The Centre Region Council of Governments
2020 PROGRAM PLAN
WHITEHALL ROAD REGIONAL PARK | PHASE 1
CENTRE REGION COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS 2020 PROGRAM PLAN
TABLE OF CONTENTS
2019 GENERAL FORUM MEMBERS 5 SCHLOW CENTRE REGION LIBRARY 133 COG AGENCY CONTACT LIST 6 SCHLOW CENTRE REGION LIBRARY CAPITAL 141 CENTRE REGION COG SERVICE AREA 7 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S LETTER 8 CENTRE REGIONAL PLANNING AGENCY 147 OVERVIEW OF THE COG 33 CENTRE COUNTY METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION 155
OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATION 37 REGIONAL FIRE PROTECTION PROGRAM 169 REGIONAL REFUSE AND RECYCLING PROGRAM 53 FIRE PROTECTION CAPITAL 181 COG CONTINGENCY FUND 69 COG BUILDING CAPITAL 73 PARKS AND RECREATION (CRPR) OPERATING 187 INSURANCE RESERVE FUND 77 CRPR CAPITAL EQUIPMENT 207 UNEMPLOYMENT FUND 81 CRPR AQUATICS PROGRAM 213 CRPR AQUATICS CAPITAL 219 OFFICE OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT 83 CRPR ACTIVE ADULT CENTER 227 EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT CONTINGENCY FUND 93 CRPR MILLBROOK MARSH NATURE CENTER 239 CRPR MILLBROOK MARSH NATURE CENTER CAPITAL 251 CODE ADMINISTRATION OVERALL AGENCY 95 CRPR REGIONAL PARKS CAPITAL 259 CODE NEW CONSTRUCTION PROGRAM 111 CODE EXISTING STRUCTURES PROGRAM 119 CODE CAPITAL 127
GENERAL FORUM MEMBERS 2019
CHAIR: Steve Miller, Ferguson Township VICE-CHAIR: George Downsbrough, Jr., Patton Township
COLLEGE TOWNSHIP COUNCIL FERGUSON TOWNSHIP SUPERVISORS HALFMOON TOWNSHIP SUPERVISORS
Steve Lyncha, Chair Steve Miller, Chair Danelle Del Corso, Chair L. Eric Bernier Laura Dininni Patti Hartle Anthony Fragola Richard Killian Barbara Spencer D. Richard Francke Lisa Strickland Mark Stevenson Carla Stilson Ford Stryker Bob Strouse
HARRIS TOWNSHIP SUPERVISORS PATTON TOWNSHIP SUPERVISORS STATE COLLEGE BOROUGH COUNCIL
Charles “Bud” Graham, Chair George Downsbrough, Jr., Chair Evan Myers, President Dennis Hameister Elliot Abrams Jesse Barlow Frank Harden Jessica Buckland David Brown Bruce Lord Dan Treviño Cathy Dauler Nigel Wilson Betsy Whitman Janet Engeman Theresa Lafer Dan Murphy Mayor: Don Hahn
THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY STATE COLLEGE AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT
Charima Young Gretchen Brandt
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CENTRE REGION COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS Agency Contact List 2643 Gateway Drive State College, PA 16801-3885 Website: www.crcog.net
ADMINISTRATION – 231-3077 PARKS & RECREATION – 231-3071 Jim Steff, Executive Director Pam Salokangas, Director [email protected] [email protected] Scott Binkley, Office Manager Jada Light, Office Manager [email protected] [email protected] Rebecca Petitt, Human Resources Officer [email protected] PLANNING – 231-3050 Joe Viglione, Finance Director Jim May, Director [email protected] [email protected] Tom Zilla, Principal Transportation Planner CODE ADMINISTRATION – 231-3056 [email protected] Walt Schneider, Director Marcella Bell, Office Manager [email protected] [email protected] Tammy Strouse, Office Manager [email protected] REFUSE & RECYCLING PROGRAM – 234-7198 Darlene Chivers, Acting Administrator EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT – 235-7838 [email protected] Shawn Kauffman, Emergency Management Coordinator [email protected] SCHLOW LIBRARY – 235-7814 (211 S. Allen St.) Carolyn Irvin, Office Manager Cathi Alloway, Director [email protected] [email protected] DJ Lilly, Office Manager FIRE PROTECTION – 237-4127 (400 W. Beaver Ave.) [email protected] Steve Bair, Director [email protected] Carolyn Irvin, Office Manager [email protected]
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Executive Director’s Letter 2020 Program Plan Overview
1969 COG Articles of Agreement “By joining together, we realized that our individual and common governmental destinies rest with the interdependent actions of the local governments. This voluntary association which we have formed is designed to achieve closer cooperation since it represents an organization in which the members seek by, mutual agreement, to solve mutual problems for mutual benefit, and is not a new layer of government nor a super-government.”
July 17, 2019
Dear Members of the General Forum,
The Agency Directors and I are pleased to present the Centre Region Council of Governments (COG) 2020 Program Plan to the General Forum for its review, comment, and referral to the six Centre Region municipalities. The COG Human Resources Committee discussed personnel changes and compensation policies during its May 1, 2019 meeting. Program Plan proposals for the Codes, Fire, and Emergency Management Agencies were reviewed by the COG Public Safety Committee during its June 11, 2019 meeting. In addition, the Library Board reviewed the two library sections of the Program Plan. The Finance Committee considered the entire Program Plan during its July 11, 2019 meeting. The committee’s comments are incorporated into this document.
The idea for a Program Plan was suggested by the Finance Committee in 2001. The document is intended to provide the General Forum with an explanation of each regional program’s history, services, current issues, mid-year financial status, and proposed programmatic and financial changes for 2020. By making this information available to the municipalities early in the budget process, elected officials can be both engaged in and knowledgeable about the COG. The presentation of the Program Plan in July of each year gives municipal officials additional time to consider the proposals, ask questions, and offer comments or suggest alternatives.
Why COG…
The COG was created to lower the costs of government-provided services by eliminating or reducing duplication and achieving economics of scale. Most Pennsylvania communities fund separate and distinct fire agencies, code departments, emergency management coordinators, park and recreations programs, and have individualized comprehensive plans for guiding future land development. If one
2020 Program Plan – Executive Director’s Letter 8 considers the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as a whole, duplicating these services directly increases the cost of government for the taxpayer, is confusing to the residents, and may lessen the quality of those services. In addition, many of the major problems confronting local governments are truly regional in nature. Land use planning, protection of the natural environment, and emergency preparedness planning typically span across municipal boundaries and can only be meaningfully addressed at the regional level. For other regional programs - fire protection, parks and recreation, refuse/recycling collection, and library services - because expenses are shared among multiple municipalities, the COG is typically able to provide the service at a lower per resident cost than many other communities.
A key challenge for Pennsylvania’s 2,651 municipal government is how to effectively and efficiently combine local self-government with the cooperative partnerships that are capable of meeting residents’ service delivery expectations and their pocketbooks. By sharing services and coordinating planning efforts, municipalities that cooperate with neighboring communities can give residents more bang for their buck.
Some of the notable accomplishments achieved by the Centre Region COG since the beginning of the year include: • As of June 14, 2019, the Regional Fire Protection Program responded to 487 incidents compared to 609 calls at this same point in 2018. • The Centre Region Code Administration (CRCA) as of May 31, 2019, reviewed plans and performed building inspection on $205 million in new construction projects compared to $114 million in 2018 which was the highest annual level on record. • Working with a consulting team, the Steering Committee has made significant progress in drafting sections of the Parks and Recreation Regional Comprehensive Plan. Work accomplished to date includes; conducting an electronic and randomized mail survey to identify the residents’ attitudes, holding a well-attended public meeting, community-wide survey, conducting site assessments of every facility maintained by the Parks Agency and benchmarking the costs and performance of the Agency with other similar organizations. • Significant progress was made on the planning for Whitehall Road Regional Park. A land development plan was submitted to Ferguson Township and should be approved later in the year. • After 35 years of service, the Executive Director announced his intent to retire on April 3, 2020. The General Forum asked the Executive Committee to organize a job search and a Recruitment and Screening Committee has been appointed. The members are: Adam Brumbaugh, Jessica Buckland, Tom Fountaine, Dave Pribulka, Bob Strouse, and Nigel Wilson. The Committee was authorized to hire a consultant to coordinate the process as it deems necessary.
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• The Human Resources Committee drafted policies for providing public comments at General Forum meetings and for meeting etiquette. Both proposals were approved by the General Forum. • The General Forum established a Working Group to work with a consultant to identify and propose a future organizational model for the Regional Fire Protection Program. Thus far, the Committee has met twice and have prepared a draft scope of work for the project. The members are: 1. State College Borough Dan Murphy 2. College Township Anthony Fragola College Township (Alternate) Rich Francke College Township (Alternate) Carla Stilson 3. Ferguson Township Laura Dininni 4. Halfmoon Township Mark Stevenson Halfmoon Township (Alternate) Bob Strouse 5. Harris Township Bud Graham 6. Patton Township Dan Treviño 7. Penn State University Charles Noffsinger 8. Centre Region Police Chiefs Chris Albright 9. Alpha Fire Company Jason Troup 10. Alpha Fire Company Shawn Kauffman 11. Centre Region COG (Fire) Steve Bair 12. Centre Region COG (Fire) Rusty Schreiner
• The General Forum established a Working Group to participate in the investigation of the regional Solar Power Purchase Agreement (SPPA). The Group’s first meeting was held on June 26, 2019. The members are:
1. Centre County Government Margaret Gray 2. Centre Region COG Peter Buckland, Chair 3. CC Refuse and Recycling Authority Ted Onufrak 4. College Township John Franek 5. College Township Water Authority Adam Brumbaugh 6. Ferguson Township Eric Enderson 7. Halfmoon Township Bob Strouse
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8. Harris Township Dennis Hameister 9. Patton Township Betsy Whitman 10. State College Borough Jesse Barlow 11/12. State College Area School District* Gretchen Brandt, Vice Chair Jim Leous Randy Brown 13. State College Borough Water Authority Jason Grottini
*two voting members
• Following the unexpected February 2019 announcement by Governor Tom Wolf, State Senator Jake Corman, State Representative Kerry Benninghoff, and PennDOT that $20 million was being allocated for the Preliminary Engineering (PE) phase of the State College Area Connector (SCAC) project (Route 322/144/45 Corridors), the Centre County Metropolitan Planning Organization (CCMPO) worked with PennDOT to organize and hold a 30-day public comment period and public meeting in May 2019 to solicit input about adding the funding to the 2019-2022 Centre County Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). The CCMPO is expected to formally add the funding to the 2019-2022 TIP in June 2019. • Beginning in early 2019, the CRPA staff helped plan over 30 bicycle-related activities that were implemented during May 2019 as part of National Bike Month. Activities such as bike education classes sponsored by the Centre Region Parks and Recreation Agency and local bike shops; casual and recreational rides; special rides dedicated to specific themes; bike safety equipment giveaways; and education and encouragement events in partnership with local bike shops and restaurants will increase the probability of the Centre Region obtaining a Silver-level Bicycle Friendly Community designation from the League of American Bicyclists in 2020. • After many delays relating to right of ways and utility pole connections, the KINBER high fiber-optic system was extended to the COG building. This change will result in lower internet costs, fewer lag times during busy periods, and faster bandwidth speeds. This COG project is complete. • Centre Region Code Administration implemented a Sewage Enforcement Officer (SEO) Program for College, Ferguson, Halfmoon Townships and State College Borough. Six CRCA inspection staff earned their SEO certifications through a week- long program. • A comprehensive update of the COG Personnel Policy Handbook was endorsed by the Human Resources Committee and approved by the General Forum. Two training programs on the new Handbook were provided to supervisory staff.
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• In 2019, the Ad Hoc Facilities Committee working with COG staff have developed a proposal to address the COG Building’s office space needs, storage limitations, and inadequate parking. In part, it is recommended that the Parks and Recreation Agency Office be moved to another nearby building and that the Centre Region Code Administration move into the space vacated by Parks and Recreation.
LONGER TERM TRENDS AFFECTING FUTURE BUDGETS
Looking ahead to the next five years the Executive Director anticipates the following six trends will impact the COG Budget:
Trend 1: There will continue to be robust construction growth. During the last four years over $1 billion in new construction has occurred in the Centre Region municipalities and Bellefonte Borough. During the first six months of 2019, the value of new construction totaled $234 million compared to $168 million in 2018 and $113 million in 2017. Given the building plans on file in the Code Agency and the land development plans under consideration by the municipalities, new building construction will likely remain robust for at least the next three to five years. Possible implications for COG:
• As available land zoned for development diminishes there may be increased pressure from developers to expand the regional growth boundary/sewer service area. By way of example in early 2019 Halfmoon and Harris Townships Board of Supervisors considered proposals to expand the regional growth boundary in their municipalities. Both Board of Supervisors decided not to advance these requests. • More and larger buildings for the fire company to protect thereby increasing the workload for volunteers. • Calls for emergency medical services are likely to increase. • As the non-student population grows the demands for park and library services may rise.
Trend 2: The age demographics of the Centre Region will continue to change. Over the past 15 years, the Centre Region has experienced a considerable increase in its senior population. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, there were 8,187 persons aged 60 or older living in the Centre Region at that time. Based on the 2012-2016 American Community Survey, the number of persons aged 60 and over had increased to approximately 13,528 by 2016, which represents an overall increase of approximately 61.9%.
2000 Census 2010 Census 2017 Estimate Population Age 60 years and over 8,187 10,958 13,765 (25.6% increase in the last 7 years)
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Growth of the population within this age range has occurred as a result of an overall aging population as well as in-migration. Growth in this age cohort has also occurred in each municipality but at varying degrees. The Centre Region’s 60 and overpopulation grew at a higher rate than that of Centre County, Pennsylvania, and the nation during this time period. There are four implications for COG:
1) The types of facilities needed, and programs offered by the Parks and Recreation Agency could be affected. 2) The demand for new “active adult” housing for residents who relocate to the area will remain high. 3) Existing residents will increasingly want to “age in place” increasing the need for enough housing for mobility-challenged residents, improved public transport, and barrier-free pedestrian connectivity from housing to service activities in the community. 4) The potential resident pool for volunteer firefighters will not grow in proportion to the increasing population in the Centre Region.
Trend 3: Revenues from state and federal government will continue to be uncertain over time. State and federal budgets emerge from a political decision-making process that brings a high degree of uncertainty about the allocation of funds to local governments.
Trend 4: COG services will be requested more frequently by non-Centre Region municipalities’ and residents. Some of the rural areas remote from the State College/Bellefonte corridor are declining and this may affect the demand for COG services. A Wall Street Journal article noted that by many key measure’s rural areas “now rank the worst among the four major U.S. population groupings (the others are big cities, suburbs, and medium to small metro areas)”. Continued economic pressures, aging populations, and other demographic shifts affecting rural Centre and surrounding counties may in the future affect responses by Alpha Fire Company. Although mutual aid responses declined in 2017, the three and five-year averages for mutual aid to other companies continues to rise. Mutual aid response outside the Fire Company’s service area during 2018 increased by 21% from the 2017 requests. Some remote fire companies are dealing with staffing and fiscal pressures and are increasingly relying on mutual assistance provided by other fire companies. Over time providing services to increasing numbers of individuals who live outside the Centre Region will spread COG staff and resources too thin in some program areas. This same pattern is true for Centre LifeLink and the emergency medical services it provides.
Trend 5: COG’s involvement in environmental issues will increase. Awareness plus COG involvement and support of municipal efforts in environmental issues will increase. Topics such as water source protection, energy conservation, development of alternative energy sources, protection of natural areas, stormwater management, and partnerships with environmental groups are likely to become integral to the regional dialogue. Possible implications for COG: The work objectives and staffing of the COG’s Planning Agency and the Office of Administration may be affected. This position has allowed the Planning Agency to begin compiling information for a greenhouse gas
2020 Program Plan – Executive Director’s Letter 13 emission inventory and in the future draft a climate action plan. Looking ahead, building codes and Code Agency education programs that encourage “green” construction will become more of a focus.
Trend 6: Fire protection service is likely to become more expensive. As the Fire Director reported to the Public Safety Committee the “writing is on the wall” regarding the prospect of higher costs for fire protection services. Across Pennsylvania, most volunteer fire companies have experienced a decline in membership. The Alpha Fire Company is in better shape than many companies, but the number of community volunteers is not increasing at a rate commensurate with the higher call volumes. In 2019, the General Forum initiated the first steps to conduct a study to propose a future organizational model for the regional fire protection program. Looking ahead to 2021 and 2022 additional staff may be proposed. The estimated compensation and benefits cost for one position is about $80,000.
WHERE ARE WE NOW WITH THE 2019 BUDGET
For the period of January 1 to June 30, 2019, most Agency expenditures and revenues were consistent with the projections contained in their 2019 budgets with the following notable variations from the estimated budgets:
Revenues: • Interest Income – Due to higher interest rates and improved cash management policies, interest income for the first five months of the year for all COG agencies has increased by 99.61% growing from $46,881 (2018) to $93,582 (2019). • Code Agency – New Construction Program: Permit revenue for the New Construction Program was within the anticipated amounts and totaled $1,288,327 as of May 31, 2019, compared to $794,693 for the same time period in 2018. The revenue projected for all of 2019 is $1,545,000 The increase occurred despite an 8% reduction in the cost of a new construction permit from 2018 to 2019. • Library Agency – Community support for Schlow Library has been notable in 2019. $68,723 (including prize money) was raised in the May "Centre Gives" community fund drive. This is the highest total out of the 179 organizations participating in the event. In addition, for the first year since 2008, state aid to the Library may increase by approximately $30,000. • Parks and Recreation Agency – The following grants and donations have been committed to the Whitehall Road Regional Park project so far this year:
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Secured Grants: $300,000 – PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources – Whitehall Road Regional Park (WRRP) Playground $20,000 – USA Football – WRRP LED Sports Field Lighting $6,000 – Central PA Convention & Visitors Bureau – GeoTrail Program (NEW) $5,000 – Autism Opportunities Network – WRRP Playground $5,000 – Autism Speaks – WRRP Playground In-Kind Value – National Recreation and Park Association - Instructor Training Grants for a Senior Health & Wellness Program
Tentatively Secured Donations: $193,750 – Central PA Convention & Visitors Bureau – WRRP LED Sports Field Lighting (via priority use agreement)
Secured Donations: $25,000 – Fulton Bank – WRRP LED Sports Field Lighting
Unexpected Expenditures: Overall for the first six months of 2019, there were very few “surprise” expenditures for the COG Agencies. Identified below are two budget amendments (one approved by the General Forum and the second by the Finance Committee) as well as other unexpected expenditure changes: • Millbrook Marsh Nature Center Capital Budget – During its March 25, 2019 meeting the General Forum approved the following motion that authorized a budget amendment as to provide funding to repair the metal roof of the barn that is leaking in multiple locations: “That the General Forum, as recommended by the Finance Committee, approve a $82,415 budget amendment to the Millbrook Marsh Nature Center Capital Budget to finance the repair of the barn roof and a Memorandum of Understanding between the Centre Region COG and the Centre Region Parks and Recreation Authority identifying the terms of the $80,000 loan to be repaid from Nature Center’s Capital Budget over a five year period at an annualized interest rate of 3%.”
• Aquatics – During its March 14, 2019 meeting the Finance Committee approved an amendment to the 2019 Pools Capital Budget as to allow the Parks and Recreation Director to use $11,100 to replace the control systems at Park Forest Pool.
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• Planning – Because of staff turnover expenditures for employee compensation and benefits will be less than anticipated. This will result in a higher fund balance going into the 2020 budget year than would normally be the case.
• Library – Cracks within the pillars of the Library’s interior parking area were recently discovered and $8,000 in emergency repairs were authorized by the Executive Director.
Looking ahead to the next six months, there may be recommended changes to the Centre Region Parks and Recreation and Centre Region Code Administration Budgets. The Ad Hoc Facilitates Committee is exploring a two-part solution to address office space and parking problems at the COG building. The first component is that Centre Region Parks and Recreation’s administrative office be moved to a rented commercial property near the COG office. The second component is the Centre Region Code Administration Agency assume responsibility for space vacated by the Parks and Recreation Agency.
At the June Facilities Committee meeting, there was discussion on relocating the Parks office to a 3,877 sq. foot suite on Sandy Drive. The property’s broker attended the meeting and answered questions from the Committee. A site tour was held and attended by Committee members, the COG chair, COG staff, and Borough IT staff. Currently, staff is developing potential lease terms, the related moving costs, and the associated capital costs (such as remodeling, furniture, IT hardware/software, etc.).
This housing concept has been shared with the Finance and Executive Committees with no “red flag” issues being raised. During its July 2 meeting, the Ad Hoc Facilities Committee reviewed a financial analysis, draft lease, and term of lease options. The Committee reached a consensus about recommending a seven-year lease agreement to the General Forum for its approval. Building rent would not be due until a certificate of occupancy is issued. This may be in November/December of 2019.
Expenditures Authorized But Have Not Yet Occurred: • Regional Parks Capital Budget – $2,000,000 is budgeted to fund a portion of the costs for the development of Whitehall Road Regional Park. Actual expenditures will be significantly less and will be limited to professional design and engineering services associated with preparing a land development plan and bidding specifications. No construction funds will be expended in 2019. Looking ahead, it is hoped that the land development plan will be approved later this year and that construction can begin in late spring 2020. • COG Contingency Budget – During its May 28, 2019 meeting the General Forum authorized the Screening and Recruitment Committee to expend funds, as it deems necessary, from the COG Contingency Budget ($27,110) in order to hire a consultant to coordinate the recruitment process for the next COG Executive Director and to pay for interview expenses. An
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additional $35,000 is proposed in the 2020 Office of Administration budget to fund moving and temporary housing costs for the new Executive Director as well as other transition expenses. • COG Building Capital Budget – The 2019 budget contained $50,000 to conduct a retro-commissioning of COG owned and COG-related facilities beginning with the COG building. The Ad Hoc Facilities Committee is developing a scope of work at the present time and the hope is that a Request for Proposal will be distributed this summer. • Office of Administration IT Study – The 2019 Budget includes $20,000 to prepare a five-year information technology plan for the COG. These funds were carried forward from the 2018 budget. Because of the staff time limitations, this project will not begin in 2019. Hopefully, after the new Executive Director is aboard a Request for Qualifications can be prepared for consulting services to prepare the plan.
Table of COG payments for municipal services: While the COG provides services to the municipalities, the COG also purchases services from the municipalities. The following table identifies those areas where the COG receives services or rents space from the municipalities:
Item Payee Annual Amount Paid Rent for COG Building All six municipalities $185,195 Rental for Code/Fire Equipment storage Ferguson Township $10,000 Shared custodial for COG building Ferguson Township $34,408 IT Services State College Borough $86,900 Custodial and Facilities Management for Library State College Borough $135,960 Risk and Pension Management State College Borough $18,500 Total $470,963
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FACTORS THAT MAY IMPACT THE 2020 BUDGET
Costs for many COG programs are allocated according to the COG funding formula. It has three factors that are equally weighted – population, assessed property value and earned income tax base. These factors change from year to year as new buildings are constructed, wage rates increase/decrease, and people move into the municipalities. These formula changes mean that even if the total amount of the COG budget stayed the same, municipal contributions to the COG will increase or decrease (in absolute or relative terms) depending on how the factors shift among the municipalities.
Comparison of COG Formula Since 1973
Municipality 1973 Formula* 2020 Formula State College Borough 52.0% 22.99% College Township 13.6% 16.02%
Ferguson Township 15.7% 26.08% Halfmoon Township 1.0% 4.27% Harris Township 7.10% 9.57%
Patton Township 10.6% 21.07% *Although the COG was established in 1969 the first budget on record is for 1973
Other factors that may impact the budget are: • An increase in the State of Pennsylvania’s 2006 Minimum Wage Act could affect both the Schlow Memorial Library and Centre Region Parks and Recreation’s budgets. The current rate is $7.25 and at the time this Program Plan is being produced, an increase in the minimum wage of $12.00 to $15.00 is being discussed by a divided state legislature. • State and Federal budgets may reduce grants and other funding assistance made directly to COG or to entities that have financial connections (for instance – county government) to the COG. As the Program Plan is being prepared state and federal budgets are being reviewed by their respective legislative bodies. • Apart from the library and its allocation of state aid, the COG Agencies are not reliant on direct state or federal funding. The library has suffered greatly because of diminished state and district aid to libraries. The amount of this assistance is projected to increase by approximately $30,000 for the upcoming fiscal year. However, it will remain at 30% less than its peak in 2008. In
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addition, there is no inflation factor for state aid. State aid losses have caused the Schlow Centre Region Library to reduce its hours of operation and part-time staffing in 2014 and 2016. Other than the library’s budget, other agency budgets are vulnerable in three ways to a reduction in state and federal funding: ➢ A reduction in state and federal funding to Centre County government could impact the county’s ability and willingness to provide financial support to Schlow Centre Region Library ($159,500), the Active Adult Center ($109,853), the CCMPO ($126,001), and the Centre Regional Planning Agency ($131,500). ➢ A reduction in state and federal governments funding for state programs could impact the grant funding that is available for parks capital, fire protection, or land use planning projects. ➢ Any reduction in state aid that is used to offset pension costs for COG employees would result in higher employer contribution costs for COG. • Medical insurance costs are likely to increase but the actual premium amounts will not be known until late September/October. However, during the last five years, the average percentage increase has been 7%. The annual premium for medical insurance is approximately $1,400,000. This expense is paid by the employer, employee contributions, and by a transfer from a COG Insurance Reserve Fund (the 2019 transfer from the Insurance Reserve Funds to offset premiums is budgeted to be $195,000). To help control costs, COG employees have a co-pay and a deductible threshold. Many COG employees also participate in the Wellness Program, which stresses the importance of taking care of oneself. In addition, at the current time, 20 employees waive the health insurance coverage, which saves the COG over $350,000 per year. • COG payments for the defined benefit pension plan in 2020 may decrease because of the receipt of state aid. The COG’s defined benefit pension program that is administered through the State College Borough is in good fiscal condition. Over several decades, it has been well funded through employer, employee, and state aid contributions. Additionally, the plan is evaluated on a regular basis and when adjustments are needed, Borough Council and the General Forum have implemented them. As a result, COG has avoided the great unfunded liabilities that affect many plans. The pension plan is also funded by investment returns which can be volatile over a short-term basis. • Employee compensation costs, COG’s largest operating expense, will increase. According to the COG’s Compensation Plan, the pay schedule is to be annually revised by the average change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) during the last 12 months ending June 30, 2019. In addition, according to the COG Compensation Plan, Agency Directors are to set aside 1.5% of their agency’s gross compensation to distribute as merit adjustments or one-time achievement awards. The CPI-U the COG will use to calculate the annual adjustment to the 2020 pay plan will be 2.1%.
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PRELIMINARY 2020 AGENCY BUDGET PROPOSALS
Looking forward to 2020 and beyond, the Agency Directors offer the following proposals for the municipalities to review and provide comments on. These recommendations were considered by the COG Finance Committee during its July 11, 2019 meeting. Municipal comments will be compiled and shared with the Finance Committee and Agency Directors and will be used to guide the preparation of the 2020 COG Detailed Budget.
The following individual Agency Program Plan elements begin with either “Should” or “Note”. “Should” questions raise policy issues that need municipal guidance. “Note” statements report on a change outside the control of COG or explain a pending change in administrative practices. Comments are welcomed for either type of Program Plan element; however, the “Should” questions are the issues that require resolution prior to the preparation of the 2020 Agency Budgets.
Office of Administration Budget • Should oversight for the position of Refuse and Recycling Administrator be transferred from the Office of Administration to the Centre Region Planning Agency (CRPA)? It is proposed that the employee would be a direct report to the Sustainability Planner as a supplemental duty. This change is recommended to provide continuity to the refuse/recycling program and to strengthen the CRPA’s sustainability efforts. There will be no financial impact on the municipalities except that their contributions to the CRPA will decrease and for the Office of Administration they will increase, by roughly equal amounts. • Should the position of full-time COG Facilities Coordinator be established within the COG Office of Administration and filled in mid-2020 after the new Executive Director has started? The COG staff is responsible for maintaining approximately $30 million in facility assets (buildings, pools, grounds). This does not include the three fire stations that are maintained by the COG but owned by the host municipality. Currently, these assets are managed by the various Agency Directors or their Supervisory staff as an added duty. The COG does not have specialized staff to handle large capital items such as boiler repairs, malfunctioning parking control devices, roof replacements, and failed HVAC systems. There is a recognized need for this position among COG management staff, Ad Hoc COG Facilities Committee, and the Finance Committee. The estimated approximate six-month compensation and benefit-cost for the position is $45,000 to $50,000. • Should $35,000 be designated for expenses relating to the hiring of the Executive Director? These expenses may include: relocation/temporary housing costs ($25,000) for the new Executive Director, consulting services that are provided during 2020 ($5,000), and interview and transition expenses ($5,000).
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• Should funds be budgeted to pay for expenses relating to the investigation of the desirability and feasibility of twelve public entities (including the COG) entering into a Solar Power Purchase Agreement (SPPA) for the purpose of reducing energy costs and promoting the use of sustainable energy sources? During its March 25, 2019 meeting the General Forum authorized COG Staff to participate in a Working Group to develop a joint request for qualification, information, and perhaps proposals for consulting services to evaluate the implementation of a SPPA in our area. The Working Group consists of twelve entities, of which COG is a member. Looking ahead to 2020 there may be expenses relating to the project, for example – legal expenses, advertising costs, and consulting fees. The Working Group held its first meeting on June 26, 2019, so it is too early in the study process to identify what those expenses may be. More information should be available when the Detailed Budget is presented to the Finance Committee in September. • Note: The recently appointed COG Recruitment and Screening Committee may recommend that there be a period of overlap between the current and new Executive Director during which the two individuals will work together. At this early point, a minimum of one month is proposed so that the new Executive Director can have experience with a complete meeting cycle for the General Forum and its Standing and Special Committees.
Office of Administration – Regional Refuse and Recycling Program Budget No municipal contributions are requested for the Regional Refuse and Recycling Budget. • Note: As identified in the Office of Administration section, the Program Plan recommends transferring the oversight of the Refuse and Recycling Program from the Office of Administration to the Centre Region Planning Agency.
Office of Administration – COG Building Capital Budget • Should $33,000 be budgeted to replace 5-6 HVAC units in the COG Building? Staff is intending to replace the units over the course of 4 years to spread out the cost over four years with a focus on replacing the poorly functioning units first. The HVAC units are original to the COG Building (built in 2003) and are beginning to reach the end of their useful life. Staff is hoping the retro-commissioning of the COG building planned to be undertaken in 2019 will provide additional insights as to the estimated remaining useful life of these units. • Should $25,000 be budgeted to replace the backup server in the COG building as recommended by the State College Borough IT staff? The current backup server was purchased in 2011 and replacement has been delayed for three years due to the pending outcome of the decision regarding how to connect to the KINBER fiber network.
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Office of Administration – Insurance Reserve Budget No municipal contributions are requested for the Insurance Reserve Budget. This budget serves as a depository for the receipt and expenditure of excess funds received from the Pennsylvania Municipal Health Insurance Cooperative (PMHIC) that occurs when employee health insurance premiums are less than the expenses paid. • Note: Because this budget is based on health care costs of the COG staff and their families over the course of the premium year, the amount of the reimbursement can vary widely. Because of these annual fluctuations, PMHIC reimbursements have historically not been budgeted. However, the pattern is that the COG receives a reimbursement in most years. To capture this trend, the 2020 Budget will assume that the COG will receive a $132,000 reimbursement, $27,000 higher than assumed for the 2019 Budget. The $132,000 estimate is based on the average reimbursement for the last seven years with the highest and lowest years removed. The approach to calculating this estimate was endorsed by the Finance Committee.
Centre Region Code Administration (CRCA) – New Construction Program Budget No municipal contributions are requested for the CRCA New Construction Budget. • Note: The Ad Hoc COG Facilities Committee may recommend at the July/August General Forum meeting that the CRCA offices be expanded into the area currently used by the Centre Region Parks and Recreation Agency. If that proposal is approved, then the rental and utility costs paid by the CRCA will increase because it is using more office space. • Note: No personnel changes are proposed for 2020. Expenditures other than for office space are expected to remind flat. • Note: Staff will monitor the fund balance and will discuss possible adjustments to the fee multiplier that determines the cost of a building permit with the Public Safety Committee and Finance Committee as part of the budget process.
Centre Region Code Administration – Existing Structures Program Budget No municipal contributions are requested for the CRCA Existing Structures Budget. • Should the four Rental Housing Inspectors be promoted to Commercial Fire Inspectors? It is proposed that the four Existing Housing Inspectors would be advanced to Fire Inspectors positions providing they earn the necessary certifications within the next two years? This change will improve the efficiency of the inspection process by eliminating the need to send both Rental Housing Inspectors and Commercial Fire Inspector to a mixed-use property. It will also address issues with call-out procedures for work occurring outside of regular working hours. The estimated cost is $39,000.
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• Should a new Fire Inspector position be added to the Existing Structures staff to allow the program to keep pace with the increasing number of rental and commercial properties being constructed in the Centre Region? The last new position was filled on January 1, 2016. The estimated compensation and benefit-cost are about $85,618 assuming family medical coverage. • Note: Staff will monitor the fund balance, revenues, and expenses for the Existing Structures Program and will discuss possible adjustments, if any, to the fee schedule with the Public Safety Committee and Finance Committee as part of the budget process.
Centre Region Code Administration (CRCA) – Capital Budget No municipal contributions are requested for the CRCA Capital Budget. Proposed capital expenditures for 2020 include: • Should one Ford Escape be replaced? The Ford Escape used for the New Construction Program is being recommended for replacement. The vehicle is proposed to be replaced with a new Ford Escape as approved in the 2020 Detail and Summary Budget process. The estimated cost is $26,500. • Should two Ford Escapes used by fire inspection staff in the Existing Structures Program be replaced with two new Ford Escapes? The agency is requesting the purchase of two new Ford Escapes as approved in the 2020 Detail and Summary Budget process. The estimated cost is $53,000 ($26,500 each). • Should one Ford Escape used in the New Construction Program be replaced with a new F-150 pickup truck for use in the new construction program? The change in vehicle type is isolated to this vehicle replacement and is due to the new SEO program and the need to transport longer equipment into the field for the SEO site investigations and inspections. The estimated cost is $32,000. • Should two new Ford Escapes be added to the fleet? These vehicles would be assigned to the new Commercial Fire Inspector and the Code Services Manager. The estimated cost is $53,000. • Should a Ford Explorer be added to the fleet? The vehicle would be used by the CRCA Agency Director and to transport groups of employees to training program and events. The estimated cost is $40,000. • Should five radios be replaced and five additional radio be purchased for use with the existing structures program? In addition, the replacement of the four existing pagers used by the existing fire inspectors and purchase an additional six pagers for use with the existing structures on-call program. The estimated cost is $17,500. • Note: Should the proposal be approved to expand the CRCA offices into the office that would be vacated by the Parks and Recreation Agency, should it move to another building then the CRCA could incur renovation expenses to convert the Parks
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office space into office space for the Code Agency. This CRCA paid expense may total $250,000 and would include the following items. At this point in the planning process it is not definitely known if this expense could incur in 2019 or 2020: ✓ Painting ✓ Upgrading most lighting fixtures to more energy-efficient LED fixtures ✓ Replacement of the storefront wall section to a more energy-efficient storefront system ✓ Conversion of the previous parks conference room back to a conference room ✓ Etching of the exterior suite doors for the building to include agency names for better customer service ✓ Purchase of furniture and equipment for the new space and for the reorganization of several areas in Suite 2 (Codes) to accommodate the move • Note: The space in Suite 4 (Planning) that has been occupied by the Centre Region Code Administration staff this year may revert to the Planning Agency in 2020. The space may be used by the Refuse and Recycling Administrator. Rental and utility costs for this space would be paid for by the Refuse and Recycling Program and not by municipal funds. This change is only possible if the Parks and Recreation Agency is moved to another facility and the Code Agency expands into the space vacated by Parks and Recreation. If this would occur, then the three Code Agency employees that work in the planning suite would be relocated to the expanded area for Code staff in the COG Building.
Schlow Centre Region Library – Operating Budget • Should the hourly pay rates for Library Pages be increased? Schlow Library has 10-12 part-time pages, most of those being students, who shelve books and perform additional collection and public service tasks at a total annual cost of $68,000. There is high turnover due to better part-time pay at nearby employers, so the Library proposes a raise in the starting page wage from $9.00 to $9.50/hour, and a tiered pay increase schedule which annually rewards longevity beyond the annual COG COLA and merit raises. Estimated costs are given as a range ($13,000-$16,000 increase) because the seniority of pages still employed on Jan. 1, 2020, is unknown. This proposal was endorsed by the COG Human Resources Committee. • Should $18,000 be appropriated to update the Library’s strategic plan that ends in 2019? The 2020 planning process is scheduled to be more intensive than the 2016 in-house effort, incorporating more community input, and addressing community changes and an aging building. Planning work with a consultant is estimated to be $18,000. • Should expenditures for book purchases increase? The amount of the increase is not known at this time and will vary in accordance with other changes in the library’s budget. The patrons’ top strategic plan priority is to increase spending on library materials. The state standard expects 12% of expenditures to be used for collections, and Schlow Library has been under or right
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at that percentage in recent years. The high cost of e-books and inflationary prices have reduced the number of new titles purchased annually, with the Library unable to meet community demand. • Note: 2020 financial aid from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is expected to increase by approximately $30,000 from its current amount of $206,999. The Centre County government’s contribution is expected to remain unchanged at $159,500. • Note: As state and county funding support remains unchanged or diminishes, community contributions are expected to have an increasingly important role in the library’s budget. By way of example, 2018 totaled $288,000 compared to $68,000 for 2008. Community donations have played a critical role in replacing decreasing state revenues. • Note: Since 2011, program expenses for speakers and materials have been charged to designated gifts but will be reinstated in the 2020 budget as accounting line items. There will be no change in the level of spending, simply a line item reallocation. • Note: With the shift from printed to electronic materials the income from overdue fines will continue to decrease in 2020.
Schlow Centre Region Library – Capital Budget • Note: Except for a cost of living adjustment, no change in the $80,000 level of municipal contributions to the Library Capital Budget is proposed for 2020. Many of these proposals were identified in the facilities assessment report that was conducted in 2017 and shared with the General Forum. All the below proposals are included in the 2020-2024 Capital Improvement Plan: ➢ Update and commission the HVAC system. The facility study recommended a full HVAC commissioning, which includes testing, inspection, and balancing, for the 15-year-old building. The estimated cost is $55,000. ➢ Upgrade the Digital Branch. The library’s popular website, which includes patron account information, the catalog of materials, event calendar and more, requires a major overhaul every 3 years for security and easy, seamless service. The estimated cost is $150,000. ➢ Replace public computing software. The system which times and secures public computers needs to be replaced. The estimated cost is $15,000. ➢ Replace computers and network equipment used by staff. These are regularly scheduled replacements of technology equipment as projected in a technology plan. The estimated cost is $10,000. ➢ Replace the heavily used public furniture. Many pieces remain that are 15 years old and are subject to replacement as they wear beyond repair. The estimated cost is $10,000.
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➢ Replace second-floor lighting fixtures. Recommended in the facility study for improved energy efficiency, lights will be replaced in concert with the 2019-20 renovation of the upper level. The estimated cost is $40,000. ➢ Design the second floor and replace carpeting. Changes to shelving and layout are needed due to the changing use of adult department spaces and staff offices. Replacement of the worn 15-year-old carpet is also necessary, and energy-efficient lighting will reduce energy consumption. This will be a large undertaking that involves lifting and moving existing shelving, which is labor-intensive. The estimated cost is $202,000. ➢ Loading Dock Ramp Replacement ($35,500). The dock concrete is crumbling and deteriorating. In addition, guy wires supporting a utility pole are dangerously low for those using the ramp and may require different stabilization. ➢ Interlibrary loan software ($11,000). Over 31,000 items were exchanged in 2018 between Schlow and other libraries. The library seeks efficiencies by utilizing software that would automate the search and fulfillment of requested materials.
Fire Protection Program – Operating Budget • Should funds be budgeted to retain a consultant with experience in fire services to prepare a future organizational model for the regional fire protection program? The General Forum established a Working Group to prepare a Request for Proposals for consulting services and to assist the consultant in identifying a service model that would protect people who live, work and visit the Centre Region while being affordable to the municipalities. Until the Working Group finalizes the scope of work for the Request for Proposals it is not possible to provide an accurate estimate of the consulting costs. For comparison purposes only, the consulting costs for drafting the Parks and Recreation Regional Comprehensive Plan is $75,000. An estimate for consulting costs will be included in the Detailed Budget that will be distributed to the Finance Committee in October. • Note: Except for the proposed funding for a fire study, operational expenses are expected to stay level for 2020.
Fire Protection Program – Capital Budget • Should $262,000 (approximately $131,000 each) be expended to refurbish the two fire police vehicles by buying new chassis and reusing the existing cargo boxes? An expense for fire police vehicles is anticipated in the Capital Improvement Plan for the Regional Fire Protection Program.
Emergency Management Program Budget • Should $7,500 be added to the budget to fund a Deputy Coordinator stipend as recommended by the Centre Region Emergency Management Coordinator? The part-time position would provide assistance to the Coordinator during training exercises and
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when the emergency operation center is activated. Additionally, the Deputy Coordinator would attend emergency management meetings and planning sessions that involve municipal and county officials, emergency responders, Penn State University emergency management staff and other stakeholders. Event support would include: Penn State Football, Memorial Day, Arts Fest/People’s Choice, Ag Progress Days, Patton Township Safety Fair and Lion Bash. The COG-related meeting would include; the Emergency Management Council, Public Safety Committee and the Emergency Services Group. During absences of the Coordinator, the Deputy Coordinator would be on call and monitor Centre Region incidents and activate the Emergency Operations Center as needed. • Note: Except for the proposed stipend expenditure operational expenses are expected to stay level for 2020.
Centre Regional Planning Agency (CRPA) Budget • Note: As proposed in the Office of Administration’s Program Plan, during the second quarter of 2020, it is recommended that the Regional Refuse and Recycling Program be transferred from the Office of Administration to the Centre Region Planning Agency. The full-time Refuse and Recycling Administrator would be a direct report to the Sustainability Planner. This change will ensure continuity to the Refuse and Recycling program, provide an organization fit between the Planning Agency’s sustainability efforts and the Refuse and Recycling program, and create a non-municipal revenue source for the Planning Agency. After the transfer occurs the Refuse and Recycling program would annually reimburse the Planning Agency approximately $18,400 for administrative support services. In addition, the Planning Agency would be reimbursed for the rental, utility and other expenses associated with providing office space for the Administrator. • Note: College Township will no longer receive local planning services beginning on October 1, 2019. Because of staffing changes the township will have its own municipal planner. This will result in a significant decrease in revenue and expenditures due to the Senior Planner position being eliminated from the CRPA Local Planning Program. Three municipalities, Patton, Harris, and Halfmoon Townships will now share the operating costs for the Local Planning Program. • Note: With the two previous exceptions, operational expenses are expected to stay level for 2020.
Centre County Metropolitan Planning Organization Budget • Note: Operational expenses are expected to stay level for 2020.
Parks and Recreation – Operating Budget • Should one full-time Parks Caretaker position be added at an estimated total annual compensation and benefit-cost of approximately $63,000 (assuming family medical coverage)? The position is proposed to start in April 2020, the three-month
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hiring delay would reduce the actual 2020 expense to $47,250. Although the employee’s focus would be Whitehall Road Regional Park, work would also be performed at other parks as well. • Should the hourly pay rates for seasonal staff be increased? An estimate of costs is not known at this time. • Should $10,000 be budgeted to fund expenses associated with the implementation of the Parks and Recreation Regional Comprehensive Plan? The municipal contribution could be matched by a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Because the Plan is not complete and will not be presented until later in 2019, specific use of these funds has not yet been identified. Budgeting for them now provides the General Forum with the flexibility to conduct additional studies relating the Plan's implementation should that be identified as a need. • Note: During 2019 multiple part-time employment positions were converted to two full-time maintenance positions. However, the full budgetary impact of this change on municipal contributions for the 2019 budget year was nominal because of the Agency used its fund balance to pay the higher compensation and benefit costs. However, for the 2020 budget year, because the fund balance will not be available to defray these expenses the municipal shares will likely increase. • Note: The Ad Hoc COG Facilities Committee may recommend at the July/August General Forum meeting that the CRCA offices be expanded into the area currently used by the Centre Region Parks and Recreation Agency. If that proposal is approved, then the rental and utility costs paid by the Parks and Recreation Agency will increase because of the larger office space and higher rental rate. The exact amount of the increase is unknown at this time because the terms of the lease are being negotiated. By way of a rough estimate, total costs for office space may increase by approximately $40,000.
Parks and Recreation – Capital Budget • Should the following replacement vehicles and maintenance equipment be purchased at a combined cost of $85,525 as proposed in the 2020 to 2024 Capital Improvement Plan? ➢ Replace Chevy Silverado 1500 truck. The estimated cost is approximately $26,150. ➢ Replace 2010 Toro Infield Pro (grooms softball/baseball infields). The estimated cost is approximately $27,550. ➢ Replace 2010 Toro Goundmaster (mower). The estimated cost is approximately $31,825.
Active Adult Center Budget • Note: No staffing changes are proposed, and operating expenses are expected to remain level.
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Aquatics Program – Operating Budget • Note: Expenditure items are expected to remain flat except for personnel cost adjustments. The wage adjustment for seasonal pool staff that the General Forum approved with the 2019 budget made a significant difference in the program’s ability to attract and retain staff. Thank you.
Aquatics Program – Capital Budget • Should municipal contributions to the Aquatics Capital Budget be increased from $47,500 to $60,000? The pools are approaching 10 years old, and pumps, filters, plumbing, and all mechanical devices will decline over time. At the current level of municipal contributions, staff is concerned that there will not be enough funding available in the long-term to replace the major infrastructure and equipment at the pools. With the 2020 Program Plan, staff recommends increasing the level of annual municipal contribution to $60,000 to fund the following projects: ➢ Replace the plaster lining at Park Forest Pool ($95,000). ➢ Replace the pool chemical controller at Welch Pool ($12,000). The controller at Parks Forest Pool was replaced in 2019 through a budget amendment approved by the Finance Committee. ➢ Power wash and gel coat both pools ($10,000). ➢ Refinish exterior sliding at Park Forest Pool ($10,000).
Marsh Nature Center – Operating Budget • Note: No staffing changes are proposed, and operating expenses are expected to remain level.
Marsh Nature Center – Capital Budget • Should the participating municipalities contribute a combined total of $100,000 to the cost of the Phase II addition to the Spring Creek Education Building at the Millbrook Marsh Nature Center (MMNC)? The Nature Center and its buildings are maintained and operated by the Centre Region Parks and Recreation Agency (CRPR). The proposed contribution would be requested for both the 2020 and 2021 budgets ($100,000 each year). Municipal contributions to building expansion project have been discussed for the last several years. During this dialogue, two concerns were expressed. First, the amount of the request was too high given constrained municipal budgets. And, second, the term of the Centre Region Parks and Recreation Authority (Authority)/Penn State University lease for the MMNC did not provide adequate time to depreciate the cost of the building addition and that the building would revert to the University when the lease expired.
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To address the second concern meetings were held that included University, CRPR and COG staff regarding the term of the lease. From these discussions, a proposal emerged that would extend the lease for forty years after a Certificate of Occupancy was issued for the building addition. Forty years is the typical period for depreciating a building. By way of example, if a Certificate of Occupancy for the education building was issued in 2023 then the lease would run through 2063. The Authority and the University both agreed to this addendum to the lease and it was endorsed by the General Forum. With the lease extended to coincide with the depreciation schedule for the building addition, the 2020 Program Plan proposes that the five participating municipalities contribute a combined total of $100,000 to the project. The municipal funding would be shared by the five municipalities according to the modified COG funding formula. In addition, to providing funding to the building expansion project, municipal contributions are important because essential to the ability to obtain grants for which a local government funding match is required.
