Agenda Packets - 1998/11/09 - Laserfiche WebLink

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MEMO November 6, 1998 To: Honorable Mayor and City Council From: Chuck Whiting, City Administrator Re: November 9, 1998 City Council Meeting We have a number of things to cover Monday night. Here's what's on the agenda: Item 7B - Community Center Management Options: We will have YMCA representative Pat Reimersma attending the Council meeting to introduce herself and the YMCA. The Council is familiar with the process that has led us to this point, but it is unclear as to the community's interest and concerns over changing the management of parks and recreation in Mounds View. With that in mind, having the YMCA come in and meet with the Council and interested residents seemed to be the appropriate idea. Staff has sent out a letter from me to all the individuals and associations the city works with in our recreation programming informing them of this discussion item, so depending on interest, there could be many people in attendance. Here are some important points I think should be kept in mind. First,the purpose of this meeting is to make people aware of the option of having the YMCA oversee the community center and all other city recreation programming. This includes the budget issues, but also the service levels. Second, those service levels are based on what the community wants. The starting place for discussing service levels from my staff position is to use as a standard those services and service levels currently in place in Mounds View. This means that our recreation programs remain the same, that the individuals used to conduct a recreation program remain as close to the same as possible, and that program costs remain the same or at least as close to the same as they have been. This second point is dealing only with the service (program) delivery, not the administrative aspect of our current approach. Third, recognizing that our programs change over time, a system for maintaining community oversight of those changes,to keep them appropriate for the community, must be in place and actively practiced. This means asking the Parks and Recreation Commission to take an active role in working with the YMCA in determining the community's interest in program levels and their changes. The YMCA has indicated their willingness to respond to and work with a process of city oversight, and frankly, it couldn't work any other way. Finally, it is possible that Monday evening's meeting could be less focused on the facts and concerns of the option and more so on control and emotion oriented issues. I think remembering that the YMCA has been invited in to this by the City is important. A confrontational approach with them specifically is pointless, and simply will eliminate their option from further consideration. Unfortunately, I am out of time to review the agenda further. Have a good weekend and see you Monday evening.