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05-08-23 CC WS MinutesCITY OF SHOREWOOD 5755 COUNTRY CLUB ROAD CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MEETING COUNCIL CHAMBERS MONDAY, MAY 8, 2023 6:00 P.M. MINUTES 1. CONVENE CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MEETING Mayor Labadie called the meeting to order at 6:00 P.M. A. Roll Call Present. Mayor Labadie; Councilmembers Callies, Maddy, and Sanschagrin; City Attorney Shepherd; City Administrator Nevinski; Parks and Recreation Director Crossfield; Finance Director Rigdon; Planning Director Darling; Public Works Director Morreim; and City Engineer Budde Absent: Councilmember Johnson B. Review Agenda Maddy moved, Sanschagrin seconded, approving the agenda as presented. Motion passed 4/0. 2. STRATEGIC DIRECTION FOR PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT/SHOREWOOD COMMUNITY AND EVENT CENTER City Administrator Nevinski explained the importance of having a strategic direction for the Parks and Recreation Department. He noted that staff is looking for feedback from the Council on this proposal and noted that he felt some time needed to be taken for what needed to happen in the near term and explained that he felt that they were understaffed given everything happening within the Department. He gave an overview of the desire to utilize some type of Park and Recreation software where they could gain some efficiency, but noted that it was not already included in the budget. He reviewed other strategic directions he would like to see for the City including standardized agreements, associations, and South Shore Senior Partners. Park and Recreation Director Crossfield stated that in addition to the items mentioned by City Administrator Nevinski, she would also like to highlight that they are looking at facility needs and the CIP plans for the upcoming years. She noted that she had incorporated a variety of health and wellness type programs that she felt could be feasible in the City. She noted that the ideas she had included in the packet were just ideas and she was looking for input from the Council. Mayor Labadie stated that she thinks the suggestion for strategic direction to formalize relationships and agreements is a good idea. Councilmember Sanschagrin asked about the earlier statement by City Administrator Nevinski that this area was understaffed and asked what type of staff they felt were needed. City Administrator Nevinski stated that there are a number of things that have to happen including day to day work for things like rentals. He noted that changing the software and how the CITY OF SHOREWOOD WORK SESSION COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MAY 8, 2023 Page 2 of 5 Department functions may help, but they will still need somebody who knows the situation inside and out and can communicate with people in a reasonable timeframe. He stated that it can be difficult to staff to juggle it all at once because people tend to just walk in and take a look at the space. He noted that having time to identify contractors and markets for upcoming programming and then working through all the details for the space takes time. Parks and Recreation Director Crossfield explained that there has been a daily adrenal rush because things have been busier. She stated that Stephany has been a great asset and has been able to adapt as needs have changed, but agreed that there is a need for additional staffing. She noted that she would prefer to find someone who has experience in Park and Recreation and who would be able to work somewhat independently. Councilmember Callies noted that years ago they had two people who just handled the ballfield scheduling. Councilmember Maddy asked about Stephany's position and number of hours. Park and Recreation Director Crossfield stated that she typically works around 20-25 hours/week and noted that both of them have been doing evening coverage because they do not have community center attendance to cover all the rentals. Councilmember Maddy asked how much staff time was getting covered by user fees. Park and Recreation Director Crossfield stated that she did not readily have that information because she does not have software that would track that data. Councilmember Maddy stated that he felt that information would be important. Mayor Labadie asked what type of staffing additions they were suggesting. Park and Recreation Director Crossfield stated that it will depend on the software question and then what service will be provided, for example, if they move to all facility requests being made on-line. She stated that may provide an answer, but she was not sure that was the customer service that the City wanted to provide. She stated that one full-time employee would definitely cover their bases in order to maintain and grow, but if that was not in the budget, if she could be given some parameters, she will try to make things happen. She stated that the more part-time employees a City has, the more turnover they will have. Councilmember Callies stated that it sounds like they are hoping to find a `Jill of All Trades'. Councilmember Maddy asked how many staff hours, outside of the Park and Recreation Department, were getting consumed by their needs for things like people coming in to drop off payments. He explained that he was trying to figure out what other staff members were pitching in because the Department was currently over -burdened. City Administrator Nevinski stated that Park and Recreation Director Crossfield and Stephany are covering a lot of the nuts and bolts kind of activity that is happening. He noted that the Communications Coordinator Wilson, the Finance Department, HR Director/City Clerk Thone are also involved, but ninety-five percent of what is happening in the Department is being handled by Park and Recreation Director Crossfield and Stephany. CITY OF SHOREWOOD WORK SESSION COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MAY 8, 2023 Page 3 of 5 Councilmember Maddy asked if the City would be delivering a better product by adding additional staff members. Park and Recreation Director Crossfield stated that she would definitely say that adding additional staff members would create a better product. She shared examples of ways she felt that they could create a better product. Councilmember Callies asked