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Ms. Bettman agreed that a comprehensive plan should be moved forward expeditiously. <br />V. PARKS, RECREATION, & OPEN SPACE PLAN (PROS) OPERATING ISSUES <br />Parks and Open Spaces (POS) Division director, Johnny 1Vledlin, commented that Mr. Hankins' <br />presentation was an appropriate segue because the POS division was at the tail end of its comprehensive <br />plan while the Cultural Services Division was in the beginning stages of its comprehensive planning <br />process. <br />He said one lesson learned from the PROS comprehensive plan-was that the community had a vast appetite <br />for more parks and recreation services. He predicted the public would continue to be actively engaged in <br />the discussion on parks needs. However, he averred, not enough discussion centered upon the ongoing <br />costs of programming, operations and maintenance implications that went along with park projects. He <br />hoped this presentation would flame this discussion as the division sought to move forward with the <br />implementation of the PROS comprehensive plan. <br />Renee Grube, recreation services director for LRCS, and Mr. Medlin provided a power point presentation. <br />Ms. Grube said the PROS comprehensive plan had been different from most such plans as information <br />regarding operation and maintenance had been included in the planning process. She related that the <br />committee identified $138 million in Priority 1-projects, all projects that focused primarily on acquisition <br />and development. Those projects would include another $2.5 million in maintenance funding and $5 <br />million in program funding. She listed the types of Priority 1 projects included in the master planning <br />process, as follows: <br />• New facilities construction; . <br />• New park development; <br />• Renovations; <br />• Open space acquisition; <br />• Programs and services. <br />Mr. Medlin discussed the different types of projects and the financial characteristics that went along with <br />those projects. He said, in new facilities construction such as a new aquatic center, one would typically see <br />a high capital investment and then a high level of citizen use. Because of this, these projects also came <br />with a large maintenance and operations budget commitment that was ongoing. <br />Mr. Medlin highlighted new parks development, i.e. Oakmont Park, Skyview Park and community athletic <br />complexes, and underscored that new parks were subject to the same high capital investment, citizen use, <br />and maintenance and operations costs as new facilities. He provided a brief overview of some of the.parks <br />in need of renovation projects, such as restroom refurbishment or playground equipment. He added that <br />these types of renovation also required an initial investment and subsequent use increased operations and <br />maintenance costs. <br />Ms. Grube said the Amazon Aquatic Center was an expensive renovation, almost $5 million; that tripled <br />the use of the swimming pool. She stated that with the increase in use, a significant increase in <br />maintenance and operations had been observed. She pointed out that the increase in revenue had not <br />matched the increase in costs, primarily comprised of personnel costs. <br />MINUTES-Eugene Budget Committee February 22, 2005. Page 14 <br />