Consideration and Adoption of Resolution No.  2014-18:  A resolution of the City of Flagstaff, Arizona establishing a Donation and Memorial Program for the City's Parks within the City Memorial Policy.

Current memorial policy (Resolution NO. 2001-73) does not address donations that would significantly impact or change the use of City parks and their open spaces from their intended purpose. The current policy only addresses the renaming of a public facility that may recognize an individual or organization for their financial support or civic service. The proposed Ordinance will establish criteria by which the City can accept donations that provide a community benefit if supported by the community.  It would also allow the denial of a proposal or projects that do not demonstrate a community benefit that and are not viewed as the typical park-type amenity commonly found in parks, or does not represent the community values.  Park lands and their open spaces are highly valued by the community as a gathering place where the community can come together to engage in recreational and leisure activities. The proposed Ordinance is intended to expand on the current memorial policy.

There will be no financial impacts with the adoption of this resolution.

1.  Effective governance

No

Option 1) Do not approve the resolution and continue to use existing policy.
Option 2) Approve the resolution

On February 28, 2013, representatives from the Jack’s Little Brother (JLB) Project presented to the Parks and Recreation Commission, asking to establish a Children’s Memorial Area in Foxglenn Park. JLB Project is a non-profit organization offering supportive care to families who have lost a child to miscarriage, stillbirth or infant death This memorial would memorialize these children and be a place when families could come together in the grieving process. The estimated cost to develop and construct the area is $200,000. The JLB Project would assume all financial responsibility for the development, construction, infrastructure, and maintenance of the memorial. Funds for maintenance would be raised by JLB Project through community awareness campaigns, private donations, grants, and fundraisers.

The Commission questioned the idea of putting a solemn place in a park where people go to recreate and have a good time. Even though, JLB Project was commended for their work, there were concerns that other non-profit groups would come forward with the same type of requests, and that parks were not a place to support non-profit organizations, but to support a community in their recreation and leisure efforts. There were concerns that this would be a tremendous redirection of City park property and that this could be setting a new precedence and policy that would open the doors to others.

At the March 20, 2013, Parks and Recreation Commission meeting, staff reported that the City of Flagstaff does not have a policy addressing a project like this. As a governmental entity, the City of Flagstaff doesn’t want to set precedence and has to stay on neutral ground when sending messages to the community, as messages can be implied and agreeing to a message means the City agrees and aligns with it. Staff recommended not to move forward with the proposal as presented, but asked whether some of the components of the plan could be “tweaked” or specific items removed which enable the project to then move forward within the policies already in place. The commission directed staff to continue to engage in dialogue with JLB in order for them to establish an acceptable proposal.

Throughout the ensuing months, staff continued working with the JLB Project on a new proposal. This proposal was presented to the Parks and Recreation Commission on December 18, 2013, as a discussion item. The Commission was more receptive to the proposal as presented. City staff determined that the City’s existing Memorial or Renaming Ordinance doesn’t apply to donations that change the intended use of open spaces within parks and there is a need to create a policy to help guide staff in accepting gifts and donations. The City’s Legal staff was in the process of developing that plan, which would establish criteria for the City to accept these types of donations. The Commission was informed that the Ordinance would be reviewed at a future meeting.

The review of the “Proposed Resolution of the City of Flagstaff, Arizona Establishing a Donation and Memorial Program for the City’s Parks was presented at the February 19, 2014, Parks and Recreation Commission meeting for discussion. They were supportive of the Resolution.

At the March 12, 2014, Parks and Recreation Commission meeting, the Commission unanimously voted to approve the resolution as presented with five (5) yea votes.

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