03-08-2023 Workshop Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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more amenities to residents including golf courses, various gathering spaces, nature centers, banquet halls, water parks, fitness centers, indoor playgrounds and even kids care. For that reason, trying to compare Little Canada Parks and Recreation with communities like Maplewood, Roseville and Shorewood is not practical. The Parks Director provided a copy of the Nation Recreation and Parks Association (NRPA) Performance Review which is attached and compares the Little Canada Parks & Recreation Department in a variety of metrics with other park and recreation departments nation- wide. This Performance Review shows that Little Canada expends $3,110 per acre of park land which is lower than the median quartile of spending for all agencies at $3,708 per acre of park land, but well above the lower quartile at $1,721. Further information shows that the City exceeds the median providing 11.7 acres of park land per 1,000 population verses the median of 10.4 acres of park land for other agencies. Another metric shows Little Canada generating $3.86 in revenue per capita for revenue coming directly from parks which includes programming, rental and vending sales. This is well below the median for other agencies at $22.08 and even below the lower quartile at $6.24. This may be an opportunity for Park & Recreation staff to look at what they can do to increase the revenue which may then enable the Council to commit more funds to Parks and increase the spending per acre of land. These are the types of discussions that should be occurring with the Council and would be projects that staff and the Director could tackle if his job responsibilities are revised to allow more time for focusing on the Parks and Recreation/Community Services part of his job. The Parks and Recreation Department currently has a part-time Parks Maintenance staff member that is also half time Public Works. This individual spends considerable time during the summer months maintaining the Parks and its various facilities. The Parks and Recreation/Community Services Director feels that an additional 20 hours are needed for Parks and Recreation. In reviewing the NRPA Performance Review that average of all agencies full time equivalent in Parks per 10,000 population is 8.9 whereas the City of Little Canada at .5 is at 5.7 per 10,000 population well below the average. Based on the Directors request and the fact that Public Works is lean on staff as shown in a future section of this Study, I would recommend that an additional 20 hour Parks Maintenance position be added and available to also assist Public Works as needed. The Parks and Recreation/Community Services Director will gain more time to focus on Parks and Recreation issues from the following changes: 1.Reassigning the technology and communication responsibilities currently assigned to his Director position to the Community Engagement Director 2.utilizing, as needed, an additional Customer Service Specialist, when available for projects 21 of 63