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HomeMy Public PortalAbout11-18-14 - KB Community Center Operations AssessmentDraft Report October 27, 2014 bk BAT.T,ARTI*KING & ASSOCIATES LTD Recreation Facility Planning and Operation Consultants 2743 Ravenhill Circle Highlands Ranch, CO 80126 303.470.3014 www.ballardking.com bka@ballardking.com Table of Contents Section 1 Introduction 1 Section II General Assessment Summary 2 Section III Building Condition 4 Section IV Recreation Programs and Services 1 I Key Biscayne Community Center Operations Assessment Section I - Introduction The purpose of this assessment is to analyze the operations of the Key Biscayne Community Center, identify factors, issues, and concerns within the facility that need to be addressed, changed, altered or improved to increase the operational efficiency, public use and financial performance of the center. This report is based on information gathered from a site visit to the center (August 26`h and 27`h, 2014), and interviews with parks and recreation staff as well as other key program partners. The intent of the visit was to gain a basic understanding of the Key Biscayne Community Center, how it is operated, maintained, and programmed. In addition to the interviews, there was also a review of operational, program and administrative information, records, and material supplied by the Village. Specific Assessment Tasks Included: Building Condition — An assessment of the overall condition of the building, its operating systems and equipment. Recreation Programs and Services --- An analysis of the types of programs and services that are offered at the center. What follows is a brief summary of the operations of the Key Biscayne Community Center that has been outlined above with an assessment of what changes or improvements should be made to the center while still supporting the mission of the facility as it relates to recreation services. Any recommendations being made are with the knowledge that it may be difficult to implement alI of the findings in this assessment with the current operational funding levels of the center, the staffing level of the center, space limitations in the center, and the necessary time requirements for completion. 1 BALIARD * KIN(; Key Biscayne Community Center Operations Assessment Section II — General Assessment Summary The following is a basic summary of the positives and negatives of the overall operation of the Key Biscayne Community Center. Strengths: • The center is a beautiful, well run, facility that has strong use from the community. • The facility relies on a small full-time staff to operate and manage the center (this is also a weakness, see below). • The center has strong record keeping in place as it relates to budget, center usage, programs and services, and membership sales. • The facility offers a wide range of programs for the community and its members. Weaknesses: • With limited staff, it is more difficult to have adequate time to handle all the required administrative tasks, as well as facility operations and recreation programming responsibilities. • The level of maintenance of the center needs to be increased. This is a result of not only the age of the center but its strong use by the community. • The center lacks a comprehensive maintenance plan with a focus on preventative care. • Due to the age of the facility, there will be increasing maintenance demands to keep the center in top condition. • A complete program plan document is needed to guide future programming efforts at the center. • The role of ASK and the Youth Sports Advisory Board in providing programming in the center needs to be clearly defined. 2 f-* BALI.ARD*KING I r u Key Biscayne Community Center Operations Assessment Summary: • The Community Center and parks and recreation department could benefit from the completion of a long range strategic plan that can be used to guide the future direction of parks and recreation in the Village. • The overall indoor recreation space needs of the Village need to be part of a comprehensive recreation facilities master plan that identifies what spaces should be constructed, their size, priority, and location (part of the center or other existing Village facility or separate building). • fhe results of the needs assessment survey must be utilized to guide the priorities for future parks and recreation facilities and programs. • Developing a comprehensive maintenance plan for the Community Center is essential. • A complete program plan document must also be developed for the center. 1* BALLARD * KING C 1 - . 11 , I 1 1 1E. - 1_ 1 1) 3 Key Biscayne Community Center Operations Assessment Section III — Building Condition One of the most critical aspects of a community center's operation is the physical condition of the building itself as well as its operating systems and equipment. The following is an assessment of these factors. General • It is critical that the center develop a comprehensive maintenance plan that deals not only with custodial care but also with building and equipment maintenance tasks and frequency. This plan should serve as the guide for long term cleaning and maintenance of the center. In addition, the plan should focus on specific measures that are needed in the area of preventative maintenance. • Much of the day to day cleaning of the center is being completed by a contract provider. The overall level of cleanliness in the building