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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 11-20-2017 - 8-d - Termination of Lease and Joint Use Agreement with Orange County Schools ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: November 20, 2017 Action Agenda Item No. 8-d SUBJECT: Termination of Lease and Joint Use Agreement with Orange County Schools DEPARTMENT: Environment, Agriculture, Parks and Recreation (DEAPR) ATTACHMENT(S): Lease and Joint Use Agreement August 2012 Memorandum INFORMATION CONTACT: David Stancil, 919-245-2510 PURPOSE: To approve the termination of a Lease and Joint Use Agreement with the Orange County Board of Education for the use of tennis courts at Orange High School. This action is designed to simplify the public usage of the courts, removing a reservation process that has become unwieldy, and is based on mutual agreement with the Orange County Schools. The Orange County Board of Education will consider the termination of this agreement on December 11. BACKGROUND: In 1984 and again in 2007, Orange County entered into a Lease and Joint Use Agreement with the Orange County Schools for use of the tennis courts at Orange High School. At that time, there were few publicly-accessible courts in central and northern Orange County, and the County wished to use the courts for its tennis programs. However, since that time the agreement has proven to be a complicating factor in public usage of the facility and is no longer needed to ensure public access – such that both the County and Orange County Schools’ staff see it as a hindrance to public usage at this point. As outlined in the attached 2012 memorandum, the agreement places the County in a “middle man” role that has created confusion and problems for many users of the courts. The County is responsible for the scheduling of the courts, but a significant portion of the usage involves third and fourth parties and concerns about double-payment for court usage. Most significantly, in 2010 the County opened Fairview Park, and this park’s tennis courts (plus other planned future courts) have negated the need for the County’s tennis programs to use Orange High. Orange County Schools has its own system and process for reservation and use of school facilities, and OCS is willing to use that to schedule and manage usage of the Orange High courts going forward. 1 The adopted Lease and Joint Use Agreement only includes termination provisions “for violation of the terms and conditions.” As such, County and OCS attorneys have proposed that the two boards take independent but coordinated action to terminate the lease, and this mutual action by the parties will end the agreement. FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no financial impact associated with the termination of the lease. The revenue from court rentals is offset by the County’s maintenance and lighting costs and the costs of locking and unlocking the court gates. In fact, the change may prove to be a financial benefit to the County. SOCIAL JUSTICE IMPACT: There is no Orange County Social Justice Goal impact associated with this item. Public usage of the courts will continue, but under the management of the Orange County Schools. County courts at Fairview Park are also available for use by the public, and this park serves an economically-disadvantaged community. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board approve the termination of the Lease and Joint Use Agreement with Orange County Board of Education effective January 31, 2018. 2 3 4 5 6 7 Orange County Department of Environment, Agriculture, Parks & Recreation PO Box 8181 Hillsborough, NC 27278 Phone: (919) 245-2510 Fax: (919) 644-3351 Memorandum To: Frank Clifton, County Manager Michael Talbert, Assistant County Manager From: David Stancil, DEAPR Director Date: August 29, 2012 Subject: Orange High School Tennis Courts - Issues Over the last few years, and again in recent months, we have received questions about the arrangements and costs associated with the use of the eight tennis courts at Orange High School (OHS) for a Durham-sponsored tennis league. The full story is complicated, and involves several different parties – the Orange County Schools (OCS), the City of Durham Parks and Recreation Department, the US Tennis Association (USTA),the local private Orange Tennis Club (OTC), Orange County - as well as other persons who play in the Durham USTA league but are not members of OTC. Background As brief background, the County has a Lease and Joint Use Agreement with Orange County Schools providing for public access to the tennis courts at Orange High School. This was initiated in 1984 and renewed in 2007, at a time when there were no publicly-accessible tennis courts in central or northern Orange County. It provides for shared maintenance and resurfacing of the courts, among other provisions. The USTA operates leagues by district across the United States, and the local area is within the “Eno River District.” This district is housed and coordinated by the City of Durham Parks and Recreation Department. Several teams that play in a USTA-sanctioned adult tennis league through Durham have players who live in the Hillsborough area, and some of these players are now 8 Orange County Department of Environment, Agriculture, Parks & Recreation PO Box 8181 Hillsborough, NC 27278 Phone: (919) 245-2510 Fax: (919) 644-3351 members of the Orange Tennis Club. In 2009, players on these teams approached Durham about the possibility of finding courts in the Hillsborough area for some of their matches, so they would not always have to drive to Durham. City of Durham staff made contact with Orange County staff about court availability. Subsequent discussions between OCS, the local players and the County led to the arrangement to allow reservation of the OHS tennis courts for this purpose. It is my understanding the Orange Tennis Club was formed in 2008, and uses the courts at Cedar Ridge High School in some capacity. Many members of the OTC also play in the Durham/USTA league using the Orange High courts. Under the agreement between OCS and the County for the OHS tennis courts, the County pays the bills for lighting (year-round). Maintenance of the courts, nets and related court fixtures is split by OCS (which does the maintenance while school is in) and the County’s Parks division of DEAPR (while school is out). The County also arranges for the opening and closing of the gate to the tennis courts. OCS is responsible for maintaining the lighting. At an initial meeting in 2009 to explore the possible use at OHS, Orange County Schools staff, County staff, Durham Parks and Recreation staff and members of the tennis teams playing in the Durham/USTA league discussed how to address use of the facility. Since the County (with no courts of its own at that time) had no fee schedule for use of tennis courts, but had utility and