Agenda Index City of Vancouver

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

TO:

Vancouver City Council

FROM:

General Manager of Parks and Recreation

SUBJECT:

Operating Budget:
Coal Harbour Community Centre and Killarney Community Centre

 

RECOMMENDATION

POLICY

City Council approves added basic operating budgets for new facilities.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this report is to forward a request from the Park Board for operating funding for the new Coal Harbour Community Centre ($520,200 annually) and for the newly renovated Killarney Community Centre ($205,600 annually).

BACKGROUND

A. The Coal Harbour Community Centre facility was jointly funded by developers ( The Triangle West Development, The Bayshore and The Marathon Development) and the City of Vancouver. The cost of this new community centre facility was $4.2 million. The funding of this project was approved by the City Council on July 15, 1997.

B. The $5.5 million dollar Killarney Community Centre renovation and upgrading was included in the 1997-99 Capital Plan with funding from the City of Vancouver, Killarney Community Association and other government agencies. It was completed in October 1999. This major renovation included the demolition of the old activity wing, gymnasium and change rooms on the east side of the complex to make way for a new 30,000 square foot, two storey building. The new centre includes:

The Park Board approved the staffing and operating budgets for these facilities in developing its 2000 Operating Budget request and Council made provision for these new costs in the 2000 Park Board global budget approved on April 20, 2000.

DISCUSSION

Both the Coal Harbour and Killarney Community Centres operating budgets are based on hours of operation, nature of programming, staffing and building maintenance requirement comparable to other community centres of similar size and population diversity.

The following are key considerations in developing a program budget for these facilities:

The Role of the Community Association

For all community centres in the City, there is an operating agreement between the Park Board and Community Associations. This agreement gives opportunity to Associations to raise funds through programming and building rentals. This revenue, by and large, sustains the programs, particularly in communities that are capable of supporting a large fee for service program. The Associations pay all the instructors, pay for and distribute the quarterly program brochures, buy equipment and furnishings, fund additional support staff, and depending on their ability to raise funds, support a variety of subsidized programs, especially for children, youth, special needs and seniors. They also make sizable contributions to capital program improvements. This same operating agreement is place in the Coal Harbour Community Centre and Killarney Community Centre.

The recommended operating budgets for both Community Centres only represent the core funding from the Park Board. They do not include the contributions from the Community Associations.

General Programming

Most of the general programs in both the Coal Harbour and Killarney Community Centres are "fee for service". As in other centres, both Park Board and Community Association funds will subsidize additional programs for children, youth, seniors, special needs groups and community events. The development of all such programs is the responsibility of the programmers, under the leadership of the Community Association.

The Need for Professional Staff

A large and active centre in the heart of a densely populated community, similar to the West End Community Centre in many respects, requires a Recreation Coordinator and 1-3 Programmer IIs. The following table compares Recreation Programmer II staffing at the new complexes with that at a number of other recreation complexes in the Vancouver area:

Facility

Centre

Staffing Levels

Space

Centre Size

Pool

Rink

Multi-Purpose Rooms

Killarney

1

1

1

15

30,000sq.ft

Kerrisdale

3

1

1

16

45,000sq.ft.

West End

3

1

1

12

40,000sq.ft

Riley

1

1

1

5

16,000sq.ft.

Britannia

3

1

1

-

-

Coal Harbour

1

-

-

1

23,500sq.ft.

Other Support and Auxiliary Staff

Recreation Facility Clerks, Cashier/Clerk/Typists, Building/Site Attendants and Program Assistants are the support and auxiliary staff. The staffing schedules, based on the experience of larger centres, take into consideration such issues as a high volume of participation, customer service, security, and the need to cover off breaks and vacations for regular staff. The following is a comparison with other recreation complexes in the Vancouver area:

Most of the auxiliary staff budget for both centres are budgeted on maintaining the administration of the operation, program registration and the security of the building. Some of the funds are used to hire program assistants to provide direct leadership in programs. In the Coal Harbour Community Centre, 6,000 staff hours are budgeted for covering programming and customer needs. In the Killarney Community Centre, an additional 1,664 staff hours are added for the same purposes.

Based on these considerations, the following funding is requested for the two new facilities:

A. Coal Harbour Community Centre

The staff and annual operating budget required to operate the facility include:

B. Killarney Community Centre

SUMMARY

The proposed annual operating budget for Coal Harbour Community Centre and the added basic budget for the Killarney Community Centre are consistent with the standard of staffing based on hours of operations, nature of programming and building maintenance requirement. These budgets are higher than the amounts previously reported to the City Council, however, they reflect the dollars required to operate these facilities in a reasonable and safe manner. They are comparable with established standards of service based on square footage, community needs and diversity. The previously reported amounts only captured a portion of the operations and were preliminary estimates prepared during the planning stages.

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