Regional Parks Capital Fund Budget • Should $45,000 be appropriated to install an irrigation system at Whitehall Road Regional Park to water four sports fields? It is hoped that this request is funded in 2020 so that irrigation can be installed in 2020 during the construction of the park, saving time and renovation expenses that would occur with a post-construction install. • Should $15,000 be appropriated to replace outfield fencing at Hess Softball Complex? The fencing conditions are poor and there are safety issues with a curled chain-link fence that could puncture or tear a player’s skin; the entire outfield fence from dugout to dugout will need to be replaced. The Agency is asking for $15,000 to complete a single field replacement in 2020 and will continue to replace one field each year through 2023. There are four fields at the facility. The new chainlink fence will include a bottom rail which should prevent this type of “curl-up.” The backstops on all four fields were replaced previously and remain in good condition. • Note: A three-bay storage building at Whitehall Road Regional Park should be constructed for the purpose of housing the maintenance equipment (for example tractors and mowers) that are used at the park. An approximate cost is S75,000. Funding for this building is not proposed in the 2020 budget. To avoid the daily transportation of the equipment from the maintenance facility in College Township (across from the Brittany Mall) to the park, a storage building should be constructed. This structure would also protect the equipment from the weather and from vandalism and thief. • Note: The 2020 Program Plan for the Regional Parks Budget will focus primarily on the development of Whitehall Road Regional Park within the $4.8 million budget in municipal funds as approved by the General Forum. The improvements are to be consistent with the Master Site Park for the park as amended by the General Forum. How much of the budget will be
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expended in 2020 and 2021 is not known at this time because the planning and time schedule is not complete. Before work begins on the park, a land development plan must be approved by Ferguson Township. The plan was submitted to the Township on June 8, 2019. Later this year as the project takes shape, the professional design team will prepare bidding documents for constructing the park. Hopefully, bids for the project can be solicited during early 2020 with construction beginning a few months later. • Note: The CRPR has met with great success in obtaining grants to augment the municipal funds that have been contributed to Whitehall Road Regional Park. Because of this effort funds will be available to construct an 18,000 square foot, all abilities, universally accessible playground. Non-municipal funding for the installation of sports field lighting looks promising. • Note: The Whitehall Road Regional Park requires a small storage building to house the equipment assigned to the park. The approximate expense is $75,000 and a funding source is yet to be identified. In addition, not all the funding is currently in place for the enclosed pavilion/concession stand/restroom building.
CLOSING SUMMARY
Among local governments, the Centre Region municipalities are exceptional because of the willingness, commitment, and skill of the elected and appointed municipal officials working together to serve the public and address common concerns. The degree of intergovernmental cooperation that is present among the six Centre Region municipalities, and increasing it to the adjacent jurisdictions, is unparalleled in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As described in this letter there are many public services provided through the COG. Most residents are affected by the COG in some way whether it be a visit to the library, having their refuse/recycling collected, being protected by the fire service, or living in the safety of a code-compliant building. But the commitment to collaboration and sharing resources for the public good is not limited to the COG.
The Centre Area Transportation Authority, University Area Joint Authority and State College Borough Water Authority are extensions of local government that join the area together and provide the cost-effective regional services that are essential for public health and transport. At the individual employee level; municipal, COG, and authority staffs work together and strive to resolve issues through communication. This cooperation is best highlighted by the regular meetings of the municipal managers, public works officials, finance directors, and police chiefs. And, the municipalities have also developed positive working relationships with local groups like ClearWater Conservancy, Spring Creek Watershed Commission, and C-NET. And, not to be overlooked, the municipalities communicate regularly with the Pennsylvania State University, one of the largest employers in Central Pennsylvania.
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In combination, the way the municipalities collaborate with each other through the COG, authorities, citizen groups, and the University have helped to create a growing community with a high quality of life that is, by many rankings, a great place to live and do business. Kudos to the municipal officials who have, for the last 50 years, recognized the benefits of communities working together to serve the public. Because of the shared investments of time and resources in the COG and other regional entities, the municipalities have been able to keep pace with construction and population growth, adapt to changes in the state/federal regulatory environment, protect the public health, connect communities through new roads and paths, and safeguard our natural resources.
Respectfully submitted,
James C. Steff COG Executive Director
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OVERVIEW OF THE CENTRE REGION COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS
MISSION
As stated in the COG Articles of Agreement, “The overriding goal of the Centre Region COG is to improve the quality of life for the residents of the Centre Region in the face of increasing pressures due to economic and population growth. We believe that this goal can best be achieved through cooperative efforts by the regional municipalities. This involves combining our various resources to meet regional challenges that may be beyond our individual capabilities.”
COUNCILS OF GOVERNMENT
Councils of Governments are established by State Act 180, the Intergovernmental Cooperation Law (53 PA.C.S.A. Section 481 et. seq.) as amended. The main features of this legislation are: • Municipalities can delegate any function, power, or responsibility to another municipality or to a newly created governmental unit (e.g. a COG). • A Council of Governments organization has no taxing power. • A Council of Governments organization’s structure, scope of services, method of municipal representation, and voting requirements are matters of local choice. • Cooperative services provided by a Council of Governments organization must be approved by ordinances that are adopted by each governing body.
A COG is not another layer of government. It provides the means of communication, cooperation, and joint action in the interest of the municipalities, individually and collectively. The active and informed involvement of the elected officials in policy and funding decisions is key to the success of all Council of Governments.
INTRODUCTION
The Centre Region Council of Governments is a voluntary association of the State College Borough and College, Ferguson, Halfmoon, Harris, and Patton Townships. The service area is 150 square miles, and according to the most recent population estimate of
2020 Program Plan – Overview of the COG 33 approximately 97,000 people live in the Centre Region including students at the University Park Campus of the Pennsylvania State University.
The Centre Region COG was established on December 2, 1969 to perform the following functions: • Provide a forum for discussing regional issues. • Produce cost-effective public services. • Promote coordinated land use and infrastructure planning. • Facilitate the exchange of information.
The organizational structure and the duties of the Centre Region COG are defined by Articles of Agreement, which are adopted by ordinance by each of the individual municipalities. In addition, there are separate Articles of Agreement for each COG Agency, which define: agency responsibilities, funding formulas, and terms of admittance and withdrawal. COG services are offered as a “cafeteria” plan to the municipalities. Each community has the option to participate in some or all COG programs. This menu approach underscores the voluntary nature of the Centre Region COG. The table below shows municipal participation for 2018.
2019 Municipal Participation in COG State College Ferguson Halfmoon Harris Patton Benner Bellefonte College Township Township Township Township Township Township Borough Borough Administration Parks & Recreation Planning Fire Company Emergency Mgmt. Library Refuse & Recycling Code Administration
Eight municipalities participate in various COG Programs.
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ARTICLES OF AGREEMENT
A requirement of the Intergovernmental Cooperation Law is that a municipality may engage in intergovernmental cooperation with another local government “upon passage of an ordinance” by the affecting governing bodies. The ordinance must address the manner of funding the joint program, how real estate is to be acquired and managed, the method of providing benefits (including social security) for its employees, the program’s organizational structure, and the conditions for entering into the joint program.
The Centre Region municipalities comply with this requirement by adopting individual ordinances that include Articles of Agreement for each COG program. This document addresses all the issues identified by the Intergovernmental Cooperation Law in addition to conditions that may be approved by the municipalities. There are Articles of Agreement for the Centre Region COG as well as for each COG program except the Centre County Metropolitan Planning Organization (CCMPO), which is a county-wide organization. Articles of Agreement are developed by a COG Committee, referred to the General Forum for review and endorsement, and then forwarded to the individual municipalities for approval. The COG Articles of Agreement were last updated in November 2008.
Highlights of the Centre Region COG’s Articles of Agreement are: • Voting – Most issues are decided by a majority vote of the General Forum. The exceptions are the acquiring property, borrowing more than 1.5% of the budget, or amending the Articles of Agreement; these actions require a unanimous vote. • Committee Structure – The standing committees of the COG are: Executive, Finance, Human Resources, Parks Capital, Public Safety, Public Services and Environmental, and Transportation and Land Use. COG Committees may decide to offer voting or non-voting membership to outside organizations (e.g. Penn State University and the Bellefonte Borough). • Executive Director – The General Forum shall appoint an Executive Director who is responsible for: preparing the annual budget; appointing and discharging all COG employees (except Agency Directors whose appointment/dismissal requires the prior concurrence of the Executive Committee); serving as the General Forum “ex officio” treasurer and secretary; and proposing policies and programs for consideration by the General Forum. • Formula – Costs for most COG programs are based on the three factors of the COG formula: population excluding individuals typically of college-age, assessed valuation of taxable property, and gross earned income. Some Articles of Agreements for individual COG programs identify other funding formulas. For instance, the costs for the regional library program are based on the percentage of library items circulated to residents of each municipality relevant to total circulation.
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GENERAL FORUM
Under the COG Articles of Agreement, the policy-making body of the Centre Region COG is the General Forum, which is comprised of all of the elected officials (32 members) from the six Centre Region municipalities. The General Forum establishes the COG’s budget and major policies for the programs approved by the participating municipalities. At General Forum meetings, each municipality has one vote; the chair may use a voice vote of the majority of those present to pass motions and resolutions. Meeting dates for the General Forum are advertised in the Centre Daily Times. Meetings can be viewed through C-NET on Channel 7 or on the C-NET website at http://www.cnet1.org, and agendas are available on the COG website at http://www.crcog.net. Any member of the General Forum has the right to call for a unit vote by each municipality on any issue being voted upon at any time. The Pennsylvania State University has a non-voting designated representative to the General Forum. Non-voting liaisons from the State College Area School District and The Pennsylvania State University are also designated representatives. Each elected official receives a General Forum meeting agenda packet either in printed or electronic form as requested.
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MISSION
The mission of the Office of Administration is to facilitate the delivery of high quality and cost-effective public services as requested by the General Forum, implement the policies approved by the General Forum, and work with COG Agencies and others to build shared solutions to common problems that cross jurisdictional boundary lines.
WHO ARE WE?
The primary work objectives of the Office of Administration’s staff are to: provide staff support to the General Forum and its committees, regional services, prepare the COG budget and manage financial services to all agencies, and assist the COG Agencies with Human Resources Administration. Of these, the most important is the provision of staff support to the elected officials during all phases of the COG decision-making process. Without the informed involvement by the elected officials, the COG would not be as successful as it has been. COG staff assistance encompasses working with elected officials on a variety of activities including identifying actual and potential regional concerns, evaluating alternative courses of action, building consensus recommendations, implementing approved decisions, and monitoring the outcome of those actions.
To perform these services, the Office of Administration’s Budget provides the following full-time staffing: • Executive Director • Finance Director OFFICE OF • Finance Assistant ADMINISTRATION • Human Resources Officer BUDGET • Office Manager
The Office of Administration was established in 1974. From 1969 to 1970, COG Administrative services were the responsibility of the State College Borough Manager on a volunteer basis. From 1971 to 1973, the Office of Administration was led by the Executive Secretary (the CRPC Director). The position of COG General Secretary was created at the beginning of 1974. In order to provide coordination among the COG Agencies, this position was upgraded to the Director of Administration in 1979. During the 1980s, as the COG grew in response to increasing service demands from the municipalities, various committees discussed how to reduce the COG’s organizational complexity and clarify the lines of accountability to the elected officials. In response to this concern, the General Forum adopted Resolution 87-6 in August 1987, which upgraded the position of Director of
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Administration to that of Executive Director. Through this action, the Executive Director was authorized to direct, supervise, and administer the agencies and programs of the COG in accordance with the policies established by the General Forum, except as otherwise provided for by ordinance or statute.
During 2013 and 2014, the Administration Office was significantly reorganized and on January 1, 2015, began providing accounting, investment, auditing support, and payroll services for all the COG Agencies as well as supporting them in their human resources and benefits administration. Previously, these services were provided by State College Borough’s Finance Department. At that time, the General Forum agreed that the COG had grown to the point where many of these services should be handled internally by COG.
A major transition for the COG Office of Administration will occur during 2020 with the retirement of the Executive Director on April 3, 2020, after 36 years of service. Although some organizational history may be lost, a new set of eyes, different job skills, and more knowledge of technology will be a healthy change for the COG. This transition will impact both the 2019 and 2020 Budgets.
WHAT DO WE DO?
The Office of Administration has four basic goals: • To provide staff support to the General Forum and its committees and ensure the implementation of their policy decisions. • To coordinate the provision of joint public services and facility operations. • To provide financial management services to all the COG Agencies and prepare and administer the annual budget. • To provide human resources management services to all the COG Agencies. The following are work tasks the Office of Administration strives to accomplish in order to achieve those goals.
A. Provide appropriate staff support to the COG’s General Forum, Committees, Boards, and Commissions and ensure the successful implementation of their policy decisions.
Ongoing Contributions…
• Preparing agendas, minutes, reports, and correspondence for the General Forum and the Executive, Human Resources, Finance, Public Safety, and Public Services and Environmental Committees as well as the Municipal Managers’ Roundtable. In addition,
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the Administrative Staff assists the Parks Capital Committee with some projects. In the past two years, the Office of Administration also began providing staff support to the Steering Committee for the Parks and Recreation Regional Comprehensive Plan, the Ad Hoc Facilities Committee, the Solar Power Purchasing Agreement Working Group, the Fire Study Committee, and the Executive Director Recruitment and Screening Committee. • Serving as the elected and appointed officials’ principal point of contact with the COG on issues relating to the quantity and quality of COG services. • Serving as the COG liaison to, and coordinating meetings of, other public organizations such as C-NET, Centre County Public Safety Training Center Advisory Committee, and the Pennsylvania Association of Councils of Governments (PACOG). Mr. Graham of Harris Township is the Centre Region COG’s representative to PACOG and Mr. Steff is the alternate. Both individuals are past presidents. • Responding to Right to Know Requests. The Executive Director is the COG’s Right to Know Officer and responded to 54 requests for public records during both 2017 and 2018. • Conducting activities to enhance public understanding of the COG. Some of these activities include the cable-casting of General Forum meetings and committee meetings of regional interest on C-NET, maintaining the COG website www.crcog.net, attending community and municipal meetings, and assisting the public and the municipalities with information requests. In addition, the Office of Administration prepares and presents information about joint programs to municipal and state associations such as the Pennsylvania Association of Councils of Governments, Pennsylvania Emergency Management Council, Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors, and the Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs. • Coordinating an annual meeting of the Public Safety and Public Services and Environmental Committees, PennDOT, local utility companies, municipal public safety and public works personnel, and state elected officials to exchange emergency planning information. The Office of Administration also coordinates meetings between the Public Safety Committee and emergency medical service representatives to discuss issues and concerns relating to emergency medical services. • Continuing to grow positive working relationships with the business community within the Centre Region. The Executive Director serves on the Managers’ Committee of the Centre County Chamber of Business and Industry. • Conducting educational programs for elected officials to familiarize them with how the COG is organized, the services it provides, the role of the elected officials, and non-COG regional partnerships that may impact municipalities. During the first seven months of 2019, three “Lunch and Learn” sessions were conducted for municipal officials – State College Borough Water Authority, Schlow Centre Region Library, and the Penn State University property located roughly between the Whitehall Road Regional Park and Musser Gap at Rothrock State Forest. An evening session on Parliamentary Procedures was also conducted.
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• Using the COG website to make more information electronically available to the General Forum. Administration Staff has created a method for the elected officials, managers, and COG Staff to obtain agenda packets electronically if that is the preferred format. This method has reduced mailing and duplication costs, reduced environmental impact, and made information more readily accessible to individuals who are comfortable in receiving information electronically. Six years ago, 47 printed General Forum packets were mailed to municipal officials and others. By 2019, that number has decreased to 19 packets. • Maintaining the COG website for public access about regional services. The average monthly hits to the COG’s homepage averaged about 8,069 hits per month between 2015 and 2018. During the first six months of 2019, the trending average is about 6,467 hits per month.
B. Coordinating the provision of joint public services and facility operations as directed by the General Forum.
Ongoing Contributions…
• Supporting all COG Agency Directors in accomplishing COG Committee/Authority/Board work goals and/or the resolution of areas of regional concerns. This support includes close collaboration in preparing information, analysis, and recommendations for consideration by the municipal officials. In addition, the Executive Director works closely to ensure there is timely, thorough, and accurate communication between the COG Agencies and the municipal officials. • Coordinating the implementation of COG services and plans as approved by the General Forum. In the past, this has included assistance in coordinating the process to gain municipal consensus on issues such as the purchase, master planning, and development of three regional parks and the adoption of a regional Sewer Service Area Agreement. • Supporting the Refuse and Recycling Administrator in resolving non-routine problems or issues that have budgetary or legal implications. Looking ahead to 2020, it is proposed that responsibility for the Regional Refuse and Recycling Program be transferred to the Centre Region Planning Agency to be a component of its Climate Action and Adaptation Plan. • Assisting the Centre Region Emergency Management Coordinator and the COG Fire Director in advancing proposals and plans that require municipal approval.
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C. Providing the COG Agencies with financial management, investment, accounting, payroll, and internal control services.
Ongoing Contributions…
• Coordinating the preparation of the COG’s Program Plan, Detailed and Summary Budgets, and annual updates to the Capital Improvement Plan and providing for review by the Finance Committee and approval by the General Forum. • Providing payroll services, as well as, accounts payable, accounts receivable, and cash management services. • Monitoring the COG Agency budgets to ensure that expenditures are within budget appropriations. • Supporting the efforts of the Finance Committee in developing and executing financial plans for regional borrowings and debt refinancing. • Assigning costs (e.g. utilities, mailing, copying) that are shared among multiple COG Agencies to the appropriate fund. • Preparing and maintaining financial management policies. • Preparing financial analysis of proposed services and projects including quarterly budget reports to the Finance Committee. • Presenting financial information and reports to various stakeholder groups such as the Finance Committee and the General Forum. • Assisting in the process to prepare the annual audit reports for the Centre Region Council of Governments, the Centre Region Parks and Recreation Authority, and the Schlow Centre Region Library. During 2018 the Finance Director prepared and issued a Request for Proposals for auditing services for a three-year period with a two-year renewal option beginning January 1, 2019. The new contract for auditing services was awarded by the General Forum. It provided significant cost savings to the COG and its Agencies. • Providing financial management services to the Centre County Federation of Public Libraries.
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D. Provide and administer a comprehensive personnel management system that maximizes the use of COG Staff.
Ongoing Contributions…
• Implementing and maintaining a payroll system that processes approximately 400 W-2s for full-time, part-time, and seasonal staff. • Supporting the Agency Directors in recruiting personnel, enrolling staff in the COG benefit programs, orienting staff to COG’s personnel policies and procedures, and resolving personnel issues. • Updating the Position Classification Plan and job descriptions for COG personnel as required. Looking ahead to the next six months, the HR Committee will be reviewing the job descriptions for the six COG Office Managers to ensure their compliance with FLSA regulation and prepare a job description for the COG Facilities Coordinator. • Conducting compensation surveys to ensure that the pay plan allows the COG to attract and retain qualified employees. • Providing administrative support to the Employee Relations Committee that has implemented and maintained a Wellness Program that includes a Health Improvement Program Reimbursements (HIPR) implemented in 2018. Both programs have high employee participation rates. • Administration of employee benefits for full-time, part-time and seasonal employees. • Administering medical insurance policies, life insurance, long-term disability insurance, dental and vision programs, flex spending accounts, 457 and Roth IRA plans, workers’ compensation, and unemployment policies for all COG Staff, including responding to questions and concerns. • Administering, updating, compiling data, and running reports via the Keystone iSolved Payroll System. This portal is also the main function to all full-time, part-time, and seasonal employees’ payroll. • Maintain the COG’s Personnel Policy and Personnel Handbook. During its April 22, 2019 meeting the General Forum approved a comprehensive update to the COG’s Personnel Handbook as recommended by the Human Resources Committee following a review from legal counsel. As part of this project, COG supervisory staff attended two work sessions on the implementation of the Handbook. The Handbook applies to all regular COG part-time and full-time staff. • Implement performance evaluation programs, employee orientation programs, and employee supervisory training.
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WHERE ARE WE NOW?
For the period of January 1 through June 30, 2019, revenue and expenditures for the Office of Administration were generally consistent with the projections contained in the 2019 budget with the exceptions noted below. The audited 2018 ending year fund balance was $113,800, a $43,491 increase from the $70,309 projected in the budget. $20,000 of the fund balance is designated for the COG IT study that was proposed for 2018 but was carried forwarded to 2019. In addition, the January 1, 2019 fund balance includes funding to complete the updates to and related staff training for COG’s Personnel Policy and $6,000 to conduct a customer satisfaction survey of owners/managers who had a rental housing inspection conducted of their property during 2018. Outside of the aforementioned monies that are reserved for specific purposes, the 2019 beginning year fund balance was higher than expected because of: lower pension costs (due to multiple factors including state aid, higher investment returns, and the GASB formula used to assign costs) and decreased expenses in several accounts – including financial services costs and employee development. This higher than anticipated fund balance will allow the COG Administration Budget to absorb some of the additional costs of transitioning to a new Executive Director without relying exclusively on current municipal contributions. From that perspective, the higher fund balance occurred at an ideal time.
At mid-year 2019 there have been no significant unanticipated expenditures/revenues for the Office of Administration budget. Items of note include: • Compensation and benefit costs may be approximately $5,000 less than anticipated because of staff turnover. • Interest income is more than budgeted and may, at years end, exceed the estimated amount by $1,000. • The drafting of a Request for Qualification to develop a five-year information technology plan has been postponed until 2020 and after the new Executive Director is hired. This timing will give the new Director the opportunity to become acquainted with the various IT systems used by COG agencies. $20,000 is budgeted for this expense. • The $8,000 budgeted to update the COG webpage has not been expended because of staff turnover. With the appointment of a new Office Manager in late April, there may be progress on this project but at this time it is uncertain. The cost is shared among six COG agencies. • The $6,000 is budgeted to conduct the customer satisfaction survey for the Centre Region Code Administration’s Existing Structures Program. The last customer satisfaction survey for the Existing Structures Program occurred in 2016. It is anticipated that the proposed study will be completed during the last six months of the year. • $4,300 was expected for a legal review of the COG Personnel Policy Handbook. The 2019 budget did not contain funds for this service. The deficiency was balanced by lower expenditures for COG-wide staff training that focused on the implementation of the new Employee Personnel Policy Handbook.
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OF PARTICULAR NOTE
During its March 19, 2019 meeting, the Executive Committee accepted a letter of retirement from Mr. Jim Steff effective April 3, 2020. A copy of Mr. Steff’s communication was distributed to the General Forum and municipal managers following the Committee meeting.
Based on a recommendation from the Executive Committee, the General Forum authorized the creation of Recruitment and Screening Committee to guide the hiring process. Each COG municipality will have one representative, an elected official or municipal manager, to the Committee for which the COG Executive Director will be a non-voting member. The General Forum authorized the Recruitment and Screening Committee if deemed appropriate, to retain the services of a personnel consultant to assist with the process. These expenses are expected to be paid from the COG Contingency Fund.
The current Executive Director has held the position for over thirty-five years. This stability has helped the COG to complete many multi-year projects and implement long term operational improvements. The upcoming retirement of the current employee will provide the municipal officials during 2020 with the opportunity to re-assess how the COG Office of Administration is organized and what skill sets it wants in the new Director. The transition of Executive Directors will have short- and long-term implications for the COG. In the short term, there will be additional expenses for recruiting and relocating the new Director. Over time, the new Director is likely to evaluate, operational, personnel and budget procedures, field operations and organizational arrangements. These evaluations may result in longer-term proposals regarding staffing adjustments. Looking ahead this transitional period will be coupled with organizational growth as the General Forum authorizes the implementation of recommendations contained in the Parks and Recreation Regional Comprehensive Plan, the Regional Fire Protection Model, and capital planning and budgeting documents.
In 2015 the Office of Administration underwent a reorganization that brought financial and human resource services in-house. Several years into this major transition, with the exiting Executive Director’s retirement pending, it is evident to the current staff that the workload of the Finance Director, Human Resources Officer, and Finance Assistant should be reassessed and evaluated. In conjunction with the General Forum, the incoming Executive Director may want to assess priorities and workload of the current staff, as well as exploring the possibility of additional administration staff, including but perhaps not limited to, an Assistant Director. With a growing organization, a budget exceeding $26 million (including $11 in fund balances) and 400 full, regular part-time and seasonal employees, the time is approaching when the COG should have a solid succession plan, particularly after the loss of a senior employee who has significant historical experience with a great many stakeholders.
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WHAT IS THE COST?
The 2019 budget for the Office of Administration provides for the revenue and expenditures as shown in the table on the right.
WHERE ARE WE GOING?
Typically, the COG Office of Administration Budget changes very little from year to year. 2020 will be an exception to the historical pattern. As previously mentioned 2020 will be a transitional year. In addition to hiring a new Executive Director, this Program Plan proposes the following two major organizational changes to the 2020 budget.
PROPOSAL 1: TRANSFER THE REFUSE/RECYCLING ADMINISTRATOR TO THE CRPA
It is proposed that the position of Refuse and Recycling Administrator be transferred from the Office of Administration to the Centre Region Planning Agency (CRPA). The employee would be a direct report to the Sustainability Planner as a supplemental duty.
This change will be revenue neutral to the municipalities. The regional refuse and recycling program is entirely supported by the administrative fees the selected contractor paid to the COG. No municipal funds are involved. However, there are implications to both the budgets for the Office of Administration and the CRPA. Because the Administration Budget receives $18,400 in administration fees from the contract, its revenues from non-municipal sources will decrease. An increase in municipal contributions will be needed to offset this loss in income. In contrast, for the CRPA non-municipal revenue sources will increase thereby reducing the Office of Administration Revenue and expenditures from need for municipal contributions for that program. 2018 through the approved 2019 budget.
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HOW IT WOULD WORK
June 2019: The Administration Office will advertise for a full-time Refuse and Recycling Administrator.
June to During this period, the current Assistant Administrator will be appointed to the position of Acting Refuse and September: Recycling Administrator on a part-time basis (20 to 27 hours per week). The current Administrator (who was appointed as the Sustainability Planner on June 3) and the COG Executive Director will help the Acting Administrator as needed.
September: The position of Refuse and Recycling Administrator is expected to be filled in September. The Acting Administrator would return to work as the Assistant Administrator. The new Administrator would be supported by the Assistant Administrator, the Sustainability Planner, and COG Executive Director. The new Administrator would work out of the workspace in the Office of Administration. The position would continue to report to the Executive Director.
September The Administrator and Assistant Administrator would take actions necessary to implement the new refuse and recycling to January contract.
January 1: The new refuse and recycling contract is implemented. 2020
January: Centre Region Parks and Recreation (CRPR) office moves to a new office building. The Code Agency moves into office space vacated by the CRPR. The office currently used by the electrical inspectors in the CRPA suite is vacated.
January: Any service issues that may arise from a new refuse and recycling contract are resolved. The Assistant Administrator’s to March position ends as proposed when it was established. Sometime in the first quarter, the Administrator’s office is moved to the office vacated in the CRPA suite that was used and rented to the Code Agency. The position reports to the Sustainability Planner.
Later in The Facilities Coordinator (see Proposal 2 below) is hired and works in office space currently used by the 2020 Refuse and Recycling Administrator in the Office of Administration.
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ADVANTAGES TO THE CRPA • Provides for a non-municipal revenue source for the CRPA: $18,400 (2019 amount) administrative fee from the refuse/recycling program would be paid to the planning agency on an annual basis. The fee is annually adjusted for 2020, it will be prorated, three months to the Office of Administration and nine months to the CRPA. • Provides back-up for the CRPA and CRPC Recording Secretary: The Administrator could serve as a back-up to the CRPA Office Manager for preparing meeting minutes and agenda packets. • Improved organizational fit: Refuse and recycling is a component of the Climate Action and Adaptation Plan and relocating the program to the CPRA improves the integration of the two programs. • Provides staff support for implementation activities relating to the Climate Action and Adaptation Plan: The Administrator could be available to help with sustainability projects as identified in the Plan.
DISADVANTAGES TO THE CRPA • Some loss of the Sustainability Planner’s time to the extent she provides guidance to the Administrator: After the Refuse and Recycling Administrator has experience in the job the operational support required of the Sustainability Planner should be minimal. Most of the interaction that the Administrator will have with the Sustainability Planner and COG Executive Director will occur during the first six months as the new contract is implemented. During this period the Refuse and Recycling Administrator will be working in the Office of Administration.
ADVANTAGES TO THE OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATION • Improved continuity for the refuse/recycling program. After the current Executive Director retires, the person most familiar with the history, contract, field operations and future direction of the refuse and recycling program will be the newly appointed Sustainability Planner and former Refuse and Recycling Administrator, Pam Adams. There are benefits to the refuse and recycling program for the Sustainability Planner and the Refuse and Recycling Administrator to work in close proximity to each other in terms of ease of communication and the exchange of information. • Improved span of control in the Office of Administration: Fewer positions report to the new Executive Director. Currently, there are nine direct reports. • Provides space for the proposed position of Facilities Coordinator: The 2020 COG Program Plan recommends the position of COG Facilities Coordinator. If this proposal is approved, the office space vacated by the Refuse and Recycling Administrator will
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be made available for the Facilities Coordinator. In the absence of this personnel reassignment, without significant and costly renovations there would not be space available for the Facilities Coordinator in the Office of Administration.
DISADVANTAGES TO THE OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATION • Loss of the administration fee that the Refuse and Recycling Program pays to the Office of Administration. This reimbursement is used to offset costs (-$18,400 loss for 2020). • Loss of rental/utility/building maintenance expense reimbursement that Refuse and Recycling Program pays to the Office of Administration (about -$12,860). • One less support person is available to help the Office of Administration during busy periods or when other staff is on leave. Currently, the Administrator serves as back-up to the Office of Administration staff. For instance, during the transition of Office Managers, the Administrator served as Acting Recording Secretary for the General Forum.
PROPOSAL 2: ESTABLISH THE POSITION OF FACILITIES COORDINATOR
OUTSTANDING ISSUES FOR THE CHANGE
COG staff needs to identify how the preparation of Public Services and Environmental Committee agendas, minutes, and meeting setup will be handled.
It is proposed to create the position of COG Facilities Coordinator within the COG Office of Administration and to fill the position in mid-2020 after the new Executive Director has started.
The COG staff is responsible for maintaining approximately $30 million in facility assets (buildings, pools, grounds). This does not include the three fire stations that are maintained by the COG but owned by the host municipality. Currently, these assets are managed by the various Agency Directors or their Supervisory staff as an added duty. The COG does not have specialized staff to handle large capital items such as boiler repairs, malfunctioning parking control devices, roof replacements, and failed HVAC systems. There is a recognized need for this position among COG management staff, the Ad Hoc COG Facilities Committee, and the Finance Committee.
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Proposed duties include:
✓ Coordinate an initial and on-going annual re-assessment of all COG facilities and maintain a current database of this information for budget and capital planning purposes. ✓ Coordinate the development of Requests for Proposals for facility projects and managing the bidding process in a fair, transparent and accountable manner. ✓ Assist the Agency Directors in resolving questions and concerns regarding facility improvements and repair. ✓ Coordinate the preparation of budget estimates for capital projects. ✓ With the help of the Agency Directors and Facilities Committee, develop a long-range facilities plan for the COG to utilize its facilities in the most cost-effective manner. ✓ Become a resource to COG staff to help solve facilities-related issues as they arise (troubleshooting). ✓ Study COG facility operations to identify opportunities to save funds and improve efficiency, by way of example evaluate the current models for providing janitorial services.
It is proposed that the position be filled around July 1, 2020, after the new Executive Director is hired and oriented to the position. The anticipated six-month 2020 compensation and benefit-cost is $50,000 assuming the employees start date is July 1, 2020. This is a very rough estimate because this is a newly proposed position and a job description has not yet been prepared. A job description is being drafted by COG staff and will be referred to the Human Resources Committee for approval. After the job description is finalized, a pay range for the position will be established.
Proposed Budgetary Changes…
In addition, to the two proposed organizational changes, there will be the following four new costs included in the 2020 Office of Administration Budget.
• Recruitment expenses for the Executive Director: $40,000 is proposed for expenses relating to the hiring of the Executive Director. These expenses may include: relocation costs for the new Executive Director, consulting services that are provided during 2020, and interview expenses. • Costs for an overlap period between current and new Executive Director: The program plan recommends that there be at least one month of overlap during which the new Executive Director and the current Executive Director will work together. A minimum of one month is proposed so that the new Executive Director can have experience with a complete meeting cycle for
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the General Forum and its sub Committees. The exact period of the overlap will be proposed by the Recruitment and Screening Committee established by the General Forum. The cost of a one-month overlap would be approximately $10,000. • Higher rental and utility costs: The 2019 budget assigns $12,861 of the Office of Administration’s rental, utility and building maintenance costs to the regional refuse and recycling program. Should the position and accompanying office space for the program’s administrator be transferred from the Office of Administration to the Centre Region Planning Agency as proposed then that income would be lost and need to be paid by municipal contributions. • Retirement costs for the Executive Director for unused vacation leave (up to 30 days) and sick days (up to 10 days).
Looking ahead to 2020 and beyond, the Office of Administration seeks to accomplish the following fifteen work tasks in addition to its on-going responsibilities: • Finalize the Parks and Recreation Regional Comprehensive Plan and present its recommendations to the General Forum for review and endorsement. • Finalize the preparation of a future model for providing regional fire protection and rescue services and present this recommendation to the General Forum for review and endorsement. • Organize a series of Learning Lunches for new municipal officials to familiarize them with all the services COG and regional authorities provide as well as to share information on current issues of regional significance. Because there may be 6 to 10 new elected officials on January 1, 2020, the orientation of these individuals to the COG should be a high organizational priority. • Update the COG’s Capital Improvement Plan to reflect recommendations from the Ad Hoc Facilities Committee. • Evaluate workloads and positions in the Office of Administration. • Support the Public Safety Committee in evaluating the delivery of hazmat services in the Centre Region to ensure they are adequate for a growing community. • Based on the recommendations contained in the Parks and Recreation Regional Comprehensive Plan it is likely the General Forum will put into place a process for revising the 1974 Articles of Agreement for the CRPR that are severely out of date. The Administration staff will coordinate and provide the support for the process should the General Forum decide to update the Articles of Agreement. The Executive Director recommends that the Parks and Recreation Articles of Agreement be revised before the COG Articles of Agreement because it is more severely out of date. • Update the COG Articles of Agreement. Questions to be considered include:
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✓ If the regional park projects are completed in 2021, should the COG Parks Capital Committee be disbanded? ✓ Should the Ad Hoc COG Facilities Committee be concluded and replaced with a standing COG Facilities Committee? ✓ Because the Sewage Management Program (SMP) and Sewage Enforcement Officer Programs are services provided by Centre Region Code Administration, should oversight of these services be provided by the Public Safety Committee instead of the Public Services and Environmental Committee? ✓ Should the reference to the Finance Committee reviewing the annual CATA Budget be deleted? ✓ Should the Transportation and Land Use Committee be the designated point of contact for CATA on policy-related issues? ✓ Should references to the Senior Citizens’ Center be changed to the Active Adult Center?
• Prepare and circulate a Request for Qualifications to prepare a five-year COG information technology plan. • Hire the COG Facilities Coordinator. • Begin succession planning for Agency Directors who may retire during the next two to three years. • Assist the twelve stakeholder groups in evaluating and, if the concept is approved, developing a Request for Qualification for consulting services relating to a regional Solar Power Purchasing Agreement. The 2020 budget could include an amount for legal and consultant costs associated with the development of this agreement. A preliminary estimate of this amount would be between $5,000 and $10,000. • Update job descriptions to ensure accuracy and compliance with FLSA. • Internal Administrative Work Objective: Evaluate and make a recommendation on the AccuFund software that is used by the COG Finance Office. The results of this internal study will be shared with the Finance Committee in conjunction with the 2021 budget. • Internal Administrative Work Objective: Conduct a customer satisfaction survey for rental property owners and managers of housing units that had a rental housing inspection conducted in 2019. The cost of this survey work will be funded by the Centre Region Code Administration Budget.
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MISSION
The purpose of the Centre Region Council of Governments (COG) Regional Refuse and Recycling Program is to promote public health, safety, and welfare and to eliminate public health hazards, environmental pollution, and economic loss in the participating municipalities through the collection, transportation, and disposal of residential, commercial, industrial, and institutional municipal solid waste.
WHO ARE WE?
Pennsylvania State Act 101 assigns municipal governments with the responsibility of collecting, transporting, and storing refuse and recyclable materials that are generated within their boundaries. Benner, College, Ferguson, Harris and Patton Townships use the COG as their designated agent to meet the statutory obligations in a cost- effective and responsible manner through a regional residential contract with a refuse and recycling vendor.
To fulfill the objectives of the COG Regional Refuse and Recycling Program, staff consists of a Refuse and Recycling Administrator, who is focused on the administration of the refuse and recycling contract and serves as the refuse and recycling ordinance designated agent for the participating municipalities. Compensation for the Refuse and Recycling Administrator is funded through the contract administration fee being paid to the COG by the contracted refuse hauler. REGIONAL REFUSE &
Beginning in 2012 a part-time (20 hours per week) Recycling Assistant was employed on a temporary basis to assist RECYCLING with special projects. With the additional staff, the Recycle at Work program, a commercial recycling project, was PROGRAM initiated in 2012. The next recycling initiative began in 2015, which has been developing a Regional Organics BUDGET Recycling Program. The Recycling Assistant position is funded through the recycling rebate that is received from the Centre County Recycling and Refuse Authority (CCRRA). The rebate is received annually and is accrued through the sale of recyclable materials.
The Refuse and Recycling Program is entirely funded through the residential contract; costs equate to 4% of resident’s monthly refuse and recycling bill which equals $0.78/month for the administration of this program. No tax monies have ever been used to finance the program since its inception in 1992. The Refuse and Recycling Program reimburses the COG for financial, human resources management and administrative services it receives from the Office of Administration.
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The Refuse and Recycling Program continues to grow and add customers each year in conjunction with regional and program growth. The program served 7,800 customers at its inception in 1992 and currently serves approximately 16,000 customers in the participating municipalities of Benner, College, Ferguson, Harris, and Patton Townships.
As the number of customers in the Refuse and Recycling Program grows, so does the amount of solid waste and recyclable materials that are collected. The amount of solid waste that has been collected from residents has grown from 6,800 tons in 1992 to 11,890 tons in 2018; the amount of recyclable materials that were collected (including drop off collection bins) has steadily risen from 1,115 tons in 1992 to 2,860 tons in 2018. When leaf and brush composting completed by municipalities is considered, residents recycle almost half of their total household waste.
Although the total amount of trash being collected has increased The above chart depicts the trash and recyclables generated by an average household per year. with the region’s growing Waste being generated has decreased significantly in the last 6 years, which most likely is the result of a greater number of items that can be recycled including miscellaneous plastics, paperboard, yard waste, computers, and population, it is important to note electronics. Notice that prior recessions in 1990, 2001 and 2008 led to reductions in the amount of trash being that since 2009, the amount of trash collected. While the amount of recycled materials appears flat, the number of plastic containers (the lightest per household has been steadily material) has increased while the thickness and weight of beverage containers has decreased. decreasing as shown in the chart to the right.
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Prior to 2009, the average household produced an average of 1 ton of trash per year. In contrast, in 2018 the average household produced 0.76 ton of trash per year, a 24% reduction. This is most likely the result of more items being recycled such as miscellaneous plastics, paperboard, yard waste, computers, and electronics.
WHAT DO WE DO?
RESIDENTIAL PROGRAM In 1991, the Centre Region municipalities of College, Ferguson, Harris, and Patton decided that there was interest in providing residential refuse and recycling collection on a regional basis. To implement this decision, these municipalities authorized the COG to be their designated agent in conducting a competitive bidding process and administering a regional refuse and/or recycling contract as awarded to the successful bidder with exclusive rights to serve all residential customers. To this end, exclusive contracts have been awarded to haulers in 1992, 1995, 1998, 2004, 2010 and 2015. Benner Township joined the program through the 2010 regional contract. On January 1, 2020, a new contract will begin with Advanced Disposal to provide refuse and recycling collection services in the five participating municipalities for a five-year, 3-month period through March 31, 2025.
Because the contractor for the Refuse and Recycling Program is selected by a competitive bidding process, the COG has been able to secure reasonable refuse and recycling service rates for residents. Prior to the program’s inception in 1992, customers were paying an average of $20.50 per month for refuse service ONLY, through privately-hired hauling companies. Twenty-eight years later in 2019, customers pay a monthly rate of $19.63 for standard 8- bag refuse and unlimited recycling services or $16.21 for low usage refuse and unlimited recycling services, including semi-annual bulk item collections and Christmas tree recycling.
Services associated with the Regional Refuse and Recycling Program include:
• Weekly refuse and recycling collection Centre County Recycling and Refuse Authority (CCRRA) and COG have a • Semi-annual bulk waste collections Memorandum of Understanding that CCRRA will provide recycling service • Christmas tree collection through the COG contract with the current hauler, Advanced Disposal. In addition, CCRRA provides other services such as electronics recycling, education • A hardship program for eligible customers support and an annual household hazardous waste event.
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• Customer advocacy in resolving problems with the hauler • Assistance to the hauler in recovering overdue customer payments • Enforcement of municipal solid waste and recycling ordinances
COMMERCIAL PROGRAM In 2012, a new Commercial Recycling Program, Recycle at Work, was initiated. Commercial recycling was identified as an area of opportunity since there are roughly 1,000 businesses in the five participating municipalities, and previous to the Recycle at Work Recycle at Work Program, there was not a formal process for educating, collecting data, and determining compliance with the local solid waste and recycling municipal ordinances. The Recycle at COMMERCIAL RECYCLING Work Program focuses on educating businesses about the requirements and benefits of recycling in the participating municipalities. The Recycle at Work Program is funded through the recycling rebate that is received from the CCRRA, which is funded through the sale of materials that have been recycled by residents in the five participating municipalities.
The Recycle at Work Program is a joint effort between the CCRRA, COG’s Refuse and Recycling Program, and the State College Borough Public Works Department. A strong Commercial Recycling Program reinforces the commitment to maintain a high standard of environmental responsibility on which Centre Region residents pride themselves.
Over 800 businesses, 80% of the total businesses in the region, are identified as having a recycling program. This number is an increase from the 64% of businesses which had a recycling program identified in 2012. The recyclable materials that were collected from businesses increased by 9% in 2018 to 2,887 tons in the Centre Region. Since the inception of the Recycle at Work Program, the number of tons of recyclables collected increases on average 5% each year. With the introduction of the Recycle at Work program in 2012, tracking recycling tonnages immediately improved, as well as tonnages continue to increase. The number of tons of recyclables collected at business increases on average 5% each year.
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ORGANICS PROGRAM In 2015, the COG Public Services & Environmental (PSE) Committee began exploring opportunities within the refuse and recycling program that advances the sustainability of North Central Region Aggregate the region. Based on local, state, and federal information, organic waste, which includes Municipal Solid Waste Composition food waste and yard trimmings, make up the largest portion (20-40%) of the materials going to the landfill. With a successful Organics Recycling Program, the Centre Region has the potential to remove 3,600 tons a year of organic waste from the landfill and put it to beneficial use, which would result in a cost reduction of over $100,000.
A residential survey was completed in May 2015 which determined there was interest in pursuing residential organics recycling. At its September 28, 2015 meeting, the General Forum passed a motion requesting the PSE Committee prepare a draft plan for a Regional Organics Recycling Program for the residents of Benner, College, Harris, Ferguson, and Patton Townships. The vision was for COG to build upon the successful model that State College Borough created with its curbside Organics Recycling Program.
Based on input from participating municipalities, State College Borough and Centre County Recycling and Refuse Authority (CCRRA) COG proposed a regional organics program in 2018 that would provide curbside collection of organics (yard, garden, and food waste) to 16,000 households in Benner, College, Ferguson, Harris and Patton This pie chart shows the percentage composition of Townships. The program was modeled after the State College Borough Organics major material groups in the aggregate North Central Program. It included the cart-based collection in which all residents in the COG service regional waste stream from a DEP study in 2003. area would pay a base collection rate that would include organics curbside recycling. Centre County is part of the North Central Region.
The proposed program was evaluated by the Public Services & Environmental (PSE) Committee to determine whether to implement the program. In January 2019 the PSE Committee voted not to implement the proposed organics recycling program based on three areas:
• Cost: there would be an increase of $8/month/household for curbside organics recycling collection • Tonnage reduction: lower than expected landfill reduction of only 10-18% based on State College Borough data • Carbon Footprint: an increase in the carbon footprint (transportation emissions are greater than the reduction gained from composting)
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The success of an organics recycling program hinges on keeping costs low and having high resident participation. It is important to note that while the collection of organic materials will add a monthly cost it is the intent that organics recycling should result in lower costs over the long term for our community. Removing organic material and transporting it 10 miles to a compost facility to make a valuable end product is more sustainable than transporting the material 160 miles to sit in a landfill for decades. The hope is that while recycling costs may rise for handling these resources, our costs for refuse collection will decrease.
Although adding organics collection to the refuse/recycling contract is not an economic or environmentally responsible way to handle organics at the current time, the participating townships of Benner, College, Harris, Ferguson, and Patton plan to continue to explore options to improve the regional refuse and recycling program and ways to enhance the sustainability of our community. In 2020 the Committee will evaluate other options to reduce organics from the landfill and provide options for residents interested in organics recycling. Curbside collection of organics may happen in the future, but more research on other options is needed.
The Refuse and Recycling Program has four main goals:
1. Administer the Regional Refuse and Recycling Contract for residential collection for the participating municipalities. 2. Seek ways to help control municipal, customer, and program costs. 3. Serve as the designated agent to educate, inform, and serve the residents of the participating municipalities. 4. Administer the Recycle at Work Program.
The following sections describe work tasks the Refuse and Recycling Program strives to achieve in order to accomplish those goals.
A. Administer the regional residential Refuse and Recycling Contract for the participating municipalities & support the regional haulers.
Ongoing Contributions…
• Administer the service contract which will be held by Advanced Disposal for the contract period 2020-2024. As the designated agent for the participating municipalities, staff monitors the program and contracted hauler in order to ensure compliance with bidding specifications and to identify areas for improvement.
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• Assist the contracted hauler with collecting payment on delinquent and past due accounts as well as help the contractor identify any properties that are not participating in the program as defined under the conditions of municipal solid waste and recycling ordinances. • Educate residents about the changes in the 2020 contract, which includes an increase in cost, an improved process for bulky item pick up service and a change to the vacancy policy. The main change to the vacancy policy is for planned vacancy (second homes) in which the property owner will be allowed only one quarter’s credit, not two. • Support the regional haulers in the identification of residential and commercial property owners through the Centre County Web Information Access (WEBIA) system, which allows for an online owner search. • Assist the contracted hauler in generating solutions to consistent problematic situations, especially confusion regarding bulk waste items, yard waste, and rental properties. • Monitor the needs and resources of current subsidy program participants who have severe financial hardship in paying for mandatory refuse and recycling service. In 2019, 31 households are being assisted through the hardship program. • Advise municipal managers and their communication specialists about issues, schedule changes and problems that may impact service in the community, i.e. ice storms, truck break downs, etc.
B. Seek ways to help control municipal, customer, and program costs.
Ongoing Contributions…
• Continue to keep the monthly rate for the contracted Refuse and Recycling Program low; the 2020 rate of $19.53 for standard 8- bag service is below the average 1991 rate of $20.50 without adjusting for inflation, for non-contracted refuse service. See the graph on the following page for the customer costs for standard 8-bag refuse and unlimited recycling since 1991. Note: The contracted Refuse and Recycling Program monthly rate is much lower than the rate being paid by residents of municipalities outside the program where there is not a single mandated hauler. The average monthly rate for refuse and recycling services outside the Centre Region is $27 with a range of $22.50 - $31 depending on location service, choice, and hauler.
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Customer costs for standard 8-bag service of refuse and unlimited recycling from 1991 to present. The blue line reflects the actual monthly cost for each year for COG's trash and recycling service. The red line is the inflation adjusted cost of $20.50 from the 1991 average rate; $20.50 in 1991 has the buying power of $38.92 in 2019.
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• Promote & encourage the competitive bidding process, which would result in lower rates. • Assist the contracted hauler in maintaining the delinquent account rate at less than 1% using methods such as: ➢ Suspend service on properties with 90 days past due bills. This process includes sending a payment due reminder letter, a notice of suspension letter, and a citation notice letter after the service is suspended. ➢ Research delinquent accounts to find resolutions to late payments. This task includes calling customers, site visits to The charts above show the monthly rates for standard service determine vacancy/home sales, and educating residents about for the last contract as well as the new contract. In 2020 the hardship program (the letters sent regarding delinquency costs will increase $3.41/month for Standard Service. This contain information about the hardship program). increase should be viewed over 2 contract periods, so it is appropriate to analyze this cost increase over a 10-year period. ➢ Provide the contracted hauler with property owner information * In 2019 rates were adjusted for fuel and tipping costs per to convert billing statements from the tenant’s address into the the contract specifications. name and address of the rental property owner, which reduces the incidence of non-payment.
• Evaluate and promote sustainable practices in our refuse program. In 2015 the residential refuse and recycling contract included specifications for the switch to CNG fueled collection trucks to reduce harmful carbon emissions, cut fuel costs, and minimizes maintenance costs. In 2018 a curbside organics collection program was evaluated but it was not deemed to be an economic or environmentally responsible way to handle organics at this current time.
• Apply for appropriate DEP and other available grants. In 2018, COG applied for and received a DEP grant for the costs of organics recycling containers for residential and/or commercial use as part of the organics recycling initiative, as an example.
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C. Educate, inform, and serve the needs of residents in the participating municipalities.