maintenance costs that would be significantly impacted by the use of the courts by the Durham league teams, arrangements were made to provide for the scheduling of the courts through the County. Staff examined the cost of lights and maintenance and determined that a fee of $150/team would be appropriate to help cover the County’s costs. This fee was established consistent with the BOCC-approved fee schedule for adult recreation programs (recovering 100% of direct costs). At this meeting it was noted for all parties that there were no restrooms on site that were accessible for the public. The closest restrooms are the on the visitor’s side of the adjacent football stadium, but these are inside the stadium fence and locked when not in use for school functions. The tennis league participants present at this meeting were apprised of this situation. Current Issues Raised Fees for Usage During the past year or so, staff has fielded occasional inquiries about the nature of the per-team fees. It is our understanding that the tennis players in the league also pay a registration fee to USTA and the City of Durham (of which the City Parks and Recreation Department receives a percentage for administering the USTA league). 9 Orange County Department of Environment, Agriculture, Parks & Recreation PO Box 8181 Hillsborough, NC 27278 Phone: (919) 245-2510 Fax: (919) 644-3351 In the spring of this year, two new things occurred relative to this situation: • Most of the tennis teams did not pay the $150/team fee that they were billed. Because of this and other concerns some of the teams had about lack of restrooms and court maintenance at OHS, Durham staff (responsible for scheduling league games) refused to schedule games this fall for these USTA teams at OHS courts. The teams which did pay their spring 2012 fee have been allowed to play at these courts. • The County adopted a Facility Use Policy in 2012 which included a fee schedule attachment, also adopted as part of the County budget. With the opening of tennis courts at Fairview Park, a rate for use of tennis courts and tennis courts with lights was added to the fee schedule ($5/hour for each court, and an additional $5/hour for lights). This rate was established by examining fees charged by other public entities and the County’s costs of the lighting bills and court maintenance, and is roughly equivalent to the same per-team rate that was previously applied for the Durham/USTA teams. These fees went into effect July 1 with the new fiscal year 1. Now, with the onset of fall league play, the $5/hour rate has replaced the old $150/team fee, and is applicable at both Fairview and OHS courts. Staff has worked over the last several months with Orange County Schools and the tennis club (OTC) to try and create a better process for reserving the courts involving OTC - perhaps developing a new reservation process and agreement between OTC and the schools - eliminating the County as the “middle man.” However, a draft proposal from OTC to this effect has not yet been received. Restroom Availability As noted above, in 2009 the arrangements for use of the OHS courts between OCS, the tennis teams and the County noted that there were no restroom facilities available. However, this has recently re-emerged as a concern from some league players. Staff has offered the use of Fairview courts, to be reserved consistent with the fee schedule. This is a facility which does have restroom facilities. To date, no individual team has opted to reserve these facilities. Staff has since met with the OHS athletic director about a way to make the school restrooms available via a lockbox that could have keys issued to groups reserving the OHS courts. If this is ultimately successful, this would resolve the lack of restrooms issue at OHS. Maintenance Concerns have been raised in recent months about the cleanliness of the courts and some burned out lights. As noted above, the maintenance of the 1 For the three teams that have registered and paid their bills, the new cost based on the per-hour rate has ranged from $138 to $165 for the fall season. 10 Orange County Department of Environment, Agriculture, Parks & Recreation PO Box 8181 Hillsborough, NC 27278 Phone: (919) 245-2510 Fax: (919) 644-3351 courts is shared by OCS and the County. The County did replace some nets and related infrastructure this summer and cleaned off the courts on several occasions. With the onset of the school year, maintenance has transferred back to OCS. It should be noted that the courts are located in an area directly adjacent to an uphill slope. With every significant rain event, dirt and mulch wash onto the courts. This creates a high frequency of cleaning needs. While the County pays the electric bill for the court lights, OCS is responsible for the lighting itself. It is our understanding that the lights which were out have been replaced by OCS – but that they may be energy-efficient bulbs which produce less lumens? The schools staff could best address this matter. Conclusion Staff has discussed a long-term solution to the use of these courts with OCS staff. A reworking of the Lease and Joint Use Agreement would appear to be in the best interests of all, as the County often finds itself as the “middle man” in these matters. Allowing groups that wish to reserve the OHS courts to do so through the OCS Community Schools office would seem to be a more efficient approach for all parties. While public availability of these courts is still desirable, with the advent of the new courts at Fairview Park, the County has no programming needs for the OHS courts. A process that allows for opening/closing of the gate, access to restrooms, and a reservation process though OCS would seem to be an improvement over the current rather-complicated approach. Another possible improvement would be the sharing of revenues from the City of Durham for fees they collect for the USTA-sanctioned league teams. If some of the teams are paying Durham USTA fees for the right to play in the USTA league, and also paying Orange for the usage fees of the courts, it would be instructive to know if Durham’s fee charges include maintenance and utility costs at their courts. If so, since some of these matches are being played on our courts, perhaps some of these funds should be shared with Orange County (offsetting or negating the need to charge usage fees on this end). However, the success of such a venture and the sufficiency of funds is doubtful and would rely on Durham relinquishing some of their revenues. USTA may also have to approve such an arrangement. In closing, the current arrangement seems to be failing to satisfy the needs of each of the parties, and in need of redress. Staff would like to rework the Lease and Joint Use Agreement with OCS regarding the access to the OHS tennis courts as soon as practicable. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. 11