Receive update on Tuli Mem Park operation and maintenance annual costs and status of endowment and approve agreement with the Western Yolo Recreation Center Association regarding the use of the Tuli Mem Community Endowment. (No general fund impact) (Pistochini)

The General Services Department was directed by the Board in September 2022 to review Tuli Mem Park & Aquatic Center's operations, revenues, and expenditures. Tuli Mem opened to the public in 2019 and is located in Esparto beside the Esparto High School. During the past several months, the Department engaged multiple entities regarding pool operations, including the Esparto Unified School District ("EUSD," part of the park's Joint Use Land Agreement), the Esparto Community Services District ("ECSD," the contracted maintenance provider), the YMCA of Superior California ("YMCA," the contracted recreation programming provider), and the Western Yolo Recreation Center Association ("WYORCA," a community interest group).

Community Engagement 
The Department started an Aquatics Committee to engage with EUSD, ECSD, YMCA, and WYORCA in a collaborative setting to discuss and agree upon pool scheduling requests and programming concepts. This committee is scheduled to meet throughout the year to ensure a common understanding and expectation of the pool schedule and operational needs. This committee's work led to a subcommittee to develop messaging and communication channels for the community about the upcoming pool season and program offerings.

Endowment Status
WYORCA created an endowment of community donations in the run-up to the park opening to support pool operations as part of a comprehensive financial plan to fund pool operations using a parcel tax, pool fees, and donations. However, an agreement was never established between the County and WYORCA over the use of the endowment. The County and WYORCA negotiated and finalized an agreement (Attachment A) that memorializes the purpose of the endowment and a contribution schedule of the endowment to pool operations. In the agreement, the endowment will give one-half of the investment earnings to the County next fiscal year, three-quarters of the investment earnings to the County in fiscal year 2024/2025, and all the investment earnings in fiscal year 2025/2026. The Department recommends the Board approve this agreement.

2023 Pool Season
The Department developed a pool schedule based on historical use and expectations. A total of 467 hours of community swim time and 426.5 hours of EUSD swim time is proposed for 2023. This schedule proposes the pool be heated in late March to support lifeguard training to generate a lifeguard corps for the 2023 pool season. Both YMCA and EUSD will be training and generating their own lifeguard corps to be used for their respective community and EUSD programs. The community pool season will begin on May 26, 2023, for Memorial Day weekend and close on September 4, 2023, after Labor Day. EUSD will continue to use the pool through September for physical education programs.

The pool schedule is a key driver of heating expenses. The County heats the pool in line with best practices established by the aquatics community. Reduction of pool activity prior to Memorial Day and after Labor Day is an expedient way to reduce costs but will inhibit the ability to generate newly trained lifeguards to serve during the pool season and hinder the ability of EUSD to deliver physical education programs. Alternatively, the pool use fees have not increased since the pool opened. The County fees are lower than what surrounding areas charge their residents. The Board can direct staff to research pool use fees for the 2024 season; however, fees assessed must not create a financial barrier for disadvantaged families pursuant to the State grant agreement for Tuli Mem park construction.

Contracted Services
The majority of the Tuli Mem operating costs are due to contracted services. The County historically contracts with YMCA to offer recreation programming services and with ECSD to perform pool and park maintenance.  YMCA provides supervision of the pool during community swim hours, including providing swim lessons, lifeguard services, front-desk services, and marketing services. Staff will finalize this contract after finalizing the 2023 Pool Schedule, and is expected to cost approximately $60,000. YMCA's costs are fixed based on the schedule, and costs are offset in part by use fees. ECSD conducts park maintenance, including weeding, mowing, and trash collection, and provides pool maintenance services, including monitoring pool chemistry. ECSD's costs are estimated and variable, as the County contracts on a cost-reimbursement basis. The County established a not-to-exceed contract with ECSD in the amount of $215,000 for this fiscal year. For the 2023 pool season, staff intends to contract as in years past with several improvements to better track operations and costs. At the end of this pool season, staff will conduct a holistic evaluation of the cost, market-size, and efficiency of the contract-out model at this facility to determine if there are competitive contracting opportunities or if a County-operator model is more effective.

The General Services Department collaborated with the County Administrator's Office, the County Counsel's Office, and the Department of Financial Services in developing this staff recommendation.  Additional collaborative efforts occurred with the Esparto Unified School District, the Esparto Community Services District, the YMCA of Superior California, and the Western Yolo Recreation Center Association.