Ongoing Contributions…
• Assist customers in the resolution of issues with their refuse or recycling services. • Maintain the Refuse and Recycling Program’s website to include pertinent information about refuse and recycling, holiday collection schedules, yard waste, and other useful links. The website receives approximately 600 views per month. • Work with the CCRRA to publicize its electronics recycling program, miscellaneous plastics drop-off program, and the annual household hazardous waste collection event. • Coordinate with the CCRRA and regional refuse haulers to inform residents and businesses about the ban on computers and televisions from landfills. Pennsylvania Act 108 of 2010 bans all televisions, computers, and related electronic devices from landfills and requires them to be recycled beginning January 23, 2013. • Assist the Public Services and Environmental Committee to identify projects that help promote recycling in the region and are funded through the recycling rebate. For 2019 the PSE Committee approved funding to purchase recycling containers for Whitehall Road Regional Park and kitchen organics containers to promote the introduction of a regional organics recycling program. • Assist the Centre Region Parks and Recreation Authority with maintaining a recycling program at local parks. Through the recycling rebate fund, recycling containers have been installed in seven high use parks, William L. Welch and Park Forest Pools, the John Hess Softball Field Complex, Millbrook Marsh Nature Center and Oak Hall Regional Park. In the nine years since the Recycling in our Parks Program began, approximately 568,000 plastic bottles Ms. Adams and Ms. Chivers promoted backyard composting at and 129,000 aluminum cans have been recycled, which is over 1 ton Millbrook Marsh Nature Center on April 28, 2019 for its of recyclable material each year. Earth Day Birthday celebration.
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• Provide advertising and public service announcements regarding holiday collection schedules and special item collections. • Contribute useful information about refuse and recycling to the network of communications specialists serving the participating municipalities. • Participate in educational opportunities with other refuse and recycling professionals in the Commonwealth. • Work with other refuse and recycling professionals to identify common problems, areas of interest and ways to work together.
D. Administer the new Recycle at Work Program.
Ongoing Contributions…
• Promote the Recycle at Work Program with the goal of improving recycling at commercial locations. This program is a joint effort between the CCRRA, COG’s Refuse and Recycling Program, and the State College Borough Public Works Department. • Work in a collaborative relationship between COG’s Refuse and Recycling Program, the State College Borough, and the Centre Region Code Administration (CRCA) wherein educational materials are mailed to property owners with the following existing permits: ➢ Recycle at Work brochures are sent with the fire permits to all building owners in January of each year. ➢ Recycle at Home (Multi-Family Housing) brochures are sent with all rental permits beginning in August of each year. • Create educational materials to help businesses understand the recycling process, requirements, and benefits. Industry-specific educational posters and Businesses who recycle receive this window cling for brochures have been identified for restaurants, construction, and multi-family display and they annually receive recycling reports housing units. from Centre County Recycling & Refuse Authority.
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• Coordinate data collection between the CCRRA, haulers, and the Centre Region Code Agency (CRCA) to accurately track businesses that are recycling. • Work with the Centre Regional Planning Agency, municipal zoning officers, and haulers to ensure that sufficient space for recycling containers along with trash dumpsters is included during the design phase of building projects.
OF PARTICULAR NOTE
It is proposed that the position of Refuse and Recycling Administrator be transferred from the Office of Administration to the Centre Region Planning Agency (CRPA). The employee would be a direct report to the Sustainability Planner as a supplemental duty.
After the current Executive Director retires, the person most familiar with the history, contract, field operations and future direction of the refuse and recycling program will be the newly appointed Sustainability Planner and former Refuse and Recycling Administrator, Pam Adams. There are benefits to the Refuse and Recycling Program for the Sustainability Planner and the Refuse and Recycling Administrator to work near each other in terms of ease of communication and the exchange of information. And there are many connections to the projects underway within the Refuse and Recycling program to sustainability, such as organics recycling and increased recycling participation.
The 2019 budget included funds for the Refuse and Recycling Administrator position to go from part-time (25-30 hours per week) to full-time. It is anticipated that the Administrator will start full time in September 2019. As the Administrator position becomes full-time and the new person is fully trained, the Assistant position will be eliminated in 2020 as proposed when established.
For more detailed information, see the Office of Administration section.
WHERE ARE WE NOW?
For the period of January 1 through June 30, 2019, revenues and expenditures are slightly lower than the projections contained in the 2019 budget. The main variance is due to a decline in the Recycling Rebate revenue, as well as a decline in expenditures related to personnel changes and public outreach. Looking forward to the last six months of 2019, no other variances are expected for the 2019 budget.
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• For the first year since COG began directly receiving a Recycling Rebate in 2009, there will be no rebate in 2019. While $15,000 was budgeted, this reimbursement is dependent on market prices for recyclable materials, which are at an all-time low. The PSE Committee makes recommendations regarding the use of these funds when received.
• The Refuse and Recycling Administrator position was planned to transition to a full-time position in early 2019, however, it has been delayed until September. This will result in lower costs than budgeted for personnel costs.
• Since the proposed curbside organics recycling program is not proceeding with the 2020 contract, there is not the need for a large public outreach program. This will result in lower costs than budgeted for advertising and public education line items under operation costs.
WHAT IS THE COST?
The 2019 budget for the Regional Refuse and Recycling Program provides for the following revenue and expenditures as shown in the table on the right.
WHERE ARE WE GOING?
Looking forward into 2020 and beyond, proposed major budgetary changes and major work objectives for the Regional Refuse and Recycling Program include:
Recycling and Refuse Program revenue and expenditures from 2018 through the approved 2019 budget.
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Proposed Budgetary Changes…
• Costs for public outreach are expected to decrease from $35,000 to $15,000. In the 2019 budget, an additional $25,000 was included for increased public education materials and advertising for the proposed organics recycling collection. This money will not be spent in 2019 and that amount will not be needed in the 2020 budget. $5,000will be included for continued education and advertising to help promote recycling and other initiatives to reduce organics from the landfill.
Propose New Work Objectives…
• Evaluate bid specifications and determine changes that can promote more haulers biding on the RFB. One bid was received on March 13, 2019, from Advanced Disposal for the 2020 Refuse and Recycling Contract. This is the 7th time the contract has been competitively bid and the first time only 1 bid was received. Bid documents were issued to eight companies and three participated in the pre-bid conference: Apple Valley Waste, Burgmeier’s Hauling, and Advanced Disposal Services.
With only one bid received, the task of rejecting the bid and rebidding the contract was assessed. COG looked at previous bids as well as other municipal contract programs. In addition, feedback was gathered from the other haulers who participated in the pre-bid meeting for their reasons for not submitting a bid. Based on the presented information, the PSE Committee unanimously passed a motion to accept the bid from Advanced Disposal Services at its April 4, 2019 meeting.
It is in the best interest of the program to evaluate the specifications and current program to determine ways to garner more competition for future contracts. The Public Services & Environmental Committee may want to consider the following options:
a) Study other programs throughout the state to determine if and where our specifications restrict some haulers. b) Determine whether COG or the Centre County Recycling & Refuse Authority should do its own billing and customer service. This was analyzed in 2019 and did not appear viable at the time. c) Analyze splitting the region into 2-4 zones and bid out the different zones. This may make the territory more manageable and may allow for some zones to participate in a curbside organics program. With this proposal, it would likely need to be combined with (b) COG doing its own billing. d) Evaluate how to limit or remove the bulk waste collection events. This is very costly to the hauler requiring the contractor to have on hand 5-10 extra trucks for 2 times a year.
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• Investigate options and develop opportunities for residents and businesses to recycle their organic (yard and food waste) materials. While the 2018 proposed organics curbside program was rejected it is still in the interest of the Public Service & Environmental (PSE) Committee to evaluate other options to reduce organics from the landfill and provide options for residents interested in organics recycling. Local (State College Borough), state and federal information identifies that organic waste, which includes food waste and yard trimmings, makes up the largest portion (20-40%) of what is going to the landfill.
The proposed curbside program was forecasted to only remove around 1,540 tons/year (14%) from the landfill based on State College Borough data. This indicates additional work needs to be done to educate and change the behaviors of more residents to get them to recycle their organics. This process may need to be introduced incrementally to residents and businesses to have the greatest impact. The PSE Committee may want to consider the following:
a) Produce a food waste reduction education campaign. The best starting point for reducing the amount of waste sent to the landfill is to reduce the waste at the source. For an American family of four, the average value of discarded produce is nearly $1,600 annually. b) Expand on the existing backyard composting education program. Currently, 2 classes are offered through Parks and Recreation to educate residents on backyard composting. Additional education and public outreach campaigns could support more residents composting their food waste in their own backyards. Community composting programs may be able to be established in interested neighborhoods to encourage organics recycling. c) Develop a fee-based drop off program for yard waste throughout the Centre Region. Currently, there are three free drop off locations for grass clippings and one fee-based for yard waste at the GOH Recycle Center. There is demand for residents to have more options closer to their homes for yard waste recycling. d) Creating or expanding (c) to include a fee-based food waste drop off program throughout the Centre Region. There could be 1 – 2 pilots tested in certain parts of the region to determine its feasibility and success.
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MISSION
The COG Contingency Fund was established to finance the COG’s fiscal obligations arising from emergency situations or special projects not provided for in the annual agency budgets and approved by the General Forum.
WHO ARE WE?
Because the COG Agencies normally operate with minimum cash reserves, the Contingency Fund is an essential component of the COG’s financial management system. It permits the COG to adjust to unanticipated or unusual expenses while maintaining existing service levels and stabilizing municipal contributions during the fiscal year.
Effective with the adoption of the 2018 budget, expenditures from the Contingency Fund under $4,000 can be approved by the Executive Director, but those over $4,000 require the approval of the General Forum.
In the past, the Contingency Fund has been used to finance such items as: the engineering study to determine COG participation in connecting to the KINBER Wide Area Network (WAN), repair of a sinkhole at the COG building, recruitment costs for the Planning and Library Directors, the interest on a loan relating to the acquisition of the Oak Hall Regional Park property, the July 4th Fireworks, the development of a model ordinance relating to land use controls around the I-99 interchanges, the purchase of a LUCAS chest compression system for Centre COG LifeLink, and unanticipated legal expenses regarding the COG’s denial of a Development of Regional Impact CONTINGENCY application. BUDGET
WHAT DO WE DO?
The Contingency Fund has been a component of the COG Budget since at least 1973. From 1973 to 1984, by tradition, the beginning year fund balance was set at 1% of the total COG Budget. In 1985, the General Forum set the balance of the Contingency Fund at 1% of the COG Budget, not including agency fund balances, the Centre Region Code Administration Budget, and special capital budgets (e.g. the Eastern Inner Loop, COG Housing, Pools Capital, Library Capital, Fire Capital, and Fire Training Site).
During the budget review sessions in 2000, the COG Finance Committee recommended that the General Forum consider no additional municipal contributions to the Contingency Fund for 2000, which froze the fund at
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$26,380; the ending year balance from 1999. This fixed amount for the Contingency Fund balance was approved by the General Forum in adopting the 2000 to 2009 COG Budgets. Recognizing that the COG Budget had increased during that ten-year period, the General Forum, upon the recommendation of the Finance Committee, increased the threshold amount to approximately $35,000 for 2010 and 2011 but elected not to replenish the funds utilized for the KINBER engineering study in 2017/2018. The January 1, 2019 beginning year fund balance was $26,944.
WHERE ARE WE NOW?
For the period of January 1 through June 2019, neither the General Forum or the Executive Director has authorized any expenditures from the Contingency Fund.
WHAT IS THE COST?
The 2019 budget for the COG Contingency Fund provides for the revenue and expenditures in the table on the right.
WHERE ARE WE GOING? With the retirement announcement of the COG Executive Director, effective April 3, 2020, the General Forum authorized the Recruitment and Screening Committee, as it deems appropriate, to utilize the Contingency Fund to pay for expenses related to the hiring process of the new Executive Director. During 2019 recruitment costs may utilize the entire Contingency Fund. These expenses for the current year include the following:
➢ Retaining the services of a personnel consultant to assist with the hiring process. ➢ Advertising costs for the position. ➢ Travel costs associated with interviewing candidates. Contingency Fund revenue and expenditures from 2018 through the approved 2019 budget.
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Because there is no expected 2019 ending year fund balance in the COG Contingency Budget, the Program Plan proposes a 2020 municipal contribution of $35,000 to restore the fund balance to the amount previously approved by the General Forum.
Looking ahead to 2020, no specific expenditure items for the Contingency Budget have been identified. However, during the next two to three years, several senior-level COG Administrators may retire, similar to the situation with the Executive Director, the Contingency Budget can function as a source of funding to begin the hiring process.
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MISSION
The purpose of the COG Building Capital Budget is to finance capital improvements, capital replacements, and major repairs to the COG Building.
WHO ARE WE?
The COG Building Capital Budget established a sinking fund to finance the replacement of major capital components, systems (e.g. roof, heat pumps), and building-wide technology-related equipment for the COG Building. As the building ages, its architectural, mechanical, electrical and plumbing components, furnishings, and technology equipment will need to be replaced or upgraded through the life of the COG lease (2028). The Finance Committee is the oversight board for the Building Capital Budget.
The Executive Director has appointed two current employees as COG Building Managers to oversee the maintenance and repair of the building as well as to assist with the bidding process for capital items. The employees receive additional compensation to recognize the additional work associated with these duties. In 2017-2018 the responsibility for the maintenance of the COG’s IP telephone system, HVAC monitoring, and key fob updates was shifted from COG staff to the IT staff of State College Borough as part of the COG’s service agreement with the Borough. COG BUILDING WHERE ARE WE NOW? CAPITAL BUDGET Since the fund was established in 2005, the following changes were approved by the Finance Committee: • 2007: Municipal contributions and the estimated replacement costs should be annually adjusted by the change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI-U). • 2010: Technology-related equipment (servers, switches, etc.) shared by the Agencies located in the COG Building should be included in the Building Capital Budget. • 2012: Costs were updated based upon current and estimated replacement costs and they are adjusted annually by 3% in accordance with the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP).
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WHAT IS THE COST?
The 2019 budget for the COG Building Capital Budget provides for the revenue and expenditures in the table on the right.
The unaudited January 1, 2019 fund balance was $186,009, a $55,856 increase from the projected amount of $130,153. The difference is largely due to the timing of the KINBER project which completed in early 2019 rather than in the 4th quarter of 2018.
There are two primary sources of income for the COG Building Capital Fund; municipal contributions based on the current regular COG funding formula and transfers from the Refuse and Recycling, Code New Construction, and Code Existing Structures Programs.
For the period of January 1 through May 31, 2019, revenue for the COG Building Capital Budget was largely consistent with the projections contained in the 2019 budget. There were three primary expenditures: • The KINBER high-speed fiber optic internet connection was completed at a cost of $40,800. • The tables in the Forum Room were replaced at a cost of $12,700.
• The computer network and telephone network switches (2 each) were replaced at a cost of $5,800. • A 16-year-old amplifier was diagnosed and replaced along with the addition of a gooseneck microphone holder to the podium in the General Forum room at a cost of $1,920.
Looking forward to the next six months, the following budgeted expenditures are anticipated: COG Building Capital Budget revenue and expenditures from 2018 through the approved 2019 budget.
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• Replace drip pans under the HVAC units in the ceiling of the COG building at an estimated cost of $2,500. • The 2019 budget contained $50,000 to conduct a retro-commissioning of COG owned and COG-related facilities beginning with the COG building. The Ad Hoc Facilities Committee is developing a scope of work at the present time and the hope is that a Request for Proposal will be distributed this summer. • The 2019 budget contained a total of $15,000 to update the audio system in the General Forum Room. $5,000 is budgeted for the installation hearing loop system similar to the one at Patton Township, $4,500 is budgeted for 15 gooseneck microphones to provide adequate sound, $3,000 was budgeted for a mixer to relay the sound from the microphones to the audio system, and the remaining $1,500 will be used for installation and other hardware costs. • A circulating pump for the boilers will likely need to be installed prior to the heating season as the current one has failed.
WHERE ARE WE GOING?
Proposed Budgetary Changes…
The following expenditures are proposals for capital investments in the COG Building: • Replace 5-6 HVAC units in the COG Building at a cost of $33,000. Staff is intending to replace the units over the course of 4 years to spread out the cost over four years with a focus on replacing the poorly functioning units first. The HVAC units are original to the COG Building (built in 2003) and are beginning to reach the end of their useful life. Staff is hoping the retro- commissioning of the COG building planned to be undertaken in 2019 will provide additional insights as to the estimated remaining useful life of these units. • State College Borough IT is recommending the replacement of the backup server in the COG building at a cost of $25,000, including 5 years of support. The current backup server was purchased in 2011 and replacement has been delayed for three years due to the pending outcome of the decision regarding how to connect to the KINBER fiber network.
As previously mentioned, the six Centre Region municipalities own the COG building. There is a 25-year lease between the municipalities and COG for the lease of the building. The lease began in 2003 and ends in 2028. In 2020 there will be eight years left on the lease. The elected officials who approved the lease agreement in 2003 were silent about what should happen to the building at the end of a 25-year lease in 2028. They believed that the individuals who are in an elected office close to the time when the lease expires should decide what to do.
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In 2018, the General Forum created the Ad Hoc Facilities Committee to review, improve, and plan for the future utilization of the COG Building and other owned and maintained facilities. This direction is important because during the next eight years costly improvements (roof replacement, repaving the parking lot, expanding the parking lot, HVAC replacements, emergency power generator, etc.) may be proposed. As mentioned in the other Program Plan sections, there are severe space and parking limitations to the COG building that has resulted in a proposal to relocate the Parks and Recreation Agency office to another building and then expand the Code Administration Agency office into the space vacated by the Parks and Recreation Agency. This change will eliminate the need to expand the parking lot or add on to the COG Building.
This Committee has been reviewing the conditions of the COG facilities based on assessments performed by staff and has begun discussions regarding the development of a COG-wide facilities maintenance plan. In May 2019, the Committee appointed a Facilities Maintenance Intern/Volunteer who has been reviewing the facilities and assessing their condition and maintenance procedures. The plan is for this position to help organize COG’s facility information, procedures, and function to provide a base for the hiring of a Facilities Coordinator, which is being proposed in the 2020 Program Plan. (See the Office of Administration Program Plan)
In addition, with the growth in the Centre Region Code program, the COG offices located in the COG Building have utilized all the available space and the number of parking spaces is inadequate when large meetings are held. In the spring of 2019, proposals were received to provide a study as to how to utilize the space in the building more effectively or if new space should be leased or acquired. The Committee decided to reject all proposals and requested staff to develop a plan for an interim solution.
Staff determined the most cost-effective option would be for the Parks Agency to move to a separate location with an approximate five- year lease. A potential space was found and introduced to the Facilities Committee at its June meeting. Should the General Forum agree to lease this (or similar space) for the Parks agency, this will likely cause a domino effect with the redistribution of staff between COG suites throughout the COG building. A potential scenario would be for the Code office to expand its space in the COG Building to include the existing Parks suite and relocate from their current space in the Planning suite. The staff for the Refuse and Recycling program would relocate from the Administrative suite to the office currently occupied by Code personnel who work out of the Planning suite. By moving the Refuse and Recycling staff out of the Office of Administration suite, space would become available for the Facilities Coordinator in mid-2020. It should be noted that the Parks and Aquatics programs currently budget approximately $61,000 (about $20 a sq. ft.) for the space they utilize in the COG Building. This cost would be assumed by the Code program allowing for the repurposing of municipal dollars currently allocated towards the COG Building lease towards an offsite lease.
It should be noted that should COG rent space at another location, then the lease agreement would require the unanimous approval of the General Forum.
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MISSION
The mission of the Insurance Reserve Fund is to serve as a depository for the receipt and expenditure of excess funds received from the Pennsylvania Municipal Health Insurance Cooperative (PMHIC) that occurs when employee health insurance premiums are less than the expenses paid.
WHO ARE WE?
The Insurance Reserve Fund was established in 2007 to track the refunds received through the PMHIC program. Original cooperative member organizations in Centre County included the COG, Centre Area Transportation Authority (CATA), Ferguson Township, Patton Township, and State College Borough. College Township joined the cooperative in 2009, the Bellefonte Borough in 2011, and Harris Township in late 2012.
The COG’s fund is used as follows: • To offset increases in medical insurance premiums. • To fund unexpected and unbudgeted increases in medical insurance. For instance, when an employee with single medical coverage is replaced with an employee with family coverage. INSURANCE • To fund employee wellness activities (e.g. health screenings, flu shots, and educational programs). RESERVE • To pay for expenses associated with the Affordable Care Act. BUDGET
WHAT DO WE DO?
Every year COG’s medical experience (dollar value of claims) is compared with the premiums that were paid into the PMHIC program. If the premiums are greater than the experience, COG receives a refund based upon a formulaic percentage of the unused premiums. The actual amount can vary widely. For instance, no reimbursement was received for the 2012 premium year, but $118,029 will be received in 2019 for the 2018 premium year. Transfers from PMHIC into this fund are entirely based on the medical costs of the COG Staff and their families. It is a very unpredictable and volatile budget.
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A key component to the realization of these refunds is the existence and investment in the Employee Wellness Program that was initiated by the Human Resources Committee. Prior to 2011, the insurance reimbursements were for the most part accumulated; however, there were occasional expenditures for health and wellness and transfers to various agencies to bridge a funding gap, if necessary, due to changes in employees’ status.
The COG Finance Committee elected to pay a portion of increases in medical premiums in 2011-2019 out of the Insurance Reserve Fund. The Executive Director proposes the same arrangement for 2020.
A cautionary note accompanies this recommendation, this budget may not be sustainable over the long term. Should the Insurance Reserve Fund not continue to grow, at some point in the future, the accumulation of employee health rate increases will need to be paid in one lump sum. To avoid this from occurring, the status of the fund should be carefully examined as each year’s budget is prepared. If the COG does not receive a surplus payment or the payment is very low, then changes in fund management should be implemented to ensure the fund is sustainable over the long term.
WHERE ARE WE NOW?
For the period of January 1 through May 31, 2019, expenditures from the Insurance Reserve Budget are anticipated to be less than estimated due to staff changeover resulting in lower health insurance premiums than anticipated and no agency premium subsidies being incurred to date in 2019. Multiple positions that were budgeted for family coverage were filled with individuals who opted for a waiver or lower level of coverage. PMHIC is expected to provide COG with a $118,029 reimbursement in 2019, a significant reduction from the 2018 reimbursement of $189,766. The change is due to an increase in medical claims by COG employees during 2018.
Prior to 2018, it was agreed by the Finance Committee that this rebate would not be assumed in the annual COG budget documents. After reviewing a 9-year history, receipt of a $25,000 rebate was assumed for the 2018 budget. In its review of the 2018 budget, the Finance Committee requested that the 2019 rebate estimate be based on the historic trend as to the value of reimbursements.
At its June 13th meeting, the Finance Committee reviewed and supported the methodology in place for determining how much of the Insurance Reserve Budget should be applied each year to the health insurance premiums. To calculate the proposed rebate, staff takes the average of the previous seven years rebates, deducting out the high and the low years as outliers, to get the anticipated refund. The Insurance Reserve fund’s expenditures would then be calculated on that revenue assumption coupled with the estimated beginning fund balance – staff’s recommendation would be to utilize 1/3 of the available funds to smooth potential large fluctuations that could have a significant impact on COG’s budget – such as one or two years of either no or a minor rebate.
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Should the reimbursement be low or non-existent beyond two consecutive years then insurance costs paid by the employer and employee are likely to increase.
WHAT IS THE COST?
No municipal funds are directly contributed to the Insurance Reserve Fund. Revenue is composed entirely of a PMHIC reimbursement of medical premiums that have been paid by the COG and its employees.
The audited January 1, 2019 fund balance was $562,811; a $31,656 increase from the projected amount of $531,155.
In April 2019, COG was notified by PMHIC that its total 2018 refund would be $118,029. In 2019, anticipated expenditures include $11,210 for Employee Wellness Programs, $195,000 to offset increases in health insurance premiums for the 2019 calendar year, approximately $30,000 for unexpected and unbudgeted premium increases due to employees changing family status (e.g. single to family coverage) or replacing an employee with single medical insurance coverage with an individual needing two-person or family coverage, and approximately $2,500 for fees associated with the Affordable Care Act. Insurance Reserve Fund revenue and expenditures from WHERE ARE WE GOING? 2018 through the approved 2019 budget.
Looking forward into 2020 and beyond, the proposed major budgetary changes to the Insurance Reserve Fund are at the discretion of the Finance Committee and can be adjusted and/or revised on an annual basis.
For 2020, the COG Executive Director recommends the following expenditures: • Approximately $200,000 to offset medical insurance premiums. • $30,000 to fund unexpected and unbudgeted increases in medical insurance costs due to employee changes.
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• Funding for the Employee Relations Committee (ERC) to conduct a Wellness Program to include flu shots, wellness program incentives, and educational programs. ($3,200 in 2019) • Funding for an employee health improvement reimbursement program to partially subsidize participation in a gym, yoga or other professionally supervised activity that encourages exercise and movement for full and permanent year-round part-time COG employees. ($6,000 in 2019) • Funding for First Aid, and Fire Safety training from the American Red Cross. ($2,000 in 2019)
The above Wellness Program items were proposed by the COG’s ERC, which is comprised of staff members from the agencies and the Human Resources Officer to the Human Resources Committee. For the past several years, ERC members have consulted with the COG’s medical insurance representatives and received training on setting up “healthy employee” initiatives. National data shows that health care costs are directly related to the overall well-being of the organization’s employees in both a physical and mental capacity. The ERC’s effort delivers healthy initiatives in a manner that is more conducive to participation for employees who have increasingly busy work schedules.
It is believed that investments in the Employee Wellness Programs will promote the health of COG staff and their families, thereby reducing costs in medical services, lowering the absentee rate, and helping employees function with optimum efficiency. Because the COG receives a portion of these savings through its participation in the PMHIC cooperation, it is believed that there is a good return on the investments in Employee Wellness Programs.
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MISSION
The purpose of the Unemployment Fund is to finance the COG’s self-funded unemployment account in an amount sufficient to pay unemployment claims for former COG employees as determined by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
WHO ARE WE?
The Unemployment Fund is administered by the COG Office of Administration, with revenue and expenditures being reviewed by the Finance Committee as part of the COG Budget process. This budget was introduced to the COG as a separate fund in the 2018 Detailed Budget in order to assure that COG has adequate funds available to finance claims for unemployment insurance.
WHAT DO WE DO?
The Unemployment Fund, added as a new fund beginning in 2018, was established to: • Pay claims for former COG employees as directed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. • Improve tracking of expenses and revenues (transfers from COG Agencies) for unemployment claims. COG • Improve the ability to assess whether the pool of funds is adequate to pay known and potential obligations. UNEMPLOYMENT
BUDGET COG began managing this account effective January 1, 2015, with the transition of responsibility for providing financial and accounting services from the Borough of State College to the COG’s Office of Administration. Prior to January 1, 2015, unemployment funds were held in trust in the Borough’s General Fund during which COG received annual updates of all transfers in and out of the fund.
The COG’s self-funded unemployment budget includes all the regional program agencies except the Centre Region Parks and Recreation Authority (Millbrook Marsh Nature Center and Aquatics part-time employees) and Schlow Centre Region Library. Separate policies are used for these employees.
COG has utilized the self-funded approach due to its low history of low claims, which allows COG to maintain funds in its own bank account rather than remitting those funds to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
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The Administrative staff believes, based upon the history of claims, that a self-funded program is the most cost-effective way to pay for unemployment claims.
WHERE ARE WE NOW?
As of December 31, 2018, the current audited fund balance was $75,378, which is approximately $10,000 higher than estimated.
The expenditures for January 1 to April 30, 2019 ($7,822) were on average with the historical claims for the same time period since 2015, except for 2018 when there were higher than anticipated claims due to unanticipated turnover and weather delays in the rehiring of Centre Region Parks and Recreation seasonal maintenance staff.
WHAT IS THE COST?
The Unemployment Fund is funded through Interfund Transfers, consisting of staff directed payroll taxes incurred from the individual funds from COG Agencies.
The 2019 budget for the COG Unemployment Fund provides for the revenue and expenditures in the table on this page.
WHERE ARE WE GOING? Unemployment Fund revenue and expenditures from 2018 through the approved 2019 budget. COG will continue to make transfers into the Unemployment Fund in an amount determined to be sufficient to pay claims as directed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Staff anticipates expenditures in 2020 to be consistent with those experienced from 2015 through 2017, which averaged $14,536 annually, predominately for the seasonal Centre Region Parks and Recreation maintenance staff. Currently, the staff is expecting a reduction in the overall Interfund Transfers necessary to the Unemployment Fund in 2020.
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MISSION
The mission of the Centre Region Emergency Management Program is to ensure a coordinated effort to prepare for, respond to, recover from, and mitigate emergencies in a manner that utilizes resources effectively to protect lives and property in the Borough of State College and the Townships of College, Ferguson, Halfmoon, Harris, and Patton.
WHO ARE WE?
The Pennsylvania Emergency Management Code (Title 35) requires each municipality to have an Emergency Management Coordinator, an Emergency Operations Center (EOC), and an Emergency Operations Plan (EOP). In 1986, the General Forum authorized a study that confirmed emergency management services in the Centre Region were inadequate and they should be coordinated for a regional response to a disaster. By 1990, all of the Centre Region municipalities made the following improvements:
• Created a regional Emergency Management Program with a single Coordinator through an agreement with Penn State’s Office of University Safety that received approval by the Governor. • Adopted by ordinance, the Joint Articles of Agreement for Emergency Management Services and established a regional program administered and funded through the COG. OFFICE OF • Adopted a Centre Region Emergency Operations Plan. EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT • Designated a single Emergency Operations Center. BUDGET
The Emergency Management Program’s 2019 budget provides for the following staff:
Full-Time: Part-Time: Emergency Management Coordinator Staff Assistant (240 hours/year) provided through the COG Fire Protection Program and a Summer Intern Volunteers: The Centre Region is fortunate to have trained Deputy Coordinators to assist the Coordinator during emergencies or to fill-in during his absence. They are: Fire Director Steve Bair, Assistant Fire Chief Dennis Harris, Penn State Emergency Management Director Brian Bittner, and Penn State Emergency Management Planner Pam Soule.
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The Centre Region’s joint Emergency Management Program is considered to be a Best Practice Program by the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) because it provides a regionally coordinated response to declared emergencies.
BACKGROUND
Administrative oversight of the Emergency Management Program is provided by the Centre Region Emergency Management Council (EMC), which is comprised of the Centre Region Municipal Managers, a representative from Penn State University, the COG Executive Director, and the Vice-Chair of the COG General Forum.
From 1990 to 2002, the Centre Region Emergency Management Coordinator was a volunteer position. A comprehensive review of the Centre Region’s Emergency Management Program followed the tragic events of September 11, 2001. Municipal officials concluded after the assessment that the existing program that was based on a volunteer Emergency Management Coordinator was not adequate to meet future threats.
The Centre Region, including the University Park campus of Penn State University, is a potential target for domestic and international terrorism. The following contributing factors make the Centre Region a higher risk community: national sports and entertainment venues, a large international population, and growing importance as a transportation hub.
In 2002 after meeting with County and Penn State University officials, the EMC made the following recommendations:
• There should be a single Emergency Management Plan, EOC, and Emergency Management Coordinator for the Centre Region. • The Centre Region Emergency Management Program should continue to be administered by the COG. • The COG and Penn State University should establish a coordinated program for emergency management. • A full-time, paid Emergency Management Coordinator should be appointed, with costs shared between the COG and the University.
The EMC’s recommendations were approved by the municipalities and implemented through a five-year agreement between the COG and Penn State University. The Emergency Management Coordinator began work in February 2003. The contract with Penn State University expired on August 31, 2007; however, during its June 25, 2007 meeting, the General Forum approved the following motion to extend the agreement through August 31, 2008:
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“That the General Forum, as recommended by the Public Services Committee, extend the Emergency Management Services contract with The Pennsylvania State University for a period of one year, ending August 31, 2008, under the conditions recommended by the Centre Region Emergency Management Council; and in addition, that the General Forum ask the Emergency Management Council to evaluate the need for a full-time Centre Region Emergency Management Coordinator for the General Forum’s consideration by December 31, 2007.”
In response to the General Forum’s request, the EMC evaluated the arrangement and concluded that the responsibilities of the Emergency Management Program justified a full-time employee who would serve as the regional Emergency Management Coordinator for the six municipalities.
In June 2008, the recommendations of the EMC were reviewed and endorsed by the COG Public Services Committee, presented to the General Forum, and referred to the municipalities for comment. The Committee’s proposals presented were subsequently approved by all six Centre Region municipalities and presented to the General Forum for approval.
In order to implement this change to the Emergency Management Program, four actions were required. During the August 25, 2008 meeting, the General Forum reviewed the four items listed below and approved the following actions to implement the changes:
1. Confirm the General Forum’s intent to create a new position and modify the COG/Penn State University Emergency Management Agreement. 2. Approve the revised COG/Penn State Emergency Management Agreement. 3. Approve a Memorandum of Understanding that identified the interim arrangements for the Emergency Management Program. 4. Prepare a draft job description for the Centre Region Emergency Management Coordinator for consideration by the EMC and Personnel Committee (now known as the Human Resources Committee).
During the process of making changes to the Emergency Management Program, Mr. Stephen Abrams retired from Penn State University where he had served as the joint Emergency Management Coordinator. Subsequently, the General Forum, at its November 28, 2008 meeting, unanimously agreed to recommend to Governor Corbett that Mr. Shawn Kauffman be appointed as the full-time Centre Region Emergency Management Coordinator effective January 1, 2009.
The Centre Region Emergency Management Program, which has always had a strong partnership with the Penn State University and the Penn State Emergency Management Program, has become more comprehensive and mutually supportive. The partnership supports a
2020 Program Plan – Office of Emergency Management Budget 85 joint EOC which was relocated from the Eisenhower Parking Deck to Beaver Stadium in 2010. The new EOC provides emergency management support to the entire Centre Region and Penn State University. During the last several years, the COG and University have conducted joint training and mutually retained a consultant to evaluate emergency operations and identify opportunities for improvement. The relationship between COG and the Penn State University is often used as an example for other town/gown communities in the United States.
WHAT DO WE DO?
The Emergency Management Program provides the following services for the participating municipalities:
• Developing, maintaining, and updating Emergency Operations Plans for the Centre Region Municipalities. • Enhancing the Centre Region’s Emergency Management public outreach. • Identifying, maintaining, equipping, and staffing five Regional Emergency Shelters. (see attached map) • Providing training opportunities and conduct exercises for staff and volunteers who may be needed during emergencies. • Maintaining and activating, if necessary, the Emergency Operations Center.
A. Develop, maintain, and update Emergency Operations Plans for the Centre Region municipalities.
Ongoing Contributions…
• Developing, maintaining, and updating the regional emergency plans: Centre Region Basic Plan, Notification and Resource Manual, Emergency Operations Center Checklists, Hazard Specific Plans, Alerting and Notification Plan, Sheltering Plan, and Continuity of Operations Plan. • Developing, maintaining, and updating event-specific plans: Memorial Day, Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts, and People’s Choice Arts Festival, support Penn State University football events, Ag Progress Days and other special event planning.
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• Assisting Centre Region municipalities with development and maintenance of individual Continuity of Operations Plans.
• Assisting local businesses and authorities with preparation and review of required emergency planning documents. • Organizing an annual meeting between the Public Safety Committee, PennDOT, utility providers, and municipal first responders to exchange information regarding emergency planning. • Coordinating Centre Region Emergency Services for major emergencies and special events.
B. Enhance the Centre Region’s Emergency Management public outreach.
Ongoing Contributions…
• Providing emergency preparedness presentations to local civic groups and business associations, as requested.
• Attending open houses and safety fairs to present emergency preparedness information.
• Attending General Forum meetings to provide updates to the elected officials regarding the Emergency Management Program.
• Updating the Centre Region Emergency Management website, www.crcog.net/EM, and social media websites (Facebook and Twitter) with current emergency preparedness information.
• Coordinating the delivery of Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training to community volunteers who are interested in assisting their neighbors during a declared emergency.
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C. Maintain and equip the Regional Emergency Shelters so that they are in a state of readiness and provide staff during emergencies.
Ongoing Contributions…
Monitor the five Centre Region COG shelters (Park Forest Elementary School, Boalsburg Fire Company, Mount Nittany United Methodist Church, Halfmoon Christian Fellowship Church, and St. Paul Lutheran Church) to ensure that they can be expeditiously and efficiently used as public shelters during an emergency. Each of these shelters is able to function effectively in the event of a power outage.
• Arranging shelter training for community volunteers that staff the Centre Region shelters.
• Identifying new shelters and preparing recommendations for the EMC to consider. Locations of Emergency Shelters within the Centre Region.
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• Maintaining effective working relationships with American Red Cross staff that are responsible for operating shelters during an emergency.
D. Provide training opportunities and conduct exercises for staff and volunteers who may be needed during emergencies.
Ongoing Contributions…
• Coordinating training for individuals and groups that have a role in preparing for and responding to emergencies.
• Arranging the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and Incident Command System (ICS) training for elected and appointed municipal officials.
• Organizing tabletop and functional exercises for local first responders.
• Exercising notification and alerting systems and resolving or arranging for resolution of problems within those systems.
E. Maintain and activate, if necessary, the Emergency Operations Center (EOC).
Ongoing Contributions…
• Maintaining the Centre Region COG agreement with Penn State University for the use of the EOC.
• Testing and maintaining EOC equipment to assure its availability during an emergency.
• Updating the Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) and related documents located in the EOC.
• Providing management of Emergency Support staff when EOC is activated.
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OF PARTICULAR NOTE
During 2020, the Centre Region COG Office of Emergency Management will partner with Penn State University for a full-scale exercise involving Penn State and Centre Region staff and responders. This exercise will test the capabilities of responders and emergency management staff.
Additionally, in 2020, Penn State and Centre Region staff will continue the Disaster LAN software partnership. The software, which provides alerting and notification of Emergency Management staff, information sharing and GIS tracking, will be utilized during the above-mentioned exercise.
Lastly, the Centre Region EM Coordinator is partnering with State College Area School District on training and exercises related to increasing the safety of the State College schools. The EM Coordinator is assisting the District with development of a training and exercise plan for staff and administrators.
WHERE ARE WE NOW?
For the period of January 1 to June 30, 2019, revenue and expenditures for the Office of Emergency Management were consistent with the projections contained in the 2019 budget. The 2019 Emergency Management Program Budget provides for the revenue and expenditures shown in the table on the right.
The actual December 31, 2018, Emergency Management fund balance was $57,059, which is $10,051 more than the estimated balance of $47,042. Emergency Management revenue and expenditures from 2018 through the approved 2019 budget.
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WHAT IS THE COST?
Municipal contributions for the Emergency Management Program have been relatively flat during the last several years. Revenue and expenditures appear to be consistent with the budgeted projections through the first six months of 2019.
WHERE ARE WE GOING?
Looking forward into 2020 and beyond, proposed budgetary changes and work objectives for the Emergency Management Program include:
Proposed Budgetary Changes...
In 2020, The EM Coordinator is asking for $5,000 to $7,500 to fund a Deputy Coordinator position. This Deputy Coordinator would provide assistance to the Coordinator during planned events including Penn State University football games that are attended by over 100,000 individuals. Additionally, the Deputy Coordinator would attend emergency management related meetings and planning sessions such as: Emergency Management Council, Public Safety Committee and the Emergency Services Group. Event support would include: Memorial Day, Arts Fest/Peoples Choice, Ag Progress Days, Penn State Football, Patton Township Safety Fair, and Lion Bash. Most importantly, in the absence of the Coordinator, the Deputy Coordinator would monitor Centre Region incidents and activate the Emergency Operations Center as needed.
Proposed New Work Objectives...
At this time, the Emergency Management Program does not foresee any new work objectives for 2020. Emergency Management staff will continue all aspects of the program with an emphasis on training and exercise planning for the State College Area School District.
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2020 Program Plan 92
MISSION
The mission of the Centre Region Emergency Management Contingency Budget is to provide a pool of funds for the Centre Region Emergency Management Coordinator to use in responding to a declared emergency. This Budget was established in accordance with the Joint Articles of Agreement for the Regional Emergency Management Program that was adopted by the Centre Region municipalities.
WHO ARE WE?
During its November 27, 2006 meeting, the General Forum referred a recommendation to the Centre Region municipalities from the Centre Region Emergency Management Council (EMC) to update the 2002 Articles of Agreement for the Regional Emergency Management Program. The goal of the changes was to improve the Centre Region’s capacity to respond to an emergency in a coordinated, timely, and focused manner. Major changes contained in the revised Articles of Agreement relating to the authority for declaring an emergency, the duties of the EMC, and how the response to a declared emergency should be funded.
The EMC’s proposal was approved by the General Forum and adopted by each of the Centre Region municipalities. To implement the revised Articles of Agreement, the 2007 COG Budget established the Emergency EMERGENCY Management Contingency Budget to finance responses to declared emergencies. Based on the revised Articles of MANAGEMENT Agreement, the municipalities are to contribute a combined total of $25,000 to the budget for four years beginning in 2007 in order to create and maintain a $100,000 inflation-adjusted pool of funds. Due to the economic downturn in 2008, the General Forum elected to reduce the municipal contribution to $10,000 from 2009 to
2013, the year when the $100,000 targeted threshold was reached. For the calendar year, 2014 municipal contributions were based on changes in the Customer Price Index.
CONTINGENCY WHAT DO WE DO? BUDGET
In 2005, the EMC discussed how the initial response to an emergency would be funded. The EMC realized that during the initial response period, there should be clear guidelines as to who is responsible for expending funds and who should be authorized. After much discussion, the EMC recommended to the General Forum and the Centre Region municipalities that the Emergency Management Coordinator be authorized to spend up to $100,000 during
2020 Program Plan – Emergency Management – Contingency Budget 93 a declared emergency when there is an imminent threat to human life. Expenditures greater than that amount require the approval of the EMC.
WHERE ARE WE NOW?
For the period of January 1 to June 30, 2019, revenue and expenditures for the Emergency Management Contingency Fund are consistent with the projections contained in the COG Budget. During this period, there were no expenditures from the fund. The 2019 Emergency Management Contingency Budget provides for the revenue and expenditures shown in the table on the right.
Looking forward to the last six months of 2019, with the exception of an unforeseen emergency, no expenditures are anticipated from the Emergency Management Contingency Budget.
WHAT IS THE COST?
Per the Articles of Agreement for the Regional Emergency Management Program, municipal contributions are shared according to the COG funding formula that is in effect for that year. The fund balance on December 31, 2018, was $111,427, $331 more than the projected amount of $111,096.
WHERE ARE WE GOING?
Looking forward into 2020, the Emergency Management Contingency Budget municipal contributions would be based on the 2019 Consumer Price Index (CPI) adjustment as approved by the Article of Agreement. At the present time, it appears the CPI will be about 2.1% ($2,500). This translates into a proposed budget request of approximately $1,800 with the $700 (estimate) balance being made up by interest earnings. Emergency Management Contingency Budget revenue and expenditures from 2018 through the approved 2019 budget.
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MISSION
The overall mission of the Centre Region Code Administration (CRCA) is to protect the health, safety, and welfare of all people working, residing, and visiting in the seven municipalities served by the CRCA by providing administration of the Uniform Construction Code of Pennsylvania (UCC) for new construction, the locally adopted Centre Region Building Safety & Property Maintenance Code, and Borough of Bellefonte Safety & Property Maintenance Code for existing buildings.
WHO ARE WE?
The Centre Region Code Administration (CRCA) was created in 1968 by the Articles of Agreement adopted by the participating municipalities at that time (State College Borough and College, Ferguson, and Patton Townships) as a building and plumbing inspection agency. Electrical inspection services were added to the program in 1980 and by the mid-1980’s the four municipalities also participated in the CRCA’s Rental Housing Program. Harris Township joined the regional building and plumbing inspection service programs in 1990 and the Rental Housing Program in 2001. With the adoption of the Uniform Construction Code of Pennsylvania in 2004, Halfmoon Township joined the New Construction Program but chose not to participate in the Rental Housing or Commercial Fire Inspection Programs of the CRCA. During May 2014, the Bellefonte Borough signed a three-year agreement with the Centre Region COG to provide CRCA inspection services; including new construction, rental housing, and commercial fire inspections beginning July 1, 2014. In May 2017 Bellefonte Borough Council voted to extend the service agreement CENTRE REGION with CRCA until January 2021. On January 1, 2019, the Agency began providing Sewage Enforcement Officer CODE (SEO) services in College, Ferguson and Halfmoon Townships and the Borough of State College. ADMINISTRATION
The CRCA is entirely funded through building, rental housing, fire permits, and sewer management fees. No tax monies have been used to finance the Agency in over 40 years. In addition, the CRCA reimburses the COG Office of Administration for the financial, human resource management, and administrative services it receives based on the relative percentage of the CRCA budget to the overall COG budget. OVERALL AGENCY The CRCA is organized into two primary divisions, the New Construction and Existing Structures Programs:
• New Construction Program – The CRCA provides plan review and field inspection services for all new construction and building renovations (residential, commercial, and institutional) occurring in the member municipalities (College, Ferguson, Halfmoon, Harris, and Patton Townships and the Boroughs of Bellefonte
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and State College), with the exception of structures on Penn State University, University Park Campus and those owned by the state or federal government.
The code standard administered by the CRCA that applies to all new construction and building renovation activity is the International Code Council family of codes. This is a national code standard that was adopted by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania which is known as the Uniform Construction Code (UCC) of Pennsylvania or Act 45 of 1999. While the UCC is adopted by the Commonwealth, it is administered at the local level.
The CRCA also administers the regional Sewage Management Program (SMP), which was adopted by the Centre Region munici- palities through the Act 537 Sewage Facilities Plan. This program is administered in six of the seven municipalities: State College Borough, College, Harris, Ferguson, Patton, and Halfmoon Townships. There are approximately 3,100 properties included in the program area. The program includes the one-time in-tank inspection of all on-lot sewage disposal systems in the first six years of the program and the walk-over inspection of all systems every six years thereafter. In addition, the SMP ensures that all septic systems are pumped every three years in accordance with the Act 537 plan. The SMP is currently in its eleventh year.
To streamline the development process for single-family houses, enhance customer service, and reduce the time and cost associated with construction the Agency provides the SEO (sewage enforcement officer) services for College, Ferguson, Halfmoon Township and the Borough of State College. Six staff members have been trained and certified by the Pennsylvania Department of Environment Protection (DEP) as SEO’s in the Commonwealth of PA.
• Existing Structures Program – As part of the Existing Structures Program, the CRCA inspects all rental housing, commercial properties, schools, hospitals, industrial buildings, and care facilities to ensure safety using the Centre Region Building Safety & Property Maintenance Code (CRBS & PMC) and by reference, the International Fire Code. This code standard is not adopted statewide and can be locally amended through the adoption of a municipal ordinance. The CRCA conducts inspections of 20,399 rental units in the participating municipalities (does not apply to Halfmoon Township). Although there is some variation, all rental housing units are inspected every three years at a minimum, fraternities every six months, and rental housing units with a history of multiple violations annually. Currently, the Bellefonte Borough rental properties are on a two-year inspection cycle but will be transitioning in 2020 to a three-year inspection cycle.
The CRBS & PMC also includes the standard that governs the drilling and construction of wells and boreholes. These standards were adopted by the participating municipalities to protect the aquifer which supplies drinking water to most residents in the Centre Region and in neighboring municipalities. CRCA Fire Inspectors’ duties include conducting plan reviews and inspections of fire protection systems including automatic sprinkler and alarm systems, ensuring that building egress is maintained and not obstructed, verifying compliance with the
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provisions of the International Fire Code, and inspecting the common areas of apartment buildings. In addition, Fire Inspectors conduct a range of life safety programs for businesses, schools, fraternities, daycare facilities, and industries.
The Public Safety Committee provides policy oversight for the CRCA, Regional Fire Protection, and Emergency Management Programs. The Committee is comprised of one elected official from each of the participating municipalities and meets monthly to give direction on major policy, program, and financial topics.
Property owners and contractors may appeal decisions of the code official to the Centre Region Building and Housing Code Board of Appeals. The Board consists of the Core, Plumbing, Mechanical, Electrical, and Property Maintenance Boards. The Core Board is comprised of five primary members and two alternate members who have the technical expertise to make judgments on complex code issues. The other four Boards are each comprised of two primary members and one alternate member who all have special experience or knowledge in the area of their respective board. The Public Safety Committee recommends to the General Forum individuals to serve on each Board, and the General Forum refers these nominations to the participating municipalities for appointment. One advantage of the Boards being comprised of regional representatives is that it helps ensure that code interpretations are made in a consistent manner among all of the municipalities. For appeals generated in the Borough of Bellefonte, the Borough has chosen to appoint its own Appeals Board to hear appeals regarding the CRBS & PMC and for those regarding the UCC, the Borough utilizes the Centre County Board of Appeals.
The CRCA is often used as an example of a model regional code program. The agency is financially self-supporting, service levels exceed state recommendations, and an emphasis is placed on educating the community about code standards. Additionally, the CRCA is the largest regional code agency in Pennsylvania as measured by the value of new construction and number of rental units inspected. The code administration services provided to the participating municipalities have resulted in an outstanding safety record as measured by fire loss, structural failures, and a high standard of property maintenance. A large part of this success can be attributed to the skills and experience of the regional code program’s personnel. The CRCA staff is very experienced and highly trained in the building construction industry and have earned an average of over 14 nationally recognized building inspection and fire safety certifications.
