April 29, 2008 12:29 am
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By Debby Woodin
dwoodin@joplinglobe.com
The city staff is proposing a partial reorganization of the parks and recreation staff, and the addition of staff members to manage and maintain the new athletic complex.
City Manager Mark Rohr told the City Council at a meeting Monday night that he and Jerry Calvin, the parks director who last week tendered his resignation effective at the end of May, recommend the addition of one full-time employee, three part-time workers and an increased level of supervisory authority for one position. The staffing additions would cost an estimated $62,000 in annual payroll to start.
Because of recent rains, the completion of the new complex has been knocked back from June 1 to the middle or end of June, Calvin told the council.
The $6 million complex, at First Street and Tri-State Road near Schifferdecker Park, has a baseball field suitable for high-school or college-level play, tennis courts suitable for tournament play as well as individual and team use, and soccer fields convertible for both adult and youth play.
Rohr and Calvin said they arrived at their staffing recommendation by reviewing all operations of the parks department, putting together a time study of how long it takes to perform all the department’s tasks, and looking at current staffing and duties.
Rohr said the table of organization within the department would be changed to have two working supervisors instead of one. One of the supervisors would be in charge of parks. The other, a position added to the table, would be in charge of operations within the parks, such as the sports complex, Joe Becker Stadium and Schifferdecker Municipal Golf Course.
A table of proposed rates for use of the new fields and courts was proposed.
The table sets rates for tennis play at $10 per hour, with annual passes available to youths at $50, adults at $100 and families at $200, which would include after-hours access to the courts.
Soccer rates would be $10 per player for youth leagues and $15 for adults, with additional fees for league and tournament play.
Baseball field use would be $175 per game and $50 for a practice.
Estimates place a year’s revenue at $162,525, with expenditures, including salaries of the new workers, at $202,200. That would give the complex a loss of about $40,000.
Councilman Bill Scearce asked why the fees, particularly for baseball, aren’t set to cover the actual cost of operations. Rohr said the estimates are rough and conservative, that actual use and expenses could vary, and that the tables could be adjusted to fit market demands. He also said it is up to the council to set policy on what sports are subsidized and by how much.
Most city athletic venues and programs, including pools and the golf course, are subsidized.
Several council members said they needed more time to review the proposed staffing and budgeting information before discussing the plans further.
Additionally, several council members said they had been contacted by some local coaches questioning the orientation of the baseball field at the complex. Jerry Chew, a coach in the Joplin R-8 School District, was brought to the council meeting by Scearce. Chew said he is concerned that the field is situated so that the batter’s box and home plate face the setting sun.
Scearce said that could create danger to batters as they try to avoid being hit by pitches. He questioned why the field was situated in the direction it is.
Several council members said they had been asked about that by residents. They said that at the time they approved the plan, they had understood that the field was designed professionally and that it had to be built to fit the shape of the tract on which it is located.
They asked the city manager to contact the plan’s engineering firm to talk about the orientation of the field.
Another work session will be held May 12 for discussion of the baseball field.
Softball fields will be considered in planning for the next phase of the complex, it was mentioned.
Council members also discussed whether to grant a cost-of-living raise to all city workers. The raise would be in addition to step raises for about two-thirds of the workers, but one-third have topped out in the city’s pay plan.
Councilman Phil Stinnett questioned whether cost-of-living raises should be granted when some businesses and industries have not been giving raises every year, and in view of the city’s move toward a pay-for-performance plan later this year.
Scearce said he favors the cost-of-living adjustment because that is the only raise the longtime employees get.
Councilman Jon Tupper said longtime employees receive longevity pay.
Reba Snavely, human resources director, in response to a question, said inflation in the Joplin area was reported at 3.28 percent.
Rohr said a 2 percent raise for all city workers would cost $203,000 for the remainder of the city’s budget year and $406,000 for a full year. A 1 percent cost-of-living raise was given last year, Snavely said.
The council voted 6-3 to give the 2 percent raises. Stinnett, Tupper and Morris Glaze voted “no.”
Softball fields
City Manager Mark Rohr told council members, in response to questions, that empty land at the sports complex would be mowed and a backstop would be erected to allow practice space for softball players, who complained earlier this month that use of fields in the city for softball is limited. A plan presented to the council at Monday’s meeting calls for Redden Field to be dedicated to softball league play in the future, and for Bassman Field, which had been used until this year for softball, to be used for youth baseball.
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