Parks director proposes festival changes and revenue plan; council orders conservative senior-trip and SMART reimbursements review

Parks and recreation director (Mandy) reviewed revenues and expenses for parks, community centers and special events, and proposed program and capital changes intended to grow earned revenue.

Mandy said she has been on the job about 60 days and described immediate operational changes and cost-saving purchases—examples included buying a vinyl cutter for signage and in-house stage and lighting equipment—to reduce future rental costs. She asked the council to restore the festival name to the city’s prior usage (councilors agreed to place a placeholder resolution to change the name from “Summerfest” to the city’s preferred name, described in the meeting as the Spirit Festival) and to add disability- and senior‑only early hours at the carnival, which she said other nearby cities offer.

On revenue projections, the director said recreation-program revenue showed $69,387 activity to date and recommended a $75,000 target for FY25–26, which she described as achievable over 12 months. She proposed a $100,000 revenue target for the Young Center and said she expects to exceed that number with improvements and new programming. The senior-trips revenue line drew concern: staff had budgeted $75,000 for next year but had collected about $34,440 so far; the council agreed to lower the senior-trips projection to $40,000 pending investigation of mis‑posted revenues and delayed SMART reimbursements. The director said the department is behind in filing SMART reimbursement claims (she said reimbursements from SMART since 2023 had not been submitted) and estimated roughly $100,000 in SMART funds were pending; those claims are a priority for immediate submission.

Mandy described requested capital outlays: roughly $22,000 to equip Canfield banquet capacity (tables, chairs, wall treatments) and $4,888 (after rebate) for vending machines at the Young Center. She said vending revenue could be significant—her estimate was a roughly $41,000 annual revenue projection from better-managed machines—and proposed using American Express points for some purchases; councilors directed staff to consider using credit-card points for targeted capital purchases and to place specific authorization on a future agenda.

Councilors also discussed energy audits and ongoing maintenance needs at community centers, the popularity of senior programming, and the potential to reconfigure space to generate revenue (banquet and meeting-room rentals). The council agreed to the director’s request to pursue vendor contracts and program changes, to adjust revenue projections conservatively for the recommended budget, and to prioritize submission of outstanding SMART reimbursement claims. No final appropriation or formal vote to adopt the requested capital outlays was recorded in the hearing; councilors asked for follow-up documentation and recommended budget updates.