[0:00] - Centre Region Parks and Recreation manages 56 municipal
[0:04] and regional parks.
[0:05] These beautiful parks offer amenities such as sports fields,
[0:08] rentable, picnic, pavilions, playgrounds, bike
[0:11] and walking trails and recreation facilities.
[0:14] Take some time to find your park
[0:15] and spend some time outdoors.
[0:17] Visit crpr.org for a list of park locations and amenities.
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[1:23] - You are watching CNET Center County's Government
[1:26] and Educational Access Network.
[1:32] - I to order the
[1:35] September 7th on 26th meeting
[1:38] of Centre Region Parks and Recreation.
[1:41] Ready? We need a vote. Vote.
[1:45] Call the other people online. Yes. Yes. Okay. Mr.
[1:50] Gracie Griffin. I am here.
[1:56] Ms. Black here.
[2:06] Oh, okay. Excuse me.
[2:11] Public comments. Members of the public are invited
[2:14] to comment on any items not already on the agenda.
[2:18] We do have a three minute per person time limit
[2:21] comments relating to specific items on the agenda should be
[2:25] deferred to that point in the meeting.
[2:27] Submitted comments will be read into their record
[2:30] by the secretary.
[2:34] Does that any, anyone have any agenda items?
[2:42] So we do have some announcements regarding Halloween.
[2:47] The grade is going to be on Sunday, October 30.
[2:52] Line is at 6:30 PM on Treasure Street.
[2:55] That's begins at seven
[3:02] citing fall news, as is the trick or treat.
[3:05] Night announcement.
[3:07] Again, Patrick Trick treat will be held on Thursday,
[3:11] October 29th, 2026 through sixth o'clock.
[3:15] It shall be PM in the Participating Centre Region.
[3:18] Municipalities. We do have an an in climate weather date,
[3:23] which is Friday, October 30th, 2026.
[3:27] Not outstanding as a football or gotta do it early,
[3:30] but we're not gonna miss it.
[3:32] So, and we're also really pleased to welcome Sarah.
[3:37] I'm gonna say this wrong. Yep, we got it.
[3:41] I'm Sarah Will welcome.
[3:43] She's our newest step assistant at the Active Adult Center.
[3:48] You're gonna love it there. That really, really terrific.
[3:53] Okay, great. So, so thanks for
[3:57] for being with us.
[4:00] So we're gonna move on to the Consent Agenda.
[4:03] Say an action item. We have two items on the Consent Agenda.
[4:08] First one is the one, the approval of the minutes
[4:10] of the August 20th, 2026 joint meeting
[4:15] that we have with with Board Capital Committee
[4:18] and CA two, which is approval
[4:23] two says approval meet minutes again,
[4:25] but I think we're covered reports, so,
[4:29] so we will have those.
[4:31] I will entertain a motion
[4:33] that the Centre Region Parks Recreation Authority approve
[4:36] Consent Agenda as listed
[4:39] on the September 17th, 2026 Centre Region Park
[4:42] Recreation Authority agenda.
[4:46] I'll make the motion. Motion. Second. Second.
[4:51] All aye.
[4:55] Same sign. Okay.
[5:00] So we're gonna move on to the CRPR authority member reports.
[5:07] Let's start with the Proximity library ad hoc committee.
[5:13] So we met yesterday, so as a recap,
[5:17] a general forum established the ad hoc committee
[5:21] to determine vis to yes, leading parts
[5:25] of many.
[5:28] So making very good progress for final
[5:31] communications meeting yesterday focused on
[5:34] how better communication between elected officials,
[5:39] appointees, as well as governance bodies might resolve
[5:44] many of the conflicts, concerns that
[5:50] permanent standing committee would be meant to address.
[5:54] And as follow these, I'm gonna see, as well
[5:57] as the library director are working with the eligibility
[6:02] documents regarding the review of fiduciary responsibilities
[6:06] and as well as calls.
[6:12] Okay. Any, any questions for
[6:23] let's move on to report from Township
[6:27] or
[6:31] no report today?
[6:34] Okay. First, Harris Township.
[6:38] - The continuing s
[6:39] what we're doing in the Yoder Preserve goes on.
[6:42] Jim, I think you came out Boat again or about,
[6:44] and I haven't been down walking that area so I can't say
[6:48] for certain, but we do have two Penn State professors
[6:51] that are in the spring going to take a part the preserve
[6:56] and use it for our class.
[6:57] Hopefully not going in effort.
[6:59] And then in addition, we have
[7:01] local master naturalists working with Eric Oliver
[7:04] and cannot run for life base he works for,
[7:07] but he's really doing a strategic plan, looking at funds
[7:10] that we can get for maintenance, which I know is kind
[7:13] of the biggest lift, trying to move base.
[7:16] But he's pretty excited about the project.
[7:18] We're pretty excited about the project
[7:19] and it continues to, to make forward progress.
[7:24] - Okay. Sounds good.
[7:30] Any questions from Chris? And let's move on to Pat.
[7:36] Great. So nothing to record here from the board Supervisors
[7:40] on, on this past Tuesday
[7:45] had recreation advisory committee.
[7:48] We had bought Wall to work, so we went to surgical park
[7:54] as well as to park to see playground equipment.
[7:57] That's summer as well
[8:00] as practice review project.
[8:03] Thanks again.
[8:10] Great. Sounds good.
[8:12] Any questions for For right? None.
[8:16] Let's move on to the state college party school district.
[8:19] Jack,
[8:22] - Nothing really much to report
[8:26] the school years off to a good start.
[8:29] And thank you to Patton Township as we continue to work
[8:33] with them and getting the
[8:36] Park Forest Middle School construction up and going.
[8:39] That's about it.
[8:42] - Okay, thanks. Any questions for Jen?
[8:48] You're on to Burrow.
[8:50] - Nothing new.
[8:51] - Nothing new. Wow. Has anything ever happen happened?
[8:55] Oh yeah, I'm fine. I'm teasing. Teasing.
[9:00] Okay. And for College Township,
[9:04] we did not meet in September, so I do not have the report
[9:08] and report from the parks governance liaison.
[9:13] We did meet in August
[9:16] and we reviewed the authority bylaws
[9:19] and voted to, to send the bylaws to
[9:23] which people talk about today.
[9:25] So that was one thing that we talked about.
[9:29] And the other thing we talked about was the,
[9:31] we reviewed again the draft numbering agreement
[9:35] for maintenance agreement
[9:37] and decided to forward that to the comment
[9:42] to the director.
[9:44] I wanna say I just saw a, an email today that said
[9:48] by October 2nd.
[9:52] So we're waiting till October. Get comments.
[9:55] Yeah, hit the streets this morning. Okay. For the minutes.
[9:59] So, okay. We're looking to have October. Okay.
[10:03] I just wanna make sure that I, that I have everything right.
[10:06] Okay. Thanks Scott.
[10:08] Okay, so that, and that's it for Authority Reports
[10:13] and move onto agency reports.
[10:15] So we're gonna start ing Hi.
[10:18] - So obviously this isn't our typical setup
[10:21] but as you can see we are in budget season
[10:23] and this is where we have been for the past two weeks.
[10:25] So we've been working through budget.
[10:29] I'm gonna speak for Melissa. That's basically our report is
[10:32] that we've been knee deep in budget presentations,
[10:34] running numbers, and trying to get questions answered
[10:38] to anything that came up
[10:39] during the finance committee meetings.
[10:41] They've had four workshops this morning was the last one.
[10:44] They were reviewed our request items,
[10:46] which I can share a little bit more once we get in into
[10:49] the budget discussions.
[10:52] I do have one thing to point your attention to.
[10:55] In addition to what Jen was saying at Circle Park
[10:58] regarding the school, there's a full road closure
[11:01] that remains through.
[11:03] It starts October 19th through November 6th
[11:07] and this is on Little Lion Drive, which is the,
[11:13] - What's the road?
[11:14] - No, that's - Escaping
[11:17] - Valley Vista.
[11:18] Valley Vista. And the Lion Drive that side
[11:21] of the park will be closed for that period of time.
[11:24] But you can still get to
[11:25] - On the upper side - If you've driven down the road,
[11:28] you've seen that there's construction
[11:31] - But - They are staying in touch with us
[11:33] and trying to give us updates.
[11:34] So we'll be putting those on our website as well so
[11:37] that people can stay informed about that.
[11:40] I also wanted to share, we had some
[11:44] questions on long chemicals
[11:46] and we've been addressing questions kind of as they've come,
[11:50] but right now we'll take them as they come
[11:53] and if anybody has questions, we're gonna be posting
[11:56] information regarding chemical inspections
[11:59] and our requirements.
[12:00] 'cause we have certified pesticide applicators on staff.
[12:05] We're gonna post that information on the website
[12:07] so people are concerned or curious about what we do.
[12:11] We will have that information available on
[12:13] - Mostly that's all I have.
[12:17] Okay. Well me chemical information will be interesting.
[12:21] I've seen people asking questions.
[12:28] That's one of the reasons our parts are as low the,
[12:41] we either be overgrown or we have grasp.
[12:45] I make the choice. Okay, thank you.
[12:48] Any budgets request,
[12:52] let's move on to Melissa.
[12:56] - Kristy gave our dual dual report today, so thank you.
[12:59] I've been assisting
[13:00] - Preparing for the, okay.
[13:03] Okay, you're off. Okay.
[13:07] How about what's going on? On public bars? Yeah,
[13:12] - They are very busy.
[13:14] Falls Falls with us. The fall forces all started up.
[13:21] We fields all cleaned up
[13:24] and we maintained some of those field far.
[13:30] We use those to compensate us for that.
[13:36] We keep busy with that.
[13:37] We have had zero slow down on grass mowing, so
[13:41] there's actually brushing us.
[13:44] Typically we begin to slow down.
[13:49] That hasn't,
[13:54] we'll help the two larger trail out there to through those.
[14:00] Hopefully by the end of this we
[14:05] bit a play on right now.
[14:08] They have hopeful
[14:13] continue busy, still have a
[14:18] manager position that we're still working on
[14:21] and we are hired seasonals so.
[14:26] - Right. Good. Well thank you for all you do.
[14:29] We certainly do appreciate that.
[14:32] So any questions for Jim?
[14:37] Hearing none, let's move on to more active etal.
[14:40] Erika, good afternoon. So we are gearing up for fall.
[14:44] We have next Sunday we still have some spots open.
[14:48] We're having a fall snack of paint on Sunday, September 27th
[14:52] of the active adult center.
[14:53] I personally will be teaching a class, it's not been
[14:57] to adults and for an accompanying child for the age of 12
[15:04] that we're working on fundraising efforts
[15:07] for our tacular venue events and help Friday, October 16th.
[15:11] So to all ages currently have sponsorships from
[15:16] complete floor covering of Lemont, house, family services
[15:19] and weapons that all.
[15:22] So we've got some great prize in cash the way that thing.
[15:26] And then we're just working on gearing up
[15:29] for some fun activities for October.
[15:31] How already going to seek help. Five months.
[15:38] Okay. Sounds great. You're keeping all of us older folks
[15:43] busy, which is trying, which is wonderful.
[15:46] Okay. Any, any, any questions for Erika?
[15:50] Hearing none, let's find out what's happening out at Susan.
[15:55] - Sure. Yes.
[15:56] Just we have launched our whole programming,
[15:59] as I mentioned last time, everything going smoothly.
[16:03] There are a couple desk up the public may be interested in
[16:06] Center Outdoors, which is associated
[16:09] with Clearwater Conservancy is offering some free walks
[16:13] to the public at Millbrook Marsh this coming Sunday the 20th
[16:17] at both one and 3:00 PM
[16:19] and also Thursday at 9:00 AM So if you're interested in
[16:23] going on guided Walk's,
[16:25] checking out March, we'd love to see you.
