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Carryover Budget / Capital Improvements Cont.: Kim: We went through a big process a few years ago for the Rec. Master Plan, and we went through five or six different scenarios like maintenance only to a brand new facility. The Rec. plan also got clouded by the YMCA thing that happened afterwards but the Rec. plan was pretty much done when I came into the picture. So we had a plan, we had good options to choose from and the option Mayor O’Grady went with was a new facility. With Mayor Kennedy I had the opportunity to sit down with him and present to him the process we used for the Rec. Plan and all the different scenarios and the direction he likes is the minor scenario, the front entrance, locker rooms basically using the existing facility and improving upon it. I think there has to be a meeting of the minds between the Rec. Commission and the Administration about the direction, and if that’s the direction everyone agrees then what are the lists of things we need to happen to go along with that plan. My greatest fear is operating without a plan and not knowing what the priority is especially when we have such little money we need to make every dollar count. Beyond a list I think we need a diagram to see this is what’s happening and how do we prioritize and what are the resources for funds that we can tap for these improvements, are there other grants we can use. To go about it a little more systematically than we have in the past. Fitness Facility: Kevin: How does an adult fitness facility fit into those plans? Kim: At this point in the minor renovations scenario we looked at taking the Gymnastics area and that could be turned into studios for aerobics. Gymnastics is a popular program so maybe a part of that scenario we would not want to pursue at least not at first, maybe down the road. There wasn’t fitness in the minor renovation because that would be pretty capital expensive, operating expensive and require more personnel. We are looking at partnerships right now with Powerhouse Gym and some other resources in the community to try and fill the gap of fitness with something that already exists rather than try and duplicate it here with a lot more tax dollars going into it. So the fitness doesn’t seem to be on the table in terms of cost alone. The $131,000 can go far for minor improvements but won’t go far in changing over a space from Gymnastics to fitness it comes down to priorities and abilities. Norm: That was the most requested I think in the survey wasn’t it? I understand what you are saying but that also seemed to be the top priority to people to have fitness at the Rec. Center. Kim: There are ways we can still offer it even if we don’t have it here like through partnerships. I think without gutting significant portions of this building and starting over, that’s where it becomes a budget issue. It is not impossible I just think that if we are going to keep the same facility and try to improve it I think fitness would make it cost prohibited. Norm: I think if we bring more adult in here it will bring more money into the building. I know that money is a problem and I’m not saying it is something that should be done right now but it is something that should be looked into. I know the Mayor’s looking into other things but if we brought money into this building, city money from our citizens, I think it would help the Ice Rink I think it would help in general. You go to these other gyms there’s adults there 5:30 in the morning or 7:00 at night and it’s adults not kids, there going somewhere why not have it here. Kevin: Sure there’s Westlake Y too. Norm: Westlake Y is where I used to go and Westlake Rec. is awesome. Norm: It’s not that huge, they have plenty of weights, plenty of free weights and cardio. Page 4