Seve Ghose, the relatively new Director of Community Services for the City of Fort Collins, gave us a wide-ranging overview of the Community Services effort for our in-person meeting on February 23. After introducing himself (born in India, grew up in Zambia, but lived in 41 different countries), he gave a quick overview of some of the overall department statistics, including a budget of $54 million and some 750 employees (including some 250 full time). Those employees work across six departments, the responsibilities and accomplishments of which he ultimately described.
He started by saying that around 65% of the population of Fort Collins live within a 10-minute walk of a park, trail, or green space. Although that is somewhat better than the average for cities of our size, he said that the goal is to work toward the success of Minneapolis where some 95% of the population have that access. Our Department of Community Services is nationally accredited through the Commission for Accreditation of Park & Recreation Agencies.
The Department of Cultural Services, with several facilities including the Museum of Discovery, also has an Art in Public Places program with some 377 transformer-cabinet murals and 131
pianos about town (on display during the warmer months). The Museum of Discovery is the successful result of a public/private partnership.
The Park Planning & Development Department, in addition to successful completion of several recent projects, is looking to the future buildout of Fort Collins to a population of some 250,000, expecting to develop some 23 additional parks to serve that additional population. Much of the design for these features is done in house.
With some 52 natural areas comprising some 50,000 acres and some 110 miles of soft-surface trails, the Natural Areas Department provides a wide range of outdoor opportunities that are supported by a local sales tax. The department also manages some 33 conservation easements, has six on-site caretaker residences, has a ranger program, and provides a wide range of educational programs. Soapstone Prairie, the largest of the natural areas, has a genetically distinct bison herd that is managed in partnership with CSU.
The Parks Department maintains the city’s 50 parks (seven of which are Community Parks with a wider range of possible activities; also including some 50 miles of paved trails), three golf courses, two cemeteries and some 58,000 public trees (including a large portion of ash trees). City Park was designed by the Olmsted firm, perhaps the most widely admired park-design firm in the US. As a side issue, he stated that, even with chemical treatment, the emerald ash borer would eventually kill most, if not all, of the ash trees so it is advisable to plant a shadow tree near every ash so that when the ash dies, there will already be another tree there to replace it.
The Recreation Department is responsible for a wide range of activities across all of the facilities mentioned above. Most, if not all, of those activities are publicized through the Fort Collins Recreator magazine which is most easily available on line through the fcgov.com/recreation/ website. The department also provides a Reduced Fee program as well as an Adaptive and Inclusive program for individuals requiring accommodations.
Finally, the department that few people see, is Finance and Analysis. The four analysts are responsible for data management, day-to-day financial management of the department as well as Budgeting for Outcomes and links to overall city finances.
Mr. Ghose closed by briefly summarizing some of the challenges faced by his department. First were the linked problems of hiring/retention (they have recently had to increase the minimum wage that they offer from $15/hr to $19/hr) and increasing cost of doing business. Succession planning is becoming more challenging because the number of academic departments that provide acceptable programs/degrees applicable to parks and recreation has decreased from some 500 to only 92. An ongoing and growing problem is deferred maintenance, currently expecting to require some $10 million in expenditures. Although he asserts that this is currently a manageable problem, it could soon grow to be insurmountable, ultimately perhaps requiring difficult decisions to be made on our facilities/assets. He expects that, as the pandemic winds down, the public’s attitude toward and use of public facilities may be permanently changed and it may be necessary to re-purpose some of the facilities to revive community engagement. And finally, living in a desert environment, availability of water will become an increasing problem and may require evolution from a turf-based system to one that is more locally natural.
Looking to the future, he plans to establish a Summer Youth Pass (for youths to 16 years old), a FCFUNPASS, which would facilitate participation in drop-in programs. He expects to get the city’s tree population classified as an infrastructure asset which would make them more easily eligible for a wide range of financial support. In the area of community engagement, he expects to put more effort into branding or marketing and promotion of the availability of community services activities and facilities. Since perhaps one in five children may have some challenge, he expects to grow the Adaptive Recreation program. In 2016, the voters of the city authorized the creation of a SE Recreation and Innovation Center and that will be a focus until expected completion in 2025. He is actively seeking funding to develop a Summer Concert and Movie Series to encourage local talent and foster more community involvement.
Questions:
When did their minimum offered wage increase from $15 to $19/hr? Over the last three months and goes into effect this season.
One of the city facilities that was not mentioned was the city archery range. Archery was stated to be the #1 sport in the world of adaptive recreation.
Does Community Services have a plan for countering the threat of blue-green algae in the open water areas? The department has a place at the table in that conversation but is not the driver.
Our Rotary club has a long history of involvement with Lee Martinez Park. There is some drive to develop the park into a Living History Farm, making it eligible for wider funding.