Fort Walton Beach Council minutes — 06-12-1977 Regular — reading text

of fill dirt. ASPHALT BID CDBG l- 6- A" 14. Recommend Asphalt Bid CDBG l- 6- A be awarded to low bidder: Oakloosa Asphalt Enterprises @ $ 25, 355. Other bids were: Edward M. Chadbourne, Inc. @ $ 31, 181. 05; Mixon Enterprises @$ 26, 312. LETTER RE EXPANDING CITY 15. Letter from Roy Ricks, Architect, AUDITORIUM reference feasibility of expanding City auditorium was read. Mr. Rigdon moved that the recommendations be approved with the exception of Item 12. Motion was seconded by Mr. Brock and carried unanimously. FIRE PROTECTION FOR THE Concerning Item # 12, Mr. Rigdon said that ISLAND the City will furnish the Island the same type protection as we did in the previous I commitment, that in case we He will send a truck. moved that the port the Island in the of life City continue same to manner or death sup- as has been done in the past. Motion was secon- ded by Mr. Brock and carrieduunanimous1y. I 70 7- 11- 17 TENNIS CENTER RECOMMENDA~ Concerning Item # 9, Dr. Charles Rhodes, TIONS 669 Golf Course Drive, presented the following petition to Council, which was signed by approximately 170 people: We the undersigned, being concerned-" residents and avid tennis players of the J City of Fort Walton Beach, in regard to ! the new municipal tennis center, do hereby ! petition the City Council to: ' 1. Establish tennis program that a will the talent and stimu~ help develop late the interest of the youth and parti~ cular1y provide a wholesome activity for members of the community of all ages and in all income brackets. 2. Initiate a membership plan offering a choice of yearly membership ( junior, adult or family) or the option of paying hourly court fees. 3. Initiate a plan to provide the services of a professional tennis player who would be able to give lessons at the tennis center on a regular basis." Dr. Rhodes explained that this petition is not in any way intended to be a critical statement. It is orif intended to serve as a guideline. We want to put down some of the ideas we have and forward this to you for your consideration. I feel certain that everyone on this list will cooperate with Council fully. We want to assure as much as we can that the Council has as much input as possible. Mr. Hill that he has had several replied calls on this matter today. He moved that the trial period mentioned in com- mittee meeting yesterday be reduced from six months to four months. Motion was ~' seconded by Mr. Baughman and Mayor called for discussion. Mrs. JoAnn Anderson, 626 Merioneth J Drive, ,-.- explained that the tennis players are not opposing the proposed fees because we don~ want to pay them to be unreasonable. It is because we cannot afford to pay the fees for ourselves or our children. What we mean by membership-- we do not want a  7- 12.- 17 71 special club type membership. We would like to see choice a of reasonable annual fees or a reasonable pay- as- you- go fee. We want the center to be self- sustaining and we believe it can be done if the rates are reasonable. I called the head I of the Recreation Department in Pensacola today. Pensacola runs a Rogers- Scott tennis center. They have 18 lighted tennis courts with an annual budget of 30, 000. The courts are self- sustaining from the court fees alone. They have an annual family rate for City residents of $ 68. 00 a year, and for County residents 80. 00 a year. They also offer a three month junior membership for $ 18. 00. The daily court fees are $ 1. 00 per person per day as opposed to $ 1. 80 per hour per person which is what you are proposing. They have a cost for juniors of $. 50 per day and they can play ai long as they want to. On weekends, everyone pays $ 1. 25 to play all day. the courts are being used by a lot of people. They have a pro running the center, and he has one ful1- time assistant. Occasionally during busy seasons, they have part- time help. The courts are maintained by the regular Recreation Department. If they are able to run an 18. court on $ 30, 000 a cener year, it seems that could run our we l2- court center fur less than $ 42, 500. Mr. Rigdon pointed out yesterday that the court is ours and we will have to pay the budget, if not through fees then through taxes. We are concerned as tax payers that our tax dollars would have to support the center through this trial period. Council seems to feel that there are enough people in the area who will be willing to pay this fee. But if we, who are regular tennis players, are here telling you we cannot afford to use the center, who do you think will go and play? I We beg you to listen and reconsider the rates. We will not boycott the center. It will just happen because we will not be able to pay the prices. We have been waiting for this center, but with the prices being so expensive, the center might as well not be there at all and what a- waste of the taxpayers money. 72 7-/ 1...-17 Mr. said, I think that the Baughman average tennis players will not object to these fees. The problem is with a special group of people. Do you want us to subsidize the court with tax dollars? Mrs. Anderson replied, No. We would like to the courts operate on the same see basis as the center in Pensacola. Mr. Baughman answered that we have a recommendation from the Superintendent of Recreation, who sat down with some of you yesterday and it shows very sharply reduced rates. If you don' t want us to operate this center on tax dollars, we have to get the money from somewhere, and we have to have a budget. Our people have done very well. What I would like to see us do is have several of you sit down with us and instead of giving us a dollar figure, look at our budget and tell us how we can do this and how we can operate the center. We are not being arbitrary. If you think that one parti- cular group of people needs reduced rates then we need some input into how we can achieve the goals we are responsible for. I think we need some more discussion. I would like to see us come up with a motion to appoint several people to sit down with the administration and come up with what you think is a reasonable budget. Mrs. Anderson said, we want to see it go without costing the taxpayers any money. Mr. Baughman replied that the information Buddy Elliott has gotten is pretty normal in the area. Buddy Elliott, Recreation Director, ex- plained that they sent out a questionnaire to every recreation department- type center].,:" operated by a City throughout the South- east. Out of that we received 30 - 45 '