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City Council <br />Meeting Minutes <br />October 12, 2108 <br />Page 3 of 10 <br />Director Winfree stated the Rec Board started to look at the fees in June and they are <br />using a group of guiding principles: 1) be true to the original task force to expand the <br />Rec Center and their goals 2) Striking the right balance of fee increases with the sales <br />tax increase 3) the importance of following the Green Play guidance but also keeping <br />that current 4) continuing to demonstrate the value of the facility and programs 5) not <br />waiting too long to increase fees as was done in the past and, 6) be mindful of our <br />market and make sure we are in line with the other facilities in the market. <br />Director Winfree stated that at the meeting last week staff heard Council wanted more <br />options and perhaps this is our chance to raise fees a bit higher than we initially <br />thought. The Rec Board has not reviewed the proposal included today but the <br />subcommittee did help with the new proposals. She noted a decision is needed to allow <br />staff to finalize work on the marketing materials. <br />Councilmember Loo asked what staffs current recommendation is. Director Winfree <br />stated if the Council wants to go higher than the original proposal, staff and the <br />subcommittee of Rec Board would recommend the 30% increase <br />Councilmember Loo stated the 30% increase is too high and too hard to sell to the <br />community <br />Councilmember Maloney agreed He stated he likes the October 4 proposal with small <br />changes to the family rate <br />Councilmember Stolzmann stated she would like the Council to create a policy that <br />identifies what costs the fees are supposed to cover and fully understand the costs. She <br />stated we don't have enough information to make a decision She feels the process <br />seems too arbitrary right now <br />Mayor Pro Tem Lipton agreed it is frustrating, but we need to move forward This new <br />information is helpful and the data shows that the first recommendation is aggressive <br />and we see where we are compared to a more closely related group of facilities. We <br />know we may have to adjust these as needed Also, the Green Play numbers were <br />widely used in the marketing of the bond issue and he stated he doesn't want to <br />overprice in the first year We need to build volume at the center, then we can see how <br />the demand is but we can't price ourselves out of the market, we want to be in the high <br />end of the municipal market. <br />Councilmember Keany asked if a daily family rate could be considered He stated he <br />supports the October 4 proposal with changes to the family rate <br />Councilmember Leh agreed with Councilmember Stolzmann that there needs to be <br />further policy discussions on what our goal is with Rec fees. He noted however that we <br />need a decision today We can gather more data and revisit it. We need to be cognizant <br />of what we told the voters when the bond issue was advertised He agreed a daily group <br />