[16:27] Also, our third WA three third wa, the State Village
[16:31] Third Club has started.
[16:32] Those are Tuesday mornings at 8:00 AM
[16:35] and they are every Tuesday through
[16:37] - October twenties. Interested
[16:39] - In about birding beginners
[16:42] and more experienced at life are all welcome.
[16:45] And then I did mention last time as well
[16:47] that we had an Eagle Scout project that was in the works
[16:50] and that has now wrapped up.
[16:52] So Carmen de Police, who's from TRO 32 Complet,
[16:56] her Eagle Scout project, which was a four in compost system
[17:00] that behind our coordinator garden.
[17:03] And this project continued the tradition
[17:05] of community stewardship
[17:06] because the original compost was put,
[17:09] compost system was put in by a Girl Scout
[17:14] in 2019 as part for Global Award.
[17:17] So we now have an upgraded system.
[17:20] We're very grateful for
[17:22] S there.
[17:28] - Okay, great. Have the, we saw pictures yesterday of the,
[17:32] the advisory committee.
[17:34] - Yes. Yes. - It looks nice.
[17:36] I haven't over any questions
[17:40] for Susan going on?
[17:45] Let's hear from Todd about the pools. Well, the
[17:49] - Pool's closed for the season
[17:51] last week on September 7th at the end of the day.
[17:54] So we are already starting to wind things down.
[17:59] This past Sunday we had our annual paws,
[18:02] a Palooza dog swim at Park Forest Pool.
[18:04] We had 102 dogs attend for that.
[18:07] That's always a, a singular day of joy at the pools
[18:10] to see all those dogs running around and swimming.
[18:13] Other than that, we're coordinating fall rentals at the
[18:16] pools, fall swimming and diving lessons.
[18:18] We'll start at the high school next week
[18:21] and we are evaluating our facilities, equipment, staff,
[18:24] and programs for 2027
[18:26] because the pools will open again in 253 days.
[18:31] - Two. It's pretty amazing.
[18:34] Okay, well thank, thank you for that on that report
[18:37] and I'm, I, I'm sure the, the dogs had a wonderful time.
[18:41] I know they do every year, so Yeah. Good.
[18:44] Tell us how many days?
[18:47] 253, 2 Oh, I didn't hear.
[18:50] Well the only reason I know
[18:52] that is because I just wrote it down.
[18:53] Otherwise I would've, any questions for Todd?
[19:00] Okay. Hearing on, let's move on to Beth
[19:03] and see what's going on, on in our recreation class.
[19:07] - Thank you. Event-wise, we had our
[19:10] so long Summer splash on, in, in at the end of August.
[19:15] And so we had 88 participants come out
[19:17] and watch Sonic the Hedgehog on our inflatable screen at
[19:21] Park Forest Pool, which was a great time
[19:24] and a good way to, we wrap up this summer.
[19:26] We also had our fall feet 5K
[19:29] last Saturday on September 12th at Circleville Park.
[19:33] We had 156 racers, which was a great turnout for us.
[19:37] The weather was wonderful. I'd love
[19:39] to thank all the volunteers from the staff
[19:42] and also Gamma Sigma Sigma sorority on campus.
[19:46] And then we, we did have some sponsorships,
[19:48] which was Ki Kissinger Bigot Tell
[19:50] and Brower Realtors as our gold sponsor in the corner room.
[19:54] And Texas Roadhouse also gave us some prizes
[19:56] and some cash towards the event.
[19:58] So that definitely helped make it a success.
[20:01] And we ended up raising a little over a thousand dollars
[20:04] for the Youth Scholarship program.
[20:05] So that's always a, a good thing.
[20:09] We will have our makeup touch a truck on Saturday,
[20:12] the 3rd of October at State College Alliance
[20:16] Church from 10 to one.
[20:18] And then the Halloween parade, as it's been mentioned,
[20:20] will be Sunday, October 25th with a six 30 lineup,
[20:25] 7:00 PM step off.
[20:27] And other than that, we have programs up and running
[20:30] and we have some new offerings
[20:32] for programming as we go through the fall.
[20:36] - Okay, sounds great as usual. Thank you.
[20:40] - Thank you. - Any questions for Beth? Okay.
[20:45] And last but not least, our sports supervisor.
[20:48] Jeff, what's going on?
[20:50] - Hi, I apologize. My camera's not working.
[20:54] We're picking up speed here for our fall programs.
[20:58] We have both the youth and adult football programs running.
[21:03] The ultimate Frisbee League is also up
[21:06] and running, all taking place at Whitehall Road Fall.
[21:10] Wood back league just started at Hess,
[21:12] since there's no lights at Hess now, we have
[21:14] to play on Sundays there.
[21:16] And then both the men's
[21:17] and women's volleyball leagues will start next week.
[21:21] Two more tournaments, weather permitting at Oak Hall.
[21:24] If, if we make it happen,
[21:26] it'll be the first weekend in October
[21:28] and the last weekend in October.
[21:30] Other than that, just, it's been a challenging fall trying
[21:32] to find space for everyone.
[21:35] - Wow. Okay.
[21:38] Sounds like you're busy as usual.
[21:41] Any, any, any questions for Jeff?
[21:45] Right on, we're we're gonna move on to
[21:50] annual report.
[21:53] Yes, she's online. Okay.
[22:02] Stephanie, are you there? Stephanie?
[22:05] - I was muted. Can you hear me now? Yeah.
[22:07] - Okay, - Sorry about that. That's okay.
[22:09] You think I have a better handle on microphones than now?
[22:14] Good afternoon everyone.
[22:15] I am Stephanie Yeager, the new Executive Director of CNET.
[22:20] Cindy Hahn, our previous director of 20 years has retired.
[22:25] So I took the position in June 1st,
[22:32] but I have been with the organization for over 20 years,
[22:36] actually inching toward a quarter
[22:38] century with the organization.
[22:40] So if anyone in the room feels a little younger
[22:42] because of that, you're welcome to.
[22:46] So I, From covering your meetings,
[22:51] I have been the primary producer on your meetings for,
[22:54] since you joined the joined CNET
[22:58] and that torch is sort of being passed to some of our,
[23:01] our other employees who have moved on to,
[23:06] we have, right now we have five of seven
[23:09] employees in new positions.
[23:11] So Tiffany Brion
[23:13] and Jess Mark Kovich are in new positions,
[23:17] but they both have long histories with the organization.
[23:20] So we have some seasoned people still with us,
[23:24] including myself and beyond that.
[23:26] So you are in good hands.
[23:28] So I will share my PowerPoint presentation
[23:34] to wait for permission
[23:35] - Here.
[23:40] - Are you seeing that request on this end or on your end?
[23:43] Scott, let, let me make you a thank.
[23:48] Thank you. Sorry, I saw the green button,
[23:50] so I thought I was all approved.
[23:52] Okay. Okay.
[23:56] No, I added her as a co-host, Susan. Just a latter.
[24:00] Oh, okay. Stephanie, do you, Stephanie?
[24:05] Okay, so lemme, there we go. There. Okay.
[24:12] It took a second before, can everyone see this? Yeah. Yep.
[24:16] Okay. All right. So now
[24:21] it is not moving forward.
[24:25] Oh, there we go. Okay. Oops. Now it's too far forward.
[24:32] Okay.
[24:39] This is your annual report.
[24:41] So all the data in this will pretty much reflect
[24:44] 2025 information.
[24:47] I do apologize for being so late in the year
[24:49] that you're receiving this, but as I explained
[24:52] with our transitions here,
[24:53] it got pushed a little bit back toward fall.
[24:57] So highlights for Parks
[24:58] and Rec, well overall in CNET for 2025
[25:02] is we produced 496 programs
[25:07] by our small but mighty staff.
[25:08] And in addition to the small staff that I mentioned earlier,
[25:13] we do have a host of interns who turn over every semester.
[25:18] They're, right now we have five, five for the semester
[25:21] and we,
[25:25] they're from the Penn State College of Communications
[25:29] and we train them and they get a lot
[25:31] of hands-on experience with us.
[25:35] Lowe's, captioning continues with CNET, where we have 15
[25:38] of our 17 members now opting in, including Parks and Rec.
[25:42] I'm not sure what authorities requirements are for a DA,
[25:46] but I know municipalities,
[25:49] the requirements recently increased in recent years.
[25:52] And so we are certainly hitting some boxes
[25:55] for those organizations with our captioning services.
[26:00] I do commend parks rec for participating in that
[26:02] because even if you're e, even if you're
[26:08] not completely deaf, if you have any kind
[26:11] of difficulty hearing, it helps.
[26:14] And those of us, like myself included,
[26:16] I've got some hearing damage.
[26:18] It helps to understand what's going on.
[26:22] And most people who are hard
[26:24] of hearing do not actually know American Sign language,
[26:27] much more can read the captioning.
[26:29] So as I said, that makes it more accessible for many people,
[26:34] even if they aren't particularly,
[26:36] or especially hard of hearing.
[26:40] One thing that started around in 2025
[26:44] was Comcast upgrade
[26:46] to the way CNET goes live on TV from remote locations.
[26:50] And by remote I mean outside of our studio.
[26:54] It includes the COG general forum room where some
[26:56] of you are meeting at present.
[27:00] And with that upgrade has come
[27:04] snowballed a replacement of our broadcast server, which
[27:08] really you won't see a lot of impact from that on your end,
[27:13] but we are hoping that on our end it'll make things a little
[27:15] more streamlined, a little more efficient,
[27:19] give us some more options for possibly going
[27:22] live from more places.
[27:24] And we do hope that maybe it will reveal itself
[27:27] to have some more services we can offer in the future.
[27:31] That project is about to wrap up.
[27:33] The server is being installed the last week of September.
[27:40] As for parks and rec programming.
[27:43] In 2025, you produced 12.3 programs.
[27:47] 11 of those were meetings
[27:48] and you did 13 bulletin board messages with us,
[27:51] which are usually your agendas
[27:54] and bulletin board messages are valued
[27:56] at a 10th of a program.
[27:58] So that's where you get the 11 plus 1.3 is the total
[28:02] of 12.3 programs that you see at the top of the slide.
[28:06] And that totals, that makes up about 2.3% of all programming
[28:11] by CNET members in 2025.
[28:14] So this graph shows your usage over the last five years
[28:19] with that 12.3 programs in 2025,
[28:23] which was up a little bit from the previous year,
[28:25] but down, you know, you're, you're on, you have a lot
[28:30] of variation to your, your usage in the last few years,
[28:33] but typically you're covering meetings
[28:35] and I can tell you in 2026 you are producing some new PSAs.
[28:39] We're working with Kristy and Melissa on those.
[28:43] Tiffany Brian, our operations manager
[28:45] has taken the lead on that.
[28:46] So she's been running around much
[28:49] of the year getting different events at the,
[28:52] at the pools, at the parks.
[28:53] So you'll see some forthcoming footage
[28:57] and advertisements for parks and rec coming up.
[29:03] The reason that those five years
[29:05] that I just showed you is important is
[29:07] because it, our funding formula uses a five year rolling
[29:10] average in calculating our member dues.
[29:12] This prevents any one year
[29:14] of an anomaly in your usage from
[29:17] really impacting your budget.
[29:18] It makes it a little more predictable for you to know what
[29:21] to expect to pay for CNET from year to year.
[29:25] And so your usage of six 2.62%
[29:29] of all programming in those years will
[29:33] determine your percentage of, of what you're, you're owing
[29:36] for the next upcoming budget for 2026.
[29:41] And our budget is approved in October.
[29:44] So we will have those final numbers to Kristy
[29:46] and the gang shortly here in the coming coming weeks.