is not where it needs to be. As a result the requirements of the contract need to be enhanced and performance better monitored to improve this situation. This should be a high priority for the center. • The center should develop a detailed five-year capital improvement plan for the facility. This should prioritize capital expenditure needs on a yearly basis, and the overall plan should be updated on an annual basis. The plan should be established based in part on a depreciation schedule that is developed for the major equipment in the building (this should be done for all parks and recreation facilities in the Village). • It is recommended that the center undergo an energy audit to determine where cost savings may be possible through the change in lighting systems, mechanical system calibration and operations, and other system modifications. There are grants that are available for this service and also funding available for changing out lighting systems etc. • The center has a general lack of storage space. bong range plans should be developed to increase storage space in the center (especially with the planned expansion). It is recognized that this is a much lower priority for capital funding. • The center also suffers from a lack of office space for staff Long range plans should also include the expansion of office space in the building as part of the expansion plans. • Parking continues to be an issue at the center. The parking garage and on street parking surrounding the center is often full during high times of center use. This issue will become more acute with the planned building expansion. 4 BAL D*KING hi( x ' - r r u Key Biscayne Community Center Operations Assessment Specific Building Improvements • The pool's deck has cracked and the surface is peeling and is uneven in some areas. The deck will need to be replaced or at least patched in some areas. The patio area surface also needs to be replaced. • While the pool tank itself appears to be in good condition, it has never been drained and in the next five years will probably need to be replastered. The cost of this effort should be budgeted as part of future improvements to the pool. • The restroom/locker rooms at the pool have considerable corrosion on the door frames and on other surfaces/equipment inside. • The center's restrooms need to have the sink counters replaced as the existing arc starting to crack and separate in places. • Most all of the walls of the center are in desperate need of being painted. The entire center should be repainted as soon as possible and a schedule adopted that requires that the walls in the active use spaces in the building be painted at least every two years. • The gym and group exercise room hardwood floors need to be sanded down to the bare wood and refinished. Once this is completed, these same floors should be screened and recoated at least every two years. • The gym walls have a number of holes and plaster is being lost in other areas. The walls should be repaired prior to repainting. • The mirrors in the group exercise room need to be replaced where broken or missing. • Much of the carpeting in the center is original and in need of being replaced. This is particularly true for the youth areas, upstairs lounge and any hallways. Carpet should he included on a replacement schedule. • The rubber flooring in the fitness center is showing signs of wear and the center should plan for its replacement in the next 2 to 3 years. • The youth game room needs to have newer flat screen monitors and much of the furnishings will need to be replaced in the next few years. • There is a roof leak in the arts & crafts room that cannot be found. There is also a problem with water under a portion of the floor of the Island Room, the source of which 5 I BALL * KING \ '. '. u . 1 1 1 F 1 I U Key Biscayne Community Center Operations Assessment cannot be identified. Both of these problems need to be solved and the required repairs made. • The play structure is inspected and repaired on a regular basis by a contract provider. However, the structure itself should be wiped down and disinfected on a weekly basis to ensure that any health concerns are met. • In the parking garage, the pull down door at the entrance as well as the drainage grates need to he replaced. There are a significant number of items that are being stored within the open areas of the garage. An additional fenced in storage area within the garage should be added for these items or they should be moved outside of the space to another location. • The room that is used for drop -in childcare will need to have its current flooring replaced in the next couple of years. It is also important that the toys are wiped down and disinfected at least once a week if not more often. It should also be noted that there is concern over the fact that this space has both children that are paying for drop -in child care as well as parents/care givers who are in the same space with their children. At the time when drop -in child care is being offered, the only users that should be allowed in this space are the children that have paid for this time. Parents and caregivers should not be allowed in the room at this time. This is a major safety and liability concern. Staff may decide to open this space at other times for general use by the community but these two functions should not be mixed. • Many of the doors have too many temporary signs on them. This adds to the overall clutter of the facility and when there are more than one sign, people usually do not read any of them. Operating Systems • The center should have TV monitors near the front desk and in key areas upstairs where they can be used to display information about upcoming programs and other activities and events at the center and in the Village. • The center should explore the possibility of installing an energy management system on the building's HVAC and other mechanical systems. • Maintenance tasks and procedures should be handled by a maintenance management software program. There are a number of packaged systems currently on the market that could serve this purpose. 