patrol of six officers who's primary area is the downtown core of the City from 6am — 8pm daily. They also target the parks and BPA Trail on their route. McCall stated there were 317 car prowls in the first quarter of this year with only 7 in parks. Naming of Brooklake Overlook — Council member Jeanne Burbidge is recommending that the Brooklake Overlook be named for Thais Bock. Chris Carrel from Friends of the Hylebos supports the recommendation but was not able to attend the meeting tonight to share his comments. Thais Bock was a long-time resident of Federal Way, pioneer conservation advocate and a birding expert, as well as good friend to the Marcx family, who owned the Hylebos property. Ms. Bock was awarded the Hylebos Stewardship Award prior to her death last year. Commission reviewed the park naming ordinance and discussed the process. Pfeiffer suggested Chris Carrel submit a recommendation to the commission to begin the process of renaming the site. The topic will be revisited at the August 5, 2010 commission meeting. Parks and Recreation Commission, June 3, 2010 Page 2 COMMISSION BUSINESS (continued) Trail/Pedestrian Access Committee Report/Consultant RFP — Ikerd discussed the Scope of Services for the consultant RFP. He needed to include in the RFP, dates that would work for a panel to meet for the presentation of the three consultants. It was recommended for mid -day appointments with all three consultants in one day. Director Roe said no more than 3 commissioners be on the panel but more were welcome to attend presentation. Trail Map Discussion — Ikerd reported that an in -house graphics person plus the GIS department could do the trail map without hiring a consultant at additional cost. Discussion followed on what is desired on the map, details of map, where will it be placed in the community, will it be a marketing item, what look is desired, map size, etc. Commissioners would like to see handicapped routes noted on the map, too. Budget Presentation — Director Roe presented background information on the proposed 2011 -12 budget. He discussed balancing the revenue sources which have been down since 2008, stating the sales tax, utility tax and real estate excise taxes are all down considerably. Roe stated that Interim City Manager Brian Wilson directed each Department Director to identify up to 3 FTE staff positions to cut. He then held meetings with all non - represented/represented staff addressing the proposed FTE position cuts addressed in Option A. He stated that in the last year the PRCS Director, Parks Planner and Recreation Superintendent staff positions have been eliminated. He discussed the proposed merge of the PRCS and Public Works departments, too. He has focused on the maintenance staff since the Recreation side of the PRCS department are enterprise and special revenue funded operations and not funded by the General Fund. With this in mind, he has identified one Administrative Assistant I position in Parks and two FTE Parks Maintenance I workers that are funded through the General Fund as the positions to be identified in Option A. He feels that with a proposed merger of the two departments, the Public Works engineers can pick up PRCS capital projects and keep them moving forward as they learn the process. His idea is the maintenance workers in both Public Works and Parks can be merged so all would be in a common pool of sorts with common supervision. Roe also said an Option B will be submitted for consideration towards balancing the budget. He said there will be other opportunities to discuss the budget process with public meetings in the future and he will bring additional information to the August commission meeting. Roe is working on a couple different Option B proposals. Chair Konkell said he feels that PRCS is getting "lost" in the merge process and has major concerns. Citizen H. David Kaplan voiced his concern on the amount of work to be done but with a reduced workforce. Pfeiffer said that dog feces and garbage in all our parks are not acceptable and that it will only get worse without staff resources to keep the parks up to the current level of service. Pfeiffer said that Public Works doesn't have the same public visibility as Parks staff do because they work differently. PW mow right -of -ways, weed -eat ponds, water baskets, maintain storm drains, etc. while Parks are constantly in the public eye cleaning restrooms, dumping garbage, lining fields, mowing the BPA Trail, etc. Pfeiffer said it is detrimental to hire staff, train them at a huge cost to the City then cut these positions when they will just have to be re -hired at a future date. Commissioners felt that the staff identified are those who are support staff and possibly other positions in management or staff close to retirement should be considered or given a retirement incentive. Roe said his decision was made by putting parks in to three tiers: Tier 1— Celebration Park and Steel Lake Park — high use; Tier II — Saghalie, Sacajawea, Lakota - medium use with sports activities; and Tier III — neighborhood parks with least use. Tier III is where he feels the level of service can be cut — example, instead of mowing weekly, the parks would be mowed every 10- 14 days. Director Roe said he will work hard that the PRCS department does not lose their identity in the proposed merger of Public Works and PRCS and wants to reassure the commission that is his goal. Chair Konkell said he doesn't want the Parks department getting short changed in the process and he perseves that is happening. Pfeiffer questioned the enterprise funded sites - when maintenance staff is working at the Community Center or Dumas Bay, are they paid through that fund? Roe answered no, that he doesn't have the capabilities to do that and he is going to cross - pollinate the divisions to get the job done with the least amount of cost. Pfeiffer and Kaplan said as long as the enterprise funded sites use "General Fund" staff, it waters down the pool even more, so it is not self - sufficient and self - supporting. Councilmember Burbidge said the grounds and building upkeep are addressed differently — Roe said sharing resources is how he manages to get the most out of each component. He wants each division to support one another to get the most benefit and at a cost savings in a teamwork approach. Pfeiffer said he approves wholeheartedly of teamwork but when the division that is receiving the total cut of 3 FTE employees and still expected to support the enterprise- funded divisions seems unfair — how can maintenance staff continue to provide the same level of service, including other PRCS divisions, with less employees? Fire alarm interrupted meeting at this point. Meeting was adjourned when alarm went off a second time and commission was once again evacuated from City Hall. Parks and Recreation Commission, June 3, 2010 Page 3 STAFF REPORTS Playsround Data Update — no report due to Fire Alarm evacuation. NEW BUSINESS Louise Wessell would like to volunteer for the Red, White and Blue Festival this year. Martin Moore said he would like to volunteer for the 4 of July event, too. PENDING BUSINESS November, 2010 — Police report on Animal Services, Special Operations Unit (bike patrol) and Summer Park Issues NEXT MEETING /AGENDA ITEMS Review 2010 Work Plan Discuss Trail Map Concept Consultant RFP /Interview Report RWB Festival Update Re- naming Brooklake Overview 2011 -2012 Budget Update ADJOURNMENT Chair Konkell adjourned the meeting at 8 p.m. after a second fire alarm went off within 10 minutes resulting in a second building evacuation. i