The Insurance Services Office (ISO) is a nationally recognized provider of information for the insurance industry. Every four years, the ISO issues a rating of the CRCA building and fire code officials to indicate the level of safety that can be expected of the Code Agency as a way of benchmarking it against a national standard. Further, the Agency is rated separately on the commercial and residential (one and two-family homes) activities. The rating ranges from one to ten with one being the highest rating. In May 2014 and again in the Spring of 2019, the CRCA was rated by the ISO and has improved to be the only code agency in the Commonwealth to
2020 Program Plan – Centre Region Code Administration – Overall Agency 97 have a commercial rating of one and residential rating of two. This high distinction may result in insurance savings to those who have property insurance in the area covered by the CRCA. The commercial rating level of 1 has only been earned by a total of 11 code agencies nationwide.
To effectively administer code services, the CRCA had the following staff as of June 30, 2019:
Full-Time:
Administration
Agency Director (position shared between New Construction and Existing Structures Programs)
Office Manager (position is funded by the New Construction Program)
Codes Services Manager (position is funded by the New Construction Program)
New Construction Program Senior Building Inspector (1) Commercial Plans Examiners/Inspectors (7) Commercial Plans Examiners (2) Commercial Electrical Inspectors (3) Staff Assistant (2) Permit Program Technician (1) (Note: this program reimburses the Existing Structures program for commercial fire inspections)
Existing Structures Program Senior Fire Inspector (1) Commercial Fire Inspectors (3) Permit Program Technician (1) Housing Inspectors (4) Staff Assistant (1)
WHAT DO WE DO?
The work objectives of the CRCA are to provide the following services: • Conduct professional building plan reviews to ensure compliance with the statewide building code. • Perform construction, fire, and rental housing inspections. • Undertake staff training with an emphasis on professionalism, code standards, and helpful public service. • Provide responsive, timely, and efficient code administration management.
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• Assist the participating municipalities in resolving building or code related issues. • Educate the building community and permit applicants on issues associated with the building code and built environment. • Educate the public on fire and life safety issues. • Administer and manage the regional Sewer Management Program and maintain compliance with the provisions of the Act 537 Sewage Facilities Plan. • Provide Sewage Enforcement Officer Services. The following sections express the goals and the related work objectives (contributions) common to the entire agency. Later in this document, the contributions and work objectives of the individual New Construction and Existing Structures Programs will be described.
A. Provide staff training with an emphasis on professionalism, code standards, and public service.
Ongoing Contributions…
• Conduct monthly or more frequent meetings with major stakeholders (owners, design professionals, contractors, commercial tenants, and other municipal officials) on large projects to better coordinate inspection activity and proactively address issues associated with compressed construction schedules and phased occupancy considerations. • Conduct weekly inspector meetings on code topics such as uniform code interpretations, field problems, inspection techniques, single-family electrical systems, sprinkler systems, plumbing, and mechanical installations. Senior staff reviews large commercial projects together with plans examiners to ensure that inspection services are performed in a consistent manner among the inspectors. • Provide cost-effective, high-quality training opportunities for staff to increase the level and number of professional certifications and the overall quality of the service provided by the agency. The Agency Director and Senior Management Team monitor the training of inspection staff to ensure that they are maintaining their inspection certifications and promoting continued educational growth in their areas of expertise.
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• Conduct meetings with local design professionals to discuss code-related issues, including structural load calculations and mechanical engineering issues. • Using the CRCA website to inform the public of policy and procedural changes and to solicit feedback regarding the level of customer service and measures to improve effectiveness and responsiveness to customer needs. • Investigate new technology which would allow for increased consistency, accuracy, and efficiency of inspections and improved communications between staff. • Facilitate nationally recognized training sessions for CRCA staff, design professionals, and the general public in the Centre Region at a reasonable cost. Many of these programs are conducted in the COG Building. • Provide opportunities for the CRCA staff to continue to obtain additional professional certifications beyond those specifically required for their position. • Establish an in-house training center that is certified to provide continuing education to design professionals, contractors, and building code officials certified through the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry and as a Preferred Education Provider through the International Code Council. These training programs are conducted in the COG Building and elsewhere and are open to the construction community.
B. Manage the Code Administration in a manner that is financially accountable and self-supporting through permits and fees.
Ongoing Contributions…
• Work with the Public Safety Committee, COG Office of Administration staff, and local builders to monitor building permit fees. The goal of the CRCA is to remain financially self-supporting in the future. Since 2011, additional actions have been taken to organize the CRCA as an enterprise fund that provides the Centre Region with code services using permit fees that fully support all agency expenditures. • Continually monitor the municipal fee schedules for building permits, fire permits, and rental housing permits to ensure that the fees are covering all direct and indirect expenses and have been properly adopted by the municipalities. • Offer a faxable building permit application and invoicing system to eliminate the need for applicants to visit the Code Office for over-the-counter permits that do not require plan review.
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• Verify that local contractors obtain worker’s compensation insurance in compliance with state law; a $5 filing fee is collected at the time of insurance renewal or filing. The Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry requires that code agencies compile this information to ensure contractors are protecting their employees. • Conduct and manage financial activities within budget guidelines and according to revenue received to produce an appropriate capital reserve fund and cash balance to finance agency operations during periods of low construction activity. (For example, a month during the winter.) • Collect the $4.50 surcharge levied by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania under Act 45 of 1999 from building permit applicants for each permit issued. Completing quarterly reports and forwarding those reports along with the $4.50 surcharge to the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry (L&I). The monies collected by the L&I fund training and continuing education programs for construction code officials, design professionals, contractors, and individuals who are involved with the implementation and enforcement of the UCC throughout the state. • Receive payments and schedule the inspections invoiced in 2019 as part of the Sewage Management Program. In 2018, there were 373 walkover inspections for septic fields performed in the five municipalities. In 2017, there were 17 in-tank inspections performed. • Permit and inspect new and repairs to septic systems. As of May 25, 2019, there have been eight permits issued and 22 inspections performed by the Agency’s SEO. • Continue to work with the Public Safety Committee to follow the implementation action plan adopting the recommendations of the Code Evaluation Study that were approved by the General Forum. • Continue to improve efficiency in the CRCA’s organizational structure. One area of consideration is the balance between general inspection staff with multi-disciplined qualifications versus an inspection staff that is specifically focused in a given area. • Continue efforts to identify and install a new comprehensive software package that is being used regionally for zoning, planning, and land development activities and by the CRCA to better manage workflow, schedule inspections, and track permits. The software package is intended to allow staff to be more efficient and provide a higher level of customer service.
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C. Provide community education and outreach regarding Code Administration programs and ensure that municipal officials are well-informed about building code issues.
Ongoing Contributions…
• Prepare monthly activity reports on new construction activity and rental housing inspection activity for the Public Safety Committee, municipal managers, and the general public. • Provide regular communications to the municipal managers regarding building codes and the Sewage Management Program. Working with the participating municipalities to ensure that work being done in the area is permitted by zoning and the building code departments. • Review the effectiveness of codes based on local and national trends and investigating new building practices (e.g. sustainable buildings). • Actively survey the permit holders to determine the perceived level of service being provided. • Monitoring and updating the Centre Region codes to comply with state and national standards. • Participate in public outreach programs such as Ferguson Township’s annual Open House Program, the Lion Bash, the Comm- unity Resources Fair in State College Borough, Special Olympics, Patton Township Safety Fair and Bellefonte Children’s Fair. • Attend and actively participate in Housing Task Force meetings with the State College Borough. • Actively participate in the F-8 (First 8 Weeks) working group with the State College Borough to address issues regarding the return of Penn State University students and the challenges associated with home football weekends. • Continually update the agency’s webpage (www.centreregioncode.org) to enable the public to access code information, agency procedures, upcoming educational programs, and changes in code ordinances. • Provide low cost, high-quality fire safety training for childcare providers to meet the licensure requirements of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. • Actively participate in the Bellefonte Fire Task Force meetings with the Bellefonte Borough.
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• Actively participate in planning the Lion Bash in the Borough of State College that is intended to welcome and orient new students to the community. • Actively participate with the Pennsylvania Review and Advisory Council with respect to review and comment on current and proposed legislation to modify the building code provisions and regulations. • Actively participate in a number of state and national professional associations as well as industry organizations to maintain awareness on current code related issues and provide local input on the issues affecting the Centre Region.
OF PARTICULAR NOTE
NEW CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS
• Level of Construction – During 2019 and 2020, it is anticipated that the Centre Region will continue to experience a robust level of construction activity. The CRCA is anticipating the following major projects that have or will be expected to be permitted and under construction during 2019and 2020: ➢ Ferguson Township ▪ The Cottages – 268 cottage-style homes and a clubhouse. ▪ Pine Hall – a possibility of 1,029 units near the intersection of Blue Course Drive and West College Avenue. ▪ Turnberry – on Blue Course Drive, continued build-out of the master plan. ▪ State College Borough Water Treatment Facility. ➢ State College Borough ▪ Radio Park Elementary – Complete renovation and additions to the existing elementary school. ▪ Corl Street Elementary – Complete renovation and additions to the existing elementary school. ▪ 330 West College – 12-story mixed-use structure including businesses and approximately 230 residential units. ▪ 131 Hiester Street (Garner Street Parking Lot) -12-story mixed-use structure including businesses. ▪ 138 East Beaver Avenue (Pugh Center) – 7-story mid-rise mixed-use building to include business and residential units.
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▪ State College High School – $100+ million renovation and expansion of two buildings. 2019 construction activity will focus on the North Building. ▪ Memorial Field Renovations – Renovate and provide new facilities to the Memorial Field Complex. ➢ College Township ▪ Spring Creek Elementary – Construction of a new school that will combine the Houserville and Lemont schools. ▪ Winfield Heights – 65 units. ▪ Centre Care Nursing Facility – New 143,000 square foot assisted living facility, a $43+ million-dollar project. ➢ Patton Township ▪ The Helix – 208 apartments. ▪ The Station – 154 units, clubhouse, and amenities. ▪ The Crossings – Assuming zoning changes are approved. ▪ The redevelopment of the Denny’s Restaurant parcel. ➢ Harris Township ▪ Kestrel Drive Townhomes. ▪ Mountain View Acres – 12 units. ▪ Kaywood North – 40 residential units. ▪ Continued development along Discovery Drive.
WHERE ARE WE NOW?
• Fund Balance – At the mid-point of 2019, the fund balance for the New Construction Program has increased from the beginning of the year. It remains high and it is anticipated the COG staff will provide an assessment to the Public Safety Committee and Finance Committee as to whether the permit fee multiplier should be reduced from where it currently stands at 0.0055. In 2011 it was .0099 and .0060 in 2018. The fee multiplier is the primary basis for determining the cost of a building permit. It is applied to the construction cost of the project. The resulting number is the permit fee. • New Construction Program – Through Mid-May of 2019, the New Construction Program was operating at a loss. In late May 2019, the building permit for 330 West College Avenue was picked up which offset the loss and created an operating surplus as
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of May 31, 2019. The revenue projected for all of 2019 is $1,545,000. Through the end of May, the agency revenue was $1,279,000. This increase occurred despite an 8% reduction in the cost of a new construction permit from 2018 to 2019. As of May 31, 2019, $205 million in new construction was permitted compared to $114 million for the same period of time in 2018 (the busiest year on record). • Code Software Study – During its March 12, 2019 meeting the Public Safety Committee awarded a contract for consulting services to manage the process for Centre Region Code Administration (CRCA) to acquire a new software package that will also be used by the Centre Region municipalities. Funds for this project were included in the 2019 CRCA Budget. In 2012/2013 the CRCA and the Centre Region municipalities selected MUNIS (Tyler Technologies) software system for use in managing certain services including zoning, building permits/inspections, business licenses, rental house permit/inspections, and other land use services. After five years of use, these entities have determined that it is in their best interest to search for and adopt a more suitable software package. Concerns with the MUNIS system include: ▪ The Tyler Technology MUNIS program is moving away from the permitting and licensing that the Centre Region currently use it for, to more of a financial package. It is geared toward schools, judicial programs, payroll, ERP, etc. ▪ Per Tyler Technology representatives, there will be no further enhancements for the programs that are used by the CRCA and the municipalities. The COG staff believes the lack of updates is a sign that in the future the permitting program will not be supported by Tyler Technology nor will there be training provided for the COG and municipal staff who use the database. ▪ The CRCA and municipal staff who use the Tyler Technology MUNIS system believe it is cumbersome. By way of example, it takes 6-8 clicks to track a new construction inspection. ▪ The Tyler Technologies MUNIS system does not share data between the permitting and licensing programs as the firm said it would. This has caused a number of work arounds to be implemented especially as it relates to the exchange of information between State College Borough and the CRCA. ▪ Permit and inspection data is not linked. In response to these questions, the CRCA Director organized a meeting of the seven municipal system users and a Centre Regional Planning Agency representative. The group recommended that a study be conducted to identify a software package that would better meet the Centre Region’s zoning, permitting and land use tracking needs and that a consultant be hired to manage the study because of the number of partners involved, the complexity and expense of the software package, and the limited
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availability of CRCA staff. The costs of the study and well as the expense of acquiring the software would be funded by the CRCA budget. Since the Committee’s action, a Working Group has been formed and three meetings convened by the Project Managers. Members of the Work Group are: Walter Schneider, Tammy Strouse, Kathy Woods (CRCA); Don Holderman (Bellefonte Borough); Roger Dunlap, David Jordan, Tracey Miller (State College Borough); Jeff Ressler (Ferguson Township); Jim May (CRPA); John Franek, Mark Gabrovsek (College Township); Nicole Harter (Patton Township); Amy Smith (Halfmoon Township); Nick Barger, Mark Kellerman (Centre County); Joe Viglione (COG Administration). Ideally, the Work Group, following software demonstrations, will select a software package in early 2020 so that that the project costs can be included in the 2021 COG Program Plan with implementation during 2021. • Code Services Manager – As documented by ISO ratings, the CRCA is one of the highest-rated code administration departments in the Northeast, if not the country. Annually collected anonymous survey data found that the vast majority of customers had a positive experience with the agency. As the community grows and attitudes change, the municipal officials have reported to the COG Executive Director there is an expectation that more can be done to improve business processes, enhance customer service and knowledge of the permitting, plan review and construction process, and expand the marketing of the agency’s education programs to the public, design professionals, building owners/manager and contractors. In 2018 the Code Services Manager job description was approved by the Human Resources Committee and the Public Safety Committee. The position is not to be technical in nature but would focus on business practices, customer service, special projects, and problem resolution. This position will be an advocate and source of assistance for the permit applicant and would evaluate and make recommendations on how to improve customer service across the agency. Ongoing or significant customer service issues will be reported to the Agency Director, Executive Director, and the COG Public Safety Committee so that a plan of action can be developed to handle similar situations in the future. This position would also be responsible for identifying and coordinating customer service training for all agency staff. The employee will also be responsible to follow critical or high-profile projects and report potential problems to the Agency Director so they can be addressed proactively. In addition, this position would represent CRCA with outside agencies and would work with the Agency Director in fostering relationships with the groups in the community. This position was filled in May 2019 with Mr. John Franek starting in Mid-July 2019. • Sewage Enforcement Officer – After meeting for almost three years with the managers of Ferguson, College, and Halfmoon Townships regarding the Sewer Management Program (SMP) and how that program interfaces with the municipal Sewer
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Enforcement Officer (SEO) to develop a better customer service model. It was identified that this is an opportunity to streamline, in a modest way, the permitting and construction process. As part of those discussions, the proposal was made by the CRCA that one way of streamlining the development process for a single-family home, a way to provide staff consistency in the process and enhance customer service would be for the CRCA to become the SEO for those municipalities. These discussions continued over the past two years and the proposed plan has been refined and implementation started on January 1, 2019. At that time the CRCA assumed the SEO responsibilities for College, Ferguson, and Halfmoon Townships and the Borough of State College. This change coincided with the retirement of the SEO for College Township, Ferguson Township and Borough of State College. The plan utilizes six staff members (Agency Director and five New Construction Inspectors) that will be trained and certified by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) as SEO’s in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The CRCA will work with the previous SEO in 2019 and 2020 to mentor following his plan review and inspection process for College and Ferguson Township to understand how he conducts inspections and does business. The fees paid by many owners when coupled with funds from the New Construction Program will enable these services to be financially self-supporting. One of the goals of the program is to reduce the number of different parties that need to be contacted or contracted to construct a building in the municipality. It will also provide an increased level of customer service and reduce the time and cost associated with construction. In addition, with respect to the SMP program, the change will allow the CRCA to directly address system pumping waivers, identify system deficiencies found as a result of the walkover inspection process, and better maintain records regarding system installation, repairs, and on-going maintenance.
OF PARTICULAR NOTE
NEW SPACE PROPOSAL
With the continued growth of the Centre Region and resulting construction activity, the CRCA is also growing to adequately meet the demands of our clients. As a result, space originally allocated in the COG building for the CRCA at the time of construction is no longer adequate. Over the past six years, two construction projects have been undertaken to modify and increase the space for the CRCA, and the Agency is still short on space.
After looking a number of options for the expansion of the building and possible relocation of COG staff, the Ad Hoc Facilities Committee has asked the COG staff to prepare a proposal for the possible rental office space to house the Centre Region Parks and
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Recreation Agency’s administrative office. A preferred building has been identified. It contains 3,877 square feet of space and is situated on the first floor of an office building located in Ferguson Township 2.2 miles from the COG Building.
The Ad Hoc Facilities Committee is also considering a proposal from COG staff that the Centre Region Code Administration (CRCA) would then occupy the space that the CRPR vacates in the COG building. This proposal is intended to address four issues: • Inadequate space for the CRCA staff • Limited parking at the COG building • Lack of storage for CRCA equipment and materials • Absence of space in the COG building for additional staff.
Should this proposal be approved the additional annual rental, building maintenance, and utility costs for the increased space that would be transferred from the Parks and Recreation Agency to the Code Agency would be approximately $60,000.
As part of the expansion of the CRCA into Suite 1 (Parks) of the COG Building, there will be work done to the suite including: • Painting • Upgrading of most of the lighting fixtures to more energy-efficient LED fixtures • Replacement of the storefront wall section to a more energy-efficient storefront system • Conversion of the previous parks conference room back to a conference room • Etching of the exterior suite doors for the building to include agency names for better customer service • Purchase of furniture and equipment for the new space and for the reorganization of a number of areas in Suite 2 (Codes) to accommodate the move
The cost of the move is estimated to be $250,000 and will be taken from the existing fund balance and will not result in permit fees being increased in 2020.
The space in Suite 4 (Planning) that has been occupied by the CRCA staff this year will be returned to the Centre Region Planning Agency for use by its Refuse and Recycling Administrator.
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WHERE ARE WE GOING?
• Personnel Change – Advance the Existing Rental Housing Inspectors to Fire Inspectors: Over the past 10 years the makeup of the existing structures market has been changing. The number of single-use residential buildings has remained stagnant, while the construction and modification of buildings to become mixed-use buildings has increased dramatically. All the significantly sized housing projects include either commercial rental spaces and/or assembly spaces for use by residents for gathering or recreation. In addition, many of the new projects are very large and more complex compared to existing construction. By way of example, there are soon to be five mixed-use, multi-family buildings 12 stories or more in height. The largest high-rise has more than 450,000 sq. ft. of total floor area. Another suburban apartment building is constructed of combustible construction (e.g. wood) and exceeds 238,000 sq. ft. in total floor area. In comparison, the Nittany Mall has approximately 500,000 sq. ft. of total floor area. With this in mind, the CRCA currently needs to send a commercial fire inspector with the rental housing inspectors during inspections of these large complex buildings. This is very inefficient and can result in duplication of efforts. The CRCA Agency Director recommends that to increase efficiency and properly deal with the new housing norm going forward, that the existing rental housing inspectors be trained and promoted to commercial fire inspectors. This would allow the same inspector to inspect the common areas, commercial areas, and residential areas of the building, and eliminate the need for additional inspectors to be scheduled. It would also assist in inspections of new construction during busy periods, where there may be a wait for inspections due to the current limited number of commercial fire inspectors to perform these inspections. The initial cost for the modification would be approximately $4,000 for support equipment. The estimated on-going costs would be $36,000 for salary and benefits. For a total first-year adjustment of $39,000. This proposal has been reviewed by COG’s Human Resources and Public Safety Committees. This cost would be supported by existing structures permit costs. • Personnel Change – New Fire Inspector: The Centre Region has been experiencing unprecedented growth and construction over the past 4 years. As part of the growth, there has been a sharp increase in the construction of multi-family dwellings and commercial structures. This has led to an increase of rental housing permits from 19,255 in 2015 to 20,387 in 2019 with more than an additional 1,500 dwelling units being brought online in the next two years. These are in addition to the normal conversion of dwelling units that occurs throughout the region. In addition, from 2015 to 2019 the number of fire permits increased from 2,259 to 2,404. At the same time, the buildings are becoming more complex with soon to be five mixed-use, multi-family buildings being 12 stories or more in height, and buildings exceeding 450,000 sq. ft. and combustible buildings exceeding 238,000 sq. ft. total floor area. With this in mind, the current existing structures staff is not adequate to inspect the number of permits that are anticipated while providing the high level of customer service and public education that is the hallmark of the CRCA program. The number of rental housing units per inspector has traditionally been 5,000 per inspector
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based on the CRCA model. The total number of units is anticipated to exceed 22,000 in the next two years and the number of fire permits will exceed 2,500. Based on the CRCA model, a fire inspector can handle 1,000 fire permits. With the current staff makeup and realizing that the fire inspectors also support the new construction program conducting inspections of fire systems, the staff can comfortably handle 20,000 rental units and 1,800 fire permits. This puts the staff roughly half an inspector short for rental inspections and half an inspector short for fire inspections. The recommendation of the Agency Director is to hire an additional commercial fire inspector to fill the shortfall. The last new position for the Existing Structures Program was filled on January 1, 2016. This recommendation is consistent with a separate proposal to migrate the existing rental housing inspectors to commercial fire inspectors due to the complexity and makeup of the rental housing stock and to increase inspection efficiency. The initial cost for the additional position would be approximately $36,000 for a fleet vehicle, computer, and inspection equipment. The on-going costs for the additional position are estimated to be $85,000 per year for salary, benefits, and support costs. This proposal has been reviewed by COG’s Human Resources and Public Safety Committees. This cost would be supported by existing structures permit costs. • In accordance with the 2020 Capital Improvement Plan the Program Plan will propose that three vehicles be replaced during 2020; two 2020 SUV for the Existing Structures staff and a 2020 pickup truck for the New Construction staff. The vehicles would be acquired through the Pennsylvania CoStars Program with estimated costs $26,500 per SUV and $32,000 for the pickup truck. If the aforementioned Fire Inspector position is approved then one additional SUVs will need to be purchased at an estimated cost of $26,500. • Two Additional Vehicles: A Ford Explorer is proposed to be used by the Agency Director and for use to transport multiple CRCA inspectors to training programs or community events. The estimated cost is $40,000 through the Pennsylvania CoStars Program. The vehicle for the Code Services Manager would be an SUV, acquired through the Pennsylvania CoStars Program with an estimated cost of $26,500. • 2020/2021 CRCA Budgets Electronic Plan Archiving: In keeping with the recommendations of the 2010 operational study and the move to electronic equipment in the field, the CRCA will be moving toward the archiving of plans and design documents in electronic format. The movement to electronic storage will involve the scanning of all design documents and permit records. At this point it is anticipated that the scanning costs will be included in the building permit fees charged; however, it is anticipated that this will require the purchase of additional electronic storage space. Currently, the CRCA is investigating using a cloud- based storage system and document management system hosted by a third-party vendor. This would include a third-party scanning contract that would convert documents over the course of several years. It is anticipated that this additional electronic storage will result in an additional cost to the program that will be better understood and incorporated in the 2020/2021 Detailed Budget.
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WHAT DO WE DO?
A. Provide a comprehensive plan review and building construction inspection programs for the seven-member municipalities.
Ongoing Contributions…
• Conducting building inspections, reviewing plans, issuing building permits, and issuing certificates of occupancy for new construction. • Issuing faxable permits and invoices to applicants. The faxable permit system allows applicants to apply for building permits that do not require plan review via the fax system and return payments by mail. In 2018, 294 faxable permits and invoices were issued.
• From January 1, 2019, through May 31, 2019, the CRCA conducted 4,406 building inspections, reviewed 1,028 plans, and issued 935 building permits (number of building permits shown below). The total 2019 construction value to date as of May 31, 2019, was $205,900,041. CENTRE REGION CODE ADMINISTRATION
NEW CONSTRUCTION PROGRAM BUDGET
CRCA building permits issued per year from 2012 through May 31, 2019.
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• Educating the general public and the development community on any proposed updates to the Uniform Construction Code (UCC) and International Family of Codes.
5-Year New Construction Statistics 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014
Building Inspections 11,407 10,680 11,455 10,594 9,667
Plan Reviews 1,176 1,420 1,450 1,479 894
Building Permits Issued 1,586 1,544 1,569 1,477 1,616
Reported Construction Value $266,384,802 $ 266,748,479 $251,767,097 $265,563,233 $149,422,950
CRCA New Construction building inspections, plan reviews, building permits issued, and reported construction value from 2014 through 2018.
B. Administer the Centre Region’s Sewage Management Program.
• Administering the Sewage Management Program (SMP) for the Centre Region as required for compliance with the Act 537 Sewage Facilities Plan approved by the Centre Region municipalities and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). • Conducting in-tank inspection of on-lot septic tanks to evaluate compliance with program standards. In accordance with the program requirements, every three years on-lot septic systems must be pumped by a licensed septic hauler. A one-time in-tank inspection must be performed of all on-lot septic systems. The in-tank inspection is performed to record the septic tank’s type and location. • Performing walk-over inspections to visually confirm the septic system performance. Following the in-tank inspection, a walk-over inspection is scheduled every six years. The walk-over inspection is done to visually observe the drainage bed area for visible septic issues such as swampy yard, overly green grass, odors, etc. which could indicate an issue with the septic system. In 2018, the Agency conducted 373 walk-over inspections.
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• Answering property owners’ questions or concerns about the SMP requirements, benefits, and procedures for proper septic tank maintenance. • Selecting and scheduling properties for inspection, preparing and issuing pumping notices, and receiving and recording payments for inspection services. In 2019, 1,164 pumping notices will be mailed to property owners. • Taking action to obtain compliance with program regulations. Non-compliance with the SMP is a violation of the municipal ordinances. The CRCA is not the enforcement agency to obtain compliance for the individual septic system; the Agency reports observed deficiencies or abnormalities to the municipalities’ Sewage Enforcement Officers for further investigation and any required enforcement activity. • Working with Municipal Managers, Sewage Enforcement Officers, licensed haulers, Centre Regional Planning Agency staff, and property owners to identify, evaluate, and implement suggestions for quality improvements in the program’s administration. • Representing the municipalities with issues before DEP with respect to the SMP. This includes the preparation and submission of an annual program report and answering any questions resulting from that submission.
C. Provide Sewage Enforcement Officer (SEO) services to four Centre Region Municipalities.
• Sewage Enforcement Officer (SEO) for State College Borough and College, Ferguson, and Halfmoon Townships. Permitting new on-lot sewage disposal systems, investigating malfunctions, and correcting malfunctions. • Permit and inspect new and repairs to septic systems. As of May 25, 2019, there have been eight permits issued and 22 inspections performed by Agency’s SEOs. During 2018, four inspectors earned their SEO certification and two more earned their SEO certification in 2019.
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WHERE ARE WE NOW?
For the period of January 1 through May 2019, revenue again is exceeding budgeted projections with over 80% of budgeted building permits for 2019 already having been received. Expenditures for the New Construction program are generally consistent with the projections contained in the 2019 budget. Since 2011 building construction in the Centre Region has been robust with a new high school, multiple student apartment complexes, active adult communities, and most currently high-rise structures. As a result of these large commercial projects, the agency’s fund balance has significantly increased. The unaudited 2018 ending year fund balance was $4,231,840 which is $272,790 more than the $3,959,050 estimated in the 2019 budget. It is important to note that the 2018 ending fund balance included funds for building permits received for services not yet provided. This situation occurs because many large projects pay for the permit at the beginning of the construction period that could extend for 2 or 3 years. Below is a comparison of building permit revenue for the first five months of each year since 2014:
2019 $1,288,327 2018 $794,693
2017 $733,937
2016 $1,024,203 2015 $1,015,888 2014 $455,888
As reported earlier over $205 million in new construction occurred during the first five months of 2019. This is the highest level of construction occurring during this time period in the history of the Agency. Subsequently, permit revenue is higher than projected despite a reduction of over $8% in the cost of a building permit from 2018 to 2019.
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WHAT IS THE COST?
The 2019 budget for the CRCA New Construction Program provides for the revenue and expenditures shown in the tables on this page.
Actual CRCA New Construction Budget Program revenue and expenditures for 2018 and the approved 2019 budget.
WHERE ARE WE GOING? Looking forward, proposed major budgetary changes, capital changes, and work objectives for the New Construction Program include:
Proposed Budgetary Changes…
• The 2020 cost of a building permit will be investigated during the next several months: Based on the current and projected regional construction volume and anticipated expenses for the CRCA, staff will make a recommendation to the Public Safety Committee whether the new construction building permit fee multiplier should be altered from its current level of 0.0055.
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• Software acquisition: At the current time CRCA staff is investigating with a working group comprised of Municipal /Planning Agency and Centre County Government officials to identify a preferred new regional permitting software program, to improve the exchange of code information between the CRCA and the member municipalities, making the permitting process more efficient, and provide for customer service enhancement and access. A detailed discussion of this is contained in the CRCA overview section “Of Particular Note”.
During 2018 the Agency Director opened a dialogue with municipal managers regarding whether the current Tyler Technology MUNIS software package used by the CRCA should be upgraded or replaced. This software package is shared with the municipalities for zoning permits. Tyler Technologies is stepping back from supporting MUNIS software and there have been on- going problems with sharing code inspection data with State College Borough. The current method of importing/exporting data is very inefficient. In 2019, the CRCA, with its regional partners, initiated a process to evaluate software options and decided whether a change should be recommended in the 2021 budget. If so, then the new software package would be expected to address the current problems with transferring data and allowing customers to pay for permits using credit cards.
New single-family homes constructed in the Centre Region from 2012 through May 31, 2019.
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Proposed New Work Objectives… Fire: 119 • Continue to implement additional recommendations that were identified in the 2010 Code Evaluation Study for the Agency’s future organizational and operational needs as approved by the Commercial: 558 General Forum that includes the following:
Residential: 618 ➢ Implementation of a citizen access system to allow permit applicants access to review comments and inspection records. ➢ Increased use of checklists and automated report forms to assist permit applicants in quickly and efficiently achieving compliance. • With the continued focus on sustainability and green technologies, the CRCA will continue to investigate green building options and New construction plan reviews done in 2018. the application with respect to the building code and keep the Public Safety Committee informed of the findings. This includes proposed updates to the Uniform Construction Code and the Centre Region Fire: 881 Building Safety and Property Maintenance Code. Commercial: 3,669 • Implement new technology for automated inspections using tablet Electrical: 2,612 computers and laptop computers. Advancements in technology could allow for increased consistency, accuracy, and more efficient inspections as well as a better method of communication between staff. The implementation of the new technology could also allow for improved interagency communication between the CRCA and the Residential: 4,245 participating municipalities and improve overall customer service.
New construction inspections performed in 2018.
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2020 Program Plan 118
WHAT DO WE DO?
A. Provide comprehensive Rental Housing and Fire Prevention Inspection Programs for the six-member municipalities.
As of May 25, 2019, there were 20,399 rental units in the Centre Region and Bellefonte Borough, an increase of 481 units from 2018 and 1,074 from 2016. All rental housing units are inspected on a three-year cycle, with the exception of Bellefonte Borough properties. Bellefonte Borough rental properties are inspected on a two-year cycle. Fraternities are inspected semi-annually and properties that have been identified as a “nuisance property” can be inspected annually. In addition, there are commercial spaces in the member municipalities that are subject to either the Centre Region Building Safety and Property Maintenance Code, or the Borough of Bellefonte Safety and Property Maintenance Code. For the Fire Inspection Program, the commercial units are inspected on a 1, 2*, 3, or 5-year cycle based on the level of hazard present in the structure. (*Bellefonte Borough properties only)
Ongoing Contributions…
• Conducting rental housing inspections to ensure compliance with the Centre Region Building Safety and CENTRE REGION Property Maintenance Code relating to health, safety, sanitation, and welfare in a courteous and CODE professional manner. ADMINISTRATION
• Maintaining regular communications with the member municipalities on rental housing issues. For
instance, the Existing Structures Program staff participates in joint inspections, refers complaints to other EXISTING municipal departments, and participates in the Housing Task Force that helps to identify problem STRUCTURES properties in a neighborhood and works with property owners to bring their properties into compliance. PROGRAM • Holding weekly meetings with Housing and Fire Inspectors to discuss field problems, inspection BUDGET techniques, and code interpretations. • Responding to complaints regarding unsanitary conditions, mold, sewer problems, and lead paint. Some of these matters are referred to the State College Department of Health for follow up.
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• Working with tenants and landlords to maintain rental properties in a condition that is conducive to the quality of life in the neighborhood and to maintain a healthy and safe living environment for the tenants and their guests. • Participating in the investigation of fires in conjunction with the Centre Region Fire Marshal and Bellefonte Fire Department. The CRCA helps to determine if a code violation may have contributed to the cause or severity of a fire. It also helps to determine if a structure’s code compliance helped to minimize a fire through early detection or early suppression. • Utilizing the fire safety sprinkler house trailer for public education programs. The CRCA provides public education programs to elementary schools, civic organizations, property owner groups, businesses, and industrial workers throughout the member municipalities. When the trailer is not in use, it is housed in a storage building located in the Ferguson Township public works area. The lease began in 2016 and is for a ten-year term. • Providing technical assistance to property owners relating to electrical, plumbing, or mechanical systems and conducting training with local service and maintenance contractors relating to heating system maintenance, carbon monoxide detection, and water damage mitigation techniques. • Administering the International Fire Code through the Centre Region Building Safety and Property Maintenance Code to all commercial properties, including all business offices, mercantile, assembly, and industrial use occupancies. This includes conducting after-hours field inspections of bars and restaurants to ensure that they are not over-occupied or have blocked exits. • Conducting reviews of building plans for fire protection systems such as automatic sprinkler and alarm systems. Staff also conducts inspections of these systems to ensure that they are installed and maintained in compliance with the code. In 2018, the Agency reviewed plans for 119 fire protection systems; as of May 31, 2019, there have been 61 plans reviewed. • Increasing the overall health and safety of the Centre Region through the administration of the adopted applicable building, property maintenance, and fire codes and coordinating with the health department to identify and provide guidance on the mitigation of conditions that could compromise the health and safety of residents and visitors of the Centre Region. • Responding to emergency incidents when requested to provide expertise in structural engineering and other building systems regarding the overall safety of a structure that may have been compromised due to fire, car crash, or any other destructive factor. This service is provided 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
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Rental Housing Unit Data by Municipality as of May 25, 2019
Municipality Apt. Duplex Fraternity House Mobile Home Room Townhouse Total
College Township 439 109 0 323 7 7 238 1123 Ferguson Township 1689 260 0 361 51 7 887 3255 Harris Township 220 14 0 147 0 2 165 548 Patton Township 2714 81 0 277 13 1 491 3577 State College Borough 8155 81 36 569 0 591 715 10426 Bellefonte Borough 848 225 0 124 0 22 251 1470 TOTAL 14065 1049 36 1801 71 630 2747 20399
CRCA Rental Housing unit data as of May 25, 2019 by housing type and municipality.
• In 2018, the CRCA conducted 7,311 rental housing College: 1,123, 5% inspections. This is an increase from the 5,646 rental housing Bellefonte: 1,470, 7% inspections that were done in 2017. The total number of Ferguson: 3,255, 16% inspections per year varies depending on the type of buildings that were inspected, but all units are inspected within a three- Harris: 548, 3% year cycle. Rental housing data for 2019 by housing type and municipality is shown in the table above. State College Borough: Patton: 3,577, 18% • Continuing to maintain and update the Centre Region 10,426, 51% Building Safety and Property Maintenance Code (CRBS & PMC) and education the public on its application and use. In addition, this document has been made available on the CRCA website with links being provided to the municipalities to allow for a greater client and public access. CRCA Rental Housing data by municipality as of May 31, 2019.
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• Maintaining and investigating ways to enhance the emergency call-out procedure to ensure that the CRCA staff has a rapid response to all code-related emergencies such as fires or structural failures regardless of time of day. See the “Where are We Going” section for a proposed solution to the implementation in 2020.
CRCA rental housing inspections from 2015 to 2018 by municipality and year.
• In 2018, staff conducted 426 fire safety inspections of non-residential properties that included commercial properties, schools, hospitals, industries, etc. In 2017, there were 862 inspections completed. • As of May 25, 2019, there have been 140 fire safety inspections performed. • In 2018, there were 114 open burn permits issued, a decrease from the 141 permits that were issued in 2017. Since January 1, 2019, 32 permits have been issued.
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• As of May 25, 2019, the CRCA has inspected 3,039 rental housing units and is on target for the projected number of inspections that are needed in 2019 to keep all rental properties inspected on a two* or three-year cycle. (*Bellefonte Borough only) • Rental housing inspections by municipality and year are shown in the figure above. Please note that due to the cyclical nature of inspections, the number of inspections shown does not equal the total number of units. • Responding to tenant complaints. Responding to complaints is challenging for the agency and may take precedence over regularly scheduled inspections. • Providing assistance and offering technical information to owners of commercial establishments regarding the correction of Fire Code deficiencies and the installation of fire suppression and protection systems. • Using the fire extinguisher module within the community education program to Apartments: 14,065, 69% teach the proper use of fire extinguishers in a live fire. The unit is used in the education program for businesses, Duplex: 1,049, 5% homeowners, college students, teachers, and industry. House: 1,801, 9% Townhouse: 2,747, 14% • Reviewing and updating fire safety programs that target local businesses, Fraternity: 36, 0% school-aged children, off-campus housing Mobile Homes: 71, 0% fraternities, day-care workers, and senior groups. Rooms: 630, 3% • Exploring new methods such as CRCA rental housing permit data by unit type as of May 31, 2019. developing a professionally produced video for educational outreach to new target audiences, including rental housing property managers, realtors, and maintenance staff. This effort is hoped to be done in conjunction with a program that is under development with the State College Borough and other local allied agencies. • Offering six opportunities in 2019 for childcare providers to attend fire safety training as required by the state. Upon completion, the attendees receive a certificate of attendance stating that they received training in the maintenance of smoke detectors, the duties of facility persons during a fire drill or during a fire, and the use of fire extinguishers. So far in 2019, the average number of attendees has been 55 per class.
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WHERE ARE WE NOW?
For the period of January 1 through May 2019, revenue and expenditures for the Existing Structures Budget were generally consistent with the projections contained in the 2019 budget. The unaudited 2018 ending year fund balance is $398,363. This amount is $96,030 more than the $302,333 estimated in the 2019 Budget. This difference is primarily due to savings on employee benefit costs.
WHAT IS THE COST?
The 2019 budget for the CRCA Existing Structures Program provides for the revenue and expenditures shown in the tables on this page.
CRCA Existing Structures Program revenue and expenditures from 2018 through the approved 2019 budget.
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WHERE ARE WE GOING?
Looking forward, proposed major budgetary changes, capital budget changes, and work objectives for the Existing Structures Program include:
Bellefonte: 267, 11% Proposed Budgetary Changes… College: 601, 25% • During the next several months the fee scheduled for rental housing and fire permits will be evaluated. Currently, the typical annual cost State College Borough: 799, 34% of a rental housing permit is $37. The cost of fire permit varies based Ferguson: 422, 18% on the size of the building and hazards that are present. The last change in the rental housing permit fees occurred in 2015. • As discussed with the Human Resources Committee, the 2020 Program Plan proposes to train and promote four Housing Inspectors to Commercial Fire Inspectors. This change will improve operations Harris: 78, 3% Patton: 209, 9% in two ways. First, it expands by four the number of inspectors for on- call duty when there are fires, car crashes into buildings or CRCA fire permit data by municipality as of May 31, 2019. structural failures that occur after work hours. Secondly, currently, during an inspection of a mixed-use commercial property, the Agency uses two staff members, a Housing Inspector, and a Commercial Fire Inspector. With this change, scheduling of staff would be simpler, staff time will be used more efficiently, and in some cases, the number of inspectors assigned to a project could be reduced. The estimated cost is approximately $40,000. • Personnel Change – New Fire Inspector: The Centre Region has been experiencing unprecedented growth and construction over the past 4 years. As part of the growth, there has been a sharp increase in the construction of multi-family dwellings and commercial structures. This has led to an increase of rental housing permits from 19,255 in 2015 to 20,387 in 2019 with more than an additional 1,500 dwelling units being brought online in the next two years. These are in addition to the normal conversion of dwelling units that occurs throughout the region. In addition, from 2015 to 2019 the number of fire permits increased from 2,259 to 2,404. At the same time, the buildings are becoming more complex with soon to be five mixed-use, multi-family buildings being 12 stories or more in height, and buildings exceeding 450,000 sq. ft. and combustible buildings exceeding 238,000 sq. ft. total floor area. To keep this in perspective, the Nittany Mall is approximately 500,000 sq. ft. total floor area. With this in mind, the current existing structures staff is not adequate to inspect the number of permits that are anticipated while providing the high level of customer service and public education that is the hallmark of the CRCA program. The number
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of rental housing units per inspector has traditionally been 5,000 per inspector based on the CRCA model. The total number of units is anticipated to exceed 22,000 in the next two years and the number of fire permits will exceed 2,500. Based on the CRCA model, a fire inspector can handle 1,000 fire permits. With the current staff makeup and realizing that the fire inspectors also support the new construction program conducting inspections of fire systems, the staff can comfortably handle 20,000 rental units and1,800 fire permits. This puts the staff roughly half an inspector short for rental inspections and half an inspector short for fire inspections. The recommendation of the Agency Director is to hire an additional commercial fire inspector to fill the shortfall. The last new position was filled on January 1, 2016. This recommendation is consistent with a separate proposal to migrate the existing rental housing inspectors to commercial fire inspectors due to the complexity and makeup of the rental housing stock and to increase inspection efficiency.
The initial cost for the additional position would be approximately $36,000 for a fleet vehicle, computer, and inspection equipment. The on-going costs for the additional position are estimated to be $85,000 per year for salary, benefits, and support costs. This proposal has been reviewed by COG’s Human Resources and Public Safety Committees. This cost would be supported by existing structures permit costs.
Proposed New Work Objectives… • Continue to offer the Rental Housing Maintenance Training Program on a quarterly basis to the realtors, owners, and operators of the Centre Region and Bellefonte Borough rental housing stock to assist them in pre-inspecting their units and maintaining them between inspections. The goal of the program is to motivate and provide the tools for rental Property Managers to be proactive instead of reactive in dealing with their properties. • Implement an electronic customer survey to assist in gauging the level of customer service. The results of the survey will help to identify opportunities to make service enhancements or improve efficiencies. • Evaluate and update the curriculum for the CRCA Fire Prevention and Life Safety Public Education Program to better serve the Centre Region residents and to better integrate the curriculum in schools. • After inspecting all of the Bellefonte rental housing units and commercial properties a minimum of two times, the CRCA is recommending transitioning the inspection frequency for the Bellefonte permits be aligned with the rest of the Centre Region. For rental housing permits, this would transition the inspection frequency to a three-year inspection interval. The commercial fire permits would be transitioned from either an annual or two-year inspection frequency based on the relative level of risk to a one, three, or five-year inspection frequency based on the relative level of risk. The permit fees would then be adjusted based on the new inspection frequency.
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MISSION
The Centre Region Code Administration (CRCA) Capital Budget was established to finance: investment in replacing and upgrading in renovating information management systems, office space, fleet vehicles, and major equipment.
WHO ARE WE?
The Centre Region Code Administration (CRCA) was created in 1968 by the Articles of Agreement adopted by the participating municipalities at that time (State College Borough and College, Ferguson, and Patton Townships) as a building and plumbing inspection agency. Electrical inspection services were added to the program in 1980 and by the mid-1980’s the four municipalities also participated in the CRCA’s Rental Housing Program. Harris Township joined the regional building and plumbing inspection service programs in 1990 and the Rental Housing Program in 2001. With the adoption of the Uniform Construction Code of Pennsylvania in 2004, Halfmoon Township joined the New Construction Program but chose not to participate in the Rental Housing or Commercial Fire Inspection Programs of the CRCA. During May 2014, the Bellefonte Borough signed a three-year agreement with the Centre Region COG to provide CRCA inspection services; including new construction, rental housing, and commercial fire inspections beginning July 1, 2014. In May 2017 Bellefonte Borough Council voted to extend the service agreement CRCA until January 1, 2021. CENTRE REGION The CRCA is entirely funded through building, rental housing, fire permits, and sewer management fees. No tax CODE monies have been used to finance the Agency in over 40 years. The CRCA reimburses the COG for the financial, ADMINISTRATION human resource management, and administrative services it receives from the Office of Administration.
WHAT DO WE DO?
The Centre Region Code Capital Budget finances CRCA capital investments. Capital monies are used to acquire CAPITAL and maintain information management systems, fleet vehicles, training equipment, and furniture. The Code BUDGET Capital Budget was added to the Centre Region Council of Governments (COG) Detailed Budget for the first time in the 2012 Budget. The Code Capital expenditures are: • Reviewed by the Public Safety Committee. • Identified in the COG Capital Improvement Plan.
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• Reviewed and approved by the COG General Forum through the annual budget process. • Expenditures from this budget are made in accordance with COG’s purchasing procedures including the use of joint purchasing programs when available.
WHERE ARE WE NOW?
For the period of January 1 through May 2019, there were no unexpected revenues or expenditures for the CRCA Capital Budget.
The unaudited 2018 ending year fund balance is $156,075, a $20,985 increase from the $135,090 projected in the budget. The fund balance was higher than anticipated due to the timing of the renovation of the Planning suite and the installation of the fire safety trailer kitchen training unit coming in under budget.
Capital items that were approved in the 2019 budget but are yet to be expended consist of $60,000 in planned building improvements to accommodate three additional employees.
WHAT IS THE COST?
The 2019 Capital Budget for the Centre Region Code Administration provides for the revenue and expenditures as shown in the table to the right. CRCA Capital Budget revenue and expenditures from 2018 through the approved 2019 budget.
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WHERE ARE WE GOING?
Proposed Budgetary Changes…
With the continued growth of the Centre Region and resulting construction activity, the CRCA is also growing to meet the demands of our clients and to ensure plan reviews and inspections occur in a timely way. As a result, the 2003 space originally allocated in the COG building for the CRCA at the time of construction is no longer adequate. Over the past six years, two construction projects have been undertaken to renovate and increase the space in the COG building that is assigned to the CRCA.
During the last four years over $1 billion in new construction has occurred and many new rental units have been added to the housing inventory. This building boom is expected to continue for at least three to five years. Because of this growth, the CRCA staff has added staff. The increase in the number of employees has caused the COG building to be inadequate in terms of office space and parking.
After looking a number of options for the expansion of the building and possible relocation of COG staff, the Ad Hoc Facilities Committee has asked the COG staff to prepare a proposal for the possible rental office space to house the Centre Region Parks and Recreation Agency’s administrative office. A preferred building has been identified. It contains 3,877 square feet of space and is situated on the first floor of an office building located in Ferguson Township about 2 miles from the COG Building.
The Ad Hoc Facilities Committee is also considering a proposal from COG staff that the Centre Region Code Administration (CRCA) would then occupy the space that the CRPR vacates in the COG building. This proposal is intended to address four issues: • Inadequate space for the CRCA staff. • Limited parking at the COG building. • Lack of storage for CRCA equipment and materials. • Absence of space in the COG building for additional staff.
Should this proposal be approved the additional annual rental and utility costs for the increased space that would be transferred from the Parks and Recreation Agency to the Code Agency would be approximately $60,000.
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As part of the expansion of the CRCA into Suite 1 (Parks and Recreation) of the COG Building, there will be work done to the suite including: • Painting. • Upgrading of most of the lighting fixtures to more energy-efficient LED fixtures. • Replacement of the storefront wall section to a more energy-efficient storefront system. • Conversion of the previous parks conference room back to a conference room. • Etching of the exterior suite doors for the building to include agency names for better customer service. • Purchase of furniture and equipment for the new space and for the reorganization of several areas in Suite 2 (Codes) to accommodate the move. The cost of the move is estimated to be $250,000 and will be taken from the existing fund balance. The project will not result in permit fees being increased in 2020.