6 BALI..ARD*KIIVC . , it t f L • I. I' 1) Key Biscayne Community Center Operations Assessment • One of the challenges the center has is tracking the use of "Punch Passes" for fitness admissions and drop -in child care. The CLASS software system (and many others) should allow for a center user card to be loaded with as many "Punch Passes" as desired and each time the card is scanned an admission is subtracted. Equipment • The center should adopt a formal budget plan to replace its cardio equipment on a 4 -year staggered schedule where one-fourth of the equipment is turned over every year. It will be important that this plan is followed to keep equipment current and in good working condition. The center has already been taking this general approach with its cardio equipment but this process should be formalized. When the cardio equipment is replaced, the new units should have integrated TV screens rather than the separate units that are now in place. The spin bikes should be included in the replacement schedule as well. • The moveable divider walls in the Island Room will need to be refurbished in the next 2- 3 years and sections may require outright replacement. • Much of the furniture and window coverings in the center are close to needing to be recovered or replaced outright. Center Expansion • The Village is currently preparing to complete an expansion of the center on the upper level. This should add approximately 4,800 SF of program area to the center. The Village should proceed with this expansion as soon as possible. • Before the Village decides to build a cultural and/or senior center, a feasibility study should be completed for the project that defines need, key amenities, capital costs and operational obligations for a facility. This includes the possible renovation of the Council Chambers for a theater. If at all possible, any new recreation facilities should be developed as part of the expansion of the existing Community Center rather than building a separate building elsewhere. This will help reduce operating costs by a substantial margin. The possibility of expanding the center on a second level over the outdoor pool should he investigated. This could add considerable amount of space to the center but will impact the outdoor feel of the pool. This will also be an expensive option as the clear span requirements over the pool will be significant. There will need to be an approximate 20 foot clearance 7 } Bt\i.I. uw*KiNG 11 V Key Biscayne Community Center Operations Assessment from the pool deck to the ceiling which could result in difficulty matching up with the elevation of the existing second floor. Another option is to expand the center where the pool currently exists and move the pool further to the north. It is realized that this will result in an intrusion into the Village Green and may require that the other park amenities be moved. It should also realized that the Island Room at its current size and configuration cannot adequately fill the role of a theater or a cultural events space. • Long range plans to expand the weight/cardio equipment area onto the existing pool desk should remain. This will increase the capacity of this key area in the building. • Any expansion to the building will require an increase in the center's operating budget for utilities, custodial services, and other operating costs. However, there should also be an increase the revenues generated from programs occurring at the center. Estimates of the budget implications for any expansion to the center should be calculated prior to starting construction. • Any expansion of the Community Center or new recreation space in the village should avoid having dedicated space for any one group or organization. • With the planned expansion to the center, the location of the senior area should be moved to the planned new area at the back of the upper level. This will reduce the noise coming from the group exercise room located below the current location and will also reduce overall traffic in front of the senior area. Other • The center's building elements, systems and equipment should be evaluated and put on a capital depreciation schedule. This then becomes the basis for the five year capital improvement budget. • Once the expansion to center is completed there should be an across the board fee increase of approximately 5% to 10%. There should also be small increases at least every two years. • The Village plans to hire a full-time Facilities Manager which should be very beneficial to the center by providing some direct oversight and management of maintenance and custodial operations and contracts. 