[29:52] This gives a reference to of of
[29:54] where your usage is among all our members.
[29:57] Parks and Rec is right here at six 2.62%.
[30:01] So you're sort of one of our, our smaller members.
[30:04] But that falls in with having one meeting a month typically.
[30:07] And then some bulletin board messages.
[30:09] Our mega user is the Borough.
[30:11] They have a lot of meetings covered in a lot
[30:13] of different departments and that's followed closely
[30:16] in the second place by the county government,
[30:19] which has weekly meetings
[30:21] and sponsors a lot of community events.
[30:26] You can watch us online on demand at our website,
[30:29] CNET one.org anytime of day or night.
[30:32] Our programs are typically posted well within
[30:35] 48 hours of recording.
[30:37] There are clickable agenda points so you can easily maneuver
[30:41] through a meeting to find what interests you
[30:43] or what you need to, you know, revisit a discussion
[30:47] or something that's important to you.
[30:49] As I mentioned before, they're captioned
[30:51] and we typically keep about 20, 24 months
[30:54] of programs on our online platform.
[30:56] So you can go back quite some time beyond that,
[30:59] we do have archives that are accessible by request.
[31:05] Your meetings are typically broadcast the week
[31:09] after your meeting at the times you see here.
[31:12] Those are on Comcast channel seven.
[31:14] So those are available only to Comcast subscribers,
[31:17] but anyone anywhere can see the programming online.
[31:22] So this meeting will start airing next,
[31:24] next Wednesday at 9:00 AM.
[31:30] In addition to our website, we have over the top access
[31:34] with Fire tv, Roku, and Apple tv.
[31:39] And they can be a little hard
[31:40] to find our programs like they're buried sort of,
[31:43] because we're not commercial station,
[31:45] but we have tutorial tutorials available for you
[31:48] to watch on our website
[31:50] to help you find our programming on those, on those sets
[31:54] over the top platforms.
[32:01] Your viewer engagement for your online views,
[32:05] for your meetings in this time period through, through
[32:09] mid year of this year for programs that took place of all
[32:12] of 2025 and through, through the first half of this year,
[32:16] we had a total viewing of 945 views,
[32:20] which is an average online view per meeting of 55,
[32:24] which is, is pretty good.
[32:26] And it's pretty typical for what we're seeing
[32:30] in my presentations among other members.
[32:32] I'm finding that number is pretty steady, pretty calming.
[32:37] So that, you know, I'm sure you're using,
[32:39] you're reaching people in the, in the community,
[32:41] but also staff often sometimes uses
[32:45] the meetings to review, you know, discussions
[32:49] and make sure they're getting information correct.
[32:54] That pretty much concludes my presentation
[32:56] and here's my contact information
[33:00] and I would be happy to answer any questions if
[33:02] you have or take any context.
[33:04] Thank you.
[33:08] - Excuse me. Thank you Stephanie. We, we appreciate that.
[33:12] Anybody have any questions? It
[33:15] - Said we, there was a copy of that in our
[33:19] agenda, which I didn't get a copy of.
[33:23] Were they out or not the written copy.
[33:29] - I thought I saw it in the agenda,
[33:31] but I may be thinking of a different,
[33:34] I could send it directly to you if you'd like. Tom,
[33:37] - The presentations in the packet,
[33:41] the slides were not printed,
[33:43] but it's in the online packet.
[33:47] - Oh, so there aren't, it isn't in the agenda. Like, okay.
[33:53] - No, I I think you're used to getting, we used
[33:55] to get like a, yeah,
[33:56] - We used to get a copy of the, you know, each
[34:00] of the pages and
[34:04] - Everything is electronic now.
[34:06] Saves, saves people unreadable. Yeah.
[34:10] There is that book. But, but yeah, I, I, I remember getting,
[34:15] - Oh yeah, we got for many years
[34:17] and that's why I wondered Sure.
[34:19] Since it said it was included in the agenda,
[34:24] - It's in the, this was
[34:29] any other questions or comments for Stephanie?
[34:35] Okay. Hearing none again, thank you so much
[34:37] and thank you for what you do
[34:38] and making, making this available to folks
[34:43] that can't show up in person
[34:45] and wanna keep track of what's going on
[34:48] and find out what we're doing, all the,
[34:50] all the terrific things that we're doing. Thanks again.
[34:55] - Thank you very much. - Okay, we're gonna move on
[34:59] to item number nine, which is review of the proposed revised
[35:05] authority bylaws.
[35:07] So want me
[35:10] to speak on paper, right?
[35:12] Do you wanna kick kick it off and then I'll take it on
[35:15] and well show you the edits.
[35:18] Yeah, the only thing that I really have to say, obviously I,
[35:21] this is something that has needed to, to be done
[35:25] last time we updated bylaws in 2014.
[35:29] I I think I was on that committee.
[35:32] Yeah, long time.
[35:35] But, so yeah, there were a number, number of items
[35:37] that needed to be covered
[35:39] and the Go governance committee has been
[35:44] working on this for several years.
[35:47] Not, not on this, been working on governance
[35:50] for several years, but not one of the items that,
[35:55] for the governance committee to take a look at bylaws
[35:59] and suggest to us changes,
[36:04] conditions, improvements, et cetera.
[36:07] So that's kind of what we're looking at here
[36:10] and we need to, as a group, discuss
[36:15] any concerns or questions, anything like that.
[36:18] - Thank you. I'll, I'll try to walk you through the process
[36:21] and walk you through some of the, the edits to the 2014
[36:26] copy, which I see Tom's reading through right now.
[36:28] That's the 2014 version.
[36:32] This is kind of funny 'cause this is actually an area
[36:35] of parks and rec that I really enjoy.
[36:37] I'm kind of nerdy when it comes to bylaws and ordinances.
[36:40] I like this stuff 'cause I feel like it makes us function
[36:43] and operate much clearer.
[36:46] So with that, I walk you through some of the changes, some
[36:50] of the key highlights
[36:52] and then we're actually gonna go
[36:53] through the document if we could.
[36:55] So it's helpful to you. Happy to make edits live as we go.
[37:01] We did go through a version
[37:02] of this at the governance committee level.
[37:05] So it's been vetted through the Parks governance committee
[37:07] based on the intergovernmental agreement
[37:09] that came out of that committee as well.
[37:11] So we've tried to mirror up that document,
[37:15] which is a really important guiding document
[37:17] that clarified the relationships between the municipalities
[37:21] and the authority and updated
[37:24] the 20 20 14 bylaws to include a little bit more content
[37:28] behind how we operate and function and communicate back
[37:32] and forth between called CRPR and the authority.
[37:36] So some
[37:38] of the key topics are the roles and responsibilities.
[37:41] So we more explicitly separated authority, policy
[37:44] and oversight from agency day-to-day operations
[37:48] and COG administration.
[37:50] Since the majority of all that, all of that is handled
[37:53] by CRPR,
[37:55] we added explicit provisions addressing borrowing financial
[37:59] obligations, COG financial controls
[38:02] and limits on independent spending authority.
[38:06] I know that's something that's been kind
[38:07] of a key topic on financial oversight
[38:10] and reviewing of budgets and setting fees
[38:14] and things uses such as recommended fees, policy
[38:18] facility use procedures.
[38:20] This is also some substantive,
[38:22] substantive wording differences
[38:24] that needed reconciled within the governing document.
[38:29] We are allowing remote members to count toward quorum
[38:32] and votes consistent with applicable law.
[38:36] Previously, the language in the 2014
[38:39] excluded those remotely being able to vote.
[38:42] I think that was through the COVID post COVID pre COVID,
[38:46] I'm not sure where it may have fallen into that
[38:50] minor tweaking, allowing the chair
[38:52] to notify the appointing municipality
[38:55] and request clarification about representation
[38:58] after three consecutive or five annual meeting absences.
[39:02] So if someone, 'em were absent three times in a row
[39:06] or five times over the course of the year,
[39:08] the authority chair could decide whether
[39:10] or not that appointing member would continue or not.
[39:14] But that would be communication with municipality
[39:17] requiring the authority, approval of committee scope,
[39:20] operating guidelines
[39:22] and member appointments, including
[39:24] subsequent changes we brought in.
[39:27] And that's just based on committees brought in coordination
[39:30] to whichever call committees have relevant financial
[39:34] or planning responsibilities while expressly preserving the
[39:38] authorities governing powers.
[39:41] We also added explicit monthly financial reviews,
[39:44] which are already doing and approval of annual reports,
[39:48] onboarding and mentoring provisions of members
[39:52] of this authority.
[39:56] We specified a majority
[39:57] of members present within at least 24 hours, written
[40:00] and public notice and permits non
[40:05] material appendix updates by resolution.
[40:08] So now I'd like to kind of just walk you
[40:11] through a little bit, bit of the history.
[40:13] I think it's important that we start with the history first
[40:15] so you kind of understand,
[40:17] 'cause I know we have some new members on the authority
[40:20] and it would be helpful to kind of look at that.
[40:22] So Susan, do you mind scrolling down
[40:24] to the first section there?
[40:27] There, and we actually,
[40:29] Melissa's making live edits on her
[40:32] computer, so you can't see them.
[40:34] But the last sentence in this section is not in
[40:37] chronological order.
[40:38] It got bumped as I was making edits
[40:41] and should be the first sentence of that paragraph.
[40:45] So essentially we look back to 1965 when
[40:50] this started as a recreation board through the Borough.
[40:54] The regional program expanded in 1966
[40:58] and called Assumed Responsibilities for Financing in 1968.
[41:03] Separately in 1970, COG Ferguson Harris Patent
[41:07] and Hamoon at the time
[41:09] and the Borough jointly incorporated the authority under the
[41:13] Pennsylvania Municipal Authorities Act.
[41:16] The authority provided a mechanism for financing
[41:19] and undertaking parks and rec projects.
[41:22] The Parks and Rec, I'll start with the last sentence, sorry.
[41:25] The Municipal Authority was created in 1970, continued
[41:29] as a legal entity under the new name Centre
[41:31] Region Parks and Rec Authority.
[41:33] So it went from a board to an authority
[41:37] and then the basically two things became one.
[41:40] And so the authority became kind of the final place
[41:44] to review and decide on regional projects
[41:48] and efforts on a greater scale.
[41:53] In 1974, the articles of agreement
[41:55] and called drafted the Resolution and the board
[41:59] provided professional guidance, coordinated Parks
[42:02] and Recreation matters and managed facilities.
[42:06] And then in 2014,
[42:08] the governance structure was officially combined.
[42:12] And Kathy, I know you know some of the history on this,
[42:14] I know you're seeing this for the first time
[42:17] because Kathy had asked that we try to put more
[42:19] of the chronological history in order here so
[42:22] that we have it in a document that lives there.
[42:25] So if we want to, if you wanna take a little bit more time
[42:29] to kind of dive through that, those are the records
[42:32] that we were able to locate within our s our system.
[42:38] So I'll turn it back to you if you wanna make comments on,
[42:40] on the history section.
[42:42] - No, I mean I, I think I,
[42:44] I think the history section just right.
[42:47] I mean I, I was here in the days when we had the
[42:50] board and the authority.
[42:53] One met one week and the other met the next week.
[42:56] And the attend is, I'm saying yeah, it was kind of crazy.
[43:00] But yeah, so yeah, combining everything seemed
[43:03] to make sense at the time.
[43:06] Might only comment was, and,
[43:09] and this is understanding about contracts first.
[43:12] So I did this for a long time, you know, their writing
[43:16] and contracts,
[43:18] we talked about 1970 College first in first that
[43:22] and Capital and Borough.
[43:25] That's the only time Catherine has ever mentioned.