The space in Suite 4 (Planning) that has been occupied by the CRCA staff this year will be turned over to the Refuse and Recycling Agency for use going forward. • Replace two Ford Escapes used for fire inspection in the Existing Structures Program, with two new Ford Escapes: $26,500. The agency is requesting the purchase of two new Ford Escapes as approved in the 2020 Detail and Summary Budget process. • Replace one Ford Escape used in the New Construction Program with a new F150 pickup truck for use in the new construction program: $32,000. The change in vehicle type is isolated to this vehicle replacement and is due to the new SEO program and the need to transport longer equipment into the field for the SEO site investigations and inspections. The agency is requesting the purchase of one new Ford F150 as approved in the 2020 Detail and Summary Budget process. • The addition of two new Ford Escapes: $26,500 each to support the proposed addition of one new field inspector and the Code Services Manager. The agency is requesting the purchase of two new Ford Escapes in the 2020 Detail and Summary Budget process. • The addition of one new Explorer: $40,000 to support the day to day operations of the CRCA Agency Director. The vehicle will also be used when multiple employees need transportation to a training program or event. The agency is requesting the purchase of one new Ford Explorer as approved in the 2020 Detail and Summary Budget process. • Replace five Motorola radios and purchase an additional Kenwood radio for use with the existing structures program. The type of Motorola radios being replaced have been declared obsolete. The original radios were provided by the Centre County
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Government through a grant program. In addition, the replacement of the four existing pagers used by the existing fire inspectors and purchase an additional six pagers for use with the existing structures on-call program. The combined cost is $17,500. • Computers and electronic equipment will be replaced in accordance with the COG’s IT replacement plan as managed by State College Borough IT.
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MISSION
The Schlow Centre Region Library’s mission is to be “The Centre of Reading and Learning.”
WHO ARE WE?
The Schlow Centre Region Library is the public library serving the Borough of State College and College, Ferguson, Halfmoon, Harris, and Patton Townships. These municipalities had a population of 96,625 residents (from the 2017 Census estimate). Located in the Borough of State College, the Library is a member of the Centre County Federation of Public Libraries, a public library system that includes the Centre County Library, its branches, and the Centre County Bookmobile. Since 2008, Schlow Library has been the District Library Center for the Central Pennsylvania District (Centre, Clearfield, Juniata, and Mifflin Counties). District Centers receive additional state funding to provide leadership, collections, and support to the public libraries within their district. The library operates under the Pennsylvania Library Code, State Library regulations, and County and District agreements for library service.
The library is a non-profit corporation that is governed by a nine-member Board of Trustees who are appointed by the governing bodies of the Centre Region municipalities in accordance with the COG Library Articles of Agreement. A separate, non-profit Schlow Library Foundation (formerly Friends of Schlow Library) provides SCHLOW CENTRE volunteer and financial support to supplement COG REGION LIBRARY and state financial contributions.
The Library employs 19 full-time, 16 part-time, and 11 part-time library page (shelving) staff members who are assisted by over 100 volunteers. There are 12 professional (Masters of Library Science) librarians OPERATING on staff, most serving as managers. Employees receive BUDGET at least six hours of continuing education annually, exceeding state requirements. Schlow Library employees are active leaders in professional and community organizations, and the library has won Head of Children's Services, Paula Bannon, reads during numerous awards and grants for its programs. “Snore-y Time with Dory and Nemo”.
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WHAT DO WE DO?
The Schlow Centre Region Library is a popular destination for Centre Region residents and offers free parking for its users. Users can browse over 175,000 books and media, use public computers and Wi-Fi while they work, play or relax in individual or group seating areas. Chess sets and board games are used by patrons of all ages. An award-winning Children’s Department with a “Family Place” play area fosters family fun and social skills, while the art gallery features the work of local artists, and over 75 community groups hold gatherings in the public meeting rooms.
In addition to the library facilities, the Schlow Library has a user-friendly “digital library” website, schlowlibrary.org. Functioning as a “branch library,” it features free e-books, magazines, audio content, music, and movies. The Library’s extensive catalog, event calendar, patron account information and book reviews are also available on the website.
The Schlow Library offers many cultural and educational programs such as preschool storytimes, children’s activities, author visits, concerts, and lectures. The Library promotes community reading through BookFest PA (as part of the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts), Centre County Reads, Summer Reading Programs, and the holiday Polar Express event.
Additional services include remote book drop-offs and returns, interlibrary loan of items not carried in the Library’s collection, delivery of items to homebound residents, speakers for community groups, and much more. Librarians are available to assist library users in every way possible, including research assistance, reading recommendations, and group or one-on-one coaching sessions on e-book readers and other information devices.
Following are highlights of the current strategic plan and services.
A. “Centre Region’s Living Room”
• More than 500 visitors per day visit the Schlow Library, a 37,000 square foot, two-story library that is open 61 hours per week. A high priority is maintaining the appeal, safety, and cleanliness of this popular facility. Schlow Library contracts with the Borough of State College for building services including facility management, maintenance, parking support, and security cameras management.
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• Over 70 community groups hold more than 250 meetings and events in the Schlow Library event spaces annually. The library is an active partner in Downtown State College events, including BookFest PA during the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts, First Night, and more. • The KINBER network provides Internet service to all county public libraries. Schlow offers 33 public computers and free Wi-Fi.
B. “Read It, Know It, Schlow It”
• The curated library collection has over 175,000 items for loan. Readers can choose from e-books and print titles, audiobooks and magazines, large print, and book club kits, puppets, toys, and games. Library staff order, catalog, and process new materials, then withdraw outdated and worn items on an ongoing basis. The number of new titles added annually has been dropping due to the increased cost of materials, particularly e-books, which cost libraries an average of $85 per copy. • Customers can return items in convenient and secure bins located at the Nittany Mall in College Township, Weis Market (Hills Plaza) in College Township, Giant (North Atherton Street) in Ferguson Township, Clearfield Bank and Trust (Route 45) in Ferguson Township, Uni-Mart (Carson’s Corner) in Patton Township, and Brothers Pizza (Stormstown) in Halfmoon Township. Deliveries of reserved materials are made to the Active Adult Center, Nittany Mall; Foxdale Village, State College Borough; and Village at Penn State, Patton Township. • Over 31,000 people attended 911 educational programs, including storytimes and lectures, in 2018.
C. “Community Connectivity”
• Schlow needs partners to provide many services and works with Penn State Libraries, State College Area School District, Strawberry Fields, Leadership Centre County, New Leaf Initiative, Centre Foundation, and many other organizations. • Book, crafts, writing, and other Library clubs provide social and educational connections for residents with no fees, contracts or obligations.
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• The Library is an official “Funding Information Network Center”, offering grant and foundation information to grant-seekers and funders.
D. Serve as the District Center Library for public libraries in Centre, Clearfield, Juniata, and Mifflin Counties.
The Schlow Library is a District Library Center, a regional library leadership designation which provides direct advantages to Schlow Library customers. The Library receives dedicated state funding and grants to provide training, services, and materials to all public libraries in Centre, Clearfield, Juniata and Mifflin Counties. District funds must only be used for district activities. Centre Region residents benefit directly from district-funded services, including the e-book service software, children’s programs, and homebound service. It also supports interlibrary loan shipping expenses: in 2018, 18,039 items were borrowed for Schlow Library patrons from other libraries and 13,298 items were lent to other libraries.
OF PARTICULAR NOTE
State and Federal Funding Issues – Until 2008, Pennsylvania public libraries had dependable state library funding to supplement local government support. Unfortunately, the past twelve years has seen a decline in state dollars, resulting in a cumulative loss for Schlow Library of just over $2 million in state aid. Consequently, the library has had to reduce services and collections: in 2014, the library and website were closed for a week and staff put on unpaid furlough, and weekly hours were reduced from 65.5 to 61 in 2015. The library is below the state standards for hours and has been receiving waivers based on low state funding. On the federal level, the President’s annual budget proposals threaten grant programs that have benefitted Schlow Library. Overall, the combined $419,000 in annual state revenue is considered to be a volatile and jeopardized revenue stream.
Fundraising and Development – Annual fundraising has increased by 300% since 2009, rising from $93,000 to $373,688 in 2018. Donations are received by the Library or its Foundation from a variety of sources, including an annual year-end appeal, the Centre Foundation’s “Centre Gives” online campaign, grants from civic groups and memorial and honor contributions. Estate gifts have also been received and are typically invested through the Schlow Library Foundation for future capital needs and emergencies.
Rising Book Prices – Publishers charge libraries premium prices for e-books, up to $90 a copy, which is much more than what consumers pay. The Library is striving to provide as much digital content as possible to meet heavy customer demand, but it is a strain to buy newly- released materials in multiple digital, print, and audio formats.
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WHERE ARE WE NOW?
For the period of January 1 to June 2019, revenue and expenditures for the Schlow Centre Region Library Operating Budget were generally consistent with the projections contained in the 2019 budget with the exceptions noted below. The 2018 ending year fund balance was $153,452, $6,296 more than the $147,156 projected budget due to fundraising. Schlow aims for annual fund balances between $120,000 and $200,000 in accordance with best practices. Investments held by the Schlow Library Foundation are reserved for emergency and capital needs and long-term sustainability. In July, an emergency repair to the columns in the interior parking area was approved by the Executive Director in the amount of $8,000.
The status of state aid for the Commonwealth’s fiscal year 2019-20 is unknown at the time of writing this plan.
WHAT IS THE COST?
The 2019 budget for the Schlow Centre Region Library provides for the following revenue and expenditures shown in the table on the right.
WHERE ARE WE GOING?
The Library Board of Trustees has approved the 2020 Program Plan. All activities align with the Library’s mission and Strategic Plan. They fulfill the obligations of the District Library Center contract and meet most state standards for public library state aid.
The following proposals are activities with the greatest budgetary change. They are subject to alteration or elimination based on the availability of funds.
Revenue Changes: • State, County, and District Aid – County, and district subsidies are Library Operating Budget revenue and expenditures from unknown currently. For the first time since 2008, state aid may increase with 2018 through the approved 2019 budget.
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the adoption of the 2019/2020 state budget, Schlow may receive an increase of $30,000 over the 2018 allocation of $206,999. There is no annual inflation factor or guarantee for these forms of aid. • Miscellaneous Revenue – Revenues from services such as printing, and copying are slightly declining annually due to digital communications. • Fines – Overdue fines are decreasing annually due to improved customer communication and no fines on e-materials, which simply disappear from devices when a time limit is reached. • Gifts – 2020 community donations estimates will be based on average fund drive returns of previous years, likely to be above $300,000.
Expenditure Changes: • Personnel ($13,000-$16,000 increase) -- Schlow Library has 10-12 part-time pages, most of those being students, who shelve books and perform additional collection and public service tasks at a total annual cost of $68,000. There is high turnover due to better part-time pay at nearby employers, so the Library proposes a raise in the starting page wage from $9.00 to $9.50/hour, and a tiered pay increase schedule which annually rewards longevity beyond the annual COG COLA and merit raises. Estimated costs are given as a range, since the seniority of pages still employed on Jan. 1, 2020, is unknown. This was endorsed by the COG Human Resources Committee. • Strategic plan ($18,000) – The Library’s current plan ends in 2019. The 2020 Shirley Leopold, Ann Lindsay, and Jan Lindsey planning process is scheduled to be more intensive than the 2016 in-house effort, enjoy the book-themed volunteer brunch to honor incorporating more community input, and addressing community changes and those who give time and talent to the Library.
an aging building. Planning work with a consultant is estimated to be $18,000. • Adult and children’s programs ($30,000) – Since 2011, program expenses for speakers and materials have been charged to
designated gifts but will be reinstated in the 2020 budget as line items. There will be no change in program spending, simply a line item reallocation. • Book purchases (variable, as funds allow) -- The 2019 budget follows patrons’ top strategic plan priority: to increase spending on library materials. The state standard expects 12% of expenditures to be used for collections, and Schlow Library has been under
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or right at that percentage in recent years. The high cost of e-books and inflationary prices have reduced the number of new titles purchased annually, with the Library often unable to meet community demand.
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MISSION
The mission of the Schlow Centre Region Library Capital Budget is to pay for the maintenance, repair, upgrades, and improvements to the facility and technology systems of the Library, which is “the Centre of Reading and Learning.”
WHO ARE WE?
The Schlow Centre Region Library is the public library that serves State College Borough and College, Ferguson, Halfmoon, Harris, and Patton Townships.
The Public Library was established in 1957 in two rooms of an old house on West College Avenue in State College which was provided rent-free by a local businessman, Charles Schlow. In 1967, the Schlow Library moved to a location at 100 East Beaver Avenue, the site of the former State College Post Office. The Library began as a State College Borough operation, but it is now supported by the Borough as well as College, Ferguson, Halfmoon, Harris, and Patton Townships. In February 2004, the Library moved to 118 South Fraser Street, the site of the former State College Municipal Building to allow a new library to be built on the Beaver Avenue and Allen Street site. The current facility at 211 South Allen Street opened in October 2005. It includes space used by CATA as a downtown office location. SCHLOW CENTRE WHAT DO WE DO? REGION LIBRARY
The Schlow Centre Region Library Capital Fund finances the Library’s two-story 38,577 square foot facility and 68 space public parking lot. Over 275,000 people visit the Library annually: CAPITAL browsing and borrowing reading material and BUDGET media, using public computers and Wi-Fi, working privately or in groups, and attending community meetings and educational events. Meeting rooms that are available for use by the public are used by over 75 community groups Schlow Library is open year-round; 61 hours per week. annually. The Library building also includes a
2020 Program Plan – Schlow Centre Region Library Capital Budget 141
small art gallery, games and craft areas, landscaping, and an outdoor garden area. The Centre Area Transportation Authority’s customer service department occupies part of the building and can be accessed from Beaver Avenue. Schlow Library has been cited as a “destination place” and “Downtown’s Living Room” in community surveys and media.
Capital monies are also used to maintain a considerable array of library-related technology: a “virtual library” website, wide-area county library network, public computers, Wi-Fi service, customer and donor databases, collection inventory, parking, HVAC and security. There were over 86,000 uses of public computing services in 2018.
The Library Capital Budget began with funds remaining from 2004 capital campaign donations and was added to the COG Program Plan in the 2011 budget. New revenue is added through: • Annual municipal contributions. Until 2015, contributions came through transfers from Operating Budget to Capital Budget. In 2015, direct municipal contributions to the capital fund, based on the forecasts in the Capital Improvement Plan, were implemented. Jeremy Adams repairs the landmark Schlow cupola, • Major gifts and grants designated for capital needs. Library staff aggressively as viewed from the main stairway. seeks grants and estate gifts for furnishings and technology purchases. • Capital funds are invested through COG or the Schlow Library Foundation to earn higher interest returns.
Schlow Library capital expenditures are: • Reviewed and approved by the Library Board of Trustees. Capital expenditures are subject to COG budget and purchasing procedures. • Made in accordance with the scheduled replacements and repairs recommended in the 2018 facility study and listed in the Library/COG Capital Improvement Plan, Technology and Strategic Plans.
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WHERE ARE WE NOW?
The 2019 Beginning Year Fund Balance was $625,002, which was $90,453 more than the $534,549 projected in the 2019 budget. Savings occurred due to delayed or changed projects based on a 2018 facility assessment and changing library conditions. Several large projects, such as the Second Floor Renovations, have been delayed due to other repairs and projects being prioritized for safety or expediency.
WHAT IS THE COST?
The 2019 Library Capital Budget provides for the revenue and expenditures shown in the table on the right.
WHERE ARE WE GOING?
The Library Board of Trustees has approved the 2020 Program Plan. Hosting over 285,000 visitors a year, the 15-year-old building is heavily used and shows its age. The 2020 capital expenditures reflect the library’s strategic plan to maintain and update the “comfortable and popular facility” which is a valued community center.
The library schedules capital projects only when necessary, and completes projects with an eye to safety, cost-efficiencies, and preservation of a popular and visible building.
Revenue: The Capital Fund was established with remaining capital campaign money in 2011 and, until 2016, was supplemented annually with modest inter-fund transfers, donations, grants, and interest. Direct municipal contributions to the capital fund began in 2016 to assure adequate funds Library Capital Budget revenue and expenditures from for major upcoming repairs and have remained at $80,000 per year. 2018 through the approved 2019 budget.
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With the 2020 Program Plan, a 2.6% increase in municipal contributions to the Library Capital Budget is requested after several years of no increases, due to increasing capital needs. The Schlow Library Foundation is working with the Library Board of Trustees to invest estate and major gifts for future long-term capital needs. During its February 27, 2017 meeting the General Forum approved the following motion to revise the formula that is used to allocate municipal costs to the library: “That the General Forum, as recommended by the Finance Committee, amend the Library funding formula utilized by the Centre Region Council of Governments participating municipalities to allow for a three-year smoothing mechanism to be added to the formula effective for the 2018 Centre Region Council of Governments Budget and over the life of the smoothing formula, municipalities will pay no more or less than they would have paid under direct assessment.”
Projected 2020 Capital Expenditures: • HVAC Commissioning and Updates ($55,000). The facility study recommended a full HVAC commissioning, which includes testing, inspection, and balancing, for the 15-year-old building. • Digital Branch Full Upgrade ($150,000). The library’s popular website, which includes patron account information, the catalog of materials, event calendar and more, requires a major overhaul every 3 years for security and easy, seamless service. • Public Computing Software Replacement ($15,000). The system which times and secures public computers needs to be replaced. • Computer and Network Replacements ($10,000). These are regularly scheduled replacements of technology equipment as projected in a technology plan. • Public Furniture Replacement ($10,000). Library furniture gets used hard. Many pieces remain that are 15 years old, and are subject to replacement as they wear beyond repair. • Second Floor Lighting Replacement ($40,000). Recommended in the facility study for improved energy efficiency, lights will be replaced in concert with the 2019-20 renovation of the upper level. • Second Floor Redesign and Carpet ($202,000). Changes to shelving and layout are needed due to the changing use of adult department spaces and staff offices. Replacement of the worn 15-year-old carpet is also necessary, and energy-efficient lighting will reduce energy consumption. This will be a large undertaking that involves lifting and moving existing shelving, which is labor- intensive.
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• Loading Dock Ramp Replacement ($35,500). The dock concrete is crumbling and deteriorating. In addition, guy wires supporting a utility pole are dangerously low for those using the ramp and may require different stabilization. • Interlibrary loan software ($11,000). Over 31,000 items were exchanged in 2018 between Schlow and other libraries. The library seeks efficiencies by utilizing software that would automate the search and fulfillment of requested materials.
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2020 Program Plan 146
MISSION
The Centre Regional Planning Agency (CRPA) guides regional and municipal efforts to create and sustain a vibrant, healthy, and economically diverse community by providing professional land use planning services that educate and inspire people to make the Centre Region a great place to live.
WHO ARE WE?
The Centre Regional Planning Agency provides a broad range of regional and local planning services to the Centre Region municipalities.
Regional Planning services include the preparation of the Centre Region Comprehensive Plan, Centre Region Climate Action and Adaptation Plan, and the Centre Region Act 537 Sewage Facilities Plan, land use projections, model ordinances, mapping, and specialized studies in areas such as workforce housing.
Local Planning services include providing staff support to municipal CENTRE officials and local Planning Commissions, reviewing land REGIONAL development plans and zoning changes, and drafting or revising PLANNING municipal ordinances that relate to land use regulations. Through an AGENCY Agreement of Relationship with Centre County, the CRPA fulfills BUDGET the responsibilities of the Centre County Planning Commission, as
defined under the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code.
Centre County government reimburses the CRPA for some, but not
all, of the costs associated with performing these planning services.
There is a long and successful history of coordinated planning in the
The CRPA is committed to continuous improvement that provides relevant regional and local planning services to the Centre Region municipalities. The value of the CRPA’s commitment is manifested by a 50-year legacy of thoughtful land planning practices that leverage local knowledge and insight to form a development pattern that reflects the heritage and values of Centre Region residents.
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Centre Region that has enabled our community to accommodate growth while avoiding incompatible land uses, protecting our natural resources, and maintaining a high quality of life. The six Centre Region municipalities have participated in the Local and Regional Planning Programs since the mid-1960s. The Centre Regional Planning Commission (CRPC) initially administered the Regional Planning Program as a volunteer organization with no professional staff support. Today, a professional staff supports the CRPC, much as a municipal staff supports a Municipal Planning Commission.
Over the years, the Local and Regional Planning Programs have evolved. All six Centre Region municipalities continue to participate in the Regional Planning Program. State College Borough and Ferguson Township now provide their own local planning staff, and College Township will provide their own local planner beginning in 2020. Halfmoon, Harris, and Patton Townships participate in the Local Planning Program as a cost-effective way of providing professional local planning services and integrating those services with the Regional Planning Program.
CRPA staff provides support services to many committees, including: • Centre Region Planning Commission • COG Transportation and Land Use Committee • COG Public Services and Environmental Committee • Source Water Protection Agreement Project Management Team • Climate Action and Adaptation Technical Advisory Group (proposed for 2020) The CRPA also houses the Centre County Metropolitan Planning Organization (CCMPO). The CCMPO Budget is prepared separately from the CRPA Budget for clarity. The 2019 Centre Regional Planning Commission From left to right, back row to front row: To perform these services, the 2020 CRPA Budget provides for Neil Sullivan, Penn State University the following staffing: Jeremie Thompson, Ferguson Township Planning Director (85% CRPA, 15% CCMPO) Brian Rater, Patton Township One Principal Planner Ray Forziat, College Township (Chair) Two full-time Senior Planners Amy Lorek, Harris Township One full-time Sustainability Planner (90% CRPA, 10% CCMPO) Jon Eich, State College Borough One full-time GIS Planner - GIS (65% CRPA, 35% CCMPO) Andrew Meehan, Halfmoon Township (Vice-Chair) Office Manager (50% CRPA, 50% CCMPO) TBD/vacant, Ferguson Township
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The Planning Director and the Principal Planner are certified by the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP).
WHAT DO WE DO?
The CRPA advises regional and municipal decision-makers about land use planning efforts to create and sustain a vibrant, healthy, and economically diverse community. This includes long-range planning activities and projects for the Centre Region and current planning activities for the municipalities. Beginning in 2018, the municipalities approved a Sustainability Planner to complete a Climate Action and Adaptation Plan for the Region. Addressing climate action will be an increasingly important function of the Agency. For the purpose of this Program Plan, the CRPA’s work tasks are divided into a Regional Planning Program and a Local Planning Program.
A. Regional Planning Program
This program is responsible for managing the preparation and implementation of the Centre Region Comprehensive Plan, the Climate Action and Adaptation Plan, and the Centre Region Act 537 Sewage Facilities Plan (in conjunction with the University Area Joint Authority). Other core services provided through the Regional Planning Program include the preparation of timely socioeconomic and demographic forecasts and trends, the management of the Regional Growth Boundary (RGB) and Sewer Service Area (SSA), and the provision of training programs to educate elected officials, planning commissioners, and the public on planning topics. The CRPA promotes and facilitates dialogue among the municipalities to develop cooperative solutions to regional issues, and all six Centre Region municipalities participate in the Regional Planning Program.
Ongoing Contributions…
• Participation in the Source Water Protection Agreement Project Management Team – During 2018, the CRPA facilitated two meetings between the UAJA, the College Township Water Authority, and Penn State University to continue joint planning for source water protection. The authorities have agreed to meet four times annually to discuss issues of regional concern regarding Beneficial Reuse water. Changing weather patterns, growth pressures, and community support for protecting water resources have elevated the need to proactively strengthen source water protection in the Region. The CRPA believes the Agency will have a larger role in helping the governing bodies, authorities, and others organize for effective protection of source water in the Spring Creek Watershed in 2020 and future years.
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• Timely and Relevant Demographic Information – The CRPA is a resource for a variety of demographic information and provides regular updates to the demographic data in the region. • Technical Resource Center – CRPA staff serve as the Centre Region’s technical specialists, and the Agency is the resource center for a variety of land planning and zoning topics, including open space preservation, ridge protection, contemporary zoning practices, riparian buffers, and other best practices in land planning and zoning. In 2019, the Agency continues to assist some municipalities with preparing for the 2020 U.S. Census.
B. Local Planning Program
This program provides staff support to individual Centre Region municipalities to address localized planning issues. CRPA staff also provides support to the municipal planning commissions. Three municipalities participate in the CRPA’s Local Planning Program. For 2020, Patton Township will fund a half-time local planning position, Halfmoon Township will fund a 33 percent of a position, and Harris Township will fund 40 percent of a local planning position. The Borough of State College, Ferguson Township, and College Township will have their own planning departments to address local planning issues, and the CRPA maintains a close working relationship with the three planning departments and the Centre County Office of Planning and Community Development. The CRPA staff also reviews municipal rezonings, zoning text amendments, and other items that require review as specified in the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code (MPC).
Ongoing Contributions…
• Reviewing subdivision and land development plans. • Preparing zoning ordinance text amendments. • Reviewing rezoning applications from developers. • Providing professional planning staff to the governing body and planning commissions. • Address local issues and resident questions regarding planning and zoning. • Preparing ordinances and regulations to implement the Centre Region Comprehensive Plan. • Preparing special studies and small area plans related to specific issues or concerns within a municipality.
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OF PARTICULAR NOTE
The completion of the CRPA Regional Planning Program Evaluation in 2015 identified several strategic areas that have strengthened the accountability of the Regional Planning Program and focused the CRPA on a series of five core service areas for the municipalities: • Implement the Centre Region Comprehensive Plan. • Maintain the Act 537 Sewage Facilities Plan. • Provide demographic information. • Monitor the Regional Growth Boundary and Sewer Service Area. • Conduct educational programs on planning topics.
WHERE ARE WE NOW?
For the period of January 1 to June 30, 2019, revenue for the Centre Regional Planning Agency is generally consistent with the projections contained in the 2019 Budget. Expenditures are substantially less due to vacancies in the Agency. • The actual unaudited January 1, 2019 fund balance was $74,181, which was $28,231 higher than the estimated fund balance of $45,950. The difference was due to lower than expected personnel costs.
For the balance of 2019, the CRPA anticipates having all positions filled and does not anticipate any significant variation in expenses for the remainder of the year beyond those included in the 2019 Budget once those positions are filled. In July, College Township reported that it will withdrawal from the local planning program for the fourth quarter of 2019. The Township will pay 100% of the costs of a full-time planning position and with a recent personnel change, the Township has decided to bring the position in-house. The Township Manager and the CRPC Planning Director discussed this shift in responsibilities on multiple occasions and the approach taken is supported by both individuals. The Centre Regional Planning Agency budget revenue and expenditures from 2018 through the approved 2019 budget.
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WHAT IS THE COST?
The 2019 Centre Regional Planning Agency Budget provides for the revenue and expenditures shown in the table on the right.
WHERE ARE WE GOING?
The CRPA remains mindful of municipal funding constraints when considering opportunities to reorganize or shift the responsibilities of Agency personnel to meet the changing needs of the municipalities.
The Agency continues to pursue ways to more effectively deploy personnel, use technology, be resourceful, and strategically reorganize to add value to the services provided to the municipalities. Looking forward to 2020, the CRPA proposes the following personnel and programmatic changes.
Proposed Budgetary Changes…
• Relocation of the Refuse and Recycling Program from the Office of Administration to the CRPA in 2020. The Refuse and Recycling Program Administrator was recently hired as the CRPA Sustainability Planner and the COG Executive Director will retire in 2020. It will be beneficial to move the Program from the Office of Administration to the CRPA to effectively manage the program. Refuse and Recycling is also a component of Climate Action and Adaption Planning. The new Program Administrator will be hired in the fall of 2019. The new employee will be transferred to the Planning Agency during the first quarter of 2020. More detail regarding the impact of this change is provided in the Office of Administration Program Plan. • College Township will formally withdraw from the Local Planning Program in 2020 and hire their own municipal planner. This will result in a dramatic decrease in revenue and expenditures due to the Senior Planner position being eliminated from the CRPA Local Planning Program. Three municipalities, Patton, Harris, and Halfmoon Townships will now share the operating costs for the Local Planning Program. • The CRPA is considering several other sources of revenue to sustain the Agency in the long term. Most of these require action by the governing bodies in the Centre Region, and these revenue sources have the potential to reduce municipal shares for the Regional and Local Planning Programs:
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➢ The General Forum should consider requesting that the Boards of Directors from the sewer and water authorities provide some funding to support the CRPA’s participation in integrated water resources planning and in the implementation of the amended Source Water Protection Agreement to support the Regional Planning Program activities that benefit the authorities. ➢ The General Forum should consider requesting that Centre County provide a larger share of revenue for planning services to the CRPA. The current contribution would fund one Senior Planner and a small portion of an administrative position. This is substantially less than is needed to provide support for the required Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code (MPC) services in the Centre Region. ➢ The General Forum should consider requesting that the municipalities recover all possible review fees for planning services for which fees are allowed in the MPC. Municipalities that are not assessing fees as authorized in the MPC should commence collecting fees in 2020 (for instance some but not all communities charge for the time a COG Planner invests in reviewing land development plans). These fees can be used by municipalities to partially offset their costs for the Local Planning Program.
Proposed New Regional Work Objectives…
The TLU Committee and CRPC began using the Comprehensive Plan Implementation Program (CHIP) process shortly after the adoption of the Comprehensive Plan in 2013. Since then, the CRPA has facilitated the same process on a biennial basis to identify priority projects for the coming year. The following guidelines serve as the basis for establishing the highest priority projects or initiatives: • Implement the goals, objectives, and policies from the Centre Region Comprehensive Plan. • Address a significant and clearly demonstrated regional planning issue or problem. • Benefit all of the municipalities in some way. • Facilitate Comprehensive Plan implementation based upon the local planning capabilities in each municipality.
The CRPA continues to utilize the Comprehensive Plan Implementation Program (CHIP) as a process to establish priority projects for the Regional Planning Program. All municipalities actively participate in establishing priority projects for the CRPA to include in the annual Program Plan. The CHIP provides a list of short-term projects that the Region should complete to implement the goals, objectives, and policies of the Centre Region Comprehensive Plan. The CHIP translates the goals, objectives, and policies of the Comprehensive Plan into actionable projects and identifies priorities, timeframes, and primary responsibilities for completing the projects.
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Seven new Regional Planning work objectives were jointly recommended by the Centre Regional Planning Commission and the COG Transportation and Land Use Committee. At its April 23, 2018 meeting, the General Forum endorsed these priority projects for the CRPA’s 2019 - 2020 Work Program: • Integrated Water Resources Planning • Growth Forecasting and Population Trends • Develop Specific Climate Action and Adaptation Initiatives and Projects • Assessing New Opportunities for Workforce and Resident Housing in the Centre Region • Land Consumption Rates and Minimum Development Densities inside the RGB and SSA • Identification of Future Growth Areas Outside the Existing RGB and SSA • Review of Act 537 Plan Special Studies as prepared by the UAJA and Penn State University
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MISSION
Federal law requires local and state officials in all designated urbanized areas of the United States to maintain a cooperative, continuous, and comprehensive transportation planning program, through a “metropolitan planning organization (MPO)”. In Centre County, this responsibility is fulfilled by the Centre County Metropolitan Planning Organization (CCMPO). The Centre Regional Planning Agency (CRPA) is the lead staff support agency for the CCMPO, working cooperatively with the Centre County Planning and Community Development Office (CCPCDO), the Centre Area Transportation Authority (CATA), and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) Central and Engineering District 2-0 Offices.
WHO ARE WE?
CCMPO Coordinating Committee
The policy-making body of 18 voting members comprised of elected and appointed officials from the following organizations:
Centre County Government (2) Nittany Valley Planning Region College Township Lower Bald Eagle Valley Planning Region CENTRE COUNTY Ferguson Township Moshannon Valley Planning Region METROPOLITAN Halfmoon Township Mountaintop Planning Region PLANNING Harris Township Penns Valley Planning Region ORGANIZATION Patton Township Upper Bald Eagle Valley Planning Region BUDGET State College Borough Centre Area Transportation Authority (CATA) PennDOT Central Office Centre Regional Planning Commission (CRPC) PennDOT District 2-0 Office
Non-voting members include:
Penn State University (PSU) Federal Highway Administration Federal Transit Administration
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CCMPO Technical Committee
The advisory committee provides comments and recommendations to the Coordinating Committee. Comprised of 18 voting members and three non-voting members from the same organizations as the Coordinating Committee.
Staff
Several agencies are responsible for completing technical work tasks on behalf of the CCMPO and its state, county, and municipal stakeholders. The lead staff support agency is the Centre Regional Planning Agency (CRPA).
The proposed 2020 CCMPO Budget provides the following staffing in the CRPA to complete CCMPO-related work tasks, which is the same level as in the 2019 Budget: Director 15% One Principal Planner (Transportation) 100% Two Senior Planners (Transportation) 100% Planner - GIS 35% Sustainability Planner 10% Office Manager 50%
The Planning Director, Principal Transportation Planner, and one Senior Transportation Planner are certified by the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP).
Along with the CRPA positions, one full-time Senior Transportation Planner at the CCPCDO is dedicated to providing staff support to the CCMPO. The CCPCDO Director, Assistant Director, other planners, and the Centre County Geographic Information Systems (GIS) staff also provide staff support to the CCMPO. In addition, the CATA General Manager; the Directors of Information Services, Transportation, and Finance; the Paratransit Manager; and the Public Relations Manager complete tasks on public transportation planning activities that support the CCMPO.
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Revenue sources that finance staff and operational expenses include: • Federal and state funding provided by PennDOT. • Funding and staff services provided by Centre County Government. • Funding provided by the six Centre Region municipalities. • Funding provided by CATA.
Frequently Used Acronyms: BPT PennDOT’s Bureau of Public Transportation FTA Federal Transit Administration BFC Bicycle Friendly Community LRTP Long-Range Transportation Plan CATA Centre Area Transportation Authority MAP-21 Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act CBICC Chamber of Business and Industry of Centre County MTF Multimodal Transportation Fund CCMPO Centre County Metropolitan Planning Organization PBPP Performance-Based Planning and Programming CCOT Centre County Office of Transportation Services PennDOT Pennsylvania Department of Transportation CCPCDO Centre County Planning and Community Development Office PMG Potters Mills Gap CRBAC Centre Region Bicycle Advisory Committee SCAC State College Area Connector CRPA Centre Regional Planning Agency STC Pennsylvania State Transportation Commission CRPC Centre Regional Planning Commission TA Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside Program FAST Act Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act TIP Transportation Improvement Program FHWA Federal Highway Administration UPWP Unified Planning Work Program
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WHAT DO WE DO?
The CCMPO’s core responsibilities are focused on three broad areas that encompass the planning, prioritization, funding, and delivery of countywide, regional, and local transportation projects intended to improve safety and mobility, reduce congestion, preserve the existing transportation system, and facilitate economic vitality.
• Preparing a Long-Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) The LRTP guides the allocation of federal, state, and local funds for projects and programs. The LRTP must be updated every five years. The LRTP 2044 was adopted in September 2015 and addresses a 30-year horizon. The new LRTP 2050 is scheduled to be adopted in June 2020. Both CATA and the Centre County Office of Transportation • Developing a Short-Range Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) Services (CCOT) benefit from the public transportation planning services provided by the CRPA. PennDOT and the CCMPO allocate funds to specific projects and programs through the TIP, which covers a four-year period and is updated every two years. The number of projects included in the TIP is constrained by limits on federal and state funding, which is allocated to the CCMPO by a statewide formula. The CCMPO’s 2019-2022 TIP includes approximately $106 million for roadway and bridge projects. Over $12 million is included for the Atherton Street Drainage/Repaving Project and $20 million for the State College Area Connector (SCAC) project (Route 322/144/45 Corridors). Approximately $70 million in federal, state, and local funding is included in the TIP for public transportation services provided by CATA and the Centre County Office of Transportation Services (CCOT). • Providing input to PennDOT, CATA, Centre County, and municipalities about specific transportation projects and programs. The CCMPO and its support staff provide input about topics ranging from federal and state transportation funding policy, to how the design of roadway projects impacts a community.
For this Program Plan, the staff services provided by the CRPA and CCPCDO are divided into three broad categories: Planning/Programming, Project Coordination, and Administration.
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A. Planning/Programming
Ongoing Contributions…
• Developing, adopting, and updating the Centre County LRTP 2044. Work is underway on the new LRTP 2050, which is scheduled to be adopted in June 2020. • Developing, adopting, and amending the Centre County TIP. In the past year, staff worked with PennDOT to prepare and adopt the 2019-2022 TIP, and administered 15 revisions to the TIP. • Providing transit planning services to CATA and the CCOT, such as managing the completion of CATA’s Alternative Service Models planning study. • Implementing high-priority actions in the Centre Region Bike Plan, such as coordinating with the Centre Region Parks and Recreation Agency to organize and teach bicycle education programs. • Assisting municipalities in planning bicycle/pedestrian facilities, such as providing input to Patton Township about the preparation of a Bicycle and Pedestrian Path Plan. • Providing comments about subdivision and land development plans in order to integrate public transit amenities into future developments. • Reviewing rezoning requests and development master plans to ensure that the land use and transportation aspects of the proposals are consistent with the goals, objectives, and policies in the LRTP, the Centre Region Comprehensive Plan, and other municipal and multi-municipal comprehensive plans. • Administering PennDOT’s Transportation Alternatives (TA) Set-Aside funding program, including assisting project sponsors in preparing applications for funding and providing comments to PennDOT about project applications. Over the past 25 years, 26 TA Program projects with a value of over $8 million have been completed in Centre County, including bicycle/pedestrian trails, streetscape projects, and transit amenities. • Assisting project sponsors in applying for funds from PennDOT’s Multimodal Transportation Fund program, and providing comments to PennDOT about project applications. Three applications covering six projects in Centre County were approved in the past year, with a total value of over $4.5 million.
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B. Project Coordination
Ongoing Contributions…
• Providing comments to PennDOT and municipalities about the design and implementation of highway and bridge projects. In the past year, staff worked with PennDOT, Ferguson Township, State College Borough, and Penn State University staff to develop communication links to disseminate information about the construction of the Atherton Street Drainage/Repaving project; assisted Harris Township in overseeing a feasibility study for implementing a “road diet” on Business Route 322 (Boal Avenue); and provided comments about alternatives for improving the Route 26/150 intersection in Howard Township. • Providing support to municipalities for the design of TA Program projects. In the past year, staff continued to assist Ferguson and Patton Townships in the design process for the Valley Vista Shared Use Path project. • Participating in the Chamber of Business and Industry of Centre County (CBICC) Drive Forward coalition, which is advocating for the advancement of major highway improvements. In the past year, staff provided information to the CBICC to populate the Drive Forward website www.driveforwardcc.com. Information was provided about the schedule for completion of the I-99/I-80 Interchanges, and about the allocation of funds for the Preliminary Engineering (PE) phase of the State College Area Connector (Route 322/144/45 Corridors) project.
Rendering of Proposed Boal Avenue "Road Diet" Atherton Street Project Construction Schedule Map prepared by CRPA 2020 Program Plan – Centre County Metropolitan Planning Organization Budget 160
C. Administration
• Preparing the CCMPO’s portion of the annual COG Budget, which details all revenue and expenditures associated with providing staff support. The figure on the right shows the distribution of the CCMPO’s 2019 revenue sources. • Preparing the CCMPO’s federally-required Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP), which lists work tasks that may be completed on behalf of the CCMPO and specifies the amount of federal and state funds provided by PennDOT to support staff activities. The FY 2018-20 UPWP was adopted by the CCMPO in February 2018, and amended in April 2018 and June 2019. • Completing quarterly progress reports and submitting invoices to PennDOT for reimbursement of personnel and other operating expenses incurred in providing staff support to the CCMPO. • Administering legal agreements and periodic work orders between the Centre Regional Planning Commission (CRPC) and PennDOT which enables federal and state funding to be reimbursed for staff activities. • Preparing media advertisements, agendas, and minutes for CCMPO meetings. Each CCMPO Committee typically meets four or five times each year. • Maintaining the CCMPO’s website www.ccmpo.net and Facebook page, including posting meeting agendas, notices, and new information about key topics. • Updating the CCMPO’s Public Participation Plan (PPP), Limited English Proficiency Plan (LEP), and Title VI Complaint Process. As a recipient of federal funds, the CCMPO must comply with federal Environmental Justice and Title VI nondiscrimination regulations. The PPP, LEP, and Title VI Process guide efforts to prevent discrimination and to ensure that procedures used to involve officials, citizens, and stakeholders in the CCMPO’s planning process are consistent with federal regulations. The CCMPO’s contact list of interested parties currently includes more than 200 officials and citizens.
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WHERE ARE WE NOW?
For the period between January 1 and June 30, 2019, revenue and expenditures for the CCMPO were generally consistent with the projections contained in the 2019 budget, with the following exception: • The actual January 1, 2019 fund balance was $124,776, which is much higher than the estimated fund balance of $57,762. Most of the difference was due to lower than anticipated personnel costs, and the timing of transactions that occur within the three fiscal years that impact the CCMPO Budget.
WHAT IS THE COST?
The 2019 budget for the CCMPO provides for the following revenue and expenditures shown in the table on the right.
WHERE ARE WE GOING?
Revenue for the CCMPO Budget is divided about equally between PennDOT and local funding.
PennDOT provides a base allocation of federal and state funding to the CRPA and offers competitive opportunities for supplemental federal and state funding for special planning projects.
CCMPO Budget revenue and expenditures from 2018 through the approved 2019 budget.
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Local funding is provided by Centre County, the six Centre Region municipalities, and CATA. The contributions from Centre County and the municipalities are calculated by the CCMPO’s local funding share formula, which is based on three equally- weighted criteria: ✓ Population (less on-campus resident students at Penn State University, and inmates at state and county correctional facilities) ✓ Road miles (state roads, and local roads eligible for federal highway funds) ✓ Assessed value of property
CATA provides the local share funding required to match federal transit planning funds provided in the UPWP (historically an 80% federal/20% local split).
Proposed Budgetary Changes…Revenue
• Base allocation of federal and state funding – The CCMPO’s FY 2018-20 UPWP took effect on July 2018 and included a modest (3%) annual increase in federal and state funding. The new FY 2020-22 UPWP will take effect in July 2020. At this time, PennDOT has not yet indicated whether there will be an increase of federal and state funding in the new FY 2020-22 UPWP. • Supplemental federal funding – In May 2019, PennDOT approved the CCMPO’s requests for supplemental federal funding for three special planning projects (see table on the next page).
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Special Planning Project Federal Funds Local Match Total Amount CATA Analysis of Fixed Route Fare and $96,000 $24,000 $120,000 Contract Structures and Policies Centre County LRTP 2050 - $33,600 $8,400 $42,000 Data Collection for Municipal Roadways Centre County LRTP 2050 - $64,000 $16,000 $80,000 Existing Condition, Data Forecasts, Performance Measure Evaluation, and Investment Strategies
The supplemental funding will impact the 2019 and 2020 CCMPO Budgets. However, because most of the supplemental funding will be used by outside vendors, there will be little net change in the revenue that supports the CRPA staff. • County and municipal funding – Municipal and County funding shares are anticipated to remain approximately the same in 2020. Although there is a significant fund balance being carried forward in 2019, additional funds will be needed to provide the local matching share of the special planning project for the LRTP 2050 that focuses on performance measures and investment strategies. Municipal and County funding shares may increase slightly in 2021. However, if PennDOT provides an increase in federal and state funding in the new FY 2020-22 UPWP, the additional funds may eliminate the need for increases in municipal and County shares in 2021. • CATA funding – CATA’s share for the 2020 budget is anticipated to remain the same as in 2019. If PennDOT provides an increase in the amount of federal transit planning funds in the new FY 2020-22 UPWP, CATA’s contribution will increase slightly in 2021.
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Proposed Budgetary Changes…Expenditures
The majority of expenditures (nearly 70%) in the CCMPO Budget are for personnel costs. • There are no staffing changes or other significant changes in Personnel Expenses planned for 2020. • There are no significant changes in Operating Expenses planned for 2020. Efforts will continue to reduce or minimize increases in the operating and capital line items over which the CRPA has direct control. An increase in expenditures to obtain detailed travel data may be considered in 2021 for implementation of federal Performance-Based Planning and Programming (PBPP) requirements through the LRTP 2050 and TIP. • An increase in expenditures for Transportation Projects is anticipated in 2019 and 2020, because of the three special planning projects noted above. The three special studies will be initiated in 2019 and completed in 2020. Most of the expenditures associated with the special studies will be for outside vendors and largely funded by PennDOT dollars.
New or Expanded Work Initiatives in 2020…
• Through the remainder of 2019 and during the first half of 2020, the CCMPO staff will be focused on the preparation of the new LRTP 2050 and the new 2021-2024 TIP, scheduled to be adopted concurrently in June 2020. One of the new elements involved in the preparation of the LRTP and TIP is the implementation of federal performance measure requirements, which will significantly change the way PennDOT and the CCMPO conduct planning and programming activities in future years. Staff will be working with PennDOT, FHWA, and FTA to implement performance measures and targets over the next few years. The federal PBPP approach is intended to help the CCMPO and PennDOT invest scarce resources wisely, and to evaluate the success of projects and programs towards meeting federal, state, and local performance goals and objectives. • In 2020, the Centre Region COG will apply to the League of American Bicyclists for redesignation as a Bicycle Friendly Community. In order to increase the probability of obtaining a Silver-level designation, CRPA staff helped plan and implement over 30 bicycle-related activities for National Bike Month in May 2019. Activities included bike education classes sponsored by the Centre Region Parks and Recreation Agency and local bike shops; casual and recreational rides; special rides dedicated to specific themes; bike safety equipment giveaways; and education and encouragement events in partnership with local bike shops and restaurants. CRPA also formed a partnership with Centre Moves, a community action group associated with the Mount Nittany Medical Center that is focused on healthy living, to promote “Push the Pedal”, an activity-based bicycling effort that was conducted in May 2019.
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Similar activities are planned for the remainder of 2019 and 2020. These activities are intended to show the high level of interest and support for bicycling in the Centre Region and Centre County and to encourage the League to designate the Region as a Silver-level community in 2020. In addition to outreach activities, preparation of the application is anticipated to be a major part of CRPA’s time commitment in 2020. Oversight will be provided by the COG Transportation and Land Use Committee. • The CCMPO staff is anticipated to be closely involved in the Preliminary Engineering (PE) phase of the State College Area Connector (SCAC) project in late 2019 and through 2020 and 2021. The SCAC project (previously known as the Route 322/144/45 Corridors project) is intended to be a successor to the former South Central Centre County Transportation Study (SCCCTS), which ended in March 2004 because of a statewide transportation funding shortfall. National Bike Month Activities Organized and Promoted by CRPA
In February 2019, Governor Tom Wolf, State Senator Jake Corman, State Representative Kerry Benninghoff, and PennDOT unexpectedly announced that $20 million was being committed for the PE phase of the SCAC project. The CCMPO is expected to formally amend the 2019-2022 Centre County TIP in June 2019 to include the funding for the PE phase.
The PE phase includes completion of a Planning and Environmental Linkages (PEL) process and preliminary engineering/design work.
Governor Tom Wolf, Senator Jake Corman, and Representative Kerry Benninghoff Announce Funding for State College Area Connector Project
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The tasks to be completed through the PEL process and preliminary design typically include, but are not limited to:
✓ Assessing existing travel conditions and projecting/forecasting future conditions ✓ Documenting project need and purpose ✓ Inventorying community and environmental features ✓ Identifying and evaluating potential solutions/alternatives to meeting project need ✓ Determining a preferred alternative that meets project need ✓ Obtaining environmental clearance for a preferred alternative ✓ Conducting public involvement activities
The CCMPO staff is anticipated to be involved in “onboarding” PennDOT’s project consulting teams in late 2019 and will also be closely involved when work on the PEL process begins in early 2020. Work on the PE phase is anticipated to continue in 2021 and 2022.
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MISSION
The mission of the Regional Fire Protection Program is to maintain a volunteer fire company to provide fire, rescue, and related services to the Borough of State College and the Townships of College, Ferguson, and Patton, a portion of Benner Township, and the University Park campus of Penn State University and to provide support and assistance as necessary to assure the delivery of quality services.
WHO ARE WE?
The Regional Fire Protection Program is a partnership comprised of three entities: Centre Region COG, State College Fireman’s Relief, and Alpha Fire Company, working together to provide high-quality, cost-effective fire protection and related services to the citizens of the Centre Region.
The centerpiece of the Program is the Alpha Fire Company (Company), a nonprofit corporation that received its charter as a volunteer fire company in 1899. In addition to its established service REGIONAL FIRE area, the Company provides PROTECTION assistance to other area fire PROGRAM companies through mutual aid BUDGET agreements during major emergencies. In 1998, a portion of the Company’s service area in College Township (Route 45) was transferred to the Boalsburg Fire Company because of this area’s proximity to the Boalsburg Fire Station.
Composition of the Regional Fire Protection Program.
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The Company currently operates from three fire stations. The main fire station is in State College Borough and houses two rescue engines, an aerial truck, a heavy rescue, a firefighting ATV, a utility vehicle, a special response unit/brush, a traffic unit, and a tanker. The main station has a 23-person bunking capacity, office space for the entities, and serves as the primary location for company meetings and training. A second station was opened in Patton Township in 2001 with a ten-person bunking capacity. The Patton Township Station houses a rescue engine, a tanker, a utility truck, and an aerial truck. In 2002, a third fire station was opened in the lower level of the College Township Municipal Building and bunking facilities for ten personnel were completed in early 2010. The College Township Station houses an engine, a quint, office space for the Fire Marshals, and a foam trailer which was obtained through federal funds and is used for large fires and incidents that involve flammable liquids. The Company also fields a decontamination trailer which was obtained through federal funds and is housed at the Ferguson Township Public Works Department.
