13.0. PRSR 04-13-1994 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Community Athletics Page 2 March 28, 1994 • population at full development, and how much land they will require. The numbers on the worksheets were compiled by Jeff Asfahl, 728 Area Recreation Coordinator, Phil Hals, and myself. The Park and Recreation Commission should adjust these numbers, if they disagree. On the worksheets, the number of current facilities (School District wide) was divided by the total School District population to get a local ratio of facilities per capita. A local ratio was used instead of the national standard because of the nearly unanimous satisfaction with the level of service provided by youth athletic programs identified in the 1989 Decision Resources survey. This ratio was adjusted if the number of existing facilities did not meet the current demand. Demand for facilities may rise or fall in the future depending on interest in the particular sport. The local ratio should be analyzed periodically. The local ratio was then used to determine Elk River's total need for facilities for each sport at full development or full population. For the purposes of this exercise, Elk River's full population was estimated at 40,000 people. A more exact number will be developed in the near future as part of a Comprehensive Plan update. The community athletics worksheets should be adjusted using • this more exact population estimate, when it is available. For this exercise, it was assumed that no athletic facilities would be developed by any of the five (5) counties within the School District. However, school facilities play a major roll in community athletics, therefore, the existing school facilities must be added to the equation. Since all communities helped to pay for these facilities, all communities should get a proportionate share of the school facilities credited against their need. Staff suggests using the percentage each communities is of the total School District population (see the attached sheet titled "Population in School District"). Although this method does not account for differences in tax base (some communities have more industrial and commercial businesses than others) using a straight population percentage more accurately accounts for the demands placed on schools by each community and is an easy method to use. Elk River's current facilities were figured by adding up those facilities developed and owned by the City, one-half credit for those co-developed by the City and School District, and credit for thirty-nine (39%) of the facilities solely owned by the School District. Elk River's current facilities were then • subtracted from Elk River's total need and additional facilities needed for full population were identified. p&r-ca.doc