[43:27] I don't know whether anyone would say,
[43:30] why aren't they sating now, I don't know whether we want
[43:34] to clarify that or if it's even necessary that
[43:37] - It's, we have a date that they, they were no longer apart,
[43:41] but wasn't sure whether
[43:42] or not we wanted to call that out in here or not.
[43:46] But we certainly could add that back in.
[43:49] I will say a lot of these
[43:52] key dates mentioned articles, agreement, et cetera,
[43:56] are also listed in the appendix.
[43:58] So you can kind of reference the documents that
[44:03] helped develop the history here in this
[44:05] section, which should be helpful.
[44:07] But we can certainly add a note in there of
[44:11] Hing Township was no longer participating as of such date.
[44:15] - Yeah, I I'm not sure they ever signed signed the warrant.
[44:18] Right. I mean, I don't, I don't know. I I don't, I don't
[44:22] - Remember that.
[44:23] Yeah, they did. They were a part of it originally.
[44:25] - Initial, yep. I don't know if it's important.
[44:27] That's just my OCD, so it's okay.
[44:30] Yeah, if it's not really relevant,
[44:33] probably no one else will set me with that. That,
[44:36] - Yeah, I, I mean that's a minor thing.
[44:37] We can easily, easily add that
[44:39] - In.
[44:40] Okay. So, so I,
[44:43] I think the history is good just so that you have people
[44:46] who have sort of understanding
[44:50] where this started and Yeah.
[44:51] Yeah, we've been around for a long time
[44:54] and been a very important part of, of the,
[44:59] the agency and their authority.
[45:01] Everyone associates, you know, we're still a big part. Yeah.
[45:09] - Okay, so moving on to the next SEC section,
[45:13] purpose and scope.
[45:15] That is general language.
[45:17] There's really not a whole lot meet there besides that.
[45:22] Just reinstates the purpose of the authority.
[45:24] And some of this was pulled from the old version as well.
[45:28] And then we added in
[45:29] what we felt was helpful definitions like we did
[45:32] with the intergovernmental agreement
[45:34] to make sure that that was clear.
[45:36] We did clean up some
[45:37] of the language Kathy had mentioned about the agency
[45:42] and just some tweaking of some, some typos
[45:46] and just clarification there on CPR as an agency.
[45:51] That's all been cleaned up.
[45:52] So these definitions are pretty straightforward.
[45:56] I don't know if you wanna ta tackle these one by one,
[45:59] but I can just keep going Kathy, if that's easier. No,
[46:01] - I think, I mean the definitions are good.
[46:04] Okay.
[46:06] - And they, yeah, - They look fine to me.
[46:08] If anybody has me, that's good. Right.
[46:13] I have something that I just wanna flag not necessarily
[46:18] edit, just that last bullet point in
[46:22] some scope, how that compare to, for example,
[46:26] definitions in.
[46:32] So that last bullet point is advise the Centre Region
[46:35] Council of Governments
[46:38] and support agency operations through the government.
[46:46] Just the word what there
[46:50] should be misconstrued just because the, the following,
[46:55] and I think it's mentioned elsewhere too,
[46:58] that the authority, the public discussion
[47:03] on regional recreation issues offers guidance,
[47:09] policy and recommendations
[47:11] to the notes.
[47:18] - We could potentially strike the words sport
[47:21] that might be creating some confusion there
[47:24] and just leave it as Advise Centre Region Council
[47:27] of Government and Agency Operations through
[47:30] the intergovernmental framework.
[47:35] Does everybody,
[47:38] - I think that makes sense.
[47:41] It's in more of the definitions. Think
[48:02] - Well, I, I'm, I'm just, I, I'm, I'm just trying
[48:05] to think if, is there a different word to use
[48:10] in support or that just taking it out?
[48:14] Just taking it out? Or do we need something else?
[48:18] - I think taking it out makes it bias hit both,
[48:21] which is kind of what we're looking for.
[48:23] - Okay.
[48:34] No, I, I guess I understand
[48:39] and I, I get advise the Centre Region Council of Governments
[48:43] and, and, and then it says,
[48:47] and that it takes Florida and agency operations.
[48:50] So you're not advising agency operations,
[48:53] you need something else there.
[48:55] If you don't want support or we need
[48:57] - To, it would be probably strength support
[49:00] and strike operations.
[49:01] So it's advising the, the CO
[49:03] and the agency through the intergovernmental framework.
[49:05] I think that's what we're trying to do. Right,
[49:09] - That makes sense.
[49:11] - So it's not two different things. Yes.
[49:16] - Because you don't want that, want it to be unclear
[49:20] that you're, you know, directing and guiding operations
[49:23] because the operations are handled by the agency, which is
[49:29] down a little bit further in the agency
[49:34] responsibilities as were defined.
[49:36] We're responsible for the day-to-day delivery.
[49:39] So the, the authorities really serving in more
[49:43] that advisory recommendation.
[49:46] - Yeah, I get - That of that.
[49:47] But I think it makes sense to remove support and operations
[49:50] because that way make that great.
[49:53] - I, I'm just thinking if you remove support operations
[49:59] region Council of Governments
[50:01] and agency, it
[50:06] just makes more sense to not advising
[50:10] agency operations.
[50:16] - Melissa's got that. Yeah. Okay.
[50:20] Onto the next section, we'll go down to article three,
[50:25] authorization and organiza organizational structure.
[50:29] Again, this goes back
[50:30] to the appointments just further clarifying
[50:32] how the appointments work, the terms in five years,
[50:37] which is the current setup now.
[50:38] So no change to that.
[50:41] An individual should be, shall be considered a voting member
[50:44] of the authority only upon formal appointment
[50:46] by the applicable governing body.
[50:49] So there does have to be that communication
[50:51] between the authority and municipality about who's being
[50:55] appointed to the authority so that there could be some sort
[50:59] of orientation in place.
[51:03] And then under attendance
[51:04] and remote participation, like I said in the beginning,
[51:08] allowing voting for someone online.
[51:12] And this is where it talks a little bit more about whether
[51:15] or not an authority member is not attending
[51:18] a particular number of meetings for whatever reason
[51:22] and neglect of duty, I guess for better words
[51:27] and how to handle that should that happen.
[51:29] - Can I ask a quick question? I thought you mentioned
[51:31] that the alternates were granted, I mishear that earlier.
[51:36] - So that was just, if there online, they can vote. Okay.
[51:41] - The appointed members - On, yeah. Okay. Yeah,
[51:44] - Thank you.
[51:47] - The resignation
[51:49] and vacancies of authority members,
[51:51] that section is very straightforward.
[51:54] They may resign at any time providing written notice.
[51:57] I think that's something that's helpful for staff
[52:00] and authority members just to officially be able to pass
[52:04] that information through from the agency to the municipality
[52:08] so that when a VAC agency becomes available,
[52:10] we both are helping to recruit
[52:12] and fill those positions timely.
[52:15] And then in the event of a resignation
[52:17] or removal, the appointing municipality
[52:19] or entity, entity entity shall be responsible
[52:22] for appointing the replacement to serve the remainder
[52:25] of the expired term.
[52:27] So that allows the municipality to decide who is appointed
[52:30] to the authority
[52:33] and then vacancy shall not affect the author's ability
[52:35] to conduct business.
[52:37] And vacant positions shall not be counted
[52:39] toward quo requirements.
[52:42] I think that's helpful. That way if you have a long vacancy
[52:45] and your forum needs to reduce, that helps you be able
[52:48] to continue to conduct business
[52:50] with the agency office and records.
[52:55] That's just kind of noting the Council
[52:58] of Governments address
[53:00] and official records, how they're maintained
[53:03] for auditing purpose and whatnot.
[53:07] Under Article four, this is the meeting section.
[53:10] This talks a little bit about the regular
[53:12] and the special meetings should they need to occur.
[53:16] I'll just kind of highlight Special meetings may be called
[53:19] by the chair, the Executive Director, director
[53:22] or by written request of two or more authority members.
[53:26] Notice of special, special meetings shall be
[53:30] provided to authority members
[53:31] and the public in accordance with the PA Sunshine Act.
[53:36] And then emergency meetings can be called in accordance
[53:39] with the Sunshine Act as well.
[53:42] That way as things change within law
[53:45] or the act, we're always abiding by that.
[53:48] That's something that you don't constantly have to update.
[53:53] Quorum and rules of order,
[53:54] that's the same thing we were talking
[53:55] about a little bit earlier.
[53:57] Meetings are conducted in accordance
[54:00] with Robert's Rules of Order.
[54:02] Authorities don't necessarily have to follow that.
[54:05] However, through the call structure we have,
[54:09] which has helped staff tremendously
[54:11] and being able to understand how those rules work,
[54:15] how voting works, et cetera.
[54:18] And then authority members participating remotely,
[54:21] again in accordance with law shall be considered present
[54:24] for the purpose of a forum and for voting.
[54:27] So that was the section I had highlighted there,
[54:32] election and officers under Article five.
[54:37] That's annually, as everybody knows, that's in January.
[54:41] The chair presides over the meeting.
[54:43] So that gives us some just guidance on
[54:45] how we conduct those elections.
[54:48] Article six is Committees authority may establish establish
[54:53] advisory committees by resolution.
[54:56] The Millbrook Advisory Committee, as an example
[54:58] of an advisory group
[54:59] that was put together under the authority,
[55:03] they can carry this out through oversight, again
[55:06] through the PA Municipal Authorities Act
[55:09] and approve the committee's purpose,
[55:11] scope, duration, et cetera.
[55:13] So that is something that if something comes up in the
[55:16] future, that can be a consideration for the authority
[55:20] to continue to do non authority representative subject
[55:25] matter experts and committee members may be appointed
[55:27] to committees as advisory participants subject to approval
[55:32] by the authority, which is the current process.
[55:36] Article seven, duties and Responsibilities.
[55:40] This was looking at the historical framework,
[55:43] talking a little bit about the intergovernmental agreement,
[55:47] strategic goals within COG
[55:49] and functioning in the advisory capacity
[55:53] oversight responsibilities.
[55:55] Again, these were kind of listed out on separate documents
[55:59] as at the end of an old, I think the old bylaws,
[56:04] and I saw it in some other language.
[56:05] So this just gets it in here a little bit more clear on
[56:09] what the authorities' responsibilities
[56:10] as far as oversight are.
[56:12] And again, a lot
[56:13] of language here came from the intergovernmental agreement
[56:16] I think is helpful to have here in the bylaws.
[56:20] And then at the last bullet there,
[56:22] oversee the authorities charitable giving
[56:24] and fundraising activities, including
[56:27] maintaining the 5 0 1 C3 tax exempt status.
[56:31] That's currently something that is done by K and myself.
[56:35] We ensure that that status is always maintained.
[56:39] We get the paperwork for it, we help to administer that so
[56:42] that we continue to have the charitable
[56:45] giving abilities.
[56:48] And then coordination with the agency, again, is more
[56:52] that back and forth between the day to day
[56:56] correspondence on programming, maintenance needs,
[57:01] facility improvements, et cetera.
[57:02] These are just some areas that like we may propose
[57:06] to you all, for example, maintenance needs,
[57:09] facility improvements in regional facilities
[57:11] or in a municipal park.
[57:13] This is where we would bring those requests initially
[57:17] to start those discussions.
[57:18] And kind of that, that information out.
[57:22] Intergovernmental cost sharing, facility usage
[57:24] and program accessibility is also an important topic
[57:27] and something we'll talk a little bit more about
[57:30] in the next agenda item.
[57:32] But that's something that we're trying
[57:34] to focus on a little bit more as we look at the cost to do
[57:39] business in exchange for the revenue that we bring in
[57:44] for some of those assets.
[57:46] Last section there article, actually close
[57:50] to the last section, finances.