As a nonprofit corporation, the Company is governed by an Executive Board that is comprised of the Executive Officers and the elected Operational Officers of the Company. Executive Officers include the President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Financial Secretary, and three Trustees. The Operational Officers include the Fire Chief, two Assistant Chiefs, a Health and Safety Officer, three Fire Captains, and five to six Fire Lieutenants. The Company’s Executive Officers and Chiefs are elected annually by the Company’s general membership. The COG General Forum confirms the election of the Chief Officers while Fire Captains and Lieutenants are appointed by the Fire Chief. Ten of the active members are sworn Fire Police Officers who assist the Company and local law enforcement as needed. The Company has several associate members, including Chaplains, the Company Attorney, an Auditor, a Photographer, and a Historian.
The Regional Fire Protection Program benefits significantly from funds that are provided through the Fireman’s Relief Association of State College (Relief). Relief is funded through a Commonwealth of Pennsylvania program that is administered by the state Auditor General which places a tax on fire insurance premiums. The state collects these funds and distributes them to local governments for the purpose of allocating them to their fire companies. The use of these funds is heavily restricted; they must be used for the health and safety of firefighters. Relief currently covers the cost of all personal protective equipment, supplemental insurance, training costs, portable radios, and specialty rescue equipment. Relief also contributes to the cost of apparatus and worker’s compensation insurance.
Volunteers: Paid Staff: Active Alpha Firefighters and Fire Police – 100 Fire Director CRCOG Fire Marshal – 1 Office Manager* CRCOG Assistant Fire Marshals – 4 Assistant Chief – Operations and Training Alpha Associate Members – 5 Assistant Chief Operations and Field Services Equipment Technician *Shared with Emergency Management Summer Intern
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The Fire Director leads the Regional Fire Protection Program. The program is funded by the Centre Region COG on behalf of the participating municipalities and Penn State University. The Office Manager provides direct support to all three entities involved in the Regional Fire Protection Program. The Director and Assistant Chiefs respond with the Company to emergency incidents.
WHAT DO WE DO?
A. Ensure the Alpha Fire Company has the facilities, equipment, and support necessary to accomplish its mission and continue to provide fire protection to Centre Region residents in a cost-effective manner.
Ongoing Contributions…
• Develop and execute plans for recruiting and retaining volunteers. • Provide for the maintenance, repair, and upkeep of over $13 million of apparatus and equipment and three fire stations. • Ensure that carried equipment and tools are in safe and effective working order. • Provide a long-range capital plan for the replacement and/or addition of fire apparatus, computers, furnishings, and equipment. • Develop and review response plans to assure the needs of the community are being met through qualitative and quantitative analyses of responses and risks. • Develop and maintain strategic plans that are adaptable to changes in technology and the region’s demographics and economy to assure consistent, quality service. • Collaborate with partners in Code Administration, Emergency Management, Law Enforcement, Emergency Medical Services, and Penn State Hazmat to provide complimentary life safety services which represent good value to the community. • Identify and pursue grant funding opportunities. • Identify, develop, deliver, and facilitate quality training programs for firefighters and fire police officers. • As in prior years, an Assistant Chief coordinates group purchasing of foam, aerial and ladder testing, and hose testing for all county companies.
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Alpha Fire Company working at incidents in 2018 and 2019 YTD.
Vehicle Extrication – Patton Township 201 Vairo Boulevard Structure Fire
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B. Respond to emergency calls for service.
• 2018 incident activity declined slightly from 2017, only the second time this has occurred over the past 12 years. Alpha members and COG staff provided over 26,000 labor hours to the community for response, training, public programs, and maintenance of buildings and equipment. • All COG staff, along with 10 Alpha Fire Company volunteers participate with the Penn State HAZMAT Team which accounts for almost half of the total team roster and more than half of all certified HAZMAT Technicians. • The table below details the number and types of calls for each COG municipality in 2018. Company 3 is Boalsburg, Company 5 is Alpha, and Company 15 is Port Matilda. Including mutual aid, Alpha responded to 1,308 incidents in 2018. For comparison, the next busiest Centre County company was the Philipsburg Fire Department, which responded to 427 incidents in 2018.
Good Intent/ Auto Special/ Building Vehicle Other Fire Rescue HazCon PD Assist Pub Svc Cancel Alarm Other TOTAL College Township (5) 8 6 2 27 15 8 12 27 47 0 152 College Township (3) 1 2 0 6 2 1 3 0 5 0 20 Ferguson Township 12 4 5 12 26 5 18 19 36 0 137 Halfmoon Township (15) 0 1 1 8 5 2 6 0 4 0 27 Harris Township (3) 3 2 6 24 10 0 13 0 19 5 82 Patton Township 9 3 5 30 27 13 18 42 66 0 213 State College Borough 45 3 5 22 60 11 64 110 299 1 620 University Park 6 1 3 1 5 1 13 13 22 9 74 Benner Township (5) 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 2 0 0 5 Distribution and types of calls per municipality in 2018.
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C. Ensure Fire programs meet statutory requirements.
• Remain knowledgeable of current laws and administrative rules that govern the conduct of fire companies within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and take steps as necessary to ensure the Company is in compliance. • Review land development plans to assure compliance with applicable state and local fire protection codes. [Note: specific building plans are reviewed by the Centre Region Code Agency.] • Deliver or facilitate the delivery of training required for statutory compliance to firefighters and fire police officers. • Review and approve certain special permits such as those required for fireworks.
D. Provide educational programs for fire safety.
• Alpha members and COG staff delivered over 60 programs and event appearances in the community in 2018, double the number in 2017. • An Assistant Chief is continuing a project to move the Alpha probationary training programs from classroom lecture formats to blended learning formats. • The Office Manager is assisting the Fire Company with an update of its Administrative Manual and a review of the volunteer stipend award system. The stipend system has improved station staffing and the Fire Company believes further refinement will yield even greater benefit.
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OF PARTICULAR NOTE
ISSUE I: FUTURE SERVICE MODEL
During its March meeting, the Public Safety Committee started a discussion as to whether to recommend to the General Forum the establishment of a Working Group to guide the process for retaining professional consulting services to prepare an organizational model for the future delivery of fire protection services in our growing and changing community.
The Public Safety Committee has been monitoring the ongoing volunteer fire crisis affecting much of Pennsylvania and the degree to which this is affecting the Centre Region. Demographic changes and significant new building activity (over $250 million a year) occurring within the region continue to put pressure on the mostly volunteer-based fire protection program. In addition to these external pressures, internal changes are forthcoming such as the retirement of the current Fire Director in 2020 or shortly thereafter.
The Committee members believed it would be prudent to engage a consultant to perform an evaluation of the Regional Fire Protection Program. The desired outcome of the evaluation would be a series of recommendations that would guide the COG and its stakeholders as it continues its long-term transition to a model that recognizes changing demographics, the future viability of relying primarily on volunteers, and community growth. The Regional Fire Protection Program was last evaluated in 2005 and the current structure of the program was established and guided by that study.
Analysis of the current program suggests that the current staffing model will become increasingly problematical in the future and the current Fire Director has suggested a retirement as early as 2020 and thought should be given to identifying the qualifications and skills the General Forum and Fire Company desires in the new Fire Director.
To proceed the Public Safety Committee recommended the following to the General Forum:
1. That during 2020 a consulting firm with experience in public safety organizations be retained to develop a future organization model for the regional fire protection program. The goal of this model is to propose a regional program that safeguards the lives and property of the community, is adaptable to change and is affordable to the municipalities. 2. That during 2019 a broad-based Working Group be formed by the COG that would develop a Request for Proposals for consulting services for the purpose of proposing the future service model. Duties of the Working Group may include but not limited to:
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• Drafting a Request for Proposals (RFP) to conduct the study • Interviewing potential consulting firms and prepare a recommendation for the General Forum • Assisting the consultant in organizing a forum to solicit public and municipal official comments as deemed necessary • Reviewing and providing information as requested by the consultant • Reviewing the draft report prior to its submission to the General Forum
To implement the Public Safety Committee’s proposal, during its March 25, meeting the General Forum approved the following motion:
“That the General Forum, as recommended by the Public Safety Committee, establish a Steering Committee to conduct a study to identify a preferred model for future organization of the Regional Fire Protection program that takes into consideration community growth, demographic changes, call volumes, volunteerism and cost.”
All the representatives to the Steering Committee for the Fire Study have been selected as identified below. The Committee’s first meeting is scheduled for Thursday, June 6.
1. State College Borough Dan Murphy 2. College Township Anthony Fragola College Township (Alternate) Rich Francke College Township (Alternate) Carla Stilson 3. Ferguson Township Laura Dininni 4. Halfmoon Township Mark Stevenson Halfmoon Township (Alternate) Bob Strouse 5. Harris Township Bud Graham 6. Patton Township Dan Treviño 7. Penn State University Charles Noffsinger 8. Centre Region Police Chiefs Chris Albright 9. Alpha Fire Company Jason Troup 10. Alpha Fire Company Shawn Kauffman 11. Centre Region COG (Fire) Steve Bair 12. Centre Region COG (Fire) Rusty Schreiner
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ISSUE II: HAZMAT SERVICES
Since 2013, the Regional Fire Protection Program has handled the administration of the Penn State HAZMAT Team. Alpha Fire Company members and COG staff now account for more than 60% of the hazmat technicians on the Penn State roster. Moving forward, Penn State has expressed interest in making the Penn State HAZMAT team part of the Regional Fire Protection Program through a more formal affiliation with the Regional Fire Protection Program and the Alpha Fire Company. Early exploration by the parties has developed a model that includes Penn State’s continued funding for the team, the result of which will assure no financial burden to the municipalities. The Fire Director convened a committee of stakeholders to make recommendations regarding future action relative to the team. Penn State is studying these recommendations and other available options. A meeting between the University and the COG is scheduled for early August.
WHERE ARE WE NOW?
For the period of January 1 through June 30, 2019, revenues and expenditures for the Regional Fire Operating Budget were generally consistent with the projections contained in the 2019 budget. The audited 2019 ending year fund balance was $96,098, a $4,857 increase from the $91,241 projected in the budget.
• In 2016 the Alpha Fire Company was awarded a federal SAFER Grant in the amount of $197,700 to fund our multiyear digital media and strategic communications project. COG continues to administer this grant for Alpha recruiting and retention efforts. All staff was Regional Fire Protection Program revenue and expenditures from actively engaged in numerous planning sessions and exercises with all 2018 through the approved 2019 budget.
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emergency service partners for a wide range of incident types and events. The latest iteration of the Alpha recruiting ad campaign launched on April 1, 2019. • The cost of purchasing new fire hose was approximately $10,000 more than budgeted.
WHAT IS THE COST?
The 2019 budget for the Centre Region Fire Protection Program provides for the following revenue and expenditures shown in the table on the previous page.
The current annual per capita cost for fire protection in the Centre Region remains less than $31. This figure includes all revenue sources: municipal contributions to operating and capital budgets, contributions through Fireman’s Relief, private donations to Alpha Fire Company, and state and federal grants. The Centre Region continues to enjoy very low costs compared to communities of similar size throughout the nation. In Pennsylvania, the average per capita municipal contribution for suburban volunteer fire companies is approximately $41 based on 2017 benchmark data.
WHERE ARE WE GOING?
Looking forward into the remainder of 2019 and beyond, proposed major budgetary changes and work objectives for the Regional Fire Protection Program include: • Having volunteers in sufficient numbers is critical to maintaining the fire protection system. Responding to alarms and participating in training, often while managing career and family, places a significant personal burden upon many of the volunteers. Two actions being proposed for 2020 to address long-term volunteer trends and future staffing concerns:
o The COG General Forum has established a Working Group to develop the scope of work for a comprehensive study of the Regional Fire Protection Program. The program was last studied in 2005. The focus of the proposed study will be on long-term staffing and best practices for a possible combination career/volunteer department, as may be recommended in the study and approval by the participating municipalities. Until the Working Group prepares a scope of work for the fire study, it is not possible to provide an accurate estimate of the cost for consulting services. As a comparison, the consulting costs for drafting the Parks and Recreation Regional Comprehensive Plan is $75,000.
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o Alpha Fire Company is considering options for modification of the stipend bonus. The stipend has improved station staffing but some gaps remain, and the company believes it can improve the deployment and distribution of driver/operators and firefighters. • There are no significant equipment purchases planned for 2020 that will impact municipal or university funding. Items not related to insurance or personnel are expected to remain flat or increase at the rate of inflation. Significant increases in digital marketing and public outreach investments will be funded from our federal grant award (SAFER). • The staff is investigating costs to replace nonfunctional air scrubbing equipment in the apparatus bays of the fire stations. This project is part of the program’s cancer risk reduction activity which is ongoing. There may be sufficient funds in the capital accounts to undertake this work without significantly modifying the COG CIP. • State Funding for State College Fireman’s Relief (SCFRA) has declined more than 25% since 2013. In 2018 the decline was 8.7% from 2017. SCFRA funds all regional program training, all Alpha personal protective equipment including self-contained breathing apparatus, all Alpha radios, supplemental insurance, various other equipment, and up to 15% of all fire apparatus. This decline is expected to continue and will affect future capital budgets. This decline may also have an adverse effect on future operating budgets. • As in past years, the Fire Director intends to propose the hiring of a summer intern for 2020.
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MISSION
The Capital Budget for the Regional Fire Protection Program was established by the participating municipalities to purchase vehicles needed for regional fire protection and rescue services. The Capital Budget provides for regular predictable contributions for large planned, but irregular, apparatus expenditures. In accordance with the COG Capital Improvement Plan, the Fire Capital Budget also provides for regular predictable contributions for expenditures related to physical infrastructure, notably building systems, necessary to support program objectives.
WHAT DO WE DO? Apparatus Replacement Schedule
1 Quint $1,200,000 The COG has maintained a capital fund 4 Engines @ $750,000 $3,000,000 (originally termed a sinking fund) for the purpose of replacing apparatus since 1975. 2 Aerial Towers @ $1,200,000 $2,400,000 This capital budget provides long term 2 Tankers @ $413,000 $826,000 planning for the timely replacement or addition 1 Heavy Rescue Truck $750,000 of fire apparatus and ensures that sufficient 1 Command Unit $100,000 funding is in place to make purchases. 2 Chiefs’ Vehicles $140,000
2 Specialty Trailers $200,000 The apparatus replacement schedule is updated REGIONAL FIRE annually with input from the Alpha Fire 3 Utility Vehicles $156,000 PROTECTION Company (Company), Fire Director, COG 1 Special Unit/Brush Vehicle $140,000 PROGRAM Public Safety Committee, COG Finance 1 ATV with Trailer $80,000 Director, and COG Executive Director. 2 Fire Police Vehicles $280,000
Total Replacement Value $9,272,000
The replacements scheduled in the current Approximate cost to replace the current Alpha Fire Company fleet. CAPITAL year of the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) BUDGET become the basis for the draft Fire Protection Capital Budget for that year. After review and submission to the COG Executive Director, proposals for apparatus replacement move to the General Forum for final approval. Once approved by the General Forum, the Fire Administrator and Company personnel prepare technical specifications to solicit bids for individual apparatus. The approximate cost to replace the current fleet is shown in the table above. Fire apparatus is owned and licensed to the Centre Region COG. All Centre Region apparatus is insured for full replacement cost.
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TYPES OF EQUIPMENT
Engines – Sometimes called pumpers, they have a pump and a water tank and carry fire hoses, nozzles, ladders, small tools, and water. Rescue Engine – An engine, as described above that has additional storage space and is equipped with rescue tools for use at automobile crashes and other rescue situations. Each station includes at least one apparatus set-up for rescue. Aerial – Also known as a truck, ladder truck, aerial truck, tower truck, or platform, the common factor in all aerial apparatus is a vehicle- mounted device that can extend to a height of 65 to 120 feet or more. It is used for access by firefighters and to rescue trapped victims. The aerial apparatus also carries a large variety of ladders and tools that are used to support operations. Tanker (Tender) – A mobile water supply apparatus that carries 1,000 – 3,500 gallons of water. The tanker is used to supply water to locations not served by fire hydrants. COG’s tankers carry 2,000 gallons and 3,000 gallons of water, respectively. Heavy Rescue Unit – This is a dual-purpose vehicle and its use is determined by incident type. For rescue mode, it carries a large variety of tools and equipment to extricate victims from a wide variety of circumstances. At a fire incident, the rescue truck is used as a supply source for self-contained breathing apparatus and spare air cylinders. The vehicle also carries a large generator to supply electrical power at an incident scene. Quint – The quint is essentially a rescue engine and an aerial tank truck combined into one unit. The COG’s quint is stationed at the College Township Fire Station. Command Unit – A vehicle equipped with several radios to permit communications with all surrounding fire companies and State College and University Police. The unit has maps, charts, plans, manuals, as well as specialized support equipment. Utility Vehicle – A pickup truck outfitted for emergency response. Its primary function is the transportation of personnel, equipment, and supplies for a variety of situations. Fire Police Vehicle – A vehicle with a utility or service body that is used to transport traffic control, access control, investigation support equipment, and personnel to incident locations. Chief’s Vehicle/Fire Director’s Vehicle – Vehicles used by the Fire Chief and the Fire Director for emergency responses. These are equipped to allow the Chief and Director to communicate with other responding emergency equipment and the Centre County 911 Center. Special Unit/Brush – This vehicle is essentially a small pumper with limited capability. It is primarily used for nuisance fires and brush fires. This vehicle was procured as a “gift in kind” from Penn State University.
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ATV – The fire suppression ATV is used for brush fires and the protection of Beaver Stadium and parking lots during football events. The unit also handles fire patrol duties at large events in the region. The ATV was a gift from the Penn State Athletics Department.
OF PARTICULAR NOTE
The COG places a high priority on the maintenance of fire apparatus to ensure that they are in good working order in the event of an emergency. Because of this ongoing investment in maintenance, it may not be necessary to replace some of the apparatus at the time it is scheduled for replacement in the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). Looking forward, the COG will continue to balance the amount of accrued funds, vehicle conditions, and apparatus price trends to ensure fiscal responsibility. It is proposed to purchase a new truck chassis and reuse the existing cargo boxes. Proposed for 2020 is the refurbishment of the two 2009 Fire Police Vehicles. This refurbishment will involve remounting the existing vehicle body on a new chassis for both vehicles. It is included in the 2020-2024 CIP.
In accordance with COG CIP methodology, the 2020 Fire Capital Budget will include line items for replacement of physical infrastructure, notably major building systems and fixtures. In years prior to 2015, these expenditures were included in the program’s Operating Budget. We have delayed several projects pending expert advice on priorities. Several items of interest regarding our physical facilities include: • Redesign and replacement of the Patton Township Station air conditioning system. The system is nearing the end of life and no longer functions reliably. A 2018 plan to repair and upgrade existing system elements was deemed unrealistic after it was discovered the existing system refrigerant, original to the building in 2001, is no longer available. A change in refrigerant requires all new equipment. Early inquiries suggest a change to individual split-units in lieu of a central system may be more cost-effective. • Based on an assessment by Marcon Roofing, a partial replacement of the roof at the Borough Fire Station is planned for 2019. The estimated cost for this replacement is $37,150. Due to weather and contractor availability, this project will likely be delayed to 2020. • The air-scrubbing equipment in the Borough Station apparatus bays has failed and has since been removed. The same model system at the Patton Station is on the verge of failure. Quotes for replacement of these systems have been requested and replacement of these systems is likely to be requested for 2020 and 2021. These systems are an important part of our cancer risk
reduction activities and the estimated replacement cost is $40,000. • A facilities volunteer with extensive expertise is touring all stations in June 2019. Priorities will be established and communicated to the Ad Hoc Facilities Committee based on his and the staff’s opinions.
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WHERE ARE WE NOW?
The 2019 budget for the Centre Region Fire Protection Program Capital Budget provides for the following revenue and expenditures as shown in the table to the right.
Except for some projects being delayed, there are no changes to the current budget.
WHAT IS THE COST?
To assure the availability of sufficient funds for future vehicle replacements (notably aerial apparatus), planned municipal contributions for vehicle replacements will continue to increase with inflation in 2020 and in future years.
Regarding buildings, there will be some modifications to the current CPI with specific priorities awaiting review and recommendation from knowledgeable parties.
Regarding vehicles, there are no deviations to the CIP for 2020.
WHERE ARE WE GOING?
In accordance with the CIP, the following vehicles will be refurbished in 2020: ➢ Traffic 5-1, 2009 Fire Police Vehicle ➢ Traffic 5-2, 2009 Fire Police Vehicle There are no building or land acquisitions planned for the foreseeable future. Ferguson Township has had preliminary discussions relating to the construction of a fire station in the western part of the township, but that project does not appear imminent at this time. Renovations to physical infrastructure will be Regional Fire Protection Program Capital Budget revenue and limited to remediation of normal aging and wear and tear. expenditures from 2018 through the approved 2019 budget.
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The next major apparatus purchase is in 2021 when the 2005 International Tanker (T5-2) will be replaced at an estimated cost of $508,000.
The two Fire Police vehicles, both purchased in 2009, are identical. The main body, or rear cargo box, will be removed and remounted on a new cab/chassis. Refurbishing the vehicles in this manner was planned at the time of their initial purchase to reduce long-term operating and procurement costs. In 2018 each of the Fire Police vehicles responded to over 200 emergency incidents and many more non-emergency incidents. Each vehicle has over 58,650 miles and more than 5,400 operating hours. Like fire apparatus, the use of these vehicles involves prolonged periods at idle. Diesel engines typically require major overhaul at 5,000 operating hours. [As a point of reference, a passenger car with 200,000 miles and the average mix of city/non- city driving, will have accumulated approximately 6,080 engine hours.]
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MISSION
The mission of the Centre Region Parks and Recreation (CRPR) Agency is to provide Centre Region residents with a variety of opportunities which enrich lives and build community. This is accomplished by providing opportunities through recreation, education, health and wellness, and sustainability and conservation.
WHO ARE WE?
The CRPR Agency was established in 1966 to provide recreation programs and parks maintenance services to the six Centre Region municipalities. (Halfmoon Township withdrew financially from the COG’s Park and Recreation Agency in 1982.)
Working in cooperation with the COG General Forum, the Centre Region Parks and Recreation Authority serves as the primary oversight body for the agency. The Authority consists of five volunteer members who are appointed for five-year terms by their respective municipality. A sixth board member represents the State College Area School District. CENTRE REGION 5-YEAR TERM 2019 CRPR AUTHORITY MEMBERS REPRESENTING SERVICE DATES PARKS AND EXPIRES RECREATION Cindy Solic, Secretary Township of Patton 1998-2008 and December 2021 2018 – Present
Bill Keough Township of Ferguson March 2019 – Present December 2023 OPERATING BUDGET Kathy D. Matason, Chairperson Township of College 2005 – Present December 2021
Diane J. Ishler, Treasurer Township of Harris 2014 – Present December 2020
James W. Dunn, Ph.D., Vice-Chairperson Borough of State College 2014 – Present December 2020
Shannon E. Messick S.C. Area School District 2014 – Present December 2021
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The Authority and Agency Staff work with the five participating municipalities, the COG Parks Capital Committee, the State College Area School District, and various community groups to provide policy guidance on park projects, fee and usage policies, recreation programming, special events, special partnerships, and future initiatives.
The following documents provide the basis for the proposed 2020 CRPR Program Plans: • 2015-2020 CRPR Strategic Plan; • 2018 CRPR Authority Priorities; • 2019 COG Parks Capital Committee Priorities; • 2020-2024 COG Capital Improvement Plan; and • There will be some additional goals set as a result of the Centre Region Parks and Recreation Regional CRPR Authority: (L to R): Shannon Messick (SCASD), Bill Keough Comprehensive Study which is due to be approved in (Ferguson Twp.), Jim Dunn, Vice-Chair (Borough), Kathy Matason, November 2019. Chair (College Twp.), Cindy Solic, Secretary (Patton Twp.), and Diane Ishler, Treasurer (Harris Twp.) WHAT DO WE DO?
The CRPR Agency coordinates eight different budget funds to provide comprehensive parks and recreation opportunities to the five participating municipalities, including park maintenance, recreation programming, special events, aquatics, environmental and conservation education, active adult programming and services, and regional parks oversight.
This budget serves as the overarching account that provides for general recreation programs and special events, park maintenance operations, concessions operations, fundraising, and administrative oversight, coordination, and support for the entire agency. The other seven funds are utilized to serve specialized purposes or sites.
To provide the various services, the eight agency funds provide for the following staffing in 2019:
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Professional Staff: Seasonal Staff (PT and FT): 23 full-time positions, 2 part-time positions For this fund only. The number of positions varies by season * Indicates a position funded by this budget • Program Leaders/Day Camp Leaders **This position was formerly split between Park Operations and Millbrook Marsh • Parks Maintenance Seasonal Caretakers Nature Center. Now that the nature center’s staff assistant position went full-time, • Sport Instructors and Officials the split is no longer needed. • Tournament Staff 1. Director* • Concessions Staff 2. Recreation Services Manager* 3. Recreation Supervisor* 4. Sports Supervisor* 5. Aquatics Supervisor 6. Nature Center Supervisor 7. Nature Center Program Coordinator 8. Nature Center Staff Assistant 9. Active Adult Center Supervisor 10. Active Adult Center Staff Assistant 11. PT Active Adult Center Staff Assistant 12. Parks Manager* 13. Assistant Parks Manager* 14. Parks Caretaker III/Mechanic* 15.-17. Parks Caretaker II (3 positions)* 18.-22. Parks Caretaker I (5 positions)* 23. Office Manager* 24. FT Staff Assistant – Main Office (funded by Aquatics and Parks Operations) 25. PT Staff Assistant* (20 hours per week) – Main Office**
For 53 years, the Centre Region Parks and Recreation Agency staff have remained focused on five objectives: • Plan, implement, and promote a diverse menu of year-round programs, sports leagues, and special events. • Promote and accommodate self-directed uses of parks/facilities by individuals, families, and groups. • Provide efficient parks maintenance and operation services across an extensive range of recreation facilities at a reasonable cost. • Strive to improve community parks and advance the approved capital projects at municipal and regional facilities. • Coordinate and administer effective staff support for all agency operations.
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A. Plan, implement, and promote a diverse menu of year-round programs, sports leagues, and special events.
Programming and league operations are primarily funded by user fees and donations.
Ongoing Contributions…
• Historically, CRPR’s day-long KIDVenture Summer Camp has filled a daycare niche for working parents. For 2019, staff implemented a new fee structure for KIDVenture Explorers and Challengers that assigned a cost to the before- and after-camp hours. This year, camp fees are broken down into regular hours of 9 AM-4 PM and extended hours of 7:30 AM–5:30 PM. This important change has increased revenue which offsets expenses, as well as helps structure staff coverage throughout the summer.
• 2019 also brought hourly salary increases for all KIDventure Summer Camp staff. Due to low application numbers and having to cap registration numbers in 2018, the starting pay for these positions were reviewed and set to be at a more competitive level. The new pay rates have proven to be successful for the 2019 camp hires.
• Staff explored adding new options for additional weekly specialty camps, whether half- or whole- The Easter Bunny is always day camps. Middle schoolers were the focus of these camps, and staff is partnering with various popular at CRPR’s Annual businesses and individuals to create these opportunities. These camps include: Take Aim at Archery Easter Egg Hunt, now held at Camp, Youth Yoga, Teen Treks Camp, Engineering and Architecture for Teens through Oak Hall Regional Park. Bricks4Kidz, Trek Thru Tytoona Caving Camp, and the always popular Broadway Theatre Camps we have offered for many years in partnership with Recreational Arts, Inc.
• Offering a Youth Scholarship Program to assist families who may not be able to afford registration fees for programs, camps and pool passes. This program was revised in 2017 to provide improved application guidelines to those individuals who may apply for a scholarship. 2019 eligibility is based on the 2018 Federal Income Guidelines at the 130% levels. The agency is now also actively fundraising throughout the year for the scholarship fund. To date, CRPR has provided 50 scholarships for programs, camps, swim team participation, and pool passes.
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• Providing staff support for the planning, construction, funding, and operation of the three regional parks. Two of these parks are now in operation, Hess Softball Complex and Oak Hall Regional Park, and provide playing venues for a range of youth and adult sports leagues and tournaments. The third regional park, Whitehall Road, will be the focus of attention for the CRPR for the next two-three years as the Land Development Plan is prepared, bidding documents drafted, and construction occurs. The Regional Parks fund provides additional information on the Whitehall Road Regional Park at: https://www.crpr.org/parks/pages/whitehall-road-regional-park.
• Operating adult sports leagues throughout the year including volleyball, softball (co-ed, women’s, men’s, age 35+, and age 45+), youth and adult flag football, and Growing the Game Youth Basketball. In 2019, CRPR served 54 softball teams, 51 volleyball teams, and 26 flag football teams. Returning in 2019 is a Summer Tennis League that saw double the growth from the 2018 league with 35 players. The All-Ages Disc Golf Clinic, in partnership with the Centre County Disc Golf Association, returned in 2018 and it is hoped that the clinic will return in 2019 at some point. Staff members continue to research potential new leagues, for both adults and youth.
• Hosting major softball and baseball tournaments at the Hess Softball Complex, Oak Hall Regional Park, and numerous satellite fields. The 19 tournaments scheduled for 2019 also provide notable economic benefits to the Centre Region as the participants stay, shop, and dine at local businesses. Tournaments increased in 2019 by four, along with an improved partnership with the Central PA Convention and Visitors Bureau, to include a major sponsorship of the Yuengling Men’s Slow Pitch Tournament that will be held in July 2019.
• During 2018, Oak Hall Regional Park and Hess Softball Complex hosted 1,000+ softball games through leagues and tournaments. The centralized location and high-quality of these venues have made the Centre Region a premiere tournament destination in Central Pennsylvania. Over 13,800 people visited these two softball complexes to include players, coaches, and families.
• In 2018, the agency continued the concessions operation at Oak Hall Regional Park. The concession stand and beverage machines at Hess Softball Complex and Oak Hall Regional Park generated revenues of $20,574 in its second year. Many tournament days were canceled in 2018 due to weather or revenue may have been much higher. Historically, CRPR has contracted with third-party vendors for concession services. Third-party concessions still exist for both Park Forest and Welch
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Community Pools as well as Hess Softball Complex, and in 2019, the Agency has contracted with two full-service food vendors and one specialty vendor. Concession stand staffing was limited in 2018, but with aggressive recruitment tactics in 2019, the concession stand is fully staffed, and Agency staff will be using Shift Planning for the first time to manage employee schedules.
• Developing and expanding community partnerships to further enhance the vitality of the Centre Region through increased program opportunities, event sponsorships, and better marketing plans. Current partners include, but are not limited to, the State College Rotary Club, State College Lions Club, State College Area Municipal Band, PSU Field Hockey Team, Centred Basketball, Centre Region Community Tennis Association, Recreational Arts, Inc, Encore Farm, Centre County Disc Golf Association, Central Pennsylvania Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Penn State Golf Courses, PSU Healthy Bodies Project, and the Moshannon Valley chapter of the Centre County YMCA. The partnership with independent contractors has opened a new line of unique and competitive programs. Of particular note, a new partnership with East Coast Fitness will offer a Mini Warriors Obstacle Course Training in the parks this summer. The Agency will continue to operate, and possibly expand, the current partnership with Centre Region Planning Agency Staff to offer a variety of youth and adult bike-focused classes. 2019 brought a grant award from Mount Nittany Medical Center to purchase a set of large-sized Strider bicycles to increase the range of participants who can participate.
• During the 2019 budget process, the Agency proposed a Rec On The Go mobile recreation program which was supported. To date, the truck has been purchased and wrapped, and Agency staff are in the process of purchasing the equipment needed for the vehicle. This will be the first summer with this type The Rec On The Go program was of programming and the overall goal is to support programming in parks across launched in June 2019! all five municipalities; so, Agency staff will monitor the currently proposed programming and will evaluate progress on the fly and add or change programming based on the residents’ participation. Agency staff was not prepared to offer this program as a rental program, but the staff has already received requests for the truck to visit festivals and programs. This program will be evaluated in 2019 and as the Agency progresses toward the 2020 detailed budget, staff will have a better idea of how to utilize this program.
• In 2018, the Agency began working with the Penn State Healthy Bodies Project to offer the Free Summer Lunch program in three municipal parks, five days a week. The Agency secured the pavilion rentals for the program, and staff provided some daily
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activities to participants throughout the summer. This summer, the Rec On The Go mobile recreation program will have a special role with the 2019 Free Summer Lunch program as staff will be able to expand on programming.
• Operating a variety of youth sports programs including rhythmic gymnastics, field hockey, basketball, track and field, and Start Smart Youth Sports. Staff members continuously evaluate the community’s youth sports offerings in order to provide appropriate programs. A variety of sports-oriented special events are held throughout the year such as MLB’s Pitch, Hit and Run, youth track meets, and the NFL’s Punt, Pass and Kick, as well as an extensive menu of adult fitness programs with certified instructors. CRPR is continuing its very successful flag football program for youth entering 1st through 7th grade.
• The Agency hosts popular, annual special events such as Bike-In and Dive-In Movies, Easter Egg Hunt, Touch-A-Truck Expo, Kids on Wheels Parade, Friday Night Lights, Halloween Costume Parade, Paws-A-Pool-Ooza, Pedal, Splash & Dash Youth Triathlon, the Winter Carnival, the Welch Cardboard Regatta, and The 2019 Winter Carnival doubled in activities concerts by the State College Area Municipal Band. 50Fest, a new special event in and in participation! We had perfect weather and 2016, returned in 2017 and 2018 under the new name of the “So Long Summer man-made snow really helped with snowman. Shindig,” and will continue into 2019 and 2020 as well. Staffing for most events is building! provided by a team through a sign-up program. This approach allows more of the Agency’s professional staff to help with these larger events to ensure they run smoothly and that team leaders have plenty of support.
• Providing community outreach to make residents aware of CRPR programs, special events, and services and to stress that all residents are welcome. CRPR marketing efforts include its Active Guide, E-Newsletters, surveys, evaluations, social media such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and soon-to-be-added Snapchat, and the newly-redesigned CRPR website. This re-design now gives residents the information they are seeking in the easiest possible manner.
• Ensuring that Agency staff and volunteers are trained in, knowledgeable about, and follow the CRPR Child Safety Policy based on the recently-updated state laws and regulations. As the state guidelines change for daycare and day camps, CRPR will be evaluating how this legislation will affect its camp operations and will make changes, if necessary, to keep this popular program in place. Operational expenses may change depending on these legislative changes due to more staff training, longer camp hours, more requirements for supplies and equipment, increased background checks, and other new protocols.
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B. Promote and accommodate self-directed uses of the various parks and facilities by individuals, families, and groups and provide efficient parks maintenance and operations services across an extensive range of recreation facilities at a reasonable cost.
Ongoing Contributions…
• Maintaining and operating 56 municipal and regional park sites, as shown below. The extensive parks maintenance tasks include parks mowing and trimming, brush-hogging, carpentry, soil work, building maintenance, masonry, plumbing, playground safety inspections, arboriculture, custodial work, sports field care and enhancements, trash/recycling collection, tournament and special event preparations, and other duties as needed. The extent of maintenance required in any park depends on the features in each park, the popularity of each feature, and the durability/age of each feature. Recently, the management and permitting for use of the Sidney Friedman Park has returned to the State College Borough; for the remainder of 2019, the Parks Maintenance Staff will continue providing maintenance of this park, but that will most likely change in some way in 2020. *Former municipal authority land preserved for State College College Ferguson Harris Patton Type Totals watershed protection; not Borough Township Township Township Township considered parkland.
Municipal-Owned Parks 656.2 115 acres 129.9 acres 178 acres 68.4 acres 164.9 acres**** **Patton Woods Natural (CRPR Maintenance) acres Recreation Area is considered passive parkland CRPR Authority 267.2 (62.7 acres). Owned/Leased 7.3 acres 131.5 acres 103 acres*** 21 acres 4.4 acres acres (CRPR Maintained) ***Whitehall Road Regional Park Phase I Total Acres Maintained 122.3 acres 261.4 acres 281 acres 89.4 acres 169.3 acres 923.4 will not come online until By CRPR Agency acres 2022; construction should begin in Spring 2021 (on Municipal-Owned approximately 50 acres of Parkland/Open Space 272.9 the 100-acre parcel). CRPR 0 acres 81.1 acres 80 acres* 0 acres 111.8 acres** (owned/easement) acres is maintaining the full 100 (No CRPR maintenance) acres now with general maintenance.
1,196.3 Total Region Park Acreage 122.3 acres 342.5 acres 361 acres 89.4 acres 281.1 acres **** Four acres of Grays acres Woods Park will come online in 2019; maintained acres will increase.
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Other notes about the Acreage Table: • In 2019, four acres of the 42-acre Grays Woods Park will come online in Patton Township; CRPR will be providing maintenance and management of the four-acre playground area. • In 2018, the nine-acre Owens Drive Park in Ferguson Township, now known as Songbird Sanctuary, came online as a natural, open space area. CRPR will not maintain this facility and its acreage is not included in Agency calculations. • In two-to-three years, the nine-acre Tussey Pond Park in Harris Township will come online. The park includes a large pond, the first one in the system.
The facilities assigned for CRPR operations have expanded over the years as shown below: 1992: 272 acres at 33 sites 2000: 452 acres at 38 sites 2006: 670 acres at 49 sites 2016: 920 acres at 55 sites 2017: 924 acres at 56 sites 2019: 929 acres at 56 sites (when Grays Woods Park Playground opens) Parks Maintenance staff in early May 2019 installing one of the many Over the past decade, the community’s parks inventory has grown to include the Remembrance Benches in the local parks. renovated Park Forest and Welch Swimming Pools, the expanded Millbrook Marsh Nature Center with the Spring Creek Education Building, Hess Softball Complex, Oak Hall Regional Park, and the leased Parks Maintenance Facility, along with expanded or new municipal parks. On behalf of the participating municipalities, the agency maintains 45 local playground areas with no user fees charged or proposed. • Performing parks maintenance tasks and special projects, as scheduled across the park system. Overall, the parks are noted by residents for the high level of care and responsiveness provided by CRPR staff. The agency continues to efficiently maintain all sports fields, especially those sites used for leagues and tournaments. New in 2019 is the addition of no- or low-mow areas in some of the municipal parks. Agency staff is evaluating how these changes affect operations and how the residents react to these new natural areas.
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• Providing staff support for the Phase I construction of Whitehall Road Regional Park. The General Forum has designated, through the Articles of Agreement, the Centre Region Parks and Recreation Authority as the developer of the park. • Promoting and enhancing the Park Partners Program, the Remembrance Tree and Benches Program, and the My Hero/My Veteran Tree Program, along with other volunteer initiatives, to maximize community involvement in assisting with the maintenance, enhancement, and development of our municipal and regional parks. In 2019-2020, the Remembrance and My Veteran/My Hero Tree programs and the Remembrance Bench program will be focused on the Whitehall Road Regional Park to assist with providing additional trees and benches. Day of Caring volunteers assist with building a blind at one of the parks.
C. Provide coordination and administrative support for all agency operations.
Ongoing Contributions…
• Providing administrative support to the CRPR Authority Board and the COG Parks Capital Committee by preparing agendas, minutes, reports, and correspondence. • Continuing to provide administrative support for the Phase I development of Whitehall Road Regional Park and to assist the Parks Capital Committee and the Authority with discussions relating to Phase II development at all three regional parks. • Managing CRPR scheduling to better utilize all current and planned park facilities. In 2017, conversations started with the individual municipalities on overall maintenance, service expectations, and assignment of tasks. This project is not complete but will continue through 2019 and beyond to determine best practices and to strive for some consistency across the municipalities. Some of this work will be accomplished through the Centre Region Parks and Recreation Regional Comprehensive Study. • Continuing to maintain the agency’s redesigned website to ensure that information is up-to-date, to evaluate customer’s use of the site, and rotating photos and artwork. • Continuing to provide a well-organized and easy-to-understand rental process for the park pavilions and sports fields rental programs.
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• Continuing the agency’s participation in the annual Centre Gives 36-hour crowdfunding campaign operated by the Centre Foundation. The agency raised funds for the Whitehall Road Regional Park’s All-Ability and Universally-Accessible Playground construction funds in 2019 and received endowment funds for the State College Area Municipal Band and Millbrook Marsh Nature Center. • Seeking and investigating grant and donation opportunities to supplement the operating budget. For example, the small grant provided from Strider Bikes allowed the agency to start the Lil’ Striders program in 2017 which teaches preschoolers balance and riding skills and to add additional larger bikes in 2019. • Seeking and investigating grants to supplement the CRPR’s capital budgets. During 2019 the focus of this work objective has been the Regional Parks Capital Budget especially, as it relates to the Whitehall Road Regional Parks. The status of the grant applications is shown below:
Secured Grants: $300,000 – PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources – Whitehall Road Regional Park (WRRP) Playground $20,000 – USA Football – WRRP LED Sports Field Lighting $6,000 – Central PA Convention & Visitors Bureau – GeoTrail Program (NEW) $5,000 – Autism Opportunities Network – WRRP Playground $5,000 – Autism Speaks – WRRP Playground In-Kind Value – National Recreation and Park Association - Instructor Training Grants for a Senior Health & Wellness Program
Tentatively Secured Donations: $193,750 – Central PA Convention & Visitors Bureau – WRRP LED Sports Field Lighting (via priority use agreement)
Secured Donations: $25,000 – Fulton Bank – WRRP LED Sports Field Lighting
Pending Grant Decisions: $4,100,000 – PA Redevelopment Capital Assistance Program – WRRP $300,000 – PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources – WRRP LED Sports Field Lighting $250,000 – PA Department of Community and Economic Development (GRT Program) – WRRP LED Sports Field Lighting
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OF PARTICULAR NOTE
• Staff is evaluating how agency programs are funded. An important aspect of the CRPR Funding Model is to, when feasible, have those directly benefitting from an agency service bear some or all the cost to provide that service. Credit card processing fees and transaction fees have increased along with Active Guide printing costs; how the Agency can capture these indirect expenses is being explored. It is a delicate balance because the programs also need to be affordable to most residents. • Due to a very rainy 2018, overall rental income was reduced at the parks for sports field rentals as well as at the pavilions and pools. Additionally, there were four fewer tournament weekends due to Arts Festival, PSU Graduation, and other area events. With a possible partnership with the Central PA Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Agency hopes to increase sports field rentals. The Agency will continue to promote pavilion rentals and will be reviewing with the municipal manager's updates to the municipal ordinances related to parks. • The “Growing the Game” Youth Basketball program expanded in 2017 with Penn State Basketball as the agency’s partner. In 2018, Penn State Basketball had to remove itself from this program and the agency is now partnered with the non-profit Centred Basketball. The agency is expanding the “Growing the Game” program to 7th and 8th graders in 2019. The CRPR staff will continue to evaluate any other necessary changes for next year. Growing the Game Basketball is played at • The Youth flag football program continues to grow and be very successful. In Circleville Park during summer evenings. 2018, the program almost doubled, from 90 to 161 participants. We are hoping to grow to 180+ in 2019.
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WHERE ARE WE NOW?
For the period of January 1 through June 2019, revenue and expenditures for the Centre Region Parks and Recreation Operating Budget were generally consistent with the projections contained in the 2019 budget, although personnel costs appear to be coming in slightly under budget due to staff turnover and staff electing a lower level of health insurance (single rather than family or premium coverages).
The actual 2018 ending year fund balance was $310,935, a $49,084 increase from the $261,851 in the 2019 budget. The fund balance was higher than anticipated because of employee turnover and unfilled seasonal positions, project costs that were lower than expected, and increased program revenue.
WHAT IS THE COST?
The 2019 budget for the Centre Region Parks and Recreation Agency provides for the revenue and expenditures shown in the table on the right.
WHERE ARE WE GOING?
Proposed Budgetary Changes for 2020…
The following is a list of proposed changes that will directly impact the 2020 Parks and Recreation Operating Budget. Generally, except for changes in compensation and benefits costs, the 2020 CRPR budget will have some similarities to 2019.
• The Centre Region Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Comprehensive Study, funded by a DCNR grant, will likely be completed in November 2019; however, there will be several goals and projects that will stem from Parks & Recreation Operating Budget revenue and expenditures the study’s results. The Agency will be able to apply to DCNR for an from 2018 through the approved 2019 budget.
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additional $10,000 for any follow-up project work that may require professional assistance, postage, or other related costs. This grant money does require a $10,000 match and this request will be included in the detailed operating budget. • The Agency would like to carry over to the 2020 budget the $5,000 approved in 2019 for architectural services to prepare rough design options and cost estimates for a regional Action Sports Park. In 2019, it was determined that there are two projects moving forward: 1) a skatepark at High Point Park, funded through the Borough of State College, and 2) a possible partnership with the developers of the Pine Hall Town Center Development to construct a mountain biking/BMX facility, in which the Centre Region Parks and Recreation Authority may have a role. • Additional funds may be requested in the 2020 Detailed Budget to continue to adjust compensation rates for seasonal positions to enable CRPR to attract and retain qualified staff. The cost of these adjustments is being prepared and will be adjusted over a two- or three-year period, which started with the 2019 budget. When appropriate, program registration fees, pool passes/admission fees, and rental rates may be adjusted to accommodate these salary increases. As the unemployment rate declined and the economy improved, hiring for part- time staff for the 2017 and 2018 program seasons and facility operations were difficult across the agency. Agency staff reviewed seasonal staff salaries and in 2018 conducted a local salary study to evaluate the rates paid to positions such as lifeguards, recreation aides, front desk attendants, program leaders, interns, seasonal park caretakers, summer camp leaders, and others. It is hoped that staff can continue to use a more structured and consistent seasonal pay scale across the agency that also includes raises, small bonuses for completing a season, COLAs, and other incentives to retain and hire new staff. • In 2020, the Agency is requesting to add one new full-time Parks Caretaker in April 2020 to the maintenance crew in order to prepare for the opening of the Whitehall Road Regional Park. This staff member would start in April 2020 and would train on Agency procedures within the park system and become proficient on parks equipment. This position will increase the costs for full-time staff, but it is an important supplement to the Parks Caretaker staff in order to handle what will be a very busy regional park. During the last three to four years, there has been a significant change in the local and national economy. According to the Federal Reserve, the current unemployment rate in the State College area is under 3%, the lowest it has been since 1999. Because the economy is so robust, it has been difficult to attract and retain seasonal employees. With the new salary scale in
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place, the seasonal positions were filled in 2019. However, some employees are only with the Agency for three months and some for seven-nine months. Seasonal staff are great contributors to the mowing crew and for some other tasks but are not with the Agency long enough for training on other detailed tasks. It’s imperative that we have a fully-trained and knowledgeable full-time staff who can then mentor a seasonal crew during the busy months. Hiring a full-time Parks Caretaker provides an opportunity to hire qualified staff who are likely to remain with the agency because of the benefits package this position provides to them.
Maintained Acreage and Maintenance Staff 1200 20 18 1000 16 14 800 12 600 10 8 400 6 4 200 2 0 0
Maintained Acreage Full-Time Maintenance Staff
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• Continue to expand professional development opportunities for the CRPR staff. Continue to place emphasis on staff training and professional development. The agency continues to look for new opportunities for training. The 2020 Detailed Budget will provide figures and training details.
• Agency staff will continue to evaluate the Rec On The Go program as there may be an opportunity for a new revenue stream by creating a rental program. The Rec On The Go program would be available to rent for birthday parties, special events, or festivals, assuming staffing is available for these types of activities.
• Through the COG Ad-Hoc Facilities Committee, the office space assigned to the Parks and Recreation Agency in the COG building is being The first public meeting for the Comprehensive Study evaluated. Under discussion and review is a possible move to a third-party space had a great turnout at the high school! that would provide additional office space along with common area needs such as a break room, restrooms, customer service space, etc. Current discussions point towards a possible move in late 2019 and this move will impact the 2020 operating budget. The COG Ad-Hoc Facilities Committee has asked the General Forum during its July 29, 2019 meeting to approve a lease agreement for a 5 to 7-year rental of 3,877 square feet of office space located approximately 2 miles away from the COG building. The additional new rental expenses are expected to total about $40,000.
Proposed Work Objectives for 2020…
The following is a list of proposed 2020 Work Objectives for Centre Region Parks and Recreation:
• Provide the staff support necessary for the review of the results of the Centre Region Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Regional Comprehensive Study, in order to begin putting suggested recommendations into place over the next three to five years, and to update the long-term strategic plan for the Agency and Authority.
