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HomeMy WebLinkAboutARC.min.10052005DRAFT 4SPEN RECREATION CENTER ARC ADVISORY COMMITTEE Meeting Minutes October 5, 2005 In Attendance: Staff Member(s): Guests: Board Members: Scott Writer, Sue Smedstad, Debbie Ware, Laura Komasiewicz, and Barbara Owen, Alice Davis. Tim Anderson, George Pucak. Toni Kronberg Call to Order - Sue Smedstad called the meeting to order with a quorum present. Scott Writer showed up during Staff comments and Chaired the meeting from there. Committee Comments: Barbara Owen complimented the Youth Center and Sue Smedstad on Youth Center programs and activities. Staff Comments: George made the following staff comments on ice programming changes: LIA started youth "shinny" type hockey at the end of AJHC season and ran it through the end of summer. It was very effective until school ended & then declined as other summer activities started for kids. During Aspen Summer Skate both the Syncro-class and the exhibitions were very well accepted. The new "Improved" ice class did well and this format based on self measurement of physical characteristics as they relate to performance, might well be used in many of the sport activities conducted here at the ARC. For fall, Jenny created a new Skate8 Olympics for the K-4th graders coming over early from the elementary school. Ice is available at 2pm and payment is available on a pass or pay as you go basis. New for fall is a revised Skating School format for classes with a punch card type payment system that allows participants to attend classes when they can. It also allows coaches to commit to teaching times in month long increments. The whole program allows maximum flexibility to our user guests and is an effort to meet the differing needs of many Aspen families. We are excited for the potential of this program. The "Hockey Mountain High" - Adult Tournament will take place here this coming weekend from Oct. 6tn - 9~h. We are close to having an agreement for ice usage worked out between AJHC & ASC thanks to the efforts of Barbara Owen. LIA looking at the possibility of running longer daily Public sessions during the high winter season. We will try to offer Public Skating from 11:45 am until 4:30pm weekdays this winter season. Staff is looking at coverage and cost impacts. Tim Anderson asked that a quick discussion of the 2006 budget process be added to the discussion items. This was placed on the agenda following the discussion of the Business Plan. Tim brought up the success of the School Dists. College information day, but that it did impact operations at the ARC due to parking problems. Staff wishes to work with the schools on this project next year and perhaps capitalize on this as a marketing opportunity. Staff will contact Kathy KIug in regards to being a partner in next years event. Tim Explained to the AC how Paul Kulik will be taking the lead in the Departments IT needs. This will create clear communication regarding the implementation and training of current RecTrac programs, a payment plan for passes, and the installation of WebTrac. Paul will be responsible for creating a team that writes clear policy and procedure regarding the use of these systems and on going training. Staff has begun a mentor program with two students from the Community School, who will learn about ARC operations and systems, and assist the staff is putting together a Community School Day which staff hopes will prompt some pass sales and excitement amongst these students. Guest Comments: Toni Kronberg addressed the AC and spoke of concerns regarding safety on the slide. Tim Anderson responded that this had been brought to the attention of the manufacturer and the construction company and both said that the slide met all specifications. Toni also mentioned that the womens locker room needed more hair dryers (the type that are mounted on the wall and you push the button much like a hand dryer), staff will look into this and address the situation. Toni was also concerned about the type of sanitation system which was being used in the pools and suggested a Calcium Chloride or Saline type system. Toni wished to inform the AC that the Pro and Con information had come out in the community regarding the Nov. 1, ballot questions and that the Con to the pools was why build new pools at the ARC when it takes such a large subsidy already. Toni was concerned that revenue was down during the months of April thru August at the ARC. Toni asked if the AC knew anything about adding two ice rinks and a lodge next to the ARC? The AC informed Toni that they knew nothing of this. Toni pointed out that the September minutes identified the words "pool designs" in the discussion of the ballot question for new pools and that the word "designs" should be deleted. II. Past Meeting Minutes Approval Debbie pointed out that the word "Designs" should be deleted from the discussion of the pools on the ballot for November 1. The AC agreed and voted to delete the word from the September 7th, minutes and adopted the past minutes per the aforementioned change. III. Discussion Items: Business Plan: The AC was concerned about the Council asking for more information that was already in the report. The AC felt that the information Council was seeking was already in the report or was information not consistent with the Business Plan