PARKS & RECREATION - Sports Grants $45K Giveway and Fireman's Field Treasure

SPORTS GRANTS
Municipalities provide a blend of passive and active recreation through their parks and recreation staff oversight and committee guidance. Purcellville is no different. Purcellville parks are managed by a combination of staff and contractors and input prior to Town Council decision go through a vetting process through the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board (PRAB).

In November, Eamon Coy, the Chairman of the Purcellville PRAB appeared before the town during the November 10, 2015 and again at the December 8, 2015 Town Council meeting to discuss respectively sports grants and Fireman's Field. 

The sports grants program was initiated in the FY 2007-2008 budget (see page 17) under the direction of former Mayor Bob Lazaro. Each year $5,000 was divided among the sports organizations applying for the grant. For 9 years the town taxpayers have donated approximately $5000 each year to youth recreation. Since the initiation of this grant program taxpayers have given away $45,000.

Mr. Coy expressed his concern over council's decision not to follow the PRABs recommendation on the sports application grantees and amounts, after what he stated that the PRAB "spends an awful lot of time discussing." Volunteers spend endless hours discussing community initiatives and time should not be a concern. The council puts in long hours on half thought out recommendations and incomplete information in their agenda package, so Mr. Coy is not the only one affected by time.

Here is a run down of what the Purcellville taxpayers gave away in the past three years to nonprofit organizations in the form of sports grants: 

Town Council March 11, 2014 - total donation according to these calculations below should be $5,202, but the council voted on $5,502. Actual budget for 2014 reflects $5,202. 

1) Western Loudoun Volleyball Club - $867 (Purcellville)
2) Western Loudoun Rugby/Rugby Virginia- $ 867 (Bluemont)
3) Loudoun Youth Soccer Assoc. - $ 867 (Leesburg)
4) Old Dominion Football Club - $ 867 (South Riding organization/Purcellville team)
5) Greater Loudoun Babe Ruth - $867 (Purcellville)
6) Upper Loudoun Youth Football - $867 (Waterford)

Town Council March 12, 2013 - total donation $5,050
1) FC Sports Inc. - $700
2) Western Loudoun Girls Softball - $1,350
3) Western Loudoun Volleyball Club - $900
4) Old Dominion Football Club $700
5) Loudoun Soccer $1,400

Town Council February 12, 2012 - total donation $5,000
1) Loudoun Youth Wrestling Club - $825 (Fairfax)
2) NOVA Athletic Club - $825 (Ashburn)
3) Upper Loudoun Youth Football League - $825 (Purcellville)
4) Western Loudoun Youth Lacrosse - $825 (Purcellville)
5) Old Dominion Football Club - $825 (South Riding)
6) LYSA TOPSoccer - $875 (Leesburg) (note: this link is currently broken) 


My goodness, we live in the wealthiest county in the nation and parents cannot afford to help raise funds for these sports? I think the community has become lazy.  If these are nonprofits the town needs to requests a copy of the organizations financial statements that reflects the inability to operate without these much needed funds. 

If 20 sports organizations applied for the grant, how would that money be divided? The majority of these organizations do not play in Purcellville. What happened to fund-raising by parents, has that become a thing of the past and replaced with the purchase of a cell phone for their kid? 

To address Mr. Coy's concern regarding the council overturning the PRAB decision on these grants, it is not any different than the overturning by council of the Board of Architectural Review's decision on Vineyard Square. The Town Council overturned many hours of citizen input along with the educated decision by the Board of Architectural Review for the Vineyard Square project, which forever changes the landscape of historic 21st Street. Where was the defense from Mr. Coy to the "historic assets are part of the fabric of any community" comment made in regards to historic downtown?

FIREMAN'S FIELD
While the town is giving away Parks and Recs sports grants, the taxpayers are burdened with a tax district to pay for another pet project from the former mayor, sort of a "forget-me-not" gift.  A park is a benefit for the citizens - it doesn't benefit the entire taxpayer base if there are only age limited activities on a routine basis. So I don't play baseball, nor do I skate, what other things can I do on a routine basis? Is that a cricket I hear? 

