City Park Board moves ahead with PCCS proposals

Experimental propositions for Putnam County Comprehensive Services (PCCS) to operate the Greencastle Aquatic Center concession stand and provide part-time maintenance at the park have been approved by the Greencastle Park Board.

The agreement emerged just one month after PCCS Executive Director Andrew Ranck offered the proposals as a dual opportunity to offer training to his clients while assisting the city by operating the pool concession stand and providing up to 500 hours of maintenance at Robe-Ann Park.

Those proposals were seen as helping eliminate concession stand staffing, ordering and preparation issues that helped put the park into the red last summer, while also providing manpower for routine maintenance tasks like picking up trash and sticks, emptying trash barrels, sweeping out shelterhouses, and cleaning and restocking park restrooms. The idea was that fulltime maintenance personnel would then have more time for mowing and trimming and other obligations at the various city parks.

"We certainly appreciate the partnership," Ranck said after the unanimous vote. "We look forward to the opportunity."

The agreements, however, didn't come without some concern being voiced by Park Director Rod Weinschenk who was especially worried about how his budget might handle the new arrangements.

But Mayor Bill Dory, in the audience for the two-hour meeting at City Hall, laid those fears to rest for 2019.

"This first year, as a trial, I will pick up the maintenance costs from EDIT dollars so as to not impact the park budget," Dory said of the maintenance proposal.

Weinschenk also expressed some concern over possibly "displacing" a number of volunteers -- especially a couple of senior citizens from Miller Asbury Apartments -- who already have been handling some routine park maintenance duties like picking up small limbs and sticks each morning to facilitate mowing as well as cleaning and restocking necessities in the restrooms.

Ranck suggested the PCCS would be "more than happy to work with your volunteers" in a combined effort for better park maintenance.

The PCCS maintenance person will work 8-11 a.m. Monday through Friday over the period April 8-Oct. 31 with total pay not to exceed $7,500.

As the discussion of who might do what lapsed into minutia best worked out elsewhere, the mayor again offered a solution.

"I don't see the intent of discussing the finite details at a public meeting," he said. "Let the staff work out the details and have Laurie (City Attorney Hardwick) check the legalities.

"It's a bit of an experiment," Dory continued. "We'll try it for a year and see how it works out."

With Board Vice President John Hennette suggesting "the minutia is between Rod (Weinschenk) and David (Maintenance Director Bault) and Comprehensive Services to work out," he made the motion to approve the maintenance proposal on a one-year experimental basis.

Park Board members Tim Trigg and Cathy Merrell made it unanimous.

Meanwhile, Weinschenk said he had three items needing clarification before the concession stand agreement could move forward.

He said it was necessary to disconnect a freezer and remove it, change the overhead lighting in the concession stand and arrange for a new security system. The latter notion stemmed from Weinschenk suggesting his staff should not be entering the concession stand because PCCS would be responsible for all the inventory inside it, not the Park Department.

"When 3 a.m. calls come in when the wind rattles the windows -- and they will -- you're going to be responsible, not us," he told Ranck, suggesting the separate alarm system was necessary.

City Clerk-Treasurer Lynda Dunbar, however, bristled at the idea of paying for a second security system.

"If we can't trust them (the pool manager and assistant manager) walking into the concession stand and not a stealing a 50-cent candy bar when they're handling thousands of dollars for us, then they shouldn't be a pool manager," she said, noting that Comprehensive Services knows "there's always a chance" of petty theft at a concession stand.

"If we lose a few Three Musketeers bars, that's not a problem," Ranck assured, noting he will gladly make monthly reports to the Park Board on how the project is going as the summer progresses.

PCCS expects to hire one manager and one assistant for daily operations of the concession stand, while utilizing PCCS individuals as interns in groups of four to learn about vocational skills and expectations.

The concession stand menu would be simple "grab-and-go items" mostly, Ranck said, listing nachos, soft pretzels, popcorn, package ice cream novelties, hotdogs, chips and drinks as the most likely options.

Proposed with the change is that PCCS be designated as the responsible party for the pool concession stand, purchasing all necessary food and drink items, paper goods and cleaning supplies. PCCS would determine which items to sell and the cost of each, while responsible for preparation and sales of all foods to customers during hours of operation (12-7 p.m. seven days a week. May 25-Aug. 6, as well as 4-7 p.m. Aug. 7-11 ).

That way, the pool concession stand would be operated at no cost to the city. Any profit would go to PCCS, while any loss would be incurred by the same.

Beyond personnel costs, the Park Department spent $19,000 on the concession stand last season, Weinschenk has noted.

Park Board President Trigg suggested City Attorney Hardwick review the proposed contract to make sure there is nothing for which the city could be held liable.

Beyond that it was agreed that the Park Department enter into a contract for PCCS to operate the concession stand on a experimental basis, stipulating that the only park personnel with access to the stand be Weinschenk, the pool manager and the assistant manager.

That agreement was approved unanimously on a motion by Merrell.

Meanwhile, the Park Department is in the market for an assistant director again, it was noted, after Paige Zick, who was hired at the March meeting, resigned one week later due to personal reasons, Weinschenk said.

Zick was coming from the Chicago area with a YMCA pool background.

"It's unfortunate she only worked five days with us," Weinschenk said. "She offered a lot of ideas and excitement."

The park director has readvertised the position, sending word of the opening to area colleges. An April 15 deadline was set for applications.

Bault quickly interjected that the pool will open in 50 more days.

"We're looking at a short time trying to get somebody hired and trained," Weinschenk said. "Hopefully we can get somebody with a pool background."

Park Board members Trigg, Hennette and Merrell were joined for the meeting by Mayor Dory, Clerk-Treasurer Dunbar and City Council members Steve Fields, Stacie Langdon and Tyler Wade. Park Board member Beva Miller was absent.

The board's next regularly scheduled session is set for 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 2 at City Hall.