directive. Tim Anderson suggested that footnotes be added to the Action Plan of the Business Plan so it would be easy for any reader to identify the information in the body of the report. Sue Smedstad went on to say that she felt the Council was caught up on the Facility Improvements section of the Action Plan and that changes should be made which clearly identify a timeline for these changes which Council could act upon. She recommended that this portion of the plan be laid out in a manner brought forward by committee member Barbara Owen in the September meeting. The Facilty Improvements section of the Action Plan should lay out improvements by "Revenue Enhancement", or "Customer Satisfaction". Then the plan should identify years 2006, 2007 and so on for 5 years out as to what improvement should be acted upon. The plan should also identify an approximate cost for each improvement, and what potential there is for revenue generation. Staff will pass these recommendations along to PROS consulting and ask that they be implemented. In addition staff will seek to pull out the pages of the Action Plan which address Facility Improvements, place a cover memo explaining how these will affect the ARC, and the AC will provide their recommendations and support for moving forward with certain components of the Facility Improvements for consideration by Council during the 2006 budget process. 2006 Budget Process: Staff explained that they will seek a 3% increase in pass prices for the ARC in 2006. These will be written up and submitted to the AC at the November meeting for discussion and approval. Staff also informed the AC of a 40% increase in utility funding for 2006 and the supplemental request that has been submitted for an additional Maint. Tech at the ARC. This position would concentrate mainly on preventative maintenance. Code of Conduct: Staff had further refined the steps of action in the Code of Conduct. Staff also had found through discussion with the City Attorney that we cannot share written information with other organizations regarding minors. Staff may however, have a discussion with another entity which may be involved in the behavioral problems with a minor (i.e. police related matters, child welfare issues, issues regarding a child in a schoolprogram using the ARC Facilities, etc.). Staffmayalso discuss matter regarding a minors action in the ARC while using the programming o£other entities such as jrt hockey, the youth center, or the swim team for example. The AC mentioned that it will still be nice to have other organizations support and adopt our policies regarding conduct. Scott asked that we include a reward for good acts in the ARC. This was well received and supported by the rest of the AC. Add a clear grievance procedure to the Code of Conduct. Financial Reports The AC liked the financial reports which were presented. They identified daily and monthly revenues and attendance numbers to the ARC and compared them to the previous year. The AC mentioned that sometimes they would like to know how particular programs were doing. Staff stated that they are able to generate monthly reports which will show the trends in revenue and particular programs. The AC suggested that the staff provide a report each quarter of which program(s) are showing poor trends and which programs are showing strong trends. Staff will also work with Vermont Systems; the manufacturers of RecTrac and WebTrac to see about generating financial reports which include the numbers of patron in the facility and/or a progam and the revenue generated to identify trends and cost recovery. Champs Discussion: Tim Anderson stated that the user groups had met with Champs Concession regarding issues that had come up in the past. We found that in most cases user and Champs had gone through a learning curve over the past year and found what works and what does not. We also found that communication as to what the users want and what Champs can provide were some of the most common needs. The group also encouraged Champs to go with some foods with lesser quality that allowed for more digestible pricing. This would especially apply during events in which we were brining in citizens from smaller towns. IV. Updates: · 300 Level Cooling: The system has a long punch list at this time before payment is made and staff is working with the City attorney is seeing that any damage done from this punch list not being completed will be placed upon the contractor and the subs. · Entry Graphics & signage: Staff identified the signage that had been installed to date, mentioned that they are continuing to work with Art Burrows of Ajax Design to install additional directional signage. The staff is also working with Art on the design and installation ora parking identification sign for times when parking is full and patrons must be directed to other locations off site. Action Item(s): dunior Hockey Addition: The Memorandum of Understanding and Lease Agreement between the City of Aspen and the Jr. Hockey Association had been signed and will go before City Council on the 11th of October. Terms: There was a discussion of where AC members were in their terms of service. Staff said they would put together and spread sheet identifying the terms of service and distribute. VI. Other Business: The committee was adjourned and will meet again on November 2, 2005.