OCPB agenda 070214 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

10-14 Orange County Comprehensive Parks and Recreation Master Plan CHAPTER 10 - Goals, Objectives, and Recommendations 10 An awareness should be developed and reflected in future County budgets that new parks will being the need for additfonal operatfng costs, and additfonal staffing needs. Some staffing needs, such as the need for a “trails ranger” as trails open at the nature preserves, is included in the CIP, and the CIP now includes projected operatfng costs associated with new facilitfes and improvements. Equipment, oper- atfng and future staffing needs will not be insignifi- cant, and while increasing the enjoyment of county residents and providing positfve health, societal, economic and environmental benefits, the costs of achieving these desired goals does have an associated cost to be borne. Recommendation #9: Examine the Role of Community Centers in Providing Public Recreation Opportunities Indoor facilitfes offer a wide array of optfons for leisure, daily life actfvitfes and self-improvement capabilitfes. Care should be taken to tailor the center design, and the programming opportunitfes, for these centers to ensure that they are serving the priority needs of the residents in the areas they serve. Centers should be flexible in design and actfvi- ty, insofar as possible, to allow for changing needs and desires and interests of the community. How the community accesses community centers, and how they can be adequately staffed with financial prudence, are topics around which a dialogue should start, with a common understanding of the needs and roles such places can provide. Strong interest has also been expressed in having a nature center at a county park facility. This concept was included in the Blackwood Farm Park master plan, and many nature programs are also provided at Little River Park and Natural Area. The County should examine its master plans, identffy what type of facility a nature center should be, and incorporate the constructfon of a nature center into the capital improvements plan for parks accordingly. This may be a venture where partnering with other local governments or agencies with a similar mission may be fruitiul. These should be pursued aggressively. Finally, efforts are underway within the community to create a “Friends of Parks, Recreatfon and Open Space” group, which could play an important role in helping to fill in gaps and address smaller level funding needs – and help promote local fundraising for parks and recreatfon programs. The opportunity to raise funds from the community through the Orange County Community Giving Fund is another vehicle that may help shoulder some of the financial needs for parks and recreatfon services. In the Community Needs Assessment, residents did not look favorably on charging user fees for parks and recreatfon services, and it is recommended that the current practfce of the County (and the towns within Orange County) of not charging user fees for usage be retained. Another important funding source is payment-in-lieu from new subdivisions. Shown below are the pay- ment-in-lieu balances for the four park districts as of July 1, 2013: Northern District Park: $62,617 Cheeks/Hillsborough District Park: $107,104 Bingham District Park: $181,108 Chapel Hill Township District Park: $125,820 Total = $539,266 G. The Importance of Operating and Maintenance Funding Traditfonally, Parks and Recreatfon Master Plans do not attempt to address operatfonal costs. Creatfon of an operatfon and maintenance schedule and program requires regular review and adjustment and is not part of the scope of this plan. However, these “O&M costs” are very real and important consideratfons to be aware of. Operatfng existfng parks, and bringing online new parks, costs money. Emptying trash receptacles, replacing lights, resurfacing tennis courts, paying electrical bills and mowing soccer fields all are tasks that if not funded appropriately will greatly diminish the park experi- ence or even make the parks unable to functfon. 122