8 BA I .l ARD * KING • • l I ( I 1 J' F - I. I' h Key Biscayne Community Center Operations Assessment • The concession operation in the center has met with varying levels of success over the last several years. Revamping the types of concession items sold and rebidding the contract may be necessary. • The lack of field space for both youth and adult sports is an issue that impacts program growth. Strong consideration should be given to replacing the natural turfed area at the back (north) portion of the Village Green with artificial turf This would allow for greater use of this area for athletics and deal with the problems associated with trying to keep natural grass growing. The Village should also continue to partner with St. Agnus with the goal of converting their field to artificial turf. • It must be recognized that field maintenance, lining and game set-ups take a considerable amount of staff time and resources to accomplish. While a very necessary function, this takes time away from other recreation programs and facility operations. It is also important to realize that natural turf fields need rest to allow the grass to regenerate. This means that part of the scheduling of these fields needs to include adequate time for this to occur. Key Recommendations: (in priority order) • Improve the overall cleanliness of the building. • Develop a plan to complete the following improvements to the center in the next year to two years. Priorities include: o Clean, repair and paint center walls o Repair roof leaks and floor water issues o Replace carpeting in key areas of the center o Sand down and refinish the gym and fitness room floors o Repair or replace the pool and pool patio decks o Repair the corrosion to building and equipment in the pool restroom/locker rooms • Complete the necessary studies to determine the direction and future priorities for possible center expansion. Determine operational budget implications. • Develop a comprehensive maintenance plan for the center. • Develop a five-year prioritized capital improvement plan. 9 ky� BAt.L RD* KING 1 , - Ii I I% i t- I I I) Key Biscayne Community Center Operations Assessment • Formalize a budget plan to replace the center's cardio equipment on a staggered 4 year schedule. • Make improvements to existing sports fields to increase use and continue to look for opportunities to add new fields through partnerships with other organizations. hi* a-U.[.ARD *KING L r u 10 Key Biscayne Community Center Operations Assessment Section IV — Recreation Programs and Services This section summarizes the center's recreation programs and services. General • The Community Center (and the Village sports programs) currently has a very robust offering of recreation activities that utilize most all of the time that is available for use in the facility. It will he difficult to add any significant new programs without additional indoor or field space. • One of the greatest programmatic challenges facing the center is determining the role of ASK in providing senior programs and services. While ASK should have a part in this process, it should be one of augmenting, not replacing, Village services. One of the areas where ASK could help to broaden the services available to seniors is by focusing more on health and social service programming rather than more traditional fitness and recreation activities. However, this will require that ASK have a secondary position to Village programs, require the development of a program plan for these services, an approval process for individual programs and services, a clear understanding of program administration responsibilities, program staff hiring and background check procedures, as well as an evaluation process for ASK programs and services. This is the only way to ensure that ASK programs and services are being properly managed and any potential liability to the Village is minimized. All ASK programs should continue to be registered through the center's registration software program. • The other area of concern is with the youth sports programs. Over the last 5 years or so there has been tremendous growth in youth sports activities and the rate of participation. This has put more pressure on fields and facilities to serve the demand as well as Village staff to manage the programs themselves and maintain the facilities. This area of programming is covered by a Youth Sports Advisory Board whose role and responsibilities need to be reassessed. It should be strongly emphasized that this board is advisory only and they should focus their attention on larger philosophical issues regarding the program rather than day to day operations, rules, and other more specific issues. Many of the youth sports have commissioners that have varying levels of responsible for the day to day management of the activity. Some of these positions receive compensation while others do not. However, even with the individual sports commissioners, much of the responsibility for program administration still resides with the Village staff. At this point it would be more effective for the Village to hire another II 1* BA D * Ni !v{ Key Biscayne Community Center Operations Assessment Assistant Athletic Coordinator and eliminate the commissioner positions altogether. If the commissioners are retained they should be required to take on much greater responsibility for the day to day administrative tasks associated with the sport and should be evaluated on job performance on an annual basis. The lack of fields is an issue for both youth and adult sports leagues. It is