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and the entire system was in decline. Mr. Medlin shared examples of unanticipated maintenance demand, <br />which included vandalism, graffiti, clean up of homeless camps, and trail damage. <br />Mr. Medlin reported the division's park condition rating system was in its infancy but was producing <br />important information that indicated that most of the community's developed parks and natural areas were <br />in good condition. <br />Mr. Medlin estimated that the General Fund required $5.5 million to address the costs of O &M for <br />developed parks, with $4.2 million available now, and $800,000 annually to address O &M for natural <br />areas, with about $300,000 available now. He suggested there was an appropriate $1.5 million funding <br />gap. <br />Mr. Smith provided information on Recreation facilities owned or contracted by the City and Mr. Penwell <br />reviewed data regarding the condition of existing facilities. <br />Mr. Smith provided a brief overview on the recreation facilities shared by the 4J School District and City <br />of Eugene. He reviewed the Recreation budget for fiscal year 2011. He said that the "Eugene Counts" <br />process demonstrated high levels of support for recreation services, and that was confirmed by rising <br />program participation. He anticipated that senior services would be an area of increased need and that the <br />division would need to be equipped to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse population. <br />Mr. Medlin shared information showing future development costs for Parks, Recreation, and Open Space <br />(PROS) projects by priority ranking. Mr. Smith then shared a series of maps showing the location of City <br />community centers and the geographic distribution of program registrants. <br />Mr. Medlin called attention to Attachment D of the meeting packet, which reflected page 5 of the PROS <br />Comprehensive Plan and listed 18 different funding sources. He emphasized the high value placed on <br />parks and recreation services by residents, as well as the community value for the equitable provision of <br />services. Mr. Medlin said the question before the council was how the City could continue to meet <br />community expectations. <br />Mayor Piercy suggested that the need for parks and recreation services was increasing as the community <br />became more stressed. She agreed the issue was how to continue to meet expectations. <br />Mayor Piercy asked for information about the impact of vandalism and people living in the parks. She <br />acknowledged the public safety aspects of the issue and invited suggestions on how to address them. Mr. <br />Medlin indicated staff would return with a response. Mayor Piercy also requested more information about <br />the park condition rating system mentioned earlier by Mr. Medlin. <br />Responding to a question from Ms. Ortiz about volunteerism in the department, Mr. Medlin noted the <br />number of volunteer hours and fact the department had three full -time volunteer coordinators as well as a <br />Parks Development Coordinator working with the Parks Foundation and other fund - raising organizations. <br />He emphasized the amount of coordination that effort required. Mr. Medlin said some organizations <br />wishing to volunteer had a clear idea about what they wanted to do. He said the department worked with <br />those volunteers to get their projects done in a way that did not increase maintenance costs for the City. <br />There was considerable give and take involved. Mr. Medlin said that sometimes the division had to <br />decline projects, but volunteers in general were a great resource. He suggested that beyond the monetary <br />contribution, the value of volunteers was in neighborhood building, the ownership such projects gave <br />residents, and the extra "eyes and ears" on the parks that volunteers provided. <br />MINUTES— Eugene City Council October 11, 2010 Page 4 <br />Work Session <br />