[57:52] This just talks more about your tax exempt status
[57:56] contributions, the ability to Borough
[57:59] this is really helpful I think, for a new member coming in
[58:02] to understand why an authority, what the purpose is
[58:06] and how you function and operate.
[58:09] And then budget responsibilities.
[58:11] This is an important piece of it
[58:13] because as you'll see later in your agenda, there are only
[58:18] what we call the R budgets.
[58:20] They're the authority budgets within call.
[58:23] And those are the budgets under the purview
[58:25] of the authority.
[58:27] And so there is some oversight on that in addition to
[58:32] how we work with Ms.
[58:33] Pat and with the authority
[58:36] to figure out capital budgets projects a next phase
[58:41] of a park, for example.
[58:43] And then your role really is recommending funding needs
[58:47] to the agency, reviewing
[58:48] and endorsing capital budgets, supporting cost recovery,
[58:53] reviewing, supporting grants, sponsorships, user fees.
[58:58] And those are some items that help the agency to help reduce
[59:02] municipal shares.
[59:04] Advising the agency on programs
[59:06] or projects requiring municipal resources is another area
[59:09] where the authorities responsibilities by.
[59:14] And then reporting, again, this is more
[59:16] of an administrative task and collaboration with committees.
[59:21] Another item that it has been pretty transparent, I think
[59:24] as we've developed the parks governance,
[59:26] the ad hoc parks library committee, budget presentations
[59:30] to the finance committee.
[59:32] I know the chair has attended general forum
[59:34] meetings and such.
[59:35] And so that communication is important.
[59:40] And so succession planning ensure
[59:42] the authority shall promote succession planning
[59:44] by supporting onboarding and mentoring.
[59:46] This is a new one. Something I feel is really important.
[59:50] I know when each of you that came on that were new, we went
[59:53] through a little bit of an outline that was new.
[59:56] That's something that I wanted to implement so
[59:58] that it was really clear you had a good understanding
[1:00:01] or general understanding of how we operate
[1:00:04] and what to expect at an authority meeting.
[1:00:06] So it gives you a little bit more of that.
[1:00:08] Roles and responsibilities, expectations
[1:00:10] and guidelines through the authority.
[1:00:14] And then the last few sections are really just
[1:00:20] basic items, corporate seal and then et cetera.
[1:00:24] And then our appendices.
[1:00:26] So that was lengthy,
[1:00:28] but I hope that was helpful to kind of go
[1:00:31] through each section and better understand some
[1:00:34] of the updates from 2014 version.
[1:00:37] And happy to answer questions, make edits as you see fit.
[1:00:42] Like I said, Melissa is taking notes, so
[1:00:45] I'll turn it back to you, Kathy.
[1:00:49] - Okay.
[1:00:55] Comments from my fellow members, sir? All
[1:01:00] - One more thing I to kind of, he backs up there.
[1:01:03] We just with moving support from the article top being
[1:01:08] at article seven three, coordination of agents.
[1:01:12] I think there's another use of support that's kind
[1:01:15] of in line with what we changed with advise.
[1:01:20] So looking at the, what is it, the
[1:01:24] second line under three coordination.
[1:01:26] The agency supports this work through policy alignment,
[1:01:29] funding strategies.
[1:01:30] Should that be the authority advises this work
[1:01:34] or the authority who oversees this work?
[1:01:37] I'm just looking at kind of what meaning is knowing
[1:01:39] if we cleaned that up earlier.
[1:01:43] Because I know Kristy, you had mentioned, you know,
[1:01:46] the word support was used elsewhere.
[1:01:49] I think this might be the other spot.
[1:01:53] - I'm not too sure. I think think supports might be more
[1:01:58] sense
[1:02:02] as we support
[1:02:12] - Some of the, - The words support
[1:02:15] - The, the word support there where it's, it's kind
[1:02:17] of like instead of of agency
[1:02:20] or sorry, authority overseeing the agency
[1:02:24] and it makes it seem like the authority
[1:02:28] will support no matter what, rather than overseeing advice.
[1:02:34] I know it's very semantic,
[1:02:36] but we're trying to tidy things up
[1:02:40] that it's just one thing that's out.
[1:02:48] I know really the support this problem, right?
[1:02:50] The same way somebody was close the too,
[1:02:54] but that would, yeah.
[1:02:55] Yeah.
[1:02:59] - I think it makes more sense this
[1:03:01] context, but I,
[1:03:06] - I could see advisors kind of being an umbrella that
[1:03:11] encompasses support.
[1:03:27] - I'm struggling with how to revise that. Advises is
[1:03:31] - Not quite the same - In this.
[1:03:34] Yeah, I feel like context like,
[1:03:37] but Clance had said like in this context it kind of sounds
[1:03:41] appropriate because you're,
[1:03:43] we're clarifying the day-to-day operations fall within COG.
[1:03:47] And the authority can support that through the policy piece,
[1:03:50] which is the bigger pieces, the policy
[1:03:52] and funding strategies.
[1:03:54] So it's not really saying that the authority is like kind
[1:03:58] of doing, like pushing that day-to-day operations piece.
[1:04:03] You're really more so pushing the policies
[1:04:05] and the strategies that help really support that day to day
[1:04:11] - Thoughts on that?
[1:04:15] - I think meaningfully it doesn't make, yeah,
[1:04:18] make a massive difference.
[1:04:21] Just wanted to bring, if everyone else is fine, I'm fine.
[1:04:33] - I have a, I don't know, under the role
[1:04:38] in financial reporting,
[1:04:42] this is really not my very
[1:04:45] should there,
[1:04:53] - That is the annual report that you receive
[1:04:59] and that comes through the authority for approval.
[1:05:03] So you do review that, endorse that and approve that.
[1:05:07] We haven't received it yet this year
[1:05:09] because it's, they finished the auditing
[1:05:11] and then we typically get it I think on October
[1:05:14] Novembers when we typically get that document.
[1:05:20] But that's really the, the agency called
[1:05:25] the agency is responsible.
[1:05:26] So that's us for preparing
[1:05:28] and distributing that annual report,
[1:05:31] which includes financial summaries, authority, reviews,
[1:05:34] and approves of report prior to its submission to,
[1:05:37] to state municipalities.
[1:05:40] So the way it's stated there is accurate to how
[1:05:44] that process goes right now.
[1:05:50] - Question,
[1:06:08] other other questions?
[1:06:12] - I just have one. I never heard of the bylaws.
[1:06:16] That can be changed by a majority.
[1:06:23] It's always more than the majority.
[1:06:27] You know, it's usually two third or three four.
[1:06:31] Every organization, not many that I or, or any group.
[1:06:39] You know, these are important things
[1:06:43] and
[1:06:48] it doesn't say,
[1:07:00] see it's authority.
[1:07:02] Majority of the authority members present at a meeting.
[1:07:08] I thought, I think it should say majority
[1:07:10] of the membership of the authority.
[1:07:15] So that would be four for it or? Yeah, four.
[1:07:19] Not, there were only four present, then it would be three.
[1:07:25] - So Susan's gonna scroll through. I mean
[1:07:28] - I, I'm not gonna push this, but Yeah,
[1:07:29] - No, I wanna make sure that everybody can read
[1:07:31] what you're referencing.
[1:07:34] She's gonna scroll, if we wanna just read on the screen,
[1:07:37] it's the, it says these bylaws were duly adopted
[1:07:41] by the Centre Region Parks
[1:07:43] and Recreation Authority by majority vote at
[1:07:46] duly advertised.
[1:07:47] A duly advertised meeting.
[1:07:52] So to Tom's question, you know, does it make sense
[1:07:55] that it says majority or should that be unanimous?
[1:08:00] Is that what you're asking Tom?
[1:08:04] Should it be a unanimous vote?
[1:08:05] Is that what you're suggesting? No, I
[1:08:07] - Would think it should be a majority of the authority.
[1:08:09] But nobody else thinks though I've not been agree.
[1:08:14] I think that's what it's, I think it should take at least
[1:08:16] four votes is what I'm saying.
[1:08:20] Not less than that.
[1:08:23] - That's true. - I mean, you're changing something
[1:08:25] that's important that you don't change very often.
[1:08:27] - Right. - And you know, you, I'm looking for the future,
[1:08:32] not the members of the authority right now,
[1:08:34] but what it would be,
[1:08:40] because you know, if there are only four here,
[1:08:43] right at a meeting
[1:08:45] and you have, so you have a quorum, right?
[1:08:48] You can have the meeting, it would take all four
[1:08:51] of those people to approve it.
[1:08:55] A change in the constitute your ballot.
[1:08:57] Now today, everybody's here.
[1:08:59] It's not necessarily here or there too. Okay.
[1:09:03] So I don't know, I don't want anybody
[1:09:05] else thinks that way or not.
[1:09:06] - Well I think that's what it currently says.
[1:09:10] It says the authority by majority vote.
[1:09:17] - So like what, three of the four?
[1:09:20] Is that what you're asking?
[1:09:22] - I think he's just looking at a majority versus
[1:09:24] like a two thirds or,
[1:09:26] - Yeah, right now it says a majority.
[1:09:28] Yeah,
[1:09:30] - No, I'm just saying a majority of the memberships,
[1:09:33] since it has, it's such a low membership, six
[1:09:39] for three to change, it means
[1:09:42] that you really don't even have a majority of membership
[1:09:46] to proof.
[1:09:48] Again,
[1:09:53] I leave it go, but I, I,
[1:10:00] - Yeah, I, I, I, I don't,
[1:10:01] I don't know enough about best practices on
[1:10:04] that kind of Thank you, Jeff.
[1:10:06] What was
[1:10:08] - Three, three tie?
[1:10:09] - I think we can just wordsmith this for you
[1:10:12] and make some more sense of that.
[1:10:15] To address that by saying,
[1:10:20] by majority vote of the authority membership
[1:10:23] at a duly advertised meeting.
[1:10:26] That way it's more, more clear it's a majority
[1:10:29] vote of the membership.
[1:10:31] - Yeah, that seems, that seems that makes sense to me. Yeah.
[1:10:36] Yeah.
[1:10:37] - It is so small, right? - Right.
[1:10:40] - The, the three doesn't seem like enough
[1:10:43] to change something like that.
[1:10:45] It would be three, that would always be four.
[1:10:48] Three's not a majority, three's high three, four.
[1:10:51] But the way it says here is by the people vote
[1:10:54] president the meeting, what I'm saying is perhaps you say
[1:10:59] of the membership of the authority.
[1:11:03] - Yeah, yeah, that makes sense.
[1:11:05] So that if we're gonna change this, everybody needs
[1:11:08] to show up at that meeting so that they put,
[1:11:11] we have a majority of, of the membership
[1:11:14] - And you know, if you only had five members here
[1:11:17] and it would take four to,
[1:11:21] or if you had six, it would take four.
[1:11:25] But if you have only four, I don't think you should be able
[1:11:29] to do it unless it's unanimous by those.
[1:11:32] - Okay. - Always at least four.
[1:11:37] - Okay. - So does
[1:11:39] - That make sense to - Everyone?
[1:11:41] Can we also remove,
[1:11:42] we'll just strike at a duly advertised meeting
[1:11:45] and state these bylaws were duly adopted by Centre Region,
[1:11:48] parks of America authority
[1:11:50] by majority vote of the authority.
[1:11:52] Membership period.
[1:11:58] Because you can't vote
[1:11:59] unless you're at a public meeting regardless.
[1:12:01] So it's just against Samantha.
[1:12:03] - We hope that the authority members show up
[1:12:04] for an advertised meeting on the agenda,
[1:12:10] - But the word at is confusing
[1:12:12] because we're allowing voting online as well.
