I came in late last night. Boy, was I exhausted. The Parks and Recreation meeting ran longer than usual. We went over the 2008 Operational budget. It's really amazing how much work the staff at P&R get accomplished. Anyway, they are planning for the next couple of years to be slim for the City of Fayetteville. Heck, I understand that, I'm finding ways to cut back in my own budget.
The Parks and Recreation have seen an increase in their workload. The City of Fayetteville has added a number of parks and trails and they need to be maintained and/or developed. Yeah, they have to do this without an increase in personnel. I didn't realized how many part-time people they employ. They commented they have difficulty in hiring and retaining employees. Parks and Recreation staff have decided to consolidate some of their part-time positions into full time positions. This will have some added costs because the full time positions will get benefits. Staff have figured out if they increase the cost of recreational programs (sport leagues, youth camps) by $10 they will cover the additional costs of the new full time employees.
One of the biggest concerns the staff had was that the amount of work would eventually overwhelm the current staff. This would force the staff to consider limiting the number of times they may groom the parks. The parks could start looking a little scraggly. Well, if this happens and people start complaining I'm going to make sure to direct their complaints to the Mayor and City Council.
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