• Continue to provide the staff support necessary to complete the Phase I improvements at Whitehall Road Regional Park within the budget approved by the General Forum and consistent with the approved master site plan for the park. The General Forum, through Articles of Agreement for the Regional Parks, has asked the Centre Region Parks and Recreation Authority to lead this
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development effort within the approved master site plan and budget. The Agency will also be updating its Fee Policy to reflect the proposed fees and changes for Whitehall Road Regional Park and will share a park-only business plan for income and expenses. • It is important that the Agency replaces the registration software—ActiveNet—in 2020. Satisfaction levels with this software are low even though the Agency went through two optimization programs with ActiveNet in 2017. In addition, the Agency added a new module in 2018 called PlayerSpace, at no cost; however, the Agency has never been able to implement it with ActiveNet. Since 2016, the Agency streamlined some processes and corrected and evaluated other settings; however, the system can no longer handle how our summer camp registration should be set-up, historical data is very difficult to pull from the system, and the overall back-end use for staff is clunky, time-consuming, and not intuitive. The Agency staff launched an evaluation of other software on the market that includes not only registration software, Point of Sales (POS), league maintenance, and reporting, but also maintenance tracking, a brochure interface, solid financial reports, and more. In addition to customer service and ease of administration issues, ActiveNet’s $66,000 annual service fee appears high when compared to other software packages. These fees are deducted from revenue. With this Program Plan, the CRPR staff are proposing that funds be included in the 2020 Detailed Budget for the purchase of a new software package. The evaluation process is well underway, and a specific staff recommendation and cost estimate will be identified in the draft budget. The criteria for evaluating the different options are—customer fees, credit card processing rates, annual service fees, maintenance requirements, and the accessibility to upgrades. The Agency estimates major savings with this change. The Oodle Swing is an adaptive playground piece that will be installed in the All-Ability and • Expand Tournament Hosting: Continue to promote the tournament Universally-Accessible Playground being built at opportunities provided by Oak Hall Regional Park and the Hess Softball Whitehall Road Regional Park. Complex, along with additional satellite fields, making the Centre Region a premiere softball destination in Pennsylvania for tournaments, leagues, park rentals, and special events. These tournaments have the added advantage of giving local youth and adults the opportunity to play on their “home fields” without requiring travel to other locations.
• Continue to collaborate with the municipalities regarding the purchase and installation of new/replacement playground equipment and other facilities (for example: pavilions) and the construction of major capital repairs. Historically, these items
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have been a municipal responsibility. There are some gray areas so on-going communication between the municipalities and the Agency is important. Looking ahead, there may be recommendations from the Comprehensive Study that the Agency and the municipalities can begin to review and place into action.
• Continue to emphasize playground safety: Under COG policy, the funding of new or replacement playground equipment, as well as capital repair projects in their parks, is a municipal responsibility. This topic is included here to confirm prior discussions with the respective municipal staff that the replacement of some playground equipment and other park projects should be scheduled in their Capital Improvement Plans. Agency staff involvement in that planning remains important.
• Evaluate the way recreation programs are provided: Continue to partner with local businesses and experts-in-their-field to become instructors for the CRPR programs. Convert former commercial permit holders to independent contractors and bring those programs in-house as a win-win for both parties.
• Continue to evaluate the agency’s programs to ensure they are current with the community’s expectations: The Agency, using results from the Comprehensive Study and on-going program evaluations, will develop a multi-year plan for program operations (including leagues, fitness classes, swim lessons, etc.). The Agency will continue to develop more community and business partnerships and sponsors, while freshening programs and events to keep public interest high. An important Agency need will be to identify and secure future indoor locations to hold programming that cannot be accommodated in parks or in the facilities that we currently lease.
• Develop a policy for accepting major contributions for regional parks development. To help off-set municipal costs, the Agency has been encouraged to work with outside organizations (i.e., Centre Soccer, Central Pennsylvania Visitors and Convention Bureau, etc.) to fund improvements at the regional parks, such as lighting and synthetic turf for one of the parks. Contributions from these groups have been discussed on multiple occasions; however, it is important to remember the highest priority for regional parks is to serve the residents of the Centre Region while at the same time recognizing the programmatic needs of the entity making the contribution. This process was started in 2019 and will need to continue in 2020 and beyond to complete unfunded Phase I items as well as look to complete Phase II improvements.
2021 AND BEYOND
Looking ahead to 2021, the significant policy-level issues relating to the Parks and Recreation Program are:
• Implement the recommendations contained in the Centre Region Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Regional Comprehensive Study that is expected to be approved by the General Forum during 2019.
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• As part of the bullet above, review the COG Articles of Agreement: The 1974 Articles of Agreement for the Centre Region Parks and Recreation Agency are out of date and should be revised. Articles of Agreement are recommended by the General Forum and adopted by ordinance by the governing bodies of the five municipalities. Along with the 1974 Articles of Agreement, it is suggested that the Agency and Authority also updated the Authority’s By-Laws.
• A major issue that will be considered in the Centre Region Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Regional Comprehensive Study will be the inadequacy of the indoor recreation space for Agency programs and classes. Since writing the 2019 Program Plan, the indoor space need has grown, the cancellation rate at schools and other buildings has increased and the Agency has lost customers and instructors due to the frustration with these cancellations. The lack of an indoor facility limits the amount and variety of programs offered by the Agency, which directly impacts the revenue generated. The comprehensive study is expected to include recommendations for expanding the CRPR’s access to the indoor facilities that are required to conduct programs and classes. The comprehensive study will open a discussion with the General Forum to access the need and willingness to fund an indoor recreation center. This will be a “big ticket” expense item and the scope of the regional discussion is likely to be similar to one for the acquisition, planning, and construction of the regional parks. In addition, the construction costs, the on-going maintenance, and staffing of such a facility would need to be evaluated.
• A priority of the Park Capital Committee is to identify and evaluate options for developing Phase II improvements to the regional parks. Two of the more immediate needs are constructing restrooms at the John Hess Softball Complex and adding pavilions and playground equipment at Oak Hall Regional Park. It is suggested that there may be an opportunity in the future to review all Master Plans for Phase II developments at one time, as the Agency begins to look toward funding to complete this work. Through the Capital Improvement Plan and in conjunction with the work of the Ad Hoc Facilities Committee, identify a long- term plan for a parks maintenance building. Because of maintenance responsibilities, the Agency owns (through the COG) a significant number of vehicles, trailers, mowers, tractors, etc. During the summer months, the Agency employs over 30 full- and part-time staff to perform maintenance work. Currently, the maintenance facility is in a rented facility on Stewart Drive, across from the Nittany Mall. The 2019 annual rent is $54,300, and the current lease ends in October 2019. The Agency has two one- year lease renewal options with a 2% rent increase per year. Several years ago, the General Forum discussed and provided for the construction of a parks maintenance building in the Phase I development plan for Whitehall Road Regional Park. This site was centrally located, and the COG and Ferguson Township jointly own the land. Because of financial and environmental concerns about the storage of turf maintenance materials, this proposal was discontinued, and no funds have been included in the 2020 budget for the design or the construction of a
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maintenance building. What will be proposed in the 2020 budget is an unfunded storage building similar to the one at Oak Hall Park that would contain mowing equipment, ATVs and other parks equipment and supplies. Looking ahead, the Ad Hoc Facilities Committee will be discussing whether the COG should continue to rent or own its own maintenance building. For the storage and maintenance of equipment (e.g. tractors, mowers, trailers, etc.). There are concerns that keeping this equipment outside shortens its useful life and make it vulnerable to theft. It should be noted that the landlord of the Stewart Drive facility is interested in partnering with the COG on building a suitably-sized maintenance facility for the Agency that most likely would require a long-term lease. This opportunity could satisfy the need as space is available in the complex which would improve the storage capacity, indoor workspace, and outdoor storage needs.
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MISSION The mission of the Parks Capital Equipment Budget is to track capital improvements of park maintenance facilities and the acquisition and scheduled replacement of motorized equipment/vehicles and computers that are used by the Centre Region Parks and Recreation (CRPR) Agency.
WHAT DO WE DO?
Starting in 2014, the Parks Capital Equipment Budget was directly funded by the participating municipalities. Previously, there had been a transfer of funds between the Parks Operating Budget and the Parks Capital Budget. Annually, the Detailed Budget includes an updated equipment inventory and multi-year replacement schedule. It is noted that all items over $10,000 are also listed in the 2020 to 2024 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). The Parks Capital Equipment Budget currently includes funding for the purchase and replacement of parks maintenance fleet vehicles and equipment, the agency’s fleet vehicles, and the CENTRE REGION scheduled replacement of agency computer hardware. Intelligent One Robot paints lines on a sports field in 2018. PARKS & RECREATION The Agency’s vehicle and equipment inventory continues to increase in order to satisfy programming needs and effective maintenance requirements in designated parks across the region. Currently, the Parks Maintenance
Department maintains 824 acres across 56 park sites with 100 acres coming online in 2021 (Whitehall Road Regional Park) bringing the total to 924 acres across 57 sites. Additionally, it is expected that the first four acres of CAPITAL the 42-acre Grays Woods Park will come online in 2019; Tussey Pond Park in Harris Township in 2021; two Phase EQUIPMENT II park projects are planned for Bernel Road Park and Cecil Irvin Park in the near future with renovations ahead BUDGET for East Fairmount Park and Nittany View Park. During 2020 the State College Borough may assume maintenance and management responsibility for Sidney Friedman Park because of the great number of community events that are held there and scheduled by Borough staff. In late Spring 2019, the Borough assumed park management to include special event permitting and planning while the maintenance duties are planned to be shared for the remainder of the year.
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Maintenance tasks are completed in the municipal parks, at the COG Building, at the CRPR regional park facilities including Park Forest Community Pool, Welch Community Pool, Millbrook Marsh Nature Center, at the Active Adult Center, and the Maintenance Facility. Tasks include but are not limited to: park mowing and trimming, brush-hogging, trash and litter collections, sport field operations, major and minor landscape projects, building repairs, supplies and equipment transport, turf care, tree maintenance, trail maintenance, custodial work, some sidewalk and access road clearing, plumbing and winterization needs, special event and programming assistance, and a host of other tasks.
To properly maintain and operate 56 sites, the CRPR equipment fleet consists of:
• 21 mowing tractors • 3 farm-style tractors • 2 dump trucks • 21 various tractor attachments • 19 pickup trucks • 1 passenger van (used for camps and programs) • 13 flatbed/landscape trailers • 6 utility trucksters (used to transport equipment) • 4 ballfield groomers • 2 skid-steer loaders
The Agency’s vehicle and equipment inventory serve general transportation, program, special events, tournament support, routine maintenance, capital projects, and major repairs in municipal and regional parks. A portion of the fleet vehicles are parked at the COG Building and the remaining fleet vehicles and equipment are parked at the leased Parks Maintenance Facility, located on Stewart Drive in College Township, across from the Nittany Mall. Equipment is also used and stored at eight satellite park maintenance buildings across the region.
WHERE ARE WE NOW?
Clint Kauffman assists with the preparation of For the period of January 1 through May 2019, revenue and expenditures for the Centre Region the Active Adult Center’s entrance prior to the Parks and Recreation Capital Budget were generally consistent with the projections contained in glass door enclosure installation. the 2019 budget. The actual January 1, 2019 beginning fund balance was $334,191, $8,908 more than the projected beginning fund balance of $325,283.
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WHAT IS THE COST?
The 2019 Parks Capital Equipment Budget provides for the revenue and expenditures shown in the table on the right.
WHERE ARE WE GOING
Proposed Budgetary Changes…
• Scheduled Computer Replacements: It is proposed to replace two desktop computers in the Agency’s Administration office with two Microsoft Surface Pro laptops with docking stations. Staff would retain the monitors and keyboards from the desktop computers. Some Parks Maintenance computers were upgraded in 2018 and other Agency computer replacements occurred via other newer desktops becoming available from other COG agencies. The scheduled computer replacements at the two pools, the Nature Center and the Active Adult Center will be funded by their respective budgets. • Equipment Replacements and Additions: The scheduled replacements and additions over $10,000 within the Parks Capital Equipment Budget are fully outlined in the COG 2020 to 2024 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). The goal of the CIP is to verify that there is enough equipment to ensure that all municipal and regional parks are maintained safely while being kept in a clean and fully-operable condition and remaining a cost-effective investment for the municipalities. The plan also ensures that vehicles are sound and being rotated based on use and condition. To ensure that CRPR Capital Budget revenue and expenditures from acquisition costs are low, equipment purchases occur either 2018 through the approved 2019 budget. through a competitive bidding process or from a state contract.
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• There are no additional pieces of equipment or fleet vehicles scheduled for 2020; the three pieces outlined in the CIP program are replacements for current equipment items. The Agency will accept a used vehicle from the Codes Agency in 2020 as that Agency updates its fleet vehicles; that cost will be shown within the 2020 Detailed Budget. All equipment scheduled for replacement is evaluated annually; items that have no safety defects or major maintenance issues will not be replaced until further evaluation. ➢ Replace Chevy Silverado 1500 Truck - #222 $26,150 ➢ Replace 2010 Toro Infield Pro - #213 $27,500 ➢ Replace 2010 Toro Groundsmaster - #185 $31,825 ➢ Total $85,475
• Most of the new equipment or fleet vehicle purchases for the Whitehall Road Regional Park are scheduled for 2021, which is the year designated for the majority of construction. Pending evaluations in 2020, the following equipment purchases are scheduled for the 2021 Parks Equipment Budget for a total of $281,075. All equipment scheduled for replacement is evaluated annually; items that have no safety defects or major maintenance issues will not be replaced until further evaluation.
➢ Replace Toro 6’ Groundsmaster Mower - #225 $ 28,925
➢ Replace Toro 6’ Groundsmaster Mower - #227 $ 28,925
➢ Replace Chevy Silverado 4 x 4 Truck - #215 $ 28,100
➢ Purchase one new pick-up truck $ 32,800
➢ Purchase one new utility vehicle w/attachments* $ 25,500
➢ Purchase a new 6’ Turf Mower* $ 26,500
➢ Purchase a new 10’ Turf Mower* $ 63,650
➢ Purchase combination Synthetic Turf Groomer $ 15,000 One of the Agency’s Toro mowers that are used for general park mowing.
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➢ Replace 2011 GMC Sierra Truck - #229 $ 31,675
➢ Total $281,075
*These items are Whitehall Road Regional Park pieces and may be deferred until 2022 depending on the final construction schedule and park opening date.
• Looking ahead to 2022, pending evaluations in 2021, the following equipment purchases are scheduled for the 2022 Parks Equipment Budget. All equipment scheduled for replacement is evaluated annually; items that have no safety defects or major maintenance issues will not be replaced and a new replacement schedule for the item will be assigned.
➢ Replace Chevy Silverado Dually Truck - #209 $ 35,325
➢ Replace Toro 6’ Mower - #234 $ 29,800
➢ Replace 2000 John Deere Skid Steer - #174 $ 41,800
➢ Replace Chevy Express Van - #221 $ 32,500
➢ Replace 2010 Chevy Silverado Truck - #180 $ 30,750
➢ Replace GMC Sierra Truck - #235 $ 31,700
➢ Total $201,875
Looking ahead, as COG capital planning progresses, it is recommended that a larger maintenance facility be considered. Currently, most of the large maintenance equipment Mechanic Brad Stamm works on one of the (mowers, tractors, etc.) is stored outdoors and is exposed to harsh weather conditions. In many pieces of equipment at the maintenance shop. addition, a change in facilities provides the opportunity to improve security and provide a much larger maintenance area.
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MISSION
The mission of the Centre Region Parks and Recreation Aquatics Program is to provide safe, clean, and cost-effective public swimming facilities that allow for wholesome recreation opportunities for Centre Region residents. The Aquatics Program provides all ages with the opportunities to obtain aquatic and life-saving skills and to improve physical health.
WHO ARE WE?
On behalf of State College Borough and College, Ferguson, Harris, and Patton Townships, the Centre Region Parks and Recreation Authority (CRPRA) maintains, operates, and programs the Park Forest and William L. Welch Community Pools and provides programming at the State College Area School District’s High School Natatorium. To perform these services, the Operating Budget provides the following Aquatics Program staff:
Full-Time, Year-Round: Part-Time, Seasonal: (up to 150 employees) *Aquatics Supervisor *Lifeguards *50% towards the Full-Time Staff Assistant at the *Swim and Fitness Instructors CRPR office *Front Desk Staff *Two Pool Managers (one at each pool) CENTRE REGION *Four Assistant Pool Managers (two at each pool) PARKS AND RECREATION
The facilities used by the CRPR Aquatics Program include two regional pools that are popular destinations for residents. The two outdoor pools are open each summer, seven days a week, from the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day. In addition, the program has access to the indoor pool in the State College Area High School North Building. • Park Forest Community Pool located at 2100 School Drive in Patton Township: The pool originally opened AQUATICS in 1970 with a partial renovation in 1991. The entire facility was renovated and re-opened on June 13, OPERATING 2009, with a 220,000-gallon main pool that contains six lap lanes, two waterslides, and a diving board. BUDGET This $3.2 million pool facility also includes a toddler pool with a spray pad and water spray features. Park Forest Pool is located on 4.4 acres owned by the Centre Region Parks and Recreation Authority.
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• William L. Welch Community Swimming Pool located at 670 Westerly Parkway in State College Borough: This pool originally opened in 1959 and was renovated in 1982; a waterslide was then added in 1987. Welch Pool was closed for construction during 2010 and reopened in 2011. This $5.4 million pool facility also includes: a zero-depth entry main pool; a lap pool; current channel; a spray pad and water spray features; and a climbing wall was added in 2016. Welch Pool is located on 3.3 acres owned by the State College Area School District and leased to the Centre Region Parks and Recreation Authority. • State College Area High School Natatorium: This pool is rented from the State College Area School District to provide year-round community swimming and diving instructional programming.
The First Annual Welch Cardboard Regatta was a WHAT DO WE DO? huge hit and will return in 2019!
A. Provide safe and clean swimming facilities for Centre Region residents at a reasonable cost.
• Maintain a clean and healthy pool environment that meets or exceeds the Pennsylvania Bathing Code requirements and other current industry pool operating standards. To ensure water quality, automatic systems monitor the water 24 hours per day, seven days per week during the operating season and staff manually test the water quality every two hours during operational hours. In addition, water samples from each pool are laboratory tested weekly and the facilities are inspected annually by state and local agencies. • Operate each pool safely and efficiently. • Ensure pool staff members are well trained by providing training both prior to the season-opening and twice monthly throughout the season to review rescue procedures, improve response reaction times, and keep staff up-to-date on current pool procedures and operations.
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B. Provide quality programming and events at the aquatic facilities.
• Provide multiple-level swimming and diving lessons year-round as well as annual Lifeguard Certification and Re-Certification classes. • Provide aquatic programs at the outdoor pools including swim teams, adult fitness, and private swim instruction; offer pavilion reservations, and umbrella and pool rentals. • Hold special events at the outdoor pools including cardboard boat races, late-night swims, Youth Triathlon, Paws-A-Pool-Ooza, and holiday-themed activities.
OF PARTICULAR NOTE
• Municipal contributions to the Aquatics Operating Budget dropped from $122,879 in 2008 to $0 for 2011-2019. 2011 was the first time in 25 years that municipal funds were not requested for Aquatics operations. The pools continue to be revenue- generating at this time. In addition, revenue received from pool operations also enabled a $50,000 contribution in 2012, a $70,000 contribution in 2013 and 2014, $30,000 in 2016, and $25,000 in 2017 to the Aquatics Capital Budget to help offset some of the capital costs and loan repayments. Contributions may be made annually when feasible, pending seasonal successes that are dependent on the weather. Hot weather translates into higher revenue while wet and cold weather results in lower gate receipts. Contributions were not made in 2018 due to lower revenues with the wettest year on record for Central PA with over 60” of rain. • All repairs, purchases, and equipment replacement that do not meet the Capital Improvement Plan threshold ($10,000) are funded through this operational budget. • The following items will require attention in the next 1-3 years and do not meet the Capital Improvement Plan threshold of $10,000. The intent is for operational revenue to cover these small capital replacements and the Agency will continue to evaluate fees and charges for the pool operations in order to remain operationally sound. The replacement items are: ➢ Diving board replacement at $5,000. ➢ Park Forest Pool vacuum replacement is currently listed for a replacement in 2019 at approximately $5,000, but it could possibly last until the 2020 season.
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➢ On-going canopy replacements at Welch Pool for large and small Funbrellas at $3,200/large and $1,600/small Funbrella; there are a total of 12 small and 2 large canopies. ➢ Two or three canopy purchases and installations at Park Forest Pool for small Funbrellas at $5,600/small Funbrella plus installation costs. ➢ Replace the water softener and brine tank replacements at Welch Pool. ➢ Sandblasting and powder-coating the metal structure and replacing roof shingles at Park Forest Pool. Cost may reach the level of moving this item to the Capital Improvement Plan. ➢ Replacement of domestic water heater unit at Park Forest for approximately $8,500. ➢ Annual maintenance fees to service the four pool heaters. ➢ On-going replacements of chemical feed pumps as necessary; there are four at each pool and the life expectancy is typically three-four seasons. The feed pumps deteriorate very quickly in their environment. • The Agency’s initiative to offer mobile snack concessionaires at each pool has been very successful. It has fulfilled a need for patrons while also providing additional agency income. This service is appreciated by patrons, and the contracts’ commission fees will further bolster the operating budget. For 2020, the pools will continue to sell some limited concession items at the front desk, and the Agency hopes to continue contracting for a full-service concessionaire that splits time between both pools. • Future expansion of concession services will continue to be explored with additional food concessionaires and/or in-house services. A successful in-house concession program was launched at Oak Hall Regional Park in 2017. Aquatics Total Aquatic Revenue staff will continue to evaluate that model to determine if installing a permanent concession stand at Welch Pool, $600,000 operated either in-house or via or a third-party, would be $500,000 cost-effective. A notation of this project has been included $400,000 in the Aquatics Capital Budget. $300,000 • The pool facilities, coupled with the popular array of $200,000 recreational, instructional, and competitive programs and $100,000 events, assist in attracting returning and new patrons to the pools. The Agency can offer new aquatic programs $0 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 such as Snorkeling Instruction and Aqua Fit for ages 55+.
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• The addition of a floating obstacle course for use during special weekends or events remains a hit with patrons. The Agency continues to evaluate the course’s rotation between the two pools and the addition of new pieces to keep the course fresh for patrons.
WHERE ARE WE NOW?
For the period of January 1 through June 30, 2019, revenue and expenditures for the aquatics operations are generally consistent with budgeted projections. With wet and cool weather in June, the sale of pool passes was slower than in other years. Fortunately, with the return of hot and dry weather sales have increased in July. Income for this budget is highly weather dependent.
During 2011-2018, the increased pool attendance generated revenue that exceeded projections and covered all operating expenses. No municipal contributions were required for pool operations.
WHAT IS THE COST?
The 2019 budget for Aquatics Operations provides for the revenue and expenditures shown in the table to the right.
WHERE ARE WE GOING?
Looking forward to 2020 and 2021, work objectives, which have been successful to date, will be extended. Aquatics program staff will continue to operate and maintain the pool facilities, provide programs and events, and investigate the life expectancy and costs of capital improvement projects as outlined in the Aquatics Capital Budget section. Aquatics Program revenue and expenditures from 2018 through the approved 2019 budget.
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Proposed Budgetary Changes…
• The Authority has annually adjusted the pool entry fees to better match comparable facilities across Pennsylvania. No municipal contributions are expected to be needed for 2020 at this time. • In 2019, the Agency proposed 1-2% seasonal staff salary increases over the course of two-three years in order to remain competitive with other hiring agencies. The first round of increases was implemented in the 2019 operating budget, and there may be another small 1-2% increase for seasonal staff wages in 2020 in the hopes that better pay will attract and retain quality personnel. These changes would continue to be made again in 2021 to bring these seasonal positions in alignment with other similar positions across the region. Additionally, across the Agency, staff are attempting to standardize the salary schedule for similar positions to include annual increases and small seasonal bonuses as methods to attract and retain qualified staff.
• Staff will continue to focus on how to efficiently and effectively confirm the resident/non-resident status of each pool patron.
Wibit Obstacle Course Fun at Welch Pool during the summer of 2018!
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MISSION
The Aquatics Capital Budget for the Aquatics Program was established by the participating municipalities to fund capital improvements to the regional pools as well as for the renovation of those facilities. The Aquatics Capital Budget provides for debt repayment and for regular, predictable contributions for the larger capital expenditures planned or unplanned capital expenses with a cost of $10,000 or more.
WHO ARE WE?
The participating municipalities have maintained an Aquatics Capital Budget separate from the Aquatics Operating Budget for over 30 years. This budget, as approved by the General Forum was established to fund major pool repairs and the planning and construction of renovations at Park Forest Community Pool in Patton Township and the William L. Welch Community Pool in the Borough of State College.
The last ten years have witnessed the transition of two dated pool facilities that were losing patrons and costing the municipalities’ money, to two new state-of-the-art facilities CENTRE REGION that have doubled patron usage and are financially self- “Off The Blocks!” PARKS AND sustaining. They are among the best public pools in Central Park Forest Pool hosts a summer swim meet. RECREATION Pennsylvania.
Some of the accomplishments funded through the Aquatics Capital Budget include:
• Master Site Plans were developed for the renovation of the two pools through a public process and were unanimously approved by the participating municipalities. AQUATICS CAPITAL • A financial consultant and bond counsel were retained to prepare and issue requests for funding and evaluate competitive proposals for borrowing up to $7.9 million, the largest fiscal transaction in the Council BUDGET of Governments’ (COG) history. The loan was payable to the Centre Region Parks & Recreation Authority and is backed by a loan guarantee agreement approved by each of the five participating municipalities.
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• Park Forest Pool was fully renovated and under construction from 2008-2009. Construction began in August 2008 and the pool reopened to the public in June 2009. The budget year 2020 will be the 11th season of operation for this pool. • Welch Pool was fully renovated and under construction from 2009-2011. Construction began after the pool closed in September 2009. The pool was closed for the 2010 summer and reopened to the public in May, in time for the 2011 pool season. The budget year 2020 will be the 9th season of operation for this pool. • The total cost of both pool renovation projects was within the approved $8.6 million budget. • In 2012, the loan balance of $6.128 million was refinanced to a lower interest rate of 2.43% for the same term, reducing the overall debt by over $500,000. After the first 10 years (2022), the interest rate will be calculated at 64% of one month’s LIBOR (London Interbank Offered Rate), plus 2.1% with a cap of 3.95%. • The loan is expected to be repaid in 2028.
Capital Budget Review:
• 2001-2003 – The municipalities contributed a combined total of $65,000 annually to the Aquatics Capital Budget. • 2004-2006 – A combined total of $25,000 was contributed each year with the understanding that a bond issue may be considered for the approaching pool renewals. • 2007 – The municipalities contributed $200,000, which was used primarily to offset the architectural fees that would accompany the pool renovations. The COG engaged a public financial consultant to guide the elected officials as they considered the various strategies to finance the upcoming pool renewals. • 2008 – The municipalities contributed $465,000 to prepare for the anticipated loan repayments. • 2009 – The municipalities contributed $350,000. Much of the fund balance was utilized following a cash flow management plan to pay for the pool construction costs from August 2008 through May 2010. • 2010-2012 – The municipalities contributed $400,000 per year per the debt-service plan. In addition, municipal contributions were established to build a Capital Improvement Fund with $21,300 for 2010 and $39,500 for 2011 and 2012. • 2013 – The municipalities contributed $317,825 to the debt service payments (a reduction from the prior three years); capital improvement contributions remained the same as the previous two years at $39,500. Also, in 2013, $54,300 was spent to install an ultraviolet treatment system at Park Forest Pool.
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• 2014-2028 – The annual debt service payments are projected to remain steady at $446,600 through 2028. However, the municipal contributions are supplemented by the available fund balance and by any available transfer from the operating funds. The final loan payment is scheduled in 2028. • During 2018-2019, Agency staff have been improving the Capital Improvement Program to recognize life expectancy of equipment, buildings, and roofs to create a better list of capital needs for the next five, 10, and 15 years. Because the pools are entering their 9th and 11th operational seasons respectively, it’s very important to capture upcoming needs as infrastructure continues to age.
WHAT DO WE DO?
A. Maintain, repair, and improve the two swimming pools operated by the Centre Region Parks and Recreation Authority.
Ongoing Contributions…
• Evaluate and upgrade facilities and equipment as required by local laws and national operating and safety standards. • Perform necessary capital replacements and improvements on the pools as needed and use the improved and pre-determined Capital Improvement Plan to guide those replacements based on the recommended lifespan and condition for equipment pieces.
B. Provide funding assistance for the planning and construction of new or renovated facilities.
Ongoing Contributions…
• Continue to build the fund balance for capital repairs and replacement projects that may occur annually in the future. In addition to the loan repayments, the consultants recommended contributing a minimum of $20,000 per year ($10,000 for each facility) to address large scale projects (as needed) such as re-plastering a pool or fixing a major structural or system issue. This becomes more important as the renovated pools and associated equipment continue to age, and replacement costs are high.
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• Repay the principal and interest on the pool loan. The debt service on the loan to rebuild the pools is paid from this budget.
OF PARTICULAR NOTE For 2020, the capital budget will be used to fund those items meeting the Capital Improvement Program threshold of $10,000 and above. All other maintenance services and upgrades will be funded through the aquatics operating budget. It should be noted that there are two cost center components to the Aquatics Capital Budget: • Providing funding to repay the loan that was incurred to fund the renovations of the two pool facilities. Lifeguard In-Service Training in 2018 • Providing funding for capital improvement expenses that may arise and to build a capital reserve fund for future projects or repairs.
WHERE ARE WE NOW?
For the period of January 1 to June 30, 2019, revenue for the Aquatics Capital Budget is generally consistent with the projections contained in the 2019 budget. Originally, the $45,000 Park Forest Pool plaster replacement project was slated for 2019; however, that project is being moved to 2020; the Park Forest Tot Pool was plastered in July due to areas of deterioration which required immediate attention. The remaining unused funds ($28,121) will be moved to the fund balance and applied to the Park Forest Pool plaster project. With those savings, during its March 2019 meeting, the Finance Committee approved an additional 2019 expense of $11,100 to replace the chemical control unit at Park Forest Pool, to be paid out of the fund balance. A beautiful day at Park Forest Pool!
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The Welch Pool wood exterior repair was completed in Spring 2019. Some other Capital Improvement items are not complete at this time, but they will be completed, if possible, either during the season or just after the pools close to the public in September 2019.
WHAT IS THE COST?
The 2019 Aquatics Capital Budget provides for revenue and expenditures for both the loan repayment and for capital improvements. Unused capital improvement funds are accumulated in the fund balance to finance future large capital repairs and replacements. In the short term, the Capital Improvement Budget allows for as-needed emergency repairs at the facilities; all equipment has been evaluated for its lifespan and long-term replacement periods. Capital projects at the pools have historically been funded 100% by municipal contributions according to the Modified COG Formula and are reduced when feasible by transfers from excess operating profits.
WHERE ARE WE GOING?
Together, the five municipalities participating in the regional Aquatics Program have made a significant investment in rebuilding and maintaining the pools. These facilities improve the quality of life of Centre Region residents by providing opportunities to exercise, learn new skills, meet friends, and in hot weather “cool off” in a fun way.
In 2018, the COG formula for the pool's loan reset from the 2008 levels as was predetermined in the 2008 loan documents.
Aquatics Capital revenue and expenditures from 2018 through the approved 2019 budget.
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Looking forward to 2020, proposed budgetary changes for possible capital repairs, include: • Park Forest Community Pool ➢ Consider replacing the plaster in the main pool at an approximate cost of $95,000. ➢ Consider sanding and refinishing the cedar wood siding on the bathhouse building at an approximate cost of $10,000. • William L. Welch Community Pool
➢ Replace the chemical controller and associated systems at an approximate cost of Park Forest Pool “goes to the dogs” in $12,000. September every year for the annual • Combined Pool Projects PAWS-A-POOL-OOZA event! ➢ Combination of power washing all slides and spray devices at both pools and gel-coating all exterior surfaces to provide UV protectant in order to decrease fading due to chemicals and sunlight. Approximate cost: $10,000.
Although the pools are utilizing relatively new pumps, filters, plumbing, and electrical systems, all mechanical devices will decline over time. At the current level of municipal contributions, ($42,500) there will not be enough funding available in the long-term to replace the major infrastructure and equipment at the pools. With the 2020 Program Plan, staff recommends increasing the level of annual municipal contribution from $42,500 to $60,000 a change of $17,500. This increase in funding will allow the projects identified in the Pools Capital section of the Capital Improvement Plan to go forward in 2020 (see above text for project description).
Looking ahead, based on the estimated lifespan of the pool equipment, there are other additional items that should be considered for replacement beyond the five-year scope of the CIP; items to consider include: Items Estimated Year Estimated Cost Welch Rubber Roof Repair/Replacement 2024 $ 30,000 PF UV Replacement 2033 $ 80,000 PF Bathhouse Roof 2029 $ 40,000 Welch UV Replacement 2031 $ 80,000 Welch Pool Heaters 2031 $ 19,000
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Additionally, the following future two projects are already scheduled within the Capital Improvement Program: Welch – Install Concession Stand $ 25,000 (2021) Welch – Upgrade Small Play Structure $ 15,000 (2021)
Looking forward to opportunities to enhance the experience of visitors at the pools and maintain a strong revenue stream the following ideas are offered for consideration acknowledging that no revenue source has been identified to fund them:
Welch - Flowrider Surf Machine $1,100,000 Welch – Additional Water Slide $ 370,000 Welch – Swap Play Structure $ 150,000 Welch and/or Park Forest – Additional Funbrella $ 15,000 Park Forest – Additional Pavilion $ 18,000
The completion of the sanding and staining of the Brazilian Redwood siding at Welch Pool really brought it back to life after looking faded and worn for several years.
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MISSION
The mission of the Centre Region Active Adult Center is to be the Centre Region’s lead agency that provides a diverse menu of activities, events, and resources for active adults, ages 55 and over. These activities will meet the social, emotional, and physical well-being of the Centre Region participants. The Center is operated by the Centre Region Parks and Recreation Authority (CRPR Authority) with the assistance and support of the Centre County Office of Aging.
WHO ARE WE?
The Centre Region COG and the CRPR Authority have operated the Centre Region Active Adult Center since 1975. Until 1986, the Center was located in a church basement on Easterly Parkway and was open three days per week with part-time staff. Program oversight was provided by the COG Executive Director in consultation with the Centre Region Senior Citizens’ Advisory Commission. Due to space and scheduling conflicts with the church, programming was limited primarily to noontime meals. In 1986, the Center moved to the newly-constructed Fraser Plaza in the State College Borough. It was during this time that the Centre Region Parks and Recreation Authority was named as the administrating agency for the then-named Centre Region Senior Center. In 2004, the Center was CENTRE REGION expanded by 1,700 sq. ft. as it took over the former CRPR office space as the facility lease with the State College PARKS AND Borough was set to expire on December 31, 2017. Due to construction in the area, traffic congestion, patron- RECREATION accessibility concerns, as well as the availability of a tenant that was interested in immediate rental of the space, the CRPR Authority voted to accept an offer from the State College Borough to terminate the lease effective August 31, 2015. ACTIVE ADULT After evaluating numerous sites, the CRPR Authority finalized details to relocate to the new 7,075 sq. ft. of space CENTER inside the Nittany Mall. A smaller interim space inside the mall was also secured while lease negotiations and BUDGET permanent space renovations were completed. The Center relocated to the interim space on September 1, 2015. The permanent space was completed and the Center opened in its permanent location in January 2017 with a grand opening ceremony held January 27, 2017. Upon opening, the Center was renamed the Centre Region Active Adult Center to more accurately describe the variety of its services and programs and to send a welcoming message to all older adults, 55 years+.
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The Center remains a successful cooperative partnership between the Centre County Office of Aging and the COG/CRPR Authority. The Active Adult Center is staffed by a full-time Supervisor, full-time Staff Assistant, and a part- time Staff Assistant. These staff members and 25 volunteers/program instructors provide a variety of activities including: Tai Chi, Silver Spurs Line Dancing, Stretches, Weights, and Walking, Genealogy Club, Second Winds Band, Bridge and Mah Jongg lessons, other programs and presentations, coupon cutting and sorting, meal preparations and services, and various special events like the annual Murder Mystery Luncheon, Pancake Breakfasts, the Halloween Party, and several other themed holiday celebrations.
WHAT DO WE DO?
The Active Adult Center (AAC) provides a central location for adults, ages 55+, to come together in a community setting and take part in important Center participants enjoy the brand-new Ceramics program, in opportunities for socialization, recreation, education, and nutrition. The Center partnership with Centre Crest from Bellefonte. provides services and activities for participants that reflect their experiences and skills, meets their needs and interests, enhances dignity and respect, supports their independence, and encourages community involvement and peer connections.
The municipal funding shares for 2020 will be calculated using the residency data for individual patrons from July 1, 2018–June 30, 2019. This calculation method was initiated in 2013 to more accurately account for participation by a municipality. The process also identifies the number of non-Centre Region residents who are attending the facility. These non-Centre Region residents are Centre County residents and thereby allowed to attend this facility per our association with the Centre County Office of Aging that contributes funding to the program.
A. Provide high-quality and diverse programming to the Active Adult Center participants.
Ongoing Contributions…
• Providing extensive information and resources on a variety of issues to a very diverse active adult population, ages 55+.
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• Offering a wide variety of free and some fee-based programs and special events that stimulate the mind and body. Program examples include but are not limited to:
Fee-Based Programs & Free Activity Examples:
Special Event Examples: • Line Dancing
• Open Artist Studio • Canasta & Poker • Bridge lessons • Left/Right/Center • Genealogy Club • Guggenheim • Healthy Tai Chi • Skip-Bo • Murder Mystery Luncheon • Trivia • Progressive Weight • Bingo Training • CRPR Active Walkers • Day Trips to Hershey Park, • Mah Jongg lessons and play Harrisburg State Archives, • Social Bridge Lake Raystown, and more • Tripoley • Stretches, Weights, and • Pinochle Walking • Bell Choir • Baked Potato Bar • Health & Wellness presentations • Hot Dog Bar • Ice cream socials • Book Club • Rummikub • Senior Hikers • Healthy Steps in Motion • Wii Sports • Scrabble • Brain Boosters • Seconds Winds Band • Crocheting • Monthly blood pressure screening Fancy hats, pretty tablecloths, and beautiful tea cups were part of the AAC’s “It’s Tea Time” program.
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In addition, the Center also hosts several guest speakers throughout the year who discuss a variety of relevant topics. The AAC also holds different programs and events including health screenings (blood pressure, vision, balance, etc.), vaccination clinics (flu and shingles), special events, holiday celebrations, picnics, and book discussion groups in cooperation with the Schlow Centre Region Library. The Center is a distribution location for the Farmers Market Nutrition Program vouchers and other important and timely information. The AAC continues to be a book drop- off and pick-up site for Schlow Library patrons.
To keep the Center activities relevant and current, staff members conduct monthly planning meetings which encourage participants to provide input on program development, implementation, and volunteer opportunities. These meetings give Enjoying a game of Tripoley! participants the opportunity to engage in identifying the types of programs that are offered at the Center. Discussing ideas and community resources to promote healthy living, independence, personal growth, and knowledge are the guiding principles for the programs and activities provided. • Developing new program sponsorships to enhance services and to reduce municipal contributions. Sponsorships and partnerships at the Active Adult Center include: Encompass Health, OMNI Home Care, Comfort Keepers, Home Watch Caregivers, State College Area Food Bank, Penn State Recreation, Parks & Tourism Management (RPTM) students and interns, Penn State Gerontology Center, Medi Home Health and Hospice, Addison Court Senior Apartment Community, Home Instead Senior Care, Bellefonte Family YMCA, Bellefonte Bowling Lanes, Mount Nittany Medical Center, Centre County Coalition of Senior Centers, Forever Broadcasting, Foxdale Village Retirement Community, Centre Crest Nursing Care Center, Elmcroft Senior Living, Juniper Village, Grane Home Care and Hospice, and Fullington Trailways. • Creating new partnerships with community organizations. By way of example, the Centre County Transportation provides a van service that allows the Center to expand active adult travel opportunities to include special shopping trips, local farmer’s market trips, picnics in local parks, outings for lunch at local eateries, local arts festivals and county fairs, and late afternoon and evening cultural performances on campus, in town, and beyond (Altoona, Mill Hall, Belleville, Raystown, and Lewisburg). Because motor coach transportation isn’t always affordable or cost-effective, van services like this allow smaller groups to attend these day trips on a more affordable budget. • Promoting and assisting with partners’ programming from Schlow Centre Region Library, Silver Spurs, Second Winds Band, Penn State RPTM classes, Senior Hiking Group, PSU Gerontology Center, and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) of Penn State.
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• Promoting the programs and events via the CRPR Active Guide, print and social media, the agency’s website, monthly calendars, and during special presentations, when appropriate.
B. Coordinating appointments and providing volunteers, staff assistance, and resources for income taxes, property tax rebates, rent rebates, Medicare updates, and farmer’s market vouchers.
Ongoing Contributions…
• Coordinating daily transportation services (via the Jan Feb March April Description Centre County van service) as requested by 2019 2019 2019 2019 participants including responding to phone # of weekdays the Active Adult Center was open 21 17 19 22 inquiries for information and services as well as providing and updating the daily transportation # of weekdays noontime meals were served 21 15 18 19 roster. Included in the van services are weekly grocery trips, beauty shop visits, family visits, # of noontime meals served 412 264 316 380 doctor appointments, and more. Donations are accepted from participants (50¢ per stop) to defray # of program visits 3,895 3,354 3,755 4,155
costs. All transportation donations are relayed to # of program participants (individuals) 217 220 236 253 the Centre County Office of Aging. • Providing required monthly reports and statistics # of weekdays the County Van Service was used 21 16 21 20
to the Centre County Office of Aging and the # of Van Service riders for the Active Adult Center 310 248 296 316 CRPR Authority, as well as any granting agencies where reporting of data is required as part of the grant program. • Arranging for nutritious noontime meals, for a small donation, to Centre Region active adults while monitoring their special dietary needs. Active Adult Center participants, ages 60 and over, are provided a noontime meal with a requested donation of $1.75 per meal ($4.25 for those between 55-60 years); funds collected are split 50%-50% with Centre County Office of Aging. Noontime meals are prepared by a vendor selected by the Centre County Office of Aging and served by Active Adult Center staff and volunteers in accordance with ServSafe® and state regulations. • Monitoring participant responses to menu selections and providing feedback to the Centre County Office of Aging regarding the food service contract.
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OF PARTICULAR NOTE
The Active Adult Center relocated to an interim space inside the Nittany Mall on September 1, 2015, and then relocated to its permanent space on January 17, 2017. Since the relocation to the Mall in 2015, 849 NEW participants joined the Center, and there was an increase of 239 new members since May of 2017. The increased accessibility both for those who drive and for those who use county transportation as well as parking availability, a wide range of programs and events, and the highly-qualified staff contribute to the growth and success of the Active Adult Center; the support from the County Office of Aging, COG, and all of the partnering agencies have demonstrated the region’s dedication to its aging population. Below is a table identifying the number of meals served and program visits for the month of April over the last four years.
APRIL Meals Served Program Visits 2016 484 3,262
2017 426 3,848
2018 425 4,403
2019 380 4,155
The CRPR Authority approved a lease amendment on May 19, 2016, finalizing renovation costs and rental payments and extending the lease from 10 years to 15 years, ending on July 31, 2030. The signed lease remains within the amended COG and Centre County approved budget as approved in late January 2016. The finalized rental rates for the 7,075 square foot space are as follows: • 2016–2018 $13.00/square foot per year • 2019–2021 $14.00/square foot per year • 2022–2030 $16.00/square foot per year As compared to the high rental rates for commercial space in the Centre Region, the rates that were negotiated with the mall owners are very competitive with the other site options considered by the CRPR Authority. At the May 2019 CRPR Authority meeting, the Nittany Mall Manager attended to provide an update on mall activities and what’s ahead for the mall’s future. The Authority members and Agency staff were reassured that the mall is continuing with its operations and has new businesses with secured leases opening in the mall very soon; a current business is currently renovating for a major expansion, and
2020 Program Plan – Centre Region Parks & Recreation – Active Adult Center Budget 232 there are some on-going lease negotiations for future tenants. At the current time, there is no need for the Active Adult Center to contemplate moving to a new location.
In 2016, the CRPR Authority engaged Affinity Connections, Inc. of State College to assist with fundraising efforts related to further enhancements and Phase II additions; the plan proposed to raise approximately $100,000 for capital improvements to the Center. To date, approximately $33,000 has been raised through individual and corporate donations. These donations are supporting the PA Department of Aging Senior Resource Grant ($65,000, awarded in April 2018) projects as the grant funds will be exhausted and the donations will support the remaining projects that are not covered by grant funding. In 2019, these renovation projects will continue through the spring and summer months as the grant deadline has been The permanent, lighted sign was installed in early May 2019 at extended through September 15, 2019. the Active Adult Center. These grant funds, along with the individual donations, will be used to: • Enclose the front entrance with glass partitions and entrance doors to help control heat/AC use within the Center and to also reduce sound interference from the main mall corridor. • Install a video projector, screen, and sound system, some pieces to be ceiling mounted to not affect any space. Currently, the Center does not have any of this equipment. Its purchase will allow image viewing programs for both educational and entertainment purposes. • Update some of the floor surfaces as adjustments were needed to the carpet and vinyl flooring layout to better utilize space and to improve cleaning procedures after being in operation for a year. • Install a door in the rear hallway. • Install a dividing wall. • Design and install permanent signage.
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In 2018, the Active Adult Center Supervisor and Agency Director worked with the Finance Director and the Centre County Office of Aging to create a management agreement that formally documents the County’s contributions for 2019-2021, the meal programs and related costs, as well as other day-to-day operational requirements that satisfy the County’s reporting needs. This agreement was endorsed by the General Forum and went into effect in January 2019 and will allow the budget process to be much smoother as there is no longer the need for Agency staff to document the expenses the County will fund. Generally, the County’s contribution covers operational expenses and increases for each budget year which are already identified. In 2020-2021, the terms for the next three years will be discussed so that the document is updated without any interruption to the agreement.
In June 2019, the Center changed its public operating hours to 8:00 AM–3:30 PM, to allow staff additional time for data input, deposits, and other reporting and facility needs.
WHERE ARE WE NOW?
For the period between January 1 through May 2019, revenue and expenditures for the Active Adult Center were generally consistent with 2019 budget projections.
The actual 2018 ending balance was $76,262, $9,716 more than the projected 2018 ending year fund balance of $66,546. The fund balance was higher than anticipated because of the advanced funds from the Pennsylvania Office of Aging grant.
WHAT IS THE COST?
Cost shares are allocated based upon the residency of individual Center patrons (Unique Person Served). Municipal shares are adjusted annually based upon the residency of the program participants during July 1, 2018, through June 30, 2019. The 2019 budget for the Active Adult Center provides for the revenue and expenditures as shown on the table to the right. Active Adult Center revenue and expenditures from 2018 through the approved 2019 budget.
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COG/AUTHORITY/COUNTY AGREEMENT REVIEW
As noted earlier, in 2018 the Parks and Recreation Director, COG Finance Director, Active Adult Center Supervisor, and Centre County Office of Aging staff met to review and recommend updates to the 1984 agreement relating to the operation of the Active Adult Center (formerly the Senior Center). The agreement was severely out of date and did not reflect how the Center currently functions. The signatories to the agreement were the COG Chair, County Board of Commissioners Chair, Centre Region Senior Citizens Advisory Commission Chair (disbanded) and the Centre Region Parks and Recreation Authority Chair.
Through this review process, the following points were finalized: • The application of the non-resident fees for individuals who do not live This Silver Spurs perform during the Active Adult Center’s in the Centre Region but participate in programs conducted at the Active St. Patrick’s Day celebration in March. Adult Center has been waived. Prior to this updated agreement, non- Centre Region residents paid 130% of a program’s cost. The County Office of Aging staff requested that this non-resident fee be waived because the Center is part of the Centre County Office of Aging, which allows seniors to visit any of the centers per the State guidelines. It does not matter where they live. For the County, a Bellefonte resident can drive or take public transportation to visit the Centre Region Active Adult Center. Therefore, in the County’s view, all Centre County participants should pay resident fees. In 2019, non-Centre Region resident fees were removed from ActiveNet and the Active Guide. • The level of funding from the County given the increased use of the Center from non-Centre Region residents was discussed. Currently, the county provides approximately 33% of the operating budget and the Active Adult Center has approximately 29% non-Centre Region resident participation currently. This relates to the point made above; the Centre County Office of Aging and the PA Department of Aging’s policies do not differentiate between a participant’s residency within their county and the senior center that they visit. The agency staff certainly plan to continue monitoring participation at the Center, but a long-term recommendation was made to the County to fund annually at 30%, and that funding could be applied to the Center’s operations. These funds were no longer restricted to pre-determined expenses. In addition, since this agreement was to be for a three-year period, annual increases were set to compensate for employee COLAs, merits, and other operational increases.
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WHERE ARE WE GOING?
It is expected that the following trends that were reported over the past several years will continue in 2020: • According to the Centre Regional Planning Agency, the 60 and over population increased by 83% between 1990 and 2010, with an estimated 12% of the Centre Region population now above age 60. • The 2016-2020 PA State Plan of Aging reports that Pennsylvania is the fourth “oldest” state in the nation, with nearly 2.7 million individuals age 60 and over and more than 300,000 individuals age 85 and over. By the year 2030, it is estimated that 3.6 million or more Pennsylvanians will be age 60 and over.