There is loss of potential revenue given away at the Bush Tabernacle. Contractor, Philip Message earns from skating, parties and events held at the facility. According to Message birthday parties alone can bring in over $42,000 if there were just 5 guests at each of the 500 parties. Could this revenue pay down the debt of the purchase, improvements and ongoing upkeep of the facilities? I think with a little creativity it could. 

Mr. Coy stated, "They’re important, there are multiple public and private, cultural, athletic, community events, Fireman’s Field and Bush Tabernacle are obviously part of this community." What about 21st Street? What about Nichols Hardware, that has been operating their business on 21st street for over 100 years? What do you know about the town's listing on the National Register?  If it is Park and Recs job to protect these assets of the community, where was defense for 21st Street? The "passion" is one-sided. You can't pick and choose what part of historic preservation you like. 

Mr. Coy's assessment of how Fireman's Field is connected to the Boy Scouts Eagle Projects and these scouts come to PRAB with their project ideas should not be a reason to keep Fireman's Field. I looked for guidelines for what the criteria is for "an acceptable project," but I haven't come up with anything. Why is service limited to scouts? What about other organizations giving back? Have any of them approached Parks and Recreation for donations of benches, etc?  I am finding more and more that Purcellville is full of ideas, but no guidelines. 

According to the survey Mr. Coy was referring to in his address to the council, keeping Fireman's Field is a treasure and that 88% of the citizens are happy with the improvements that the town made to the facility. What he really meant was that 88% of the 400 citizens responding to the survey were happy with the improvements to the park. There are over 8,000 citizens in Purcellville, so I don't take the survey statistics as an accurate measure of facility use, nor the satisfaction with the improvements. 

The fact is that the public has no idea how much Fireman's Field cost the taxpayers other than the original price tag of $1.7 million. How much were the renovations, add to that the $60K ticket booth and additional funds for the equipment shed. If you want to get an accurate measurement of this treasure, survey those AT Fireman's Field during events. Find out how many people using the facility are those from Purcellville and outside of town. Maybe ask the question on the next survey, how many people have been inside Bush Tabernacle? How many have attended a game at Fireman's Field? Or how about this, what year did you move to Purcellville? You can't say you like the improvements to something if you don't know what they were like before the improvements were made. Purcellville has had a turnover in residences in the last 6 - 8 years.

Because I don't believe in criticizing without a solution - Parks and Recs Suggestions:

1. Maybe Parks and Recreation could educate themselves on the amount of acreage each park has an its purpose. Fireman's Field is 12.6 acres. 
2. Maybe the could find better way to track revenue from the leaking faucet known as the Train Station. There are groups meeting in there that are NOT nonprofits, but paying like they are. Their nonprofit certificates are not on file. Get a better system.
3. Visit Loudoun receives funding from the citizens of Purcellville to promote the town, and this includes all of the amenities. The gem of the Train Station is not mentioned as a meeting facility. Get familiar with their promotion plan for Purcellville, if they have one or stop giving away the tax dollars to them for advertising nothing. 
4. Challenge other committees, commissions and boards to present their monthly report to council and citizens. 

For more information regarding the purchase of Fireman's Field reference this article in The Blue Ridge Leader and Loudoun Today. 

I thought I would share the adopted budget figures by fiscal year. Fiscal years are from July 1 through the following June 30. For example FY 2005 is July 1, 2004 through June 30, 2005. The adopted budget history of Parks and Recs budget is as follows:

Just a footnote to this table. Because some data was in different accounting areas of the budget it wasn't always easy to find historical information. Some data was originally in Administration then moved to Parks and Recreation Fund.

SIDE NOTE: I must give Mr. Coy kudos because he and the former Chairman of the Planning Commission have been the only Chairmen that have given their "report" to council as their committee appears on the agenda. Where are the other committee chairs send the council liaison to do their work. A responsibility of the chairman is to represent the committee, commission or board. Your personal input should be reserved for citizens comments and not the reporting period on the agenda.