important that the Village continue to define seasons for each youth sport that identifies their primary season, the length of the season and time frame for field use, as well as a secondary season that has a much lower priority of use of fields. In order to control the demand for field and gym space no new sports should be added unless it is determined by the Village staff that there is a reasonable space and time to accommodate these programs. In addition, and existing sports should not be permitted to add age groups, change or lengthen seasons, or make other significant changes to their programs without the approval of the same Village staff. • The center needs to continue to track use of the building in general and by specific area as well, on a day and time basis, to determine heavy use times, as well as slower times of use. This should also be analyzed by season of the year. This information can then be utilized to adjust program scheduling and hours of operation in a more appropriate manner. • A capacity/use analysis (number of uses/activities for the hours available) should be completed for each major space in the building to determine the current percentage of utilization. It is recognized that most of the spaces in the center are operating at or near capacity during the high use times of operation. • A long-term programming plan needs to be developed that outlines program and service priorities for the next five years, the individual (or organization) responsible for the development of the program, and the required resources (staff, facility, funding, fees, etc.) to implement the activity. This programming plan should be a basic simple document that is updated annually. In addition to using the needs assessment survey data to guide this process, the staff should consider scheduling a series of focus groups with current center users as well as with non -users to determine future needs and expectations for recreation services. • The center should continue to explore all possible partnering opportunities for programs and services. This should include the school district, appropriate private providers, and other non-profit organizations on the Key or in the area. I*y� BALL& D*KING "K 3 I t 1' F- L. L 0 12 Key Biscayne Community Center Operations Assessment • Each major program area should complete an annual report that succinctly summarizes program numbers and participation rates for the year and compares them with the previous years. Each program area should utilize the same format and the information should be available in a single document for the center. • A lifecycle analysis of center's recreation programs and services needs to be undertaken where program registrations by interest area are tracked and reviewed on a seasonal basis. Programs should be slotted into the following categories: o New — programs in the start-up phase that are just starting to build in popularity. o Mature — programs that have consistent high levels of registrations and are still growing in popularity. o Old — programs that are seeing a decline in popularity. Program offerings should he reasonably distributed among the three areas noted to have a healthy and vibrant programming focus_ Programs that are in the old category should ultimately be changed, updated or discontinued. • Each program and service offered by the center should have a cost and revenue projection completed prior to starting the activity that outlines expected financial performance. At the conclusion of the program a cost/revenue summary should also be completed that indicates the actual financial performance of the program. This effort should be refined to ensure that each program and service meets its financial goals. • Specific priorities of use for each space in the center should be developed to guide programming use, drop -in use, and rentals. The priorities should be set up by time of day, day of week. and season of the year_ This will ensure that all spaces are being used to their maximum potential. This prioritization of use will be especially important for the new spaces that will be part of the center expansion. Specific Concerns • The aquatics program is provided by an outside vendor hut it is the largest program area in the facility and is a shining star for the center. However, the lifeguards are provided by the Village and there needs to be evaluation of the current guards and their techniques with the goal of improving performance. Serious consideration should be given to having the contractor also provide the lifeguards. • Much of the programming at the Community Center is being offered by contractors, which is acceptable, but more responsibility for organizing and administering these programs needs to be handled by the vendor. Clear expectations for the contractors need 13 BALLAR D * KING [� S 1 - -- ii 1 1 1 1 I. • I I n Key Biscayne Community Center Operations Assessment to be part of the agreement process and they should be held responsible for meeting these requirements. All registration and financial transactions should continue to be handled by the center at the front desk. Also, while preference should be given to capable Key based contract providers, the most qualified contractors, regardless of their location, should be hired by the Village. All contract program providers should be required to provide paper work to the Village that indicates that background checks have been completed on all staff