4.3. SR 10-19-1998 - Laserfiche WebLink

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ot ego continues ;to.back-Community Recreation** by Jim Boyle Sfaff w~lter The Otsego City Council has once again renewed its com- mitment to the Community RecredUon program. But unlike last year, council members did i~ without hesita. Last t'eJl, t~e eoun~l mem. bersh~p questioned the £alr* ness of Community Recrea- Uon assessment practices. They' alan wondered ~iow muc]~ Otae/~3 residents actually par, tlcipated in the program. The council's tine el'question. lng led to s tow chansee,. incline]lng one to the p~ogram's budget formula. Pax~lpa~ ctdes of Oommunity Rec are now be assessed partly baaed on particJpatlon..]r.:acl~ partfet- pa~ng cit~; will also be assessed a fiat ~ee. ~ 'past years, cities web's only assessed a ~aL faa. The change was implement- ed ~n 1998. People. ine~_uc~nW members o~ tho Res BoA l~ked it, 8o It w~ a~e~ ~e new f~ula ~e~s ~st relafi~ to ~o~ pa~lolpatJon," s~d Je~ Asfahl, t~ C~m~ity ~aUon p~am dancer, 0te~ wtll pay about ~i9,800 ~ be a paU af the CommunltF ~c pro.am, a~ut ~8~ m~e t~an Otaego p~d a~u~ i~,700 ~n 1997 w~n pa~ctpa~n ]0~r. Otsego ~cil members liked the changes. ' ~a eo~il ~und the ~one mede s~sof said ~ike b~s~n, O~oggs city miaJs~rat~. 'The budget wes much mo~ a~ptab]e.' ~e ~ommunity ~o depa~- m~t has else e[eare~ up · Per,pOUCh levels by s~w. U'~ore tees als~) increase~ tn two ways. · Non-resident ~artlcipants, lika kids from ~immorman, will pay 60 percent more to participate lit Community Rec than residents of participating ~itles. -There wee also a 12 percent aurcharge added to individual pro,ems to allow use' f'ses to pity for a sl~re of admlnistra. riva costs. 'Essentially, we're making the users respeneJb].e for more of the coots of tho program," Azf..M said. ~?e .olved a prob. tam, kept our p.rtner~hip and we're probably stronger today becauM OF lt." Otsego . council members agree. "1 believe, the council is happy the way the C, om_m. ~untty Rec~)udget ia set up now, said Mark BerninL a member OF ~e Oteego coundl who also serve, on the Oonunurdty Roe 'were 'Board and the Otsego l~rk end Rec Board. Asfehl belleves there is rroeater understanding of the nd scope of Community Recreation. 'We're more t~anJust a t-ball prod'ram,' Asfah] said. '~ha Rec Board helped make this evident." In ~dit!on to offertn~' s w/de variety o~' programs like nth- ]etics, camps0 tntremurals, open flYm and training, Com- muntty Recreation else does .~hin~ like s.taffice rink warm. mg nome In the winter, pttt on earn[vela and offm- enter. tntmnent tn the parks, it also serves as a clearinghouse of ~nformattan in the commtmtty end coordinates use of a~ea fie]ds and facilities. They have else sstab0fshed Youthbound and helped get a skate park up end running.