[1:12:15] So they don't necessarily have
[1:12:16] to be at the meeting presently.
[1:12:21] I think it's semantics again,
[1:12:23] but if that makes more sense, we can just simplify that.
[1:12:29] That sounds okay. I George,
[1:12:34] - Or maybe say in attendance, I don't know.
[1:12:37] Instead of at,
[1:12:44] - Well, interestingly enough, under Forum
[1:12:47] and Rules water, it does say a forum shall consist
[1:12:50] of a majority of the authority members currently appointed.
[1:12:56] So I mean, we're already defining a
[1:12:58] - Majority.
[1:12:59] It's defined.
[1:13:28] - So if we reached a consensus on Promise on this,
[1:13:39] seems like are folks online?
[1:13:44] Yeah. Forward. Yep. Any comments?
[1:13:49] - No, nothing else than what's already been said.
[1:13:51] - Looks okay. - I'm good. I'm
[1:14:05] - Makes more sense?
[1:14:07] Yeah.
[1:14:10] - Okay. All right.
[1:14:12] So I will
[1:14:17] entertain a motion that the Centre Region Parks Recreation
[1:14:20] Authority approve the bylaws as prevented subject
[1:14:25] to final review by the co solicitor with any substantive
[1:14:30] revisions resulting from that review return
[1:14:33] to the authority consideration.
[1:14:37] Okay, thank you. Exactly. Okay.
[1:14:40] We that that, any additional concerns, comments?
[1:14:45] - Kathy, do you wanna add any kind of caveat in addition
[1:14:48] to the minor changes
[1:14:50] that we just made today? Oh, through this,
[1:14:54] - Right?
[1:14:55] Just, is that okay? Yeah. Including the changes. Yeah.
[1:14:58] As vised what, whatever the Yeah. Language is Okay.
[1:15:02] To acknowledge that. Thank you. Yeah, appreciate that. Okay.
[1:15:05] All the question all say aye aye.
[1:15:09] Aye, aye. Aye. Okay.
[1:15:13] Alright. Pass. We're good. Thank you. Great.
[1:15:19] Okay, let's move on to the revenue and enhancement plan.
[1:15:25] - Yes. More fun stuff.
[1:15:29] Another area that I get kind about, so
[1:15:34] in previous previous agendas,
[1:15:36] we called it the program value framework.
[1:15:39] And so we kind of took it one step further to show
[1:15:41] that there's more than just a program value to it.
[1:15:44] There's a little bit more structure behind how we define
[1:15:48] and strategize on enhancing fees
[1:15:52] based on cost recovery tiers that you spoke extensively on.
[1:15:57] We talked about the fee policy.
[1:15:59] So this document really kinda
[1:16:01] digs your heels a little bit more into the meat of the
[1:16:06] strategy behind how we take what's been asked
[1:16:10] of us from elected officials
[1:16:12] and from the authority to look a little bit more closely at
[1:16:17] costs and fees to offset expenses.
[1:16:21] And so staff has done a really extensive job
[1:16:25] and kudos to everybody behind me
[1:16:27] and online for, you know, kind of diving in deeply
[1:16:31] to cost recovery spreadsheets.
[1:16:34] This takes those spreadsheets that are very lengthy
[1:16:38] and combines it into one document as more of that
[1:16:42] strategic plan so that you can kind
[1:16:44] of see our thought process behind it
[1:16:47] and why we did it, how, how it works.
[1:16:51] And then if you get through to the document,
[1:16:54] and we'll bring it up on the screen if you wanna scroll down
[1:16:59] A little bit, I'll kind of show you the meat of it
[1:17:02] that you might be most interested in.
[1:17:04] - Okay.
[1:17:10] - Susan, if you wanna just go ahead
[1:17:12] through each page for me,
[1:17:21] - What has changed since the last time we went through this?
[1:17:25] - This is new. You've never seen this.
[1:17:29] - See parts - You saw we saw, yeah, you saw a small part
[1:17:32] of it, which was just the program value framework
[1:17:34] with empty charts, if you kind of remember that.
[1:17:38] So what's changed is what I just gave a summary of
[1:17:42] with developing a little bit more of the plan.
[1:17:45] And I wanna go through kind of page by page
[1:17:47] and kind of tell you a little bit about
[1:17:49] the information behind the numbers.
[1:17:51] And so this really explains those numbers
[1:17:54] and how they correlate the cost recovery tiers.
[1:17:58] So again, the executive summary talks about the context
[1:18:01] behind it, where it came from,
[1:18:03] and then if you scroll down to the objectives,
[1:18:08] - Well - Go up a little
[1:18:09] - Bit.
[1:18:11] - The objectives
[1:18:14] of the enhancement plan apply the fee policy
[1:18:17] and cost recovery tiers.
[1:18:18] Consistently, we evaluated direct
[1:18:21] and indirect costs alongside community value.
[1:18:25] We improve. This gives us the the backing
[1:18:28] to improve our pricing, our scheduling, our capacity
[1:18:32] and documents, how our decisions are made
[1:18:35] and provides you with results to have more of a portfolio
[1:18:39] of what our programming is feel.
[1:18:41] Scroll to the next page again,
[1:18:46] why this work began.
[1:18:47] It was designed to prevent offering
[1:18:51] basically programs without reviewing demand
[1:18:53] and cost of results.
[1:18:55] We treated every, treating every deficit as a failure
[1:18:59] or an overall surplus as proof
[1:19:01] that every offering is successful.
[1:19:03] Those are some things that we tried to prevent.
[1:19:06] And then if you go down to what this provides,
[1:19:11] there's a layout here
[1:19:14] that talks a little bit more build
[1:19:16] about building the foundations.
[1:19:18] Sorry, this is hard for me. Working off two screens.
[1:19:21] Gimme one second. I need to bring this up on
[1:19:25] - Screen.Me.
[1:19:38] Here we go.
[1:19:39] - So the first year of this
[1:19:42] is 2025.
[1:19:45] When we really looked at that's the baseline,
[1:19:47] that's when we had a full view of costs
[1:19:51] and that's when we added in indirect costs
[1:19:53] and direct costs to give a better picture
[1:19:56] of which programs weren't meeting their cost recovery tier.
[1:20:01] And so 2025 is really that baseline of data,
[1:20:04] which is in your document right now.
[1:20:07] And then 2026 we worked a little bit more on defining that.
[1:20:11] We expanded our cost recovery sheets to include
[1:20:14] which tier they fell into, which programs were canceled,
[1:20:17] how many programs were canceled
[1:20:19] as a whole, that kind of thing.
[1:20:21] And then 2027 is when we're gonna
[1:20:26] analyze this more.
[1:20:27] So we're gonna look a little bit more deeply at,
[1:20:30] did a program fall into the right cost recovery tier?
[1:20:34] How are programs being defined by tiers across
[1:20:39] sports programs, special events camps,
[1:20:42] and making sure that Supervisors have the time to sit down
[1:20:46] with each other, go through how they define their tiers.
[1:20:50] And then we'll be looking a little bit more closely at the
[1:20:53] formulas, the numbers that were put in there.
[1:20:56] But that work has not been done yet. So that's a 2027 task.
[1:21:00] And then in 28, the hope is that we would also add in
[1:21:05] rentals, concessions, things like that.
[1:21:08] Because this is just programs.
[1:21:10] So this is just straight programs we were asked
[1:21:13] to look at cost recovery for.
[1:21:15] But we do wanna take it a step further
[1:21:17] and look at more costs when it comes to setting rates
[1:21:21] for pavilions and concessions, full admissions, et cetera.
[1:21:25] But we're not there yet. We're trying to get there.
[1:21:28] This is the starting point.
[1:21:30] 'cause right now we have nothing. So this is the first
[1:21:33] step I think, in that direction.
[1:21:35] So if you look at the next section,
[1:21:36] it talks about the cost recovery tiers.
[1:21:39] I won't go over those, you already know them.
[1:21:42] The evaluation framework is more for our single measure
[1:21:47] to kind of say when we eliminate a program
[1:21:49] or we keep a program, you know, what is the benefit,
[1:21:52] what is the value of offering that program?
[1:21:54] Something might not fill or something might be in the red,
[1:21:58] but in order to cancel it may be a little bit more tricky
[1:22:02] than is seen in the documents.
[1:22:04] That's something that we work through at a staff level.
[1:22:08] And then the cycle process is pretty simple.
[1:22:11] Again, you've seen this in prior presentations
[1:22:14] and shows kind of where we're at in a cycle
[1:22:17] of how this works.
[1:22:20] CRPR at a glance, so this is when we get into the meat
[1:22:23] of the information.
[1:22:25] In 2025, we delivered 559 programs,
[1:22:30] 62 programs were canceled.
[1:22:32] So that was roughly about 10%.
[1:22:36] NRPA gives some national standards of like
[1:22:39] how many annual programs
[1:22:41] and agents agency should provide based on population.
[1:22:46] And that number was 4 68.
[1:22:48] So we're well above what a typical agency would provide.
[1:22:53] We have 6,621 program offerings, sorry,
[1:22:58] the screen's too small.
[1:23:01] 559, delivered 90% delivery rate.
[1:23:05] And we are 33% above the peer medium.
[1:23:10] You look at our financial portfolio, again,
[1:23:12] this is just looking at what's in these spreadsheets
[1:23:17] for cost recovery and we are looking at 118% weighted full
[1:23:20] cost recovery across the board, which is a net
[1:23:24] of roughly $89,000.
[1:23:27] So that just gives you kind of a high level view of
[1:23:32] what these cost recovery sheets do for staff for us
[1:23:35] to be able to look at them holistically across the board.
[1:23:38] Then on the next page is more of the detail
[1:23:42] that breaks down.
[1:23:44] For example, nature center programs, events
[1:23:46] and camps, how many programs were offered,
[1:23:49] how many were delivered canceled,
[1:23:52] how many people participated.
[1:23:54] Again, this is just programs, events, and camps.
[1:23:57] The net result of that and then the cost recovery as
[1:24:00] that area of an an agency.
[1:24:03] And then down below is
[1:24:05] where you get the 118% net cost recovery
[1:24:09] for CRPR as a whole.
[1:24:11] You can kind of see how each of those areas are performing.
[1:24:15] I will point out the active adult center, while
[1:24:20] that is negative, Erika also cannot charge fees
[1:24:24] for various things.
[1:24:26] And so she has the biggest challenge I think
[1:24:29] of all Supervisors to try to recover her costs.
[1:24:33] A lot of things we do subsidize.
[1:24:35] So from my perspective, directing this agency, I think
[1:24:39] that seems appropriate.
[1:24:41] There's only so much she can do to be able to charge
[1:24:44] for programs, especially if it's offered
[1:24:46] by another senior center.
[1:24:49] Any questions on that baseline information?
[1:24:52] Right now, again, this is just our first stab at this,
[1:24:56] taking our cost recovery sheets
[1:24:59] and extracting the information
[1:25:00] that we think you may wanna see.
[1:25:04] And then this gives us guidance to say, where do we need
[1:25:07] to reprice next year?
[1:25:10] How does our fee policy relate to that?
[1:25:13] And then it gives you a little bit more backing
[1:25:16] to say why certain things should be increased or or not.
[1:25:27] And there's an action plan on the next page,
[1:25:29] which gives staff a little bit more of an idea of
[1:25:32] what we need to do next.
[1:25:35] And we would like this to be an annual report
[1:25:38] that we provide to you.
[1:25:40] So you would see this every year
[1:25:41] for our programs in the previous year.
[1:25:45] And then again, like I said, we will try
[1:25:47] to expand this in the future to include those other areas.
[1:25:54] Happy to answer any questions.
[1:25:56] There are some reference links within the document as well.
