Ackerman Budget Discussion Continues

I was glad to see several people in the audience at the meeting Tuesday night. I'd like to thank those soccer board members who spoke during public participation. It is always good to hear from the community.

The Board continued discussion of the Ackerman Sports Complex (ASC) budget, fees and hours (page 32). There are still many questions about the budget details, so the Board will approve only the fees at the August meeting. Approving the fees is necessary because of marketing deadlines.

After the July 21 meeting, I sent several questions to staff and received detailed responses. These were included in the Director's Dispatch and were not placed online, so I have linked to them here. Director Atwell provided me with a detailed history of the ASC expansion from referendum to construction. I also received answers to my specific questions about the budget.

I still had questions about the anticipated revenue from soccer leagues- this accounts for 57% of the revenues. Staff explained that these numbers are not based on rental hours, but fees charged per team for participation in leagues. Detailed numbers on this will be provided to the board for further review.

Commissioner Kinzler asked questions about SARC fitness center. Since is is currently operating at a loss, he was concerned that a large number of its 100 users will move to the new ASC fitness center. A drop in users will negatively impact the revenue there, but costs, such as staffing, will remain constant. Director Atwell said that SARC fitness center users will be surveyed to see which fitness center they intend to use once ASC is open, as requested by the Board at the last meeting. With this information, the Board can have a better understanding of usage before we need to approve funding for new fitness equipment at ASC.

Since discussion about online video and the facilities usage report were not on the agenda this meeting as previously planned, I brought these up during my Matters from Commissioners time. In both cases, staff was preparing a report for the Board, but it was delayed. After a brief discussion, the Board decided to place both of these items on the agenda for our August 18 meeting.