• In Pennsylvania, 28.9 percent of individuals age 65 and over live alone. In the Commonwealth’s rural communities, 44 percent of all single households comprise individuals age 65 and over. Overall, 39.1% of older adults live in a home they own. • According to the 2012-2016 American Community Survey Estimate; 35,826 of the individuals that reside in Centre County are 55 and over. Of that amount, 44.27% (13,528) reside in the five participating municipalities, a 61% increase from the 2000 Census which estimated 8,187 individuals were 55 and over.
Proposed Budgetary Changes for 2020…
The following factors should be reflected in the 2020 Detailed Budget that will be presented to the Finance Committee in September: • Increased program revenue: In the Centre Region, there is a shortage of indoor space for hosting recreation programs. The space in the new Center has allowed CRPR to provide new programming options with respect to hosting evening and weekend fee- based programs for all ages, including seniors, adults, and youth. A portion of those program fees will be directed to offset the increased expenses to operate the Center which will partially offset the increase in municipal contributions needed to operate a larger facility. Third-party rentals of the Active Adult Center space are finally beginning to be scheduled during 2019 and it is anticipated the income from these rentals will continue in 2020. • Utility Fees: Relocating to the larger 7,075 sq. ft. of space has resulted in increased electric expenses for heat and air conditioning as well as expenses for sewer and water use. Through better tracking in 2018-2019, the 2020 projections should improve, and with the glass door enclosure installed before the mid-point of 2019, the Center should see a reduction in overall heating/cooling expenses through the second half of the year.
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Proposed New Work Objectives…
• 2020 is expected to see the Centre Region Active Adult Center maintain current participation levels. Staff members are dedicated to increasing program offerings to include new fee-based health and wellness initiatives, creative art and music programs, and educational opportunities to continue to try to expand participation. The increased space and flexibility of the facility with the new dividing wall will allow multiple programs to occur at one time, increasing the diversity of programming to participants. ➢ As shown in the table below, there were: o 355 residents (76%) and 113 non-residents (24%) in 2016; and o 389 residents (73%) and 147 non-residents (27%) in 2017. o 353 residents (68%) and 169 non-residents (32%) in 2018. o All data reflects the Nittany Mall location.
450 400 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 Jan.-Dec. 2016 Jan.-Dec. 2017 Jan.-Dec. 2018
Residents NonResidents
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• The opportunities provided by the larger Center will foster community resources, social interactions, and mental stimulation for adults, ages 55+, through increased programs, events, and educational opportunities. • The Center staff plan to update marketing materials to include the new names, new programs, and new events. Staff will actively engage the community by visiting local senior living facilities, by attending local civic group meetings, and engaging Penn State classes. • Staff will continue to strategically recruit volunteers to assist with a variety of Center tasks including: meals and transportation, program instruction, greeters, and program hosts. • The staff will continue to conduct community outreach for future program partnerships and funding support, including grant opportunities and program sponsorships such as the PSU Department of Healthy Aging, the Centre County Coalition of Senior Centers, Osher Life Long Learning at Penn State, Global Connections, Geriatric Interest Network Organization, and numerous local senior service providers.
The Active Adult Center is ready to host a small meeting or event!
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MISSION
The mission of the Millbrook Marsh Nature Center is to educate and inspire the community about the natural world and to instill a passion for the environment through science, history, culture, and art.
WHO ARE WE? CENTRE REGION The Millbrook Marsh Nature Center (MMNC) is a recreation and education destination for the community. Its PARKS AND unique wetland, including four acres of fen, in the midst of a growing urban environment, serves as a regional RECREATION destination that offers free passive recreation opportunities to the public while also providing educational programming and rental facilities.
In January 1997, a 35-year lease at $1 per year between Penn State University and the Centre Region Parks and MILLBROOK Recreation (CRPR) Authority was executed for the Nature Center, after consulting with the General Forum. MARSH During 2007, the lease was extended through 2042 (plus three additional optional five-year extensions) to provide NATURE CENTER for the Phase I construction of the Spring Creek Education Building at the Nature Center. In April 2019, the lease OPERATING was again updated to be extended to 40 years upon completion of Phase II of the Spring Creek Education Building, BUDGET estimated to occur in 2021.
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The Center consists of a 12-acre farmstead plus a 50-acre wetland in College Township. The 50-acre wetland area hosts a conservation easement between Penn State and ClearWater Conservancy of Central PA. Portions of the wetlands area are a calcareous fen, a rare type of natural area. The conservation easement is a legal agreement and limits certain uses on all or a portion of a property for conservation purposes while keeping the property under the landowner’s title. The easement is recorded at the Centre County Recorder of Deeds office and currently protects this area through the year 2047.
The farmstead includes a historic, restored barn and a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Certified Silver facility, the Spring Creek Education Building (SCEB). A capital campaign raised $1,087,830 (with 100% payment on all pledges) to fund the Phase I construction of the SCEB and visitor parking area. Construction of the visitor parking area was completed in spring of 2016 and was funded by a grant awarded by the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) and additional contributions from private donors. Planning for the construction of the Phase II expansion of the Spring Creek Education Building as well as the addition of the Welcome Pavilion continued. Led by staff and the MMNC Advisory Committee members, and with guidance from the fundraising consultant, a capital campaign is underway that has raised more than $664,315 as of May 2019.
The facilities at the Nature Center provide a popular and local setting for community rentals and indoor education space. The unique wetland ecosystem allows the Center to offer quality environmental education programs, wildlife viewing opportunities, and community events. Millbrook offers curriculum and state standard-based programs for students from local and surrounding school districts to learn about the importance of the wetland ecosystem. Other programs are designed to address the needs of scout groups and homeschool families. A wide range of activities geared specifically toward families, children, and adults are offered, as well as youth day camp programs.
The CRPR Authority appoints volunteer committee members to the Nature Center Advisory Committee for two-year terms. The committee represents the partner groups associated with the Nature Center and works with staff to help guide the developmental and operational needs of the Center. Subcommittees were also formed to guide the financial and program aspects of the Center.
In 2014, the Nature Center began focusing on operational fundraising to support the growing programs and the maintenance and upkeep of the facilities. Operational fundraising continues to be a focus of the Nature Center and may provide more support in the future. The growth of operational fundraising and the rental program helped to reduce municipal contributions in 2018 by $4,235. Municipal contributions increased in 2019 by $10,892 due mainly to higher fees for financial services, internet, website hosting, and contracted IT/network services, as well as transitioning the part-time Staff Assistant position to full-time.
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Agency staff support for the Nature Center includes:
Full-Time, Year-Round: Seasonal: Nature Center Supervisor Program Leaders – Work Nature Center Program Coordinator throughout the year with CEEL, Nature Center Staff Assistant Puddle Jumpers, and homeschool programs Part-Time: CRPR PT Staff Assistant – Year-Round, Main Office (funded 50% by this budget in 2019) * College Interns CRPR Maintenance (funded 33% by this budget) Summer Camp Leaders Instructors * With the addition of the full-time Nature Center Staff Assistant in 2019, it is proposed that this Main Office position no longer be funded through the MMNC budget in 2020.
WHAT DO WE DO?
A. Preserve the Centre Region’s historical, agricultural, and environmental heritage by maintaining and enhancing the buildings and wetland ecosystems of the Millbrook Marsh Nature Center.
Ongoing Contributions…
• Maintaining the MMNC grounds in compliance with the conservation easement and management plan, including land management and building operations.
• Providing facilities for community special events. Both the education building, and the barn are rented for bridal/baby showers, meetings, workshops, retreats, wedding receptions, and more. The education building is also the home base for the Puddle Jumpers nature play program for preschoolers—the only program of its kind in the Centre Region.
• Carrying out initiatives to make it easy for Centre Region residents and others to visit the Center. By way of example, a new Visitor Parking Area was constructed in 2016 to accommodate the growing volume of visitors. The crushed-stone lot includes 84 parking spaces, rain gardens, and walkways to the facilities. This project was funded solely by private donations and a 50% matching grant from the state. Prior to this project, visitors and buses parked on the grass, which proved to be problematic when the ground was wet. The future addition of the Welcome Pavilion will provide additional restrooms and water fountains that
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would be available for use when those in the Spring Creek Education Building are not, and its position by the parking lot will be an added convenience for large school groups and individual visitors alike. • Maintaining the physical structures at the Center in a safe condition that is representative of the Centre Region. Due to interior corrosion of the piping, the full replacement of the sprinkler system in the unheated barn was completed in November 2018. A protective coating was applied to the barn roof in May 2019 to seal the numerous leaks that had formed, and new snow guards and gutters were installed. Looking ahead, the MMNC staff evaluated the aging structures at the Nature Center including the boardwalk, which is over 15 years old and has been damaged by storms; the seven-year-old grinder/pump stem for the SCEB restrooms; the seven-year-old pump system for the geothermal wells; the exterior siding of the barn and SCEB; the need for an ADA exterior drinking fountain for visiting children’s groups; the staff offices which are located in the Service Building; and a rehabilitated barn which will require some major upgrades. The maintenance and repair of these existing facilities are addressed in the MMNC Capital Budget. • Controlling invasive plants at the Nature Center, with support from specialists and biologists at Penn State University, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and ClearWater Conservancy, to keep the site safe for visitors and encourage native plants to thrive in this ecosystem. In particular, poison hemlock, which is native to Europe and North Africa, has been found at the Center. CRPR is assisted by Penn State University in eradicating the plants as they are identified. A three-year habitat restoration project started in 2018 and will continue through 2020; this project is completely funded through in-kind donations from various organizations who are assisting with the project. The focus is on removing invasive plants other than poison hemlock and restoring that habitat with native plants.
B. Serve the community by providing safe, fun and educational programs for children and adults, community events, facility rental options, and other services.
Ongoing Contributions…
• Providing quality environmental education programs for school groups, private groups, homeschool families, children’s birthday parties, and more. • Offering programs that meet the Nature Center’s mission and support operations such as the “Puddle Jumpers” nature play program series (the only drop-off nature play-based program in the region), adult classes, and exciting summer camps for youth such as the “Outdoor Explorer,” “Boating Adventures,” and the “Wonders of Nature Art” camps.
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• Continuing to offer the “Eco-Explorers” after-school program series (started in Fall 2014) in partnership with the SCASD Community Education Extended Learning (CEEL) program at eight schools, an increase of two schools from 2018. This program series is the first time the Nature Center has provided off-site programming for children. • Continuing to develop and offer new programs including homesteading, arts and crafts, outdoor painting, and flora and fauna workshops for adults, and exploring multigenerational programming opportunities. • Providing a large-scale family event each year. • Continuing to strengthen the online presence for the Nature Center with Facebook and Instagram pages as well as monthly E-newsletters. This is intended to reach a larger audience and better promote the mission and programs. All Nature Center publicity is shown on the Agency Facebook page, agency website, and E-newsletters as well. • Offering a recreational setting for visitors to enjoy dog walking, bike riding, picnicking, hiking, bird watching, photography, painting, and time with their friends and families. • Offering quality programs to meet the criteria for Boy Scout and Girl Scout education and skill classes. • Continuing to strengthen volunteer efforts at the Nature Center. Currently, the Nature Center has a Volunteer Garden Coordinator who maintains the flower beds and gardens and other volunteers who offer their time and assistance with maintenance, invasive plant removal, photography, programming, and other duties at the Center. • Focusing on quality customer service, well-trained staff, and offering a friendly welcome to all who attend programs and events or visit the grounds. • Continuing to offer the Centred Outdoors program in partnership with the ClearWater Conservancy, Penns Valley Conservation District, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, PA Fish and Boat Commission, Pennsylvania Recreation and Parks Society, Penn State The Winter Trails Day Walk drew a large crowd to Sustainable Communities Collaborative, Mount Nittany the marsh on a chilly winter day.
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Conservancy, Mount Nittany Health, Get Outdoors PA, Talleyrand Park Committee, Centre Moves, The Arboretum at Penn State, Appalachian Outdoors, the YMCA, Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts, Penn State University, and the Spring Creek Chapter of Trout Unlimited. Centred Outdoors offers free, local, guided hikes at destinations throughout the Centre Region during May through October.
C. Develop municipal, private, and community partnerships to fund the development and operation of the Millbrook Marsh Nature Center.
Ongoing Contributions…
• Cultivating outside resources and private contributions to fund operations and capital projects at the MMNC. Exploring funding and sponsorship options to expand community offerings. Meeting with educational groups, private citizens, and community groups to increase awareness of the Nature Center. Hosting a fundraising event each year to increase awareness and secure funds. • Developing strong partnerships with area agencies and groups to offer joint programs and events, including Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center, the Centre County Historical Society, Discovery Space Museum, PSU Arboretum, ClearWater Conservancy, and others. • Attend events, conferences, fairs, and meeting to promote CRPR and the MMNC. Staff continues to attend community events when Preschoolers in the Puddle Jumpers program exploring the stream. appropriate and to continue to educate the community members on Agency resources, programming, and opportunities. • Exploring opportunities to hire contracted instructors to increase program and camp offerings and increase program revenue. Strengthening partnerships with community groups and local businesses to offer additional programming at no cost to the Nature Center.
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OF PARTICULAR NOTE
• Millbrook Marsh partnered with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, ClearWater Conservancy, Penn State University Wildland Weed Management Department, Partners for Fish & Wildlife, Habitat Forever, PA Game Commission, and the Foundation for California University to begin a multi-year, three-step approach to restore close to 4.5 acres of habitat in the marsh. Removing non-native, invasive species by mechanical means was the first step of this project and was completed in April 2018. Herbicide was applied to cut stems of Tartarian honeysuckle and other exotic invasive shrubs. Deer fencing was installed in 2019 to protect native shrubs, such as gray stem dogwood, from browsing deer. Live staking was completed on the banks of Slab Cabin Run to control erosion and increase native vegetation. Additional invasive removal and native plantings have been completed along the confluence of Slab Cabin Run and Thompson Run. Next steps include focused and controlled herbicide applications in 2020 to eradicate the non-native, invasive species in the specified area, followed by native plantings in 2021 through 2023. Replacing non-native, invasive plant species with native plants, shrubs, and trees will increase the overall habitat and food sources for native wildlife. Partner groups will provide funding and in-kind service to complete the restoration at no cost to the Nature Center.
• In 2017, Agency staff reevaluated how program participants are tracked and counted. Under the previous tracking method, some participants of repeating programs were counted twice. Attendees at internal meetings held onsite were also counted. Since these numbers were not an accurate count of program and rental participation, a new tracking system was created and implemented at the beginning of 2018. Because of this change to more accurate tracking, there is a decrease is reported visitation in 2018 when compared to previous years. Staff estimate that actual program and rental participation and overall visitation is still on an upward trend however, this trend will not be apparent when comparing 2017 and 2018 visitation. With the new tracking in place, comparing 2018 to 2019 data should show the return of the upward trend in visitation and program participation.
• The Puddle Jumpers program, the first nature play program of its kind in the region, was expanded at the beginning of 2019. Previously, the Puddle Jumpers program for preschool-aged children was offered Tuesday and Thursday mornings. This program is very popular, and many sessions filled with waitlists. Because of this high demand, staff added an afternoon program, starting with the Spring 2019 session. This program expansion will increase revenue and provide additional regular hours for program leaders, which may help attract and maintain quality instructors.
• The Nature Center lease between the Centre Region Parks and Recreation Authority and The Pennsylvania State University was extended in April 2019. During the 2018 budget process, members of the General Forum expressed concerns over funding capital improvements at Millbrook Marsh due to Penn State’s ownership of the structures when the lease expires. As a result, staff began discussions with Penn State, exploring all foreseeable options, such as changing the type of lease from a tenant lease
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to a commercial lease. Changing to a commercial lease would cost thousands of dollars each year as the Authority would be required to pay the value of the property annually to Penn State. Because the current tenant lease is for $1 per year, this drastic increase is not currently feasible. A 99-year lease was requested and denied by the university. The compromise that was accepted by both parties and the General Forum, was a lease extension to 40 years following the issuance of a certificate of occupancy for the Phase II expansion of the Spring Creek Education Building. The 40-year extension was chosen because that is the depreciation of the planned new facilities. ClearWater Conservancy, which holds the conservation easement on the wetland at Millbrook Marsh, will also seek an extension to cover the same years as the Authority lease.
• A volunteer painted and installed 15 bluebird boxes in the marsh in 2019. Two of the boxes were donated by the State College Friends School. In addition to Eastern bluebirds, American tree swallows and house wrens have also been seen using these new boxes.
WHERE ARE WE NOW?
For the period of January 1 through May 2019, revenue was trending slightly higher than budgeted and expenditures were generally consistent with the projections contained in the 2019 budget.
The actual 2018 ending year fund balance was $81,637, $14,258 higher than the estimated 2018 ending year fund balance of $67,379. The fund balance was higher than anticipated due to a delay in filling the part-time staff assistant position and lower costs for seasonal employees. In addition, the income from building rentals during 2018 was higher than expected.
A major focus of the CRPR staff in managing the Center’s budget is to identify and develop non-municipal revenues sources. Efforts that are reported below for 2018 are based on the 2018-2019 Work Plan: • 75% of the 2019 operational fundraising goal is secured, as of May 2019. Centre Foundation Endowment Funds, community support, plus gifts from on-going donors have contributed to this operational support. Developing relationships and a track record of success with potential donors are the most effective ways to raise these funds. A Barn Dance Fundraiser is being planned for September 2019 to continue to engage current and attract new donors. A donor appreciation event also being planned for August 2019 to develop relationships with previous donors and share current operational and capital projects. A focus of the event will be Phase II of the Spring Creek Education Building, which is not yet fully funded. Dovetailing the fundraising for the Nature Center (for capital projects and for operating expenses) to other Agency fundraising efforts remains of critical importance.
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• The expansion of program offerings has increased Seasonal Program Leader hours from 2,597 hours in 2017 to 3,486 hours in 2018, an increase of over 34%. Program Leader hours from January through May 2019 total 1,451 hours, a 32.5% increase from the same time period in 2018. • The Nature Center continues to coordinate with ClearWater Conservancy through the Connections Program to provide funding assistance to groups that utilize the Nature Center facilities. While the MMNC programs are valued educationally, many groups in the community that attend the programs face difficulties in affording the costs of trips, including transportation and program fees. To retain customers who provide revenue to the Nature Center, the Advisory Committee must continue to evaluate the program costs. The program fee for group programs remains at $7 per child, at the request of the Nature Center Advisory Committee. While it is anticipated that the Connections Program will continue, it is noted that requests from schools for funding assistance continue to increase. Currently, 75% of group programs to the Nature Center use Connections funding. • In 2019, 15 Specialty Summer Camps are being offered during eight weeks of summer, and these camps will teach youth skills such as kayaking, canoeing, geocaching, outdoor exploring, nature art, and more. These camps involve hiring qualified instructors with specialized skills and the use of MMNC Summer Interns and Program Leaders for camp support. • The rental program at the Nature Center has continued to increase and hosts small-to-medium sized business and organizational meetings, third- party special events like Yoga-Fest, family gatherings, and small-to-medium sized weddings. The fee policy for wedding rentals was reevaluated in the winter of 2018 and implemented in 2019. The changes were made to streamline the package options, based upon the use and needs of previous wedding rentals, and better reflect the value of the wedding rental program. There were eight weddings rentals that occurred in 2018 and, as of May 2019, there are twelve scheduled for 2019 and five for 2020. The rental program requires staff time to provide customer service, provide tours and follow-up, actual reservation work, and on-going work with wedding coordinators and bridal parties as rental dates approach. The rental program also provides a boost to the overall revenue for the Nature Center as actual 2018 revenue far exceeded the budgeted amount. The barn decorated for a rental. Photo courtesy of Savita Sittler Photography. • The essential addition of the on-site part-time Staff Assistant in mid-April of 2017 and its expansion to a full-time position in 2019 enabled the Nature Center Supervisor and the Program Coordinator to focus on operational fundraising, the Phase II capital campaign, and expanding programs and revenue. The MMNC Staff
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Assistant greets visitors, oversees facility rentals, and assists the Nature Center Supervisor and Program Coordinator with daily tasks and projects. Because of this position, the supervisor can invest more time in developing non-municipal funding sources for the Nature Center. The popularity of Millbrook Marsh continues to rise for programs, events, passive recreation, and daily visitors. Nearly 12,000 visitors attended programs, events, and rentals in 2018. This does not include the countless visitors that enjoy passive recreation opportunities at the Center, some of whom stop into the office for information. Likewise, rental inquiries and bookings have increased significantly over the last three years; from 37 booked rentals in 2016 to 81 in 2017, and 98 in 2018. The increased revenue from these rentals helps to offset the cost of the full-time Staff Assistant position.
WHAT IS THE COST?
The 2019 budget for the Nature Center provides for the revenue and expenditures as shown on the table to the right.
WHERE ARE WE GOING?
Looking ahead, fundraising continues to be vital in covering operational costs. Growing programs, heightened emphasis on community fundraising, increasing rental requests (including for weddings), and monitoring short- and long-term maintenance needs of the site continue to keep the three full-time positions at the Center very busy.
In 2019, the Nature Center has partnered with five contracted instructors to offer additional programming and provide increased revenue without increasing staff costs. Contracted instructors include Tinkergarten, which has allowed the Nature Center to offer a nature play program on the weekends, and an arts and crafts Millbrook Marsh revenue and expenditures from 2018 through the approved 2019 budget.
2020 Program Plan – Centre Region Parks & Recreation – Millbrook Marsh Nature Center Operating Budget 248 instructor that will bring new, exciting skills and programs and expand the Millbrook Marsh audience.
A review of staff responsibilities and priorities is warranted to determine how the Nature Center Supervisor should devote efforts to fundraising while also supervising daily operations of the Center.
Proposed Budgetary Changes for 2020…
• Initiate and continue to increase operating and capital donations. The Nature Center Advisory Committee and staff will continue work to grow both types of donations in 2020 and future years. The Director believes that these efforts will build a stronger financial foundation that cannot be achieved with exclusive reliance on municipal contributions and user fees. Staff will continue to seek and apply for grants or targeted donations to support the needs of the MMNC. • During 2020 staff efforts will focus on donations and grant funding to support the $2.3 million Phase II Construction costs of the Spring Creek Education Building and the Welcome Pavilion. • Higher professional development cost, especially in the area of training in community fundraising, may be proposed in the 2020 MMNC Detailed Budget. In addition to the assistance from the Fundraising Consultant, the Nature Center staff will need continued training in the techniques and procedures of facilitating fundraising. This skill, which can be learned through workshop settings, webinars, and mentoring will enable staff to efficiently solicit operational and capital funds. Also, fundraising has a cost associated with the process, including thank you letters, breakfast or coffee meetings, printing fundraising materials, planning and offering small events for donors, etc. Staff will identify expenses related to fundraising efforts in the 2020 Detailed Budget. • Since 2012, the Millbrook Marsh operational budget has partially funded the full-time staff assistant position in the main office. At the time, this position completed work on behalf of the staff at Millbrook Marsh. With the addition of the part-time Nature Center staff assistant Group program for a school field trip.
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position in 2017 and its expansion to a full-time position in 2019, the main office staff assistant no longer completes work for Millbrook Marsh, beyond basic tasks, such as printing color handouts and brochures. As a result, it is proposed that the Millbrook Marsh Nature Center budget no longer contribute funds to this position, starting in 2020. Discontinuing this contribution will save approximately $6,000 in the Nature Center operating budget.
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MISSION
The mission of the Millbrook Marsh Nature Center Capital Budget is to provide funds for the improvements listed on the Master Site Plan, including the Spring Creek Education Building, the Welcome Center, and visitor parking as approved by the Centre Region Parks and Recreation Authority and the COG General Forum. This fund also addresses the major routine and preventative maintenance needs at the Nature Center.
CENTRE REGION PARKS AND RECREATION The barn and Phase I of the Spring Creek Education Building at Millbrook Marsh Nature Center.
WHO ARE WE?
MILLBROOK Since 1997, the Millbrook Marsh Nature Center (MMNC) has been a destination in the heart of the Centre Region that offers quality environmental education programs, a friendly staff, and a beautiful setting that protect MARSH our important regional wetland. The Nature Center consists of a 12-acre farmstead and a 50-acre marsh area in NATURE CENTER College Township. The land is home to two main structures: a historic, restored barn and the Leadership in Energy CAPITAL and Environmental Design (LEED) Certified Silver facility, the Spring Creek Education Building (SCEB). The BUDGET marsh land also contains boardwalks, picnic tables, pavilions, and wildlife viewing areas that visitors utilize daily. Since its initial development, the Nature Center has expanded its programs and rental opportunities and drop-in traffic continues to increase greatly by residents and visitors.
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WHAT DO WE DO?
A. Plan, develop, and support future additions to the Millbrook Marsh Nature Center through a capital building campaign, donations, grants, and other sources to extend the ability to offer quality programs and recreation options.
Ongoing Contributions…
• Continue working toward the Phase II expansion of the Spring Creek Education Building and the construction of the Welcome Pavilion (near the parking area). • Continue to make connections with past and potential donors for upcoming capital projects. • Continue to monitor, evaluate, and maintain the overall site and its facilities.
OF PARTICULAR NOTE
• Phase II of the Spring Creek Education Building (SCEB) continues to progress with architectural drawings, renderings, and an updated project budget completed in April of 2017. The estimated project budget is $1,906,630 and includes two classrooms, a large meeting and event space, two additional restrooms, and sustainable features such as solar panels and recycled materials. The existing SCEB is currently the only temperature- controlled space on-site. It is only able to accommodate one group at a time, due to sound Phase II Spring Creek Education Building, first floor rendering constraints, and is limited to 50 people per floor. As part of the Phase II expansion, the existing first-floor space will be converted to a welcome area with a docent greeter, gift shop, and educational displays.
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State funding was requested in May 2018 through a PA Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) grant proposal in the amount of $250,000, but that grant was not awarded due to the funding levels in place at that time. Additional State funding will be requested in April 2020 through a PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) grant proposal in the amount of $350,000, and staff will reapply to the PA DCED in the amount of $250,000. Recommendations, staff solicitation training, and a campaign brochure were provided by the fundraising consultant in 2017. Fundraising efforts are underway to seek additional project support from private donors, grants and special events. Nature Center staff and the MMNC Phase II Spring Creek Education Building, second floor rendering Advisory Committee have raised $664,315 for the project to-date. • The full replacement of the Barn’s fire sprinkler system was completed in 2018. The dry sprinkler system in the unheated Nature Center Barn was installed in 1999 and experienced several leaks/breakages and repairs due to interior rusting of the supply pipes. • Improvements to the Barn roof were completed in May 2019; a protective rubber coating was installed along with snow guards and new gutters and downspouts. This project was completed using an $80,000 loan from the Centre Region Code Administration, financed over five years, along with approximately $2,500 from the Capital Improvement Budget. The Barn is slated to have the siding power washed and stained in 2019 as well as the existing Spring Creek Education Building in 2020.
WHERE ARE WE NOW?
For the period of January 1 through June 2019, revenue and expenditures for the Millbrook Marsh Center Capital Budget were higher than anticipated. During its March 25, 2019 meeting the General Forum approved the following motion that authorized a budget amendment as to provide funding to repair the metal roof of the barn that is leaking in multiple locations:
“That the General Forum, as recommended by the Finance Committee, approve a $82,415 budget amendment to the Millbrook Marsh Nature Center Capital Budget to finance the repair of the barn roof and a Memorandum of Understanding between the Centre Region COG and the Centre Region Parks and Recreation Authority identifying the terms of the $80,000 loan to be repaid from Nature Centre’s Capital Budget over a five year period at an annualized interest rate of 3%.”
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No large grants will be submitted in 2019 since the timeline for the Spring Creek Education Building Phase II is delayed due to funding levels. Nature Center staff will refocus on grant proposals in 2020, and staff will continue to meet with past and prospective donors during the second half of 2019.
The projected 2019 starting fund balance is $610,178 which includes restricted funds earmarked for the Spring Creek Education Building construction project.
As discussed in the “Looking Ahead” section of this Program Plan, several of the Nature Center structures and facilities are now over 10 years old and will require capital level repairs. Previously, the Capital Budget has been focused on funding the construction of the new structures at the Nature Center. The 2020 MMNC Capital Budget includes funds to repair the aging structures at the Nature Center. Municipal contributions are linked to an approved capital improvement schedule.
Per several discussions with elected officials, it was requested to the Parks Capital Committee and the CRPR Authority to review the current lease and look forward to a possible lease extension and updated language that better reflects the current operation. The General Forum endorsed the lease revisions. As of May 2019, the Millbrook Marsh Nature Center lease with Penn State University was updated, approved, and signed after over one year of discussion. The lease now has a “Contingent New Term” that will extend the lease once the Authority receives a Certificate of Occupancy for the Phase II of the Spring Creek Education Building.
Essentially, the new lease remains the same lease that the Authority has had from the beginning ˗ $1/yr. and a 20-30-year lease. The new lease allows for any new construction to be depreciated across 40 years. Millbrook Marsh Capital revenue and expenditures from 2018 through the approved 2019 budget.
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Municipal contributions provided for the Phase I construction of the Spring Creek Education Building were made under the lease’s second amendment terms.
WHAT IS THE COST?
The 2019 capital budget for the Millbrook Marsh Nature Center provides for the revenue and expenditures shown in the table on the previous page.
WHERE ARE WE GOING?
Proposed Budgetary Changes…
Welcome Pavilion at Millbrook Marsh Nature Center, architectural rendering The Millbrook Marsh Advisory Committee is proposing that the Phase II construction of the Spring Creek Education Building, Welcome Pavilion, and the installation of safety lighting for the visitors parking area and walkway, be completed all in 2021-2022. Continued fundraising and grant writing will continue well into 2020 to reach this goal.
Over the last 20 years, the Millbrook Marsh Nature Center has grown exponentially from the early programming days in 1997 to 3,000 visitors for programs, events, and rentals in the year 2000, to just under 12,000 visitors last year; not including the countless visitors who explore the Marsh on their own for hiking, wildlife viewing, picnicking, and other recreational uses. A contributor to this growth was Phase I development of the Spring Creek Education Building (SCEB) built in 2011. While this growth is exciting, the existing space can only accommodate 50 people per floor and this number is too small for many events and groups. The SCEB is the only temperature- controlled facility on-site and is limited to 50 people per floor. The facility can only accommodate one group at a time due to size and sound restraints. Proposed improvements included in the project are:
• The proposed addition of 2,784 square feet would more than double the size of the current building and will significantly increase the capacity to host educational community programs and provide space for meeting groups and special events. Sustainable features will be incorporated into the facility design to match the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver Certification of Phase I. Some of these features are solar panels to provide clean, affordable energy; the use of
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recycled materials; and large windows for natural light and to reduce the need for artificial lighting in the event the COG does not proceed with a solar power purchase agreement. • The Welcome Pavilion of 860 square feet would include four ADA family restrooms, water fountain with a bottle filling station, benches, educational and way-finding signage, and a brochure rack. The estimated cost of the Welcome Pavilion is $387,500 (architect’s estimate).
• Install lighting for the parking area and walkways to increase safety and accommodate visitors and events at the Nature Center. The estimated cost to install this lighting is $36,500.
In combination, the building expansion and the Welcome Pavilion are estimated to cost approximately $2.3 million, which will largely be funded through private donations and grants.
For the Phase I construction of the Spring Creek Education Building, donations from the municipalities was requested but were handled one-on-one with each municipality, under the second amendment of the lease. During the Spring of 2017, MMNC Advisory Committee members approached the individual municipalities to request funding support for the Phase II development of the Spring Creek Education Building. During several of those meetings, the MMNC Advisory Committee received feedback that their current process should be standardized through the COG Capital Improvement Program. Additionally, the same discussion occurred at several 2017 COG Parks Capital Committee meetings; feedback received from the Committee was to not only standardize the funding requests through the COG Capital Improvement Program but to also review the MMNC Facility Lease to ensure that the municipalities have a lease that extends far enough into the future for full depreciation of the municipalities’ investments. The new lease with the contingent 40-year term is in place as of July 2019.
During 2017 the MMNC staff discussed with municipal officials the idea of the municipalities contributing a combined total of $400,000 to the cost of the Phase II addition to the Spring Creek Education Building. The cost would be split across the 2018 and 2019 budgets ($200,000 each year). Two concerns were expressed. First, the amount of the request was too high given constrained municipal budgets. And, second, the term of the Authority/Penn State University lease for the MMNC did not provide adequate time to depreciate the cost of the building addition and that the building would revert to the University when the lease expired.
To address the second concern meetings were held that included University, MMNC, CRPA and COG staff regarding the term of the lease. From these discussions, a proposal emerged that would extend the lease for forty years after a Certificate of Occupancy was issued for the building addition. Forty years is the typical period for depreciating a building. By way of example is a COG for the education building was issued in 2023 then the lease would run through 2063. The Authority and the University both agreed to this addendum to
2020 Program Plan – Centre Region Parks & Recreation – Millbrook Marsh Nature Center Capital Budget 256 the lease and it was endorsed by the General Forum. Additionally, it should not be assumed that the lease, at that time, would not renew.
With the lease extended to coincide with the depreciation schedule for the building addition, the 2020 Program Plan proposes that the five participating municipalities contribute a combined total of $100,000 to the project both during the 2020 and 2021 budget years. The municipal funding would be shared among the five participating municipalities in accordance with the modified COG funding formula. In addition to providing funding to the building project, municipal contributions are essential to the ability to obtain grants for which a local government funding match is required.
The other funding sources for this Phase II project include community contributions, a possible $350,000 grant in 2020 from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), a 1-1 match, and a possible $250,000 grant in 2020 from the Pennsylvania Department of Economic Development (DCED), a 15% grant match required. The Nature Center has also submitted a letter of interest to the West Penn Power Sustainable Energy Fund that included funding consideration for $65,000. As of May 1, 2019, the fundraising campaign raised $664,315 total funds for the Phase II project. Of that total amount, $630,615 has been received and $33,700 is pledged.
Proposed New Work Objectives…
With the adoption of the 2019 COG Budget, the municipalities increased their contributions to the Millbrook Marsh Nature Center Capital Budget. The $50,000 contribution will be used to address several upcoming capital projects to include education building staining and service building repairs.
2020 AND BEYOND
Looking ahead to the 2020 Capital Budget, the following projects will be proposed to be included in the 2020 to 2024 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). In addition to municipal contributions, community donations will be solicited through the Phase II fundraising campaign to finance these repairs and amenities. • 2020: Improve the exterior and interior to the Service Building that houses staff offices ($15,000). • 2020: Staining of the Spring Creek Education Building ($20,000). • 2022: Repair and make improvements to the pavilion and sun shelters ($15,000).
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• 2022-2024: Begin the long-term repairs to the boardwalk ($25,000/year). The boardwalk, which is now over 16 years old, has been damaged on several occasions by floodwaters and needs to be replaced. This is projected to be a three-year project and the cost will be refined in the next one-two years. The cost estimate is very preliminary and could be significantly higher. • 2023: Repair and make improvements to the paths and parking area ($15,000).
LOOKING AHEAD
An initial assessment has been made regarding the physical structures at the Nature Center and those projects requiring attention have been added to the MMNC Capital Improvement Plan. During 2019, the COG and CRPR staff will identify a methodology to prepare a more in-depth and detailed assessment of the physical structures at the Nature Center and the cost for replacing them in accordance with a capital improvement schedule. To ensure that the information collected during the assessment is accurate and the cost estimates are realistic, the retention of a consulting professional engineer may be recommended. The assessment will be limited in scope to the existing structures.
An existing capital item that requires more immediate attention is a long-term solution for repairs or replacement of the Nature Center boardwalk, which provides educational and public access to the heart of the property. It does not function properly in flooding events and is showing signs of wear and tear. In addition, ways to improve the accessibility of the boardwalk to the public should be considered.
In 1999, the Nature Center kicked off the “All Aboard for the Boardwalk” to raise public donations to assist in funding the construction of a three-phase, 1,650-foot boardwalk system, including paths, walkways, bridges, and observation areas. The six-foot-wide boardwalk was intended to allow residents to have access to marsh without leaving a footprint. While the boardwalk does not float, it is designed to have some movement when the water level changes.
The work was done in three phases between 2002 and 2009. The materials were purchased using public donations. Labor was provided by the Pennsylvania Conservation Corps. In the process of getting the project underway, it was necessary to apply for a “Wetlands Permit” from the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (PA DEP), as well as official permission from College Township.
In the seventeen years since the Phase I work started, the boardwalk now needs major renovations. It is uneven in some areas, the wood is weathered and worn, and in a few places, the structure has slightly shifted.
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MISSION
The purpose of the Regional Parks Capital Budget is to provide for the jointly-financed capital costs associated with the development of the three regional parks that the municipalities have acquired through the Centre Region Council of Governments (COG). The three parks are:
• Hess Softball Complex, 21 acres in Harris Township in operation since 2011. This property is owned by the COG (College, Ferguson, Harris, Patton Townships and State College Borough).
• Oak Hall Regional Park, 68 acres in College and Harris Townships. This new park was opened in May 2015. This property is owned by the COG (College, Harris, Patton Townships and State College Borough). • Whitehall Road Regional Park, 100 acres in Ferguson Township. This property is jointly CENTRE REGION owned by the COG (College, Ferguson, PARKS AND Harris, Patton Townships and State College RECREATION Borough) and Ferguson Township. Whitehall Road Regional Park, looking east toward Mount Nittany. The Land Development Plan for the Phase 1 development of this park was submitted to Ferguson Township in June. The goal is to obtain Township approval of the Land Development Plan in October/November 2019. The timeline includes finalizing REGIONAL PARKS construction documents and bidding over the winter months with ground-breaking in late spring or early CAPITAL summer of 2020. The park construction should be completed in late spring/early summer 2021. BUDGET
WHO ARE WE?
The Regional Parks Capital Budget was established to be a repository of funds relating to the development of three regional parks. The Centre Region Parks and Recreation Authority was designated, through Articles of Agreement adopted by the participating municipalities, as the entity responsible for regional park development and operations.
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The Regional Parks Capital Budget is the budget that the CRPR Authority uses to carry out the charge given to it by the municipalities acting collectively through the General Forum.
Because the Authority has no independent funding sources, major policy issues relating to regional parks are discussed with the Parks Capital Committee, as established in 2008, with the adoption of revised Articles of Agreement for the Centre Region COG. Under this agreement, the responsibilities of the Parks Capital Committee are:
• To recommend the designation of regional park facilities to the General Forum. It should be noted that during its June 14, 2018 meeting, the Committee asked the General Forum to designate the two community pools and Millbrook Marsh Nature Center as regional parks. • To develop and recommend a funding strategy for the planning, development, and operation of regional park facilities to the General Forum. • To cooperate with the CRPR Authority in the preparation of recommended master site plans for regional recreation facilities for referral to the General Forum and/or the participating municipalities. • To study and prepare recommendations on regional parks for the COG Executive Committee.
WHAT DO WE DO?
A. Cooperatively establish a framework for the ownership, management, planning, development, and operation of regional parks and implement those processes with the participating municipalities.
Ongoing Contributions…
• Identify, evaluate, and recommend options to fund the Phase I development of the regional parks. After the Phase I development is complete, this budget may be used to finance: Phase II construction at the regional parks, the possible construction of an action sports park, repairs from Phase I installations, or a centralized parks maintenance building, should the General Forum decide that the continued renting of a maintenance facility is not the best option. • Monitor the regional park project loan financing to ensure that it is the most cost-effective option available to the participating municipalities. This review includes interest rates, loan periods, and opportunities to lower costs. In 2017, the Oak Hall and
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Whitehall Road Regional Parks loan was modified, which provided a lower interest rate over the term of the loan. It also provided an additional three years to draw funds for park construction with a final draw date of June 1, 2020. • The CRPR Authority and the COG Parks Capital Committee meet quarterly to review and approve project plans and progress for the regional parks. Previously, the groups also coordinated the renovations of the two community swimming pools. Actions that are necessary to proceed with the regional parks are then recommended to the General Forum.
OF PARTICULAR NOTE
With the opening of the Hess Softball Complex and Oak Hall Regional Park, the 2020 Regional Parks Program Plan is focused on the Phase I development of the Whitehall Road Regional Park within the budget approved by the General Forum as well as some forecasted improvements for Oak Hall Regional Park.
In 2011, the Centre Regional Recreation Authority (now known as the Centre Region Parks and Recreation Authority) entered into a $7,578,800 loan with Fulton Bank. The loan was incurred to fund improvements at Oak Hall Regional Park and Whitehall Road Regional Park. The Phase I Oak Hall Regional Park Project is complete and the remaining $4.8 million is designated for Phase I of the Whitehall Road Regional Park project. The repayment of this loan was guaranteed by the municipalities that participate in the Centre Region Parks and Recreation Program. The loan has been modified by the Authority and participating municipalities five times since 2011.
According to the terms of the fourth amendment to the loan, all funds had to be drawn down (used) by June 1, 2017. To evaluate options for proceeding with the loan, the Authority, after conferring with the Finance Softball game in action at Oak Hall Regional Park. Committee, retained the services of a financial consultant and bond counsel. It was decided to ask the financial consultant to meet with representatives from Fulton Bank to identify terms for re-negotiating the loan.
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Fulton Bank responded with the following terms:
➢ The date of the final draw will be extended from June 1, 2017, to June 1, 2020. ➢ The fixed interest rate will be reduced from 2.80% to 2.59% through 2022. ➢ No change in maturity date or guarantees. There will be no prepayment penalty. ➢ To draw an additional $167,798 on the loan and place the proceeds in a deposit account at Fulton Bank. ➢ A loan modification fee due to Fulton Bank of $2,500.
During its May 22, 2017 meeting, the General Forum approved Resolution 2017–2 as follows:
“the Centre Region Parks and Recreation Authority modify the regional parks loan with Fulton Bank in accordance with its May 1, 2017 proposal. Furthermore, this action is approved with the stipulation that if construction contracts are not executed within a period of time not to exceed one year then the CRPR Authority shall discuss the project with the General Forum prior to proceeding.”
Based on the General Forum’s action on May 24, 2017, the Authority approved a modification to the loan agreement as described above.
As the General Forum is aware, the facilities that the park will contain are directly linked to the development of the adjoining property. The development of the adjoining property has been litigated at Centre County Court, Commonwealth Court and ultimately at the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. In December 2017, the PA Supreme Court ruled in favor of the developer, thereby ending the litigation. The developer has agreed to extend Blue Course Drive to the park at no cost to the COG. Sewer, water, electric, and gas service will also be installed up to the park’s property line. Overall the provision of road access and utility service will save the park project over $1,000,000.
In May 2018, per the 2017 motion noted above, the Agency Director provided an update on the park project to the General Forum. Her report included: a review of park amenities, a tentative timeline, and she re-stated that the current budget remains at the $4.8 million level, unless additional grant funds or private donations are secured.
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WHERE ARE WE NOW?
The Whitehall Road Regional Park will be developed within the budget approved by the General Forum and consistent with the approved 2013 Master Site Plan, along with the January 2019 approved site plan updates.
To bolster the budget, the Authority is applying for additional grant funding. In December 2018, the Authority was awarded a $300,000 DCNR Development Grant which is earmarked for the All-Ability and Universally-Accessible Playground. In April 2019, the Authority applied for a $300,000 DCNR Development Grant, and in May 2019, a $250,000 DCED Greenways, Recreation, and Trails grant, both for the LED Sports Field Lighting project. The Agency received a $25,000 pledge from Fulton Bank toward the Phase I project and a $20,000 grant from USA Football for the lighting project. In addition, the Agency received a $5,000 playground grant from Autism Speaks and applied to the Walt Disney Foundation for a $25,000 grant and to the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation for a $25,000 grant, both for the playground project.
Parks and Recreation Regional Parks revenue and expenditures from 2018 through the approved 2019 budget.
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After submitting an initial Letter of Intent, the Agency has been invited to submit a full grant application to PA’s Tree Vitalize program for trees and shrubs. The Agency also launched a fundraising campaign in February 2019 and has been meeting with organizations and businesses to secure private funding for the park project. In addition, if community groups and/or grants provide sufficient funds to build synthetic turf fields and lighting, then those upgrades will be included in the construction project. If funds are not in place for initial construction, then the project will move forward with grass fields without light until full funding becomes available. Hess Softball Complex, Harris Township WHAT IS THE COST?
The participating municipalities have allocated $4.8 million to develop Whitehall Road Regional Park. This budget will be augmented by grants and contributions from local community groups who want to see the new park development. The amount of these contributions is unknown at the present time.
The 2019 budget for the Office of Administration provides for the revenue and expenditures as shown on the previous page.
WHERE ARE WE GOING?
No cost estimate for Phase I of the Whitehall Road Regional Park project is available at this time other than the $4.8 million in loan funding and the grants that have been awarded to date. During 2019, engineering, architectural, and construction costs were included to prepare a land development plan that was submitted to Ferguson Township on June 8, 2019. During the next six months, there will be additional expenses for the professional design team to prepare, solicit and review a Request for Bids to construct the park.
Proposed Budgetary Changes…
The 2020 Program Plan recommends the following two new expenses:
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• $45,000 is requested to install an irrigation system at Whitehall Road Regional Park to water four fields. It is hoped that this request is funded in 2020 so that irrigation can be installed in 2020 during the construction of the park, saving time and renovation expenses that would occur with a post-construction install. It will be much more cost-effective to install an irrigation system during construction than to go back and trench these lines and disturb the fields. • $15,000 is requested to replace outfield fencing at Hess Softball Complex. The fencing conditions are poor and there are safety issues with a curled chain-link fence that could puncture or tear a player’s skin; the entire outfield fence from dugout to dugout will need to be replaced. The Agency is asking for $15,000 to complete a single field replacement in 2020 and will continue to replace one field each year through 2023. There are four fields at the facility. The new chainlink fence will include a bottom rail which should prevent this type of “curl-up”. The backstops on all four fields were replaced previously and remain in good condition.
The Program Plan does not address the unfunded expense of constructing a three-bay storage building as approved in 2018 by the General Forum in the revised Master Plan Phase I. This building will be used to store park equipment and supplies at the park while the Agency will continue using the Stewart Drive facility as its maintenance facility. There is no funding in place for this building at this time and remains on the list as an unfunded item for the park at an estimated cost of $75,000. The maintenance/storage building at Oak Hall Regional Park received additional funding support from College Township and the remaining funds were secured from other available funding. That building now houses equipment dedicated to the maintenance of Oak Hall Regional Park. At this time, donors are not interested in funding this building, nor has the Agency been able to find grants for this project.
Proposed Work Objectives for 2019 and 2020……
• Advance the development of the Whitehall Road Regional Park within the budget approved by the General Forum and consistent with the approved master site plan. Work tasks to be accomplished include: ✓ Obtain approval of the land development plan to by the Ferguson Township Board of Supervisors. The plan was submitted to the Township on June 8. It will be reviewed by the Planning Commission and then forwarded to the Board of Supervisors for possible approval. This process may take 5 months to complete. ✓ Identify how construction management services will be provided for the construction projection. ✓ Prepare and issue Requests for Bids to construct the park in late 2019/early 2020. ✓ Review and award the construction bids. ✓ Begin construction of the park in late Spring 2020.
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• During 2019-2020, prepare an operational budget for Whitehall Road Regional Park as the Agency will need to consider revenue streams, fees and charges, and operational costs. This draft budget will be shared with the Authority, Parks Capital Committee, and Finance Committee the operational budget for Whitehall Road Regional Park in 2020 as part of the 2021 budget process. • Confirm whether Centre Soccer and the Central Pennsylvania Convention and Visitors Bureau will contribute to project if it includes synthetic turf and lights which would allow for games to be played at dusk. A priority use agreement between the Centre Region Parks and Recreation Authority and Centre Soccer has been approved by both organizations. This partnership will result in a joint community funding raising effort by both organizations. A priority use agreement is also being explored with the Central Pennsylvania Convention and Visitors Bureau. • Research grant opportunities in 2019 and in 2020 to secure private/grant funding for additional improvements to the facilities at Whitehall Road Regional Park.
Proposed Work Objectives for 2021 and beyond…
• Complete the Phase I construction of Whitehall Road Regional Park and open it to the public. • Assess the parking lot at Oak Hall Regional Park. Staff is beginning to investigate concerns related to the parking lot and driveway at Oak Hall Regional Park. Staff intends to review the issue with the Facilities Committee and may request additional funding for engineering and related costs in connection with the 2020 budget. • After the results of the Centre Region Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Comprehensive Study are complete, the Parks Capital Committee and the CRPR Authority should consider reviewing the Master Plans and Phase II plans for Oak Hall Regional Park, Hess Softball Complex, and Whitehall Road Regional Park. Taking the opportunity to evaluate current plans and the study results will allow COG and the Authority to amend these plans, if needed, to reflect current priorities and new information. • After the General Forum approves the Phase II plans, the Parks Capital Committee, Finance Committee, and Authority should develop a long-term funding plan for implementing the next park development phases. It is likely that part of the Phase II discussion will be expanded to include recommendations contained in a recently completed Action Sports Park report that was prepared by a State College Borough Committee, presented to the General Forum and referred to the Parks Capital Committee. During its July 12, 2018 meeting the Parks Capital Committee forwarded to the report to the Authority and asked its members for a recommendation on how to proceed.
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