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Date
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June 9, 2008
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Agenda
Item No. 63 Roll
Call No. 08-
Communication No. 08-347 Submitted by: Donald M. Tripp Park and
Recreation Director |
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AGENDA
HEADING:
Amending
Chapter 74 of the City Code and Cemetery Schedule of Fees for various Park and
Recreation fees and charges
SYNOPSIS:
Recommend
approval of the proposed fees and charges to various Park and Recreation
programs and facilities including ball diamonds, tennis, volleyball court and
soccer fields; parking at the James W. Cownie Soccer Park; non-resident fees
for park shelters, season swim passes and cemeteries; and Brenton Skating Rink
bike rental fees. On Tuesday, May 27, 2008, the
FISCAL
IMPACT:
Amount:
$169,000 (Estimated Revenue)
(Parking
fees: $100,000, ball field rentals: $5,000, non-resident fee elimination:
$1,000 in increase usage, cemeteries: $63,000.
Funding Source:
The funding impact of the above recommendations will be provided from participants
and users of the City’s Park and Recreation facilities and services. Collected fees and charges shall be deposited
into GE001 PKS100400 Athletics and Sports Tourism (Sections 74-176 Ball
diamonds, tennis, volleyball court and soccer fields and 74-176
ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION:
A. Ball
diamonds, tennis, volleyball court and soccer fields: Section 74-176
Section 74-176
(c) Ball diamonds addresses rental fees for the Park and Recreation Departments
various baseball and softball complexes.
Upon review of area market fees, staff is recommending that section (c)
(4) “Tournament Admission fee: $50.00 per team when admissions fees or advanced
fees are charged as a part of the tournament registration” be eliminated. This recommendation is based on several
factors; 1) Other area facilities do not
charge this type of fee, thereby placing Des Moines ball fields at a
competitive disadvantage, 2) Based on the first season of use at the new James
W. Cownie Baseball Park there were several open weekends that could have been
filled with tournament rentals and 3) More rental uses will increase overall
revenues within the Athletics Sports Tourism budget.
Currently the
field rental prices in the metropolitan market are as follows:
Location Field Rental Fee
Holiday
Park $45.00 per team
Indianola $50.00 per team
B. Section
74-176 (e) related to the
C. Non-resident
fees – Sections 74-182 Lodge, park shelter and other park rentals., 74-183
Aquatic centers, swimming pools and marina and cemeteries schedule of fees
Based on the
positive impact of increased usage and revenues at the City’s golf courses and
swimming pools due to a reduction in fees, staff is recommending that the
non-resident fee structure be eliminated for park shelters, season swim passes
and cemetery fees. This recommendation
is based on the belief that a standard fee will attract customers to City
facilities and therefore increase usage and overall revenues to the City. As the City moves toward more on-line payment
services and outside vendor support, the customer service component of one
standard fee, set at market rate will attract more visitors to City facilities
and improve the overall customer service. Within the cemetery operations, staff
estimates that 80% of our business sales come from funeral homes. A single fee structure will greatly aid our
ability to market our cemetery operations through this affiliated vendor
relationship. Regarding the elimination
of the non-resident fees for cemetery operations, the Park and Recreation Board
voted to approve this recommendation to the Des Moines City Council at their
June 27, 2006 meeting. However, this
recommendation was never sent forward to the Des Moines City Council after the
Board’s recommendation to support this initiative.
D. Cemetery
Schedule of Fees
The City’s
cemetery fees are established by City Council resolution in their Schedule of
Fees and not by ordinance as are the rest of the Park and Recreation Department
fees and charges. The recommended
Schedule of Fees will be submitted under separate cover at a future date, prior
to the second reading/approval of fees and charges of the May 27, 2008 Park and
Recreation Board meeting as staff has been having difficulty verifying the
competitive pricing of private cemetery operations to compare and make a final
recommendation. This communication was
mailed out to the Board on Thursday, May 15 after the Citizen Cemetery Advisory
Committee recommended approval of the attached fees and charges at the end of
this communication.
The recommended
cemetery fees are based solely on market analysis with adjustments due to the
recommended elimination of the non-resident fees. The recommended Schedule of Fees will place
the City’s cemeteries, with a few exceptions, at or below the average market
price. The majority of the fees being
recommended for change were last adjusted in 2006, with the remaining fees last
being adjusted in 2002.
E. Brenton
Skating Rink Bike Rental Fees – new code section
The
Rates for hybrid &
mountain bikes Rates
for road bikes _______
Hourly
rate $12.00 Hourly
rate $ 15.00
˝
day (5 hours) $20.00 ˝
day (5 hours) $ 30.00
Full
Day (24 hours) $30.00 Full
Day (24 hours) $ 40.00
Weekly
rate (7 days) $80.00 Weekly
rate (7 days) $110.00
Trailer
bikes/carriers $ 6.00/hr.
Trailer
bikes/carrier $20.00 – ˝ day Youth 12 and
under $ 5.00 off
Trailer
bikes/carriers $30.00 – full day Groups of 15
or more 15% off
Bike
helmets free with rental /
$25-$30 purchase
RMS and Bike
World are requesting approval of the above rates and will evaluate a group
rental fee once operations commence and they can evaluate the usage and
demand. According to research completed
by Rink Management Systems,
As a part of
their operating costs, the Des Moines Riverfront Development Authority (RDA) agrees
to provide additional operating support in the amount of $25,000, the City
would contribute up to $25,000 and the RDA would seek an additional $25,000
contribution from the Downtown Community Alliance (DCA) during the term of the
agreement to subsidy the operations of the Brenton Skating Plaza. Any deficiency beyond the support identified
above shall be borne by the RDA.
PREVIOUS COUNCIL ACTION(S):
Date: January 7, 2008
Roll Call Number: 08-059
Action: Amending Chapter 74 of the Municipal Code regarding
fees for golf courses, lodges, park shelters and other park rentals, pool
rental,
Date: January 7, 2008
Roll Call Number: 08-060
Action: Final consideration of ordinance above,
(waiver requested by Park and Recreation Department), requires 6 votes. Moved
by Vlassis that the rule requiring that an ordinance must be considered and
voted on for passage at two Council meetings prior to the meeting at which it
is to be finally passed be suspended, that the ordinance be placed upon its
final passage and that the ordinance do now pass, #14,737.
Motion Carried 7-0.
BOARD/COMMISSION ACTION(S):
Date: May
27, 2008
Roll Call:
N/A
Action: Approved recommendation to the Des Moines
City Council for amending Chapter 74 of the City Code and Cemetery Schedule of
Fees for various Park and Recreation programs and facilities.
Date:
April 22, 2008
Roll Call:
N/A
Action:
Received and filed first reading of recommended fees and charges
Date: June 27, 2006
Roll Call: N/A
Action:
Approved recommendation to eliminate the non-resident cemetery fees to
the Des Moines City Council.
ANTICIPATED
ACTIONS AND FUTURE COMMITMENTS:
Approval of second and third readings for the above
fees and charges
For more information
on this and other agenda items, please call the City Clerk’s Office at
515-283-4209 or visit the Clerk’s Office on the second floor of City Hall,