what the South Shore Senior Partners (SSSP) were helping with. Park and Recreation Director Crossfield stated that is that they are there as a person in the building so the expectation on her position is not to be present at all times. She stated that they can also respond to the need for senior programming including greeting, directing, preparation of spaces, making coffee, and handling registration for their programs. Tina Branthorst, 27215 Smithtown Road, explained that she has been the President of the Board for the SSSP for the last few years. She explained that throughout her time as president, their role was basically to be a person in the building when the Director was not able to be there. She stated that their agreement in the past had them there from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and they pay rental for those hours. She stated that along with the rental agreement was the agreement that they would supply volunteers to sit at the desk, open and close the building when needed, and answer the phone, which is what they still do. Councilmember Callies asked if they had adequate volunteers and if she felt the set up was still working. Ms. Branthorst stated that because they are seniors, their volunteers do age out or they find other things to do. She stated that because it is voluntary, they are not always available when they are needed, however, their current group of volunteers have been able to be very flexible and fill in where needed. Mayor Labadie asked if there was a cost estimate for any of the proposed Park and Recreation software. Park and Recreation Director Crossfield noted that she had looked at a few options and the one for smaller cities runs about $8,000/year during the introductory phase and when they reach the point of maintenance the costs are taken down to about $5,000/year. She gave examples of how this software can be self -serviced to check for availability. There was consensus of the Council to direct staff to look into possible software uses and costs for future discussion. Councilmember Maddy noted that this was the second recent request for computer enhancement that has been asked for recently and questioned whether there were some other software type issues lurking in the City outside of this area. City Administrator Nevinski stated that there were other areas and noted that he and Public Works Director Morreim have been discussing Asset Management software so the City can track what they are doing with pavements, hydrant, valves, and signs to show when it was installed and when it has been worked on. He stated that there are some companies that can offer some integration CITY OF SHOREWOOD WORK SESSION COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MAY 8, 2023 Page 4 of 5 so that could also be part of their evaluation process. He stated that it is possible that there may be some cost savings or ways for the different modules to talk to each other. Mayor Labadie asked whether they were still anticipating additional staffing needs if scheduling software is approved. Park and Recreation Director Crossfield stated that it would not solve all of their staffing issues, but would ease it for growth in other areas. Mayor Labadie noted that the sooner the information about the software can be brought to the Council, the better. City Administrator Nevinski stated that there are some things that can be done immediately to help and gave the example of swapping office space with SSSP and utilizing the coat room to create more space for the Department. He stated that can be done for a minimal cost. Councilmember Callies stated that she was not sure that both Planning Director Darling and Park and Recreation Director Crossfield needed to attend the Park Commission meetings. Park and Recreation Director Crossfield noted that she is hoping to be able to cut Planning Director Darling from having this responsibility soon. She explained that because there was a lack of quorum situation when she first started, she did not have the experience with them that she had hoped for. She stated that she is hopeful that following the Park Tours, that Planning Director Darling can take that off of her `to do' list. She expressed her appreciation for all of the assistance Planning Director Darling had given her. Mayor Labadie asked if there was some financial information that could be shared with the Council regarding income from the Community Center and fields prior to considering the software. Park and Recreation Director Crossfield noted that year to date, the revenue of the Community and Event Center is at $20,800. She noted that due to the pandemic, most agencies are comparing current numbers with 2019 which had a total for the year of $56,000. She noted that if they compare year to date to 2022, the total revenue was $45,900, so they are almost up to half of the same revenue compared with last year. Stephany noted that they also have quite a few recurring rentals that have not occurred in past years. Park and Recreation Director Crossfield gave an overview of some of the recurring rentals that use the space. City Administrator Nevinski stated that he believes that there are a number of policy items that need to be discussed by the Council. He stated that he also believes that they need to take a look at the fee structure to ensure that they are positioned properly and noted that he believes this is just the beginning of the discussion surrounding this issue. He noted that they may be coming back to the Council with some suggested tweaks to the CIP and other ways that the money can be directed. Councilmember Sanschagrin noted that one area he thought may be missing from the strategic direction was urban forest management/Bee Safe/IPM. CITY OF SHOREWOOD WORK SESSION COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MAY 8, 2023 Page 5 of 5 Park and Recreation Director Crossfield stated that she had experience with pollinator programming and education as well as urban gardening. Ms. Brandthorst asked about the timeline for the agreement and when they could expect to see it. City Administrator Nevinski stated that he believes the agreements should be moved to the `front burner'. 3. ADJOURN Maddy moved, Sanschagrin seconded, Adjourning the City Council Work Session Meeting of May 8, 2023, at 6:46 P.M. Motion passed 4/0.