[1:25:59] Some resources that we used for benchmarking information et
[1:26:06] - Back up to the percentage chart.
[1:26:11] So I think the thing that really stands out
[1:26:13] to me is it seems the way it was accounted for here,
[1:26:15] the programs are all pretty wildly successful.
[1:26:18] Would you attribute that to,
[1:26:23] you know, I'm just kinda wondering like,
[1:26:25] I know you said all direct and
[1:26:26] and indirect costs were accounted for.
[1:26:29] Do you think that is a truly like an accurate capture
[1:26:32] of overall staff time complete before these programs?
[1:26:37] - Like I said, Melissa and I have not been able
[1:26:39] to analyze all of that data one by one
[1:26:42] because it's a lot of information.
[1:26:44] So what you're seeing is what the Supervisors prepared
[1:26:47] for us based on their salary
[1:26:50] and benefits, their estimate
[1:26:51] of the time it took to run the program.
[1:26:55] We just need to back check
[1:26:56] and see how everybody's doing that.
[1:26:58] Because some Supervisors could be going
[1:27:01] through a different process than others.
[1:27:03] So we have a annual staff retreat that we do in November
[1:27:07] where they're gonna sit down
[1:27:08] and actually work through those spreadsheets again
[1:27:11] to look more deeply at comparing to each others.
[1:27:15] And I know some of them did, you guys can feel free
[1:27:17] to speak up, did work with each other through trying
[1:27:21] to figure out your indirect and your direct costs.
[1:27:25] - I would just add onto that, I agree.
[1:27:28] I think that, at least for me personally speaking for me,
[1:27:31] I feel confident in our direct costs,
[1:27:33] but I do not feel confident in our indirect costs
[1:27:36] because we're not accounting for,
[1:27:38] and as you said, this is a future expansion,
[1:27:41] but things like facilities, what does it take
[1:27:44] to operate the electricity, the water,
[1:27:46] everything like that, that's not here.
[1:27:48] Whereas for someone like Beth who's using a different
[1:27:51] facilities are very, she has a number she could plug in for
[1:27:54] how much it costs to that space.
[1:27:56] So again, I think the direct costs
[1:28:00] we feel pretty confident on, on direct staff time
[1:28:03] for leading programs, but indirect for facilities
[1:28:06] and also for our full-time staff support of those programs,
[1:28:11] we kind of all have to get our heads together I think,
[1:28:14] to get on the same page of how we're calculating
[1:28:17] - That.
[1:28:18] Yeah, because I think it, it's,
[1:28:19] I I understand it's incredibly flexible.
[1:28:21] I applaud the work that you've done with it so far.
[1:28:25] I think there's a lot, you know,
[1:28:26] looking at maintenance time.
[1:28:27] Yes. You said you know, staff time outside of the direct.
[1:28:31] Yes. And I think this is a great place to
[1:28:37] start, but I think there's, yeah, there's so much,
[1:28:39] so much more yes.
[1:28:41] To account for. And I guess the other thing I'm looking at
[1:28:43] too is the sports programs
[1:28:44] and sport tournaments with almost 20%
[1:28:49] missing the, that seems kind of like a kind of like,
[1:28:53] you know, the programs
[1:28:55] and tournaments should be covering there
[1:28:58] and I know overall they do hit their full cost
[1:29:02] by quite a bit, but that seems like one where
[1:29:05] they should probably all be meeting there
[1:29:07] and tier recovery. I'm sure you
[1:29:12] - Yeah, like I said,
[1:29:13] there are some areas within there based on weather
[1:29:16] and things like that, that we're trying
[1:29:18] to get better at making assumptions.
[1:29:20] Like this past year's budget, we tried to
[1:29:24] understate the revenues,
[1:29:26] anticipating potential weather delays, things like that.
[1:29:29] And be realistic in what the expenses would be.
[1:29:32] We're gonna be breaking out some
[1:29:34] of those spreadsheets a little bit more to also look at
[1:29:37] Jim's true costs on lining fields, staff time.
[1:29:41] We have incorporated a lot of
[1:29:42] that in the cost recovery sheets right now.
[1:29:46] But this is giving us like a real bird's eye view of
[1:29:49] how things are functioning now so we can figure out
[1:29:52] where we need to make tweaks
[1:29:54] and if we need to be adjusting fees,
[1:29:57] this gives you more justification to do that.
[1:30:01] - Yeah, I think this is an excellent first step.
[1:30:02] I know, you know, some of my fellow Supervisors
[1:30:07] didn't see yeah, these numbers.
[1:30:09] So I think this is a really good, a really good start.
[1:30:12] I think I would emphasize that this is legitimately a start
[1:30:15] because I, I would hate for people to look at this, be like,
[1:30:18] oh well we're crushing it.
[1:30:20] I think this is, this is the first
[1:30:21] step in a, a long process.
[1:30:23] But I applaud the effort that's gone into it, the effort
[1:30:26] that has yet to, has yet to go into it
[1:30:29] because it seems very daunting.
[1:30:33] - Yeah, I agree with the,
[1:30:36] just the usefulness of this data.
[1:30:39] I'm curious to know, so the, the documents
[1:30:42] that we're providing, the individual at the budgets,
[1:30:46] those capital budgets operating Michelle Parks budget,
[1:30:51] those long documents, I'm just curious
[1:30:54] who those are currently vailable to or like full consent to.
[1:30:59] - Those documents go directly to the municipalities
[1:31:02] and are distributed here
[1:31:04] through the finance committee exec and the general form.
[1:31:07] So it goes through a full vetting process
[1:31:09] between municipalities that support CRPR.
[1:31:23] - Any other need
[1:31:25] clarification on anything?
[1:31:28] I I, I'm really encouraged by just these help
[1:31:34] data and that's annually when we,
[1:31:38] when we do the, the fee policy, things like that.
[1:31:43] It's like I, you know, sometimes I feel like I wait, I,
[1:31:48] I know what the right number is, you know, I mean we,
[1:31:51] you know, we get a lot of information from staff
[1:31:54] and everyone does their due diligence looking
[1:31:59] at other agencies, other, other facilities.
[1:32:02] But, but having like our own
[1:32:06] data's just, yeah, so much
[1:32:09] just makes you feel better about understanding
[1:32:11] how everything works and what,
[1:32:13] what direction you need take in terms of fees or
[1:32:17] or eliminating something or or enhancing it.
[1:32:21] Yeah, the numbers always matter.
[1:32:25] - So that's our goal is to try
[1:32:27] to make it a little bit more transparent to each of you of
[1:32:29] what our real costs are so
[1:32:31] that you understand when we set fees,
[1:32:33] if we propose an increase, you understand why.
[1:32:36] Or if we say, okay, this fee doesn't need to increase,
[1:32:39] but you look at the spreadsheet we provided you
[1:32:41] and say, well this document's showing that you're under,
[1:32:44] you're not meeting your tiers.
[1:32:46] You can come back and kind of question us
[1:32:47] and say, okay, explain that to me.
[1:32:50] I think that transparency is important in our roles.
[1:32:54] Our positions, our goal is to be transparent so
[1:32:57] that you can make good decisions.
[1:33:00] - I guess I do have a follow up then looking at the 60
[1:33:03] requests and the new software.
[1:33:05] How much do you feel like that is gonna be able
[1:33:07] to help drive the collection of this data?
[1:33:10] - It should help tremendously.
[1:33:11] There is a function within there
[1:33:14] where you can put your costs.
[1:33:17] We just need to find out can you put in direct
[1:33:19] and direct costs in separate, you know, categories so
[1:33:21] that when we extract it we can see that.
[1:33:25] But I, I don't know what that backend looks like,
[1:33:27] but we do know that you can put expenses
[1:33:29] for every individual program into the new software
[1:33:33] and it will come out into a report.
[1:33:35] That would be a huge time savings for staff to be able
[1:33:39] to just do that right away.
[1:33:41] Right now we've gotten I think into maybe a good rhythm
[1:33:44] where those Excel sheets are just being used
[1:33:46] as they develop programs, they figure out
[1:33:50] what their costs are, set their fees
[1:33:51] and they're using that as they go.
[1:33:53] So it's kind of a, a similar process now
[1:33:56] as they would use inputting into the new software.
[1:33:59] So at least it would be an easier export for a municipality
[1:34:04] that's asking for information to be able to print that out
[1:34:07] and send it along to provide more information on that.
[1:34:12] - And I guess Jim, I'll ask you with your staff, you know,
[1:34:16] how do you necessarily track time going towards say like
[1:34:22] mowing the Yoda Preserve roads
[1:34:25] low call versus being out of Whitehall.
[1:34:28] How granular are you tracking that?
[1:34:30] How will that be able to interface
[1:34:32] to help them track their times?
[1:34:35] - It's actually, excuse me, it's actually gonna be much
[1:34:39] program coming on this year.
[1:34:41] Hope is hope.
[1:34:43] We'll make sure it's ready Go January,
[1:34:46] we started it this year getting everything loaded up guys
[1:34:49] will be input everything.
[1:34:51] Now we're doing that paper. So what down
[1:34:57] - Hopeful weeks is going keep
[1:34:59] that we'll get true actual numbers,
[1:35:02] what we're spending happen on every day.
[1:35:04] - We now have tablets for each of the crew
[1:35:08] that we just received two weeks ago that we're setting up.
[1:35:12] And so they'll actually have their own tablet in the field
[1:35:15] to be able to enter information into the software,
[1:35:18] which then does the same thing.
[1:35:19] Prints out a report for us to show us okay,
[1:35:23] what are some true costs for O Call for example,
[1:35:25] or what is it for a sports Forman?
[1:35:29] Again, we'll be discovering that software a little bit more
[1:35:32] to see like what capabilities we have so
[1:35:34] that you can kind of see the recording.
[1:35:36] But we'll be sharing that as we go,
[1:35:38] as we get more comfortable with it
[1:35:40] because I think that does help provide
[1:35:42] and we're one of the very few rec departments
[1:35:45] that will have maintenance software
[1:35:47] and so we're fortunate that we're gonna be able to provide
[1:35:51] that information to everybody so you can see
[1:35:53] - It.
[1:35:54] Yeah, I think it's important that people know that
[1:35:56] being able to automatically generate those rather than have
[1:35:59] them from yeah, pencil and paper
[1:36:02] and guess work will save a shocking amount of time
[1:36:07] to generating these reports.
[1:36:08] So glad that we're moving this direction.
[1:36:11] I hope that we can generate, like use those efficiencies.
[1:36:13] Yeah. To drive some cost savings as well. Yeah.
[1:36:21] - Okay. So I'll entertain a motion that Centre Region Parks
[1:36:25] and Recreation Authority approved the revenue enhancement
[1:36:28] plan as an additional financial oversight measures
[1:36:32] for future CR PR budget.
[1:36:38] Second. Second. Okay. Thank you.
[1:36:42] Okay, additional comments, questions, concerns?
[1:36:45] - I have one concern
[1:36:47] and that is I hope that this thing would not be
[1:36:51] such that somebody comes up with a new idea
[1:36:54] that I fit in a plan.
[1:36:56] Can't do it because you have this plan
[1:37:00] - Right now.
[1:37:01] - That's what I, that that's what bothers me about it's
[1:37:05] so rigid.
[1:37:10] I don't know, but that I I I don't expect an answer to that.
[1:37:14] - Yeah, think until we encounter until, until we get
[1:37:17] through, you know, continued work on cost recovery,
[1:37:21] we'll probably identify whether there's anything
[1:37:23] that doesn't fit within that plan.
[1:37:25] But we're following national standards on cost recoveries
[1:37:29] here as a general guideline
[1:37:31] and not getting too super specific on things.
[1:37:35] I mean the cost recoveries are ranges,
[1:37:38] so it may range from 75% to a hundred percent.