It seems to me that the town once again, or should I say, as always has bitten off more than they can chew. The town council is heading into their budget session this month. I would suggest you email the Town Council to express your kudos, concerns and ideas for keeping taxes down, cuts or changes. Let's rethink Parks and Recreation. 

Lack of Public Respect Continues in Purcellville

There are many facets to a Town's operational dynamics that are created to diversify the workload and create citizen involvement. Committees, Commissions and Boards gather information, make recommendations, and report back to the Town Council for final decision. As a citizen, being involved in the lowest level of government should be an easy process. The current council also has stated they agree. The current council also has stated they believe that there needs to be a high level of respect towards each other and the public, after all the public does pay their stipend they receive each month. The same goes for the Committees, Commissions and Boards that are appointed by the Council. I cannot stress enough the need for respect for differences of opinion and simple common courtesy. It goes without saying that the Rules of Decorum (Public Meeting Conduct, rev. March 10. 2015) that was adopted by the Council also applies to the other selected officials and staff of the town.

At the recent Planning Commission, Commission Chairman, Gil Paist relied on bantering to communicate with town resident Kelli Grim after she gave public comments to the Commission regarding the need for more communication between the Town Council and Planning Commission with "the people" of Purcellville. Ms. Grim wanted to assure that sweeping zoning changes, like those made in 2008 have proper input from the residents [people].

Grim stating, “an overwhelming response regarding a developer who felt that exceptions for the square feet of restaurants should just be eliminated altogether and you all agreed to do that.” Paist interrupted stating, “okay, you time is up, actually you’re out of time. I have a question for you. When you talk about "the people", who do you define as "the people."” Ms. Grim's requested clarification for when she used that statement and Mr. Paist stated it was in the very beginning, “sometimes you give meanings out there and I have no idea exactly what you mean.” I need to stop here for a second and interject the fact that if the Town's Planning Commissioner does not know who the people of Purcellville are, maybe he should find a less critical position to serve. Let me give you some direction Mr. Paist, look at the top of the Town's organization chart, who's at the top? Consider this an open book test.

"Myself and the residents that…are the people served by all of the Committees, Commissions and Boards,” stated Ms. Grim. Chairman Paist continued to badger Ms. Grim even though her time had expired on Public Comment in what I believe was an attempt to belittle a citizen and show superiority. He continued to question Ms. Grim as though she were on trial, “so the people to you are just the residents. What do you do with the businesses that are in town, or the people that work in town, or students that are in town. Don’t they also have a say in town?”

Ms. Grim began to respond that "they are the primary as defined by looking at the town roll.... you even argued in the paper that residents are supposed to speak first." Ms. Grim continued to define "the people" as those that bring in the majority of the tax revenue. As she continued to respond to the Commissioner's questions, Paist interrupted her once again and said, “I didn't ask for another thing, just for a definition of that one thing. Thank you for your opinion, I just wanted a definition of "the people". Does this conversation remind you of a public media frenzy of a certain political leader wanting the to know what the definition of IS is?

Mr. Paist did ask her more than just that one question, it was the answers he did not choose to hear for the reason he abruptly cut her response. He wanted an opportunity once again to use his gavel as he did earlier in the meeting, he said declaring, "And I did that just because I wanted to." The fact is that when the Woodgrove location was on the agenda, never did the County, School Board, nor Town asked the students where they wanted their school. Do you remember that Mr. Paist? Do you think the 5 to 17 year olds are engaged in Town business? Do you think the businesses are engaged in Town business? How many business owners attend Planning Commission or Economic Development meeting which both have a direct relationship on their business?

Mr. Paist could use communication training because according to the Public Meeting Conduct, item 3, Interruption of speakers, name calling or boisterous remarks. Under the General Process section of the Conduct rules, "The public body is empowered to cause the removal of any and all persons violating the provisions of its rules and include a procedure for implementing said removal of said individual(s).The presiding officer shall preserve order and decorum at Council meeting." So who calls out Mr. Paist? No one. This type of behavior continues to go on not only in the Planning Commission meetings, but the Town Council meetings. In fact those on staff, Committees Commissions and Boards fail to remember that "the people" are the ones that pay their wages.