Minutes 03/31/2014 - Laserfiche WebLink

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March 31, 2014 • Continuing to identify strategies to reduce or eliminate subsidies for enterprise funds • Continuing to reduce our health care costs and OPES liability • Investing in capital infrastructure Investing in Our Neighborhoods Neighborhoods are the cornerstones of our community, and in 2013, we created the Department of Neighborhood Advancement (DNA), whose purpose is dedicated to the improvement and quality of our neighborhoods. DNA combines the resources of the permits, inspections, and zoning functions in order for us to provide a holistic approach to identifying improvements and addressing neighborhood concerns. While recognizing that each neighborhood is unique and that we must celebrate that uniqueness, DNA engages all citizens in the improvement efforts and coordinates staff activity in the various departments to meet the goal of improving our neighborhoods. We will use $123,000 in additional General Fund monies to enhance property maintenance enforcement. For example, the DNA staff recently completed an inventory of vacant buildings in the City, and they will focus their efforts on properties that include these abandoned structures. We are directing $100,000 in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds to neighborhood revitalization efforts with the focus of removing blight in low to moderate-income neighborhoods. In addition, staff members from Planning, DNA, and Engineering are exploring the use of CDBG funds to provide transportation improvements for pedestrians, cyclists, and vehicles. This budget recognizes that our parks and our recreational programs both complement and strengthen our neighborhoods. As such, this budget undertakes a bold new initiative that will provide recreational opportunities for all our citizens -from our youngest to our seniors -and everyone in between. This budget starts afive-year program that will address the major recommendations of our Parks and Recreation Master Plan; which are: caring for our assets, updating our facilities, providing programs that support the entire community, and marketing our recreational programs and assets. This initiative combines the use of current recreation centers with the creative use of existing assets. We will use our elementary schools, the old Churchland Library, and programs on cable television channel to deliver comprehensive recreation programs. In the first year, Fiscal Year 2014-2015, we will open five schools for use as recreation centers. Most importantly, this budget provides $1,000,000 in capital funds to renovate the Churchland Library and the Brighton Elementary fields, to replace the equipment in the weight rooms at both the Cavalier Manor and the JFK Recreation Centers, and to begin bringing both the Elm Avenue Neighborhood Recreation Center and the Clifford Street Senior Station up to "like-new" condition. Here are some specifics of this investment. The remediation of field behind Brighton Elementary School did not occur after the school was demolished years ago; as such, it currently is not suitable for use as a sporting venue. This budget provides the necessary funding to reconstruct the open space thus making it playable for league sports. This budget proposes that we renovate the old Churchland Library and utilize it as a recreation center. We intend to offer programs for seniors during school hours and teens and young adults after school at this facility.