[1:37:41] So there is flexibility within those tiers
[1:37:44] that allow programs to kind of,
[1:37:47] some may be stronger than other programs,
[1:37:49] it's just when they dip below certain thresholds,
[1:37:52] that's when it impacts municipal shares
[1:37:55] because we have to rely more on municipal shares
[1:37:58] than the revenues.
[1:38:00] We don't wanna double tax people on our programs
[1:38:03] 'cause they're already paying taxes.
[1:38:05] But being reasonable without being, you know,
[1:38:09] too overly unreasonable.
[1:38:11] Makes sense and
[1:38:13] and our perspective, this is better than
[1:38:16] what we have now, which is nothing
[1:38:19] - But yeah.
[1:38:21] Operating. But yeah, rather than true numbers,
[1:38:28] - Well I think it helps Supervisors as well kind of know how
[1:38:32] to be on the same playing field with their programs
[1:38:35] and like what to set as targets
[1:38:38] and we haven't really had a lot of that.
[1:38:41] We've been pretty separate
[1:38:42] and individual in how we've done that.
[1:38:44] So as an agency, I think providing some kind
[1:38:47] of general like tool to say here's a tool,
[1:38:50] here's a benchmark is helpful.
[1:38:59] - I think also with the size of the program,
[1:39:01] like just the sheer number of programs there,
[1:39:06] this is be incredibly helpful.
[1:39:09] Yeah.
[1:39:15] A question first to me, if you have something new
[1:39:18] that you're, you know, you're trying, how long would,
[1:39:24] would you give that program sort of up to speed
[1:39:29] meet the numbers that like to see,
[1:39:33] - Like we have used I think in the past three sessions.
[1:39:37] So if after three sessions something hasn't gone,
[1:39:41] then you really need to visit either retitle the program,
[1:39:44] reprice the program, rebrand it and title entirely
[1:39:49] or eliminate it.
[1:39:51] It's usually when you get to the third time
[1:39:53] where you've attempted and you look at your costs
[1:39:55] 'cause there is a cost to try to market, advertise,
[1:39:58] put the program together, coordinate with the instructor.
[1:40:01] Those decisions I think reside with the Supervisors.
[1:40:04] Not something I wanted to put in a document,
[1:40:06] but I think in general we talk with each other about,
[1:40:09] you know, what is an appropriate threshold And
[1:40:12] that's something that will continue
[1:40:14] as we look at cost recovery
[1:40:16] and the programs that didn't hit the threshold.
[1:40:19] How do we manage those going forward?
[1:40:21] Do we keep trying three times?
[1:40:25] If it doesn't go then we, you know, we eliminate it
[1:40:27] or we reprice it, rebrand it.
[1:40:31] And some of those tools are in the program portfolio
[1:40:34] appendix, which helps guide them on repricing,
[1:40:39] redesigning and stuff like that.
[1:40:45] - Additional comments, questions, concerns,
[1:40:50] all say aye.
[1:40:52] Aye. Aye. Aye. All the same sign.
[1:40:58] Okay. Next we have an informational
[1:41:03] presentation about 2027.
[1:41:09] - Okay. So hang on. So I know this is a lot of information
[1:41:13] as we've gone through a lot of documents.
[1:41:15] I'll try to be somewhat brief
[1:41:18] and I wanna be able to answer any questions
[1:41:20] that you all have because I know the budget process doesn't
[1:41:24] always align with authority meetings
[1:41:27] and how we review things.
[1:41:28] So trying to play catch up
[1:41:30] because this morning the finance committee approved
[1:41:34] to move forward the budget documents
[1:41:38] based on those discussions
[1:41:40] and some sig sig e items were approved.
[1:41:42] Some were not Parks and rec.
[1:41:44] We only had one item originally
[1:41:48] that wasn't supported.
[1:41:50] But then Jim and I were able to explain it a little bit more
[1:41:54] and the item did get put back in.
[1:41:56] It was the park specialist one position.
[1:41:58] So that is getting passed through again, not approved yet.
[1:42:03] It's gotta go through its process,
[1:42:04] but we are looking at the savings from the seasonal
[1:42:08] maintenance staff that were not being able
[1:42:11] to fill those positions to try to help recoup that cost
[1:42:15] and reduce the municipal share impact on that.
[1:42:20] So essentially each budget had
[1:42:24] some changes for 2027.
[1:42:26] You had municipal contributions did increase,
[1:42:31] however our expenditures decreased.
[1:42:35] And some of the nuances
[1:42:37] of our budget are the use of fund balance.
[1:42:40] So if we don't, if we, we have an excess if amount of funds
[1:42:44] that go into the fund balance at the end of the year
[1:42:47] that are not assigned to a project.
[1:42:49] Basically we did really well
[1:42:51] and we may have something that goes down
[1:42:53] or we have a project that's well under budget,
[1:42:56] that extra money goes into fund balance.
[1:42:59] And so we can't just use those funds.
[1:43:01] There's a process in place through call that we would have
[1:43:03] to go through to use those funds.
[1:43:06] But one of the nuances that's hard
[1:43:08] to see in the documents is why municipal shares appear
[1:43:12] to maybe spike from one year to the next.
[1:43:15] Part of that is we'll use fund balance in the prior budget
[1:43:19] to offset the expenses to reduce the shares.
[1:43:22] So because of that you may have a reduction in shares
[1:43:26] because we used fund balance.
[1:43:28] So the comparison of contributions from one year
[1:43:31] to the next looks significant, significantly different.
[1:43:34] We did the same thing this year.
[1:43:37] Ben, through this process helped to reduce some
[1:43:40] of the expenses of municipal shares
[1:43:42] through use of fund balance.
[1:43:44] I think we ended up using a little over 200,000
[1:43:48] for certain particular projects.
[1:43:50] We had some funds that were unassigned
[1:43:53] or restricted within a certain budget
[1:43:54] that we were able to kind of use.
[1:43:58] And I think it worked out in our favor
[1:44:01] and we were able to get things put through
[1:44:03] and approved some of the items we deferred.
[1:44:07] There were a few things that, the pools that got deferred
[1:44:09] because we had a note in there
[1:44:11] that they were a potential deferral.
[1:44:13] We wanted to look at the items for the end of the season
[1:44:17] to see what the condition of the item was
[1:44:19] before we said yes, let's fund this.
[1:44:22] And so, because some items are operating well,
[1:44:27] like pool pumps, water heaters, things like that, as long
[1:44:31] as they operated well,
[1:44:32] we felt comfortable pushing those out.
[1:44:35] So there were a total of four items, I believe, right,
[1:44:39] that were struck from Cxi, which was a savings
[1:44:42] of a little over a hundred thousand dollars.
[1:44:45] So last year we put forward over 20,
[1:44:48] around 25 60 requests.
[1:44:51] This year we ended up with roughly six or seven requests.
[1:44:56] So we've cut that back significantly
[1:44:59] and all the items we put forward are repairs, replacements,
[1:45:04] taking care of essentially what what we have.
[1:45:08] But I know each budget sheet is different than
[1:45:11] what you're used to seeing
[1:45:13] because this is the new financial system called clear gov
[1:45:17] and that's how the information was extracted.
[1:45:20] So you can kind of see couple different
[1:45:23] versions of each budget.
[1:45:24] You'll see by department, by fund,
[1:45:30] there's different categories.
[1:45:31] So essentially all the same information,
[1:45:33] it is just grouped differently
[1:45:34] so you can see the information differently.
[1:45:37] So any specific questions on those
[1:45:42] budget items that were in the packet that you want
[1:45:45] to go through specifically?
[1:45:48] We're happy to answer any questions you might have.
[1:45:56] One second
[1:45:57] - Missing
[1:46:03] actually, I have my hand.
[1:46:07] - We had pumps
[1:46:09] and associated systems for the, the pools
[1:46:12] that was noted as a pen.
[1:46:13] Potential deferral,
[1:46:15] replacing aging programmatic water features.
[1:46:18] We have been replacing those.
[1:46:20] We have some carry forward funds from prior years
[1:46:23] that we're using as well.
[1:46:25] So Todd's been able to replace some of those this year.
[1:46:28] Domestic water heaters,
[1:46:30] Todd said those are functioning really well.
[1:46:32] We should be able to get another year out of them.
[1:46:35] And then the replacing the picnic table slots,
[1:46:38] we purchased those this year.
[1:46:40] Todd has a skid of those
[1:46:42] and he's per replacing those as needed.
[1:46:46] So I don't think that was something that was so crucial.
[1:46:49] We needed to give them another pallet to kind
[1:46:51] of wait until something breaks.
[1:46:54] So that savings again was around a hundred thousand dollars.
[1:46:58] Just over a hundred thousand dollars in those
[1:47:00] - Items.
[1:47:05] - So everything else, yeah, I was just curious
[1:47:06] - What, what the floor works. Yeah,
[1:47:08] - Everything else got approved.
[1:47:10] The revenue for the boardwalk campaign, the resurfacing
[1:47:14] of the splash pad at Welch Pool,
[1:47:17] because that's a safety issue.
[1:47:19] The park specialist one janitorial for gym,
[1:47:22] which would serve multiple purposes in addition
[1:47:26] to janitorial work
[1:47:28] that would eliminate the janitorial contract
[1:47:31] they would take over cleaning
[1:47:33] and upkeep of our facilities in addition to using
[1:47:37] that person for mowing,
[1:47:39] facility maintenance, things like that.
[1:47:42] Equipment lift for maintenance, replacing netting at Hess,
[1:47:47] replacement of a 2012 truck
[1:47:52] and the software.
[1:47:54] So those moved through the process.
[1:47:57] - So - That's where we're at right now.
[1:48:00] Those are the major items.
[1:48:08] - Progress. Yeah. Didn't take too bigger. No.
[1:48:13] Yeah. Any additional thought?
[1:48:19] Okay. Take note.
[1:48:22] Your our, our other business items or next meeting
[1:48:26] after first 15.
[1:48:28] Is there anything else that point out to us
[1:48:31] that we need to pay attention to?
[1:48:36] Nope. I don't believe so.
[1:48:41] Motion Adjourn. So moved. Aye.
[1:49:15] - The Centre Region Active Adult Center is a vibrant,
[1:49:18] inclusive, and happening location designed
[1:49:20] for active adults 55 years and over to be social
[1:49:23] and participate in new experiences while
[1:49:25] also staying close to home.
[1:49:26] We promote healthy aging through our many activities
[1:49:29] and health forums as well as lifelong learning
[1:49:31] through classes and social interaction
[1:49:33] that suit almost any lifestyle.
[1:49:35] Whether you prefer line dancing followed by a walk
[1:49:37] or a game of bridge and a meal,
[1:49:39] the center is sure to have something for you.
[1:49:41] Visit crpr.org for more info.
[1:49:50] - The League of Women Voters was founded almost a hundred
[1:49:52] years ago with the right to vote for women.
[1:49:57] Not only the right to vote, but an informed vote.
[1:50:00] - You need to know everything about that candidate.
[1:50:04] You need to be able to ask that candidate questions.
[1:50:09] - I think that the organization is going to continue
[1:50:12] to attract a diverse membership
[1:50:14] and I think that that will help us in working toward the
[1:50:18] goal of better representation for everybody. There's
[1:50:21] - A wonderful opportunity here for people who are younger
[1:50:24] to come and learn from women who have been part
[1:50:26] of social movements for years and years.
[1:50:29] - It's our job to be a mentor to the newer members
[1:50:33] because they're the ones
[1:50:35] after all that are going to be carrying the banner
[1:50:37] of the league into the next hundred years.
[1:50:40] We stand for the nonpartisanship that we should all have
[1:50:44] as leaders in our democracy today.