By BECKY THOMAS
Staff Reporter
The Cheney Park Board approved a new operating policy for the parks and recreation department at their Nov. 10 meeting.
Parks and recreation director Paul Simmons said the policy would improve efficiency and direct the department to create a contingency fund.
“I feel like we're off track right now and the intent of this policy is to get us on track, in the right direction and have some sustainability.”
Simmons pointed out that when the department re-formed in 2004 its funding structure was changed, with the majority of the department's budget coming from a citizen-approved utility tax. He said the mild weather of the past year means citizens used less electricity and consequently the utility tax revenues shrunk.
“We're feeling the effects of that right now,” he said.
The operating policy requires the development of a $100,000 contingency fund to provide the department with a financial cushion. Simmons said once the policy was approved a plan would be created to set aside a certain amount of money annually until the target amount is reached.
“Once it's established, I would like to see us take that allocation of money that we were using to establish the fund and have that be set aside for capital expenses,” he said.
The policy also proposes an increase in non-resident program fees from $2 to $4 per registration, as well as requiring a minimum enrollment of six people per program offering to run a program. A financial requirement would also require a program to make at least 15 percent of profit, where before programs were required to pay for themselves, with no profit required. Simmons said this requirement might call for an increase in registration fees for certain programs.
Simmons said these changes would help the department operate in a sustainable fashion instead of using reserve funds to pay for regular programs and operations.
Board member Jill Weiszmann asked whether the department could hire a new parks maintenance staff member before the contingency fund reached $100,000. Simmons said it would be financially irresponsible to do so.
The board approved the policy, which will move to City Council for final approval.
Also at the meeting, EWU student Chris Hoppe proposed a project to assess a need for and public interest in outdoor recreation offerings. Hoppe said he would conduct a community survey, identify programs and assess the city's capacity to provide them as well as finding outside providers the city could contract with to provide more outdoor programs. Hoppe said he thought the community would benefit from a stronger tie with surrounding outdoor recreation opportunities. The board approved his project.
Simmons also updated the board on the Wren Pierson Building reconstruction project. He said contractors attended a pre-bid walkthrough of the building Nov. 2 and bids were set to be opened this past Tuesday, Nov. 16. He said he hoped the selected contractor could begin work the first week of December.
Becky Thomas can be reached at [email protected].
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