Council Wants to Spread the Word About the Recreation Center

When describing the , City Councilwoman Judy DeBella Thomas called it a “fantastic selling feature” for the city and one of its “best-kept secrets.”

It’s the “best-kept secret” part of the equation that’s a problem.

The city-owned center has essentially no designated marketing budget. The facility’s revenues fall far short of covering its expenses. Some residents don’t know it’s location.

So at a special meeting Tuesday, city council members expressed support for the idea of hiring someone to market the facility and giving the center a marketing budget.

They also indicated support of revising the center fee structure to encourage people who are living outside the city limits to become members of the center. In addition, they supported expanding the center serice area. They also discussed expanding the center’s services, such as enlarging its fitness center and offering child care.

Last year, the council agreed to pay Colorado-based consultant . The consultant looked at how the center operates, the people it serves and spoke with citizens to get their input. They also looked at how other centers were doing.

This was the council's first public look at the study. They did not take a vote.

“The (current) service area is simply too small, and the demographics are not favorable to support a center the size you have in New Port Richey,” said Jeff King, Ballard*King’s representative to the city.

The center’s revenues in 2011 covered 44 percent of its operating expenses, according to the study, which is higher than in previous years.

The center opened to the public in 2007 and cost $14 million, which the city is still paying the debt service on.

Its revenues are projected to fall $767,580 short of operating expenses in the current fiscal year (FY 2012). It has run operating deficits over the past years that have needed to be subsidized with tax money.

The best the city can hope for may be for the center to recover 50-60 percent of expenses in three to five years.

“Without question,” the current marketing efforts are underfunded and under-staffed, according to the study.

The center lacks a marketing plan and “dedicated budgetary resources” and marketing staff. It should have all those things. There's an open position at the center, which has five people on the payroll at the moment. That position could be used for marketing.

“A marketing budget is absolutely needed,“ said Councilwoman Ginny Miller.  “I’m up for that.”

A few years ago, the city decided to basically cut the center’s marketing budget, said Deputy Mayor Rob Marlowe.

“In hindsight, I think that was a mistake,” he said.

New Port Richey has pockets of affluence but large swaths where “it’s tough,”  Marlowe said. However, there are places outside the city like Gulf Harbors, River Ridge and Hidden Lake Estates that have money.

“If you’ve got a hangar with a six-figure airplane attached to your house, you can probably afford recreation center membership irregardless of how much we charge," Marlowe said. "And I’d be willing to bet that most of those people don’t even know our rec center exists.”

Currently, the center offers separate rates for residents of New Port Richey and people who don’t reside in its corporate limits. Residents of the city pay half as much for a yearly membership as people who live outside the corporate limits. Adults and seniors residing in the city pay a couple dollars less for daily admission than non-residents.

The center should drop its current resident/nonresident rate structure, the study recommends, but it didn’t give a concrete reccommendation of what new fees or structure should be put in place. One suggestion is implementing a tiered system. The study notes that any difference between fees that tops 25 percent is a “disincentive” to participation.

Marlowe said he likes the idea of having only a "nominal" fee difference.

Miller said that officials had in the past supported the idea of maintaining the current rate structure.

However, she said Parks and Recreation director Elaine Smith “has tried to move toward a blurring of that line if not doing away with it, so I’m ready to try it, if it will help." 

Councilman Bob Langford said that the consultant’s recommendations are all fair and good. The problem is they require city money.

“We’ve never come up with how we’re going to pull this off,” he said

King said he needed direction on what type of fees/ recovery percentage rate the city council wants so he could offer recommendations in a finalized report.

David Schrader, chairman of the city's parks and recreation advisory board, said that the council members opinions were basically aligned with his board's.

Last year, the city council voted to raise the . Users complained about that during focus groups with the consultant. The consultant has also panned it. The city manager said he intends to bring that back to revisit next month.

"It's going to be interesting to see what the outcome is," Schrader said. "But right now, it's all positive."

Want to take a visit to the center yourself? Make a trip to it s location at 6630 Van Buren St.