working in the center_ • There should be a greater emphasis in the next two years on the following programming areas: o Adult sports leagues. o Increase fitness /wellness program offerings by partnering with a local health care provider for classes associated with nutrition, healthy living, fitness assessments, and other specialty services. o Increasing the number and frequency of personal training sessions. This should be accompanied by a broader range of personal trainers (by age, specialty and time availability) that are working in the center. o Senior programming, especially for younger seniors o Outdoor recreation programming • There must be a strong recognition of the different demographic markets that must be served. The youth, senior and family populations in the area should be specifically addressed as well as the needs of various ethnic groups. • Center staff should have greater authority to alter or eliminate programs based on the program plan that is put in place. This will allow for a more rapid response to needed changes in specific program offerings. • With the completion of the proposed expansion to the center, attempt to move as much on -going programming as possible from the Island Room to allow this space to be used for other events, rentals and activities. Other • A more precise and formal program fee policy must be adopted to guide program and service fee setting. Many parks and recreation agencies are now tiering their programs into different categories with differing levels of cost recovery. 14 BALLARD * KING 3 1 il l 1 k l t: - I I I) Key Biscayne Community Center Operations Assessment NUMBERS OF PEOPLE SERVED FEE CONTINUUM In this particular case programs in the community event category would have the lowest cost recovery level, while specialized activities would have the highest. The exact percentage of cost recovery is established for each program category noted and then individual programs are slotted in the appropriate category. It is important that there are programs available for most demographic groups (youth and seniors especially) in each of the categories and not just in the basic or community events classifications. • Seniors should pay for use of the center even if they are not using the more active fee based areas of the building. This should come in the form of an annual "Senior Social Membership" that is in the range of $50.00 to $75.00 per year. It should also be expected that seniors will pay (see above) for programs and services offered by the center or other providers. • The center should institute a late registration fee that comes into play a week before a program is set to begin. However, this concept needs to be turned around and the regular fee listed as the "Early Discount Fee" and the late fee as the "Regular Fee". The fee differential should be in the range of 5% to 10%. • Basic fitness classes (this would exclude specialty programs and personal training) should be included as a benefit of month to month and yearly center memberships. This 15 Fey{ BALLARD * Ki NG Key Biscayne Community Center Operations Assessment will position the center to compete directly with other providers in the area. This concept will have to be introduced incrementally with a few classes at a time and should he accompanied by a reasonable increase in membership rates for the value that has been added. • A qualitative analysis should be completed for each program and activity that is offered by the center. This assessment should primarily be conducted through evaluations by the participants themselves. It is not necessary to evaluate each program every session but every program should be evaluated at least once during the course of a calendar year. • The Village needs to start on-line registration for all programs and services. This will require a higher fee commitment to the registration software company but will ultimately reduce staff time that is being spent on registration. The current registration system (Class) is transaction based and it can be very costly to the Village. This will require negotiations with the software company to reduce rates or the exploration of possible other software options to replace the existing system. • In the past the Key Biscayne Foundation has provided some programming for the center. In the future their role should be more on the funding of specific programs and activities. Key Recommendations: (in priority order) • Determine the role and responsibilities for ASK. • Revamp the role and responsibilities of the Youth Sports Advisory Board and the role of the sports commissioners. • Establish a long-term programming plan within the next year. • Develop specific priorities of use for each space in the building. • Develop clear expectations for all contract program providers_ • Adopt a formal program fee policy. • Adopt a "Senior Social Membership". • Institute a late registration fee. 16 BAli ARD * KING d 1 • • u t t. - I I U Hey Biscayne Community Center Operations Assessment • Move toward including basic fitness classes as a benefit for month to month and yearly memberships. • Attempt to grow programming in the following areas: o Adult sports leagues o Fitness/wellness programs o Personal training o Senior programs -younger seniors o Outdoor recreation • Complete a lifecycle analysis of the center's programs and services. • Start on-line registration for programs and services. 17 E* B 1 *KING n I t\ t 1, I I I)