HomeMy WebLinkAboutA025 - Email to Erica Fuchs dated June 4, 2007 - further questions Nancy J Carroll/COA To "Fuchs Erica"<ebfuchs@hotmail.com>
06/04/2007 11:08 AM cc ackerl9@mchsi.com, amesaustin@mchsi.com,
CCollings@city.ames.ia.us, DPitcher@city.ames.ia.us,
dwb@nyemaster.com, eklaas@iastate.edu,
bcc Diane R Voss/COA
Subject Response to Additional Questions[i
Erica -
In response to your latest e-mail questions, I offer the following:
• Yes, the operational tax subsidy for Carr Pool totals approximately $50,000/annually.
• I'm sorry but I don't have street addresses for the people that attended the public meetings in April.
• Regarding your concerns with 'straw polls'. The Facilitator, on behalf of the Commission, stated at
each meeting that the straw poll was NOT scientific in its design or execution. He stated that its
intended use was simply a reflection of the views of those present. The Commission and staff
acknowledged this was not a scientific survey.....rather, it just people who happened to show up in
response to a widely circulated open invitation any they shared their input. Furthermore, the opinions
gathered at the 'pool parties'were used, as Chairperson Benson stated at each meeting they would
be, as one element in the Commission's decision-making process, not as the firm and exclusive
foundation upon which the choice of site rested.
• Your questions related to Carr Pool in the event the bond issue fails. Those questions would need to
be researched and would only be addressed following the vote date of July 24th.
Sincerely,
Nancy Carroll, Director of Parks and Recreation
515-239-5357 Voice
515-239-5355 Fax
ncarroll@city.ames.ia.us
CITY OF AMES = "EXCELLENCE THROUGH PEOPLE"
"Fuchs Erica" <ebfuchs@hotmail.com>
"Fuchs Erica"
!. <ebfuchs@hotmail.com> To NCarroll@city.ames.ia.us
i I 06/01/2007 04:31 PM
cc ackerl9@mchsi.com, amesaustin@mchsi.com,
�`= r dwb@nyemaster.com, eklaas@iastate.edu,
susanb5142@aol.com, tcardwell@valleyb.com,
vitol_g@yahoo.com, DPitcher@city.ames.ia.us,
CCollings@city.ames.ia.us
Subject RE: Carr Pool; limitations of straw poll results
Dear Nancy Carroll,
Thank you for answering many of my questions about Carr Pool. I would
appreciate your help in answering the following:
(1) Is the Carr Pool subsidy indeed currently (approximately) $50, 000 per
year?
(2) If the bond issue fails and we follow the current Capital Improvement
Plan for Carr Pool, which includes the maintenance expenses listed below,
what would be the new "life expectancy" of Carr Pool as a result of the
following improvements?
FY 07/08: $39, 000 (replace diving board, guard chairs, deck
furniture/tables, handicap lift and install a shade structure) .
FY 08/09: $86, 000 (sandblast and paint pool basin, filter
repair/replacement, replace pool water heater, create a family changing
room)
(3) What additional expenses (equipment repair) might be expected if the
pool needs to be kept open not just for 2 years (2007-2009) , but for 10
years total (2007-2017) ?
(4) Would you please give me a list of the streets (but not the names of the
people or the house numbers) of individual participants who wrote down their
address when signing in at the Parks and Recreation Public Hearings on the
Outdoor Aquatic Center (on the lists that kept track of those who would be
willing to volunteer) ? I would like to see what areas of town the
participants (for whom we have a record) came from. I am not asking for the
participants' names or house numbers, which are, of course, private.
The reason for my interest is that I know that public hearings, and straw
polls held at them, are useful for learning more about the people who care
enough, or are able, to participate, but such meetings of individuals who
"select themselves" when they decide to participate unfortunately do not
reveal the opinions of the general population.
This problem with public hearings and straw polls is explained in articles
on statistics and public polling, such as "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
of Public Opinion Polls, " by Dr. Russel D. Renka, Professor of Political
Science, Southeast Missouri State University
(http: //cstl-cla.semo.edu/renka/Renka—papers/polls.htm) .
Dr. Renka writes: "The subjects in the sample [of a good poll] must be
randomly selected. Any self-selected sample is basically worthless as a
source of information about the population beyond itself. All such samples
are not random; they are biased via self-selection to include mostly the
interested, the opinionated, the passionate. All the rest are silent and
therefore unknown. "
Straw polls, by their very nature, are unfortunately not an accurate
reflection of public opinion. Discovering that participants came from many
areas throughout a city at least reduces bias resulting from
over-representation of select geographical areas.
Thank you for your help.
Sincerely,
Erica Fuchs
4014 Marigold Drive
Ames, IA 50014
292-2687
• T
>From: Nancy J Carroll <NCarroll@city.ames.ia.us>
>To: "Fuchs Erica" <ebfuchs@hotmail.com>
>CC:
>ackerl9@mchsi.com,amesaustin@mchsi.com,dwb@nyemaster.com,eklaas@iastate.edu, s
usanb5142@aol.com,tcardwell@valleyb.com,vitol_g@yahoo.com,Duane
>R Pitcher <DPitcher@city.ames.ia.us>,Duane R Pitcher
><DPitcher@city.ames.ia.us>,Carol B Collings <CCollings@city.ames.ia.us>
>Subject: Carr Pool Date: Fri, 1 Jun 2007 14:32:00 -0500
>Erica -
>Regarding your questions related to Carr Pool:
>No, the decision to close Carr Pool will not change due to the recent gift
>from Don and Ruth Furman. The City staff's and Commission's recommendation
>and the City Council's decision, on May 22nd, to demolish Carr Pool and
>transition that area into green open space was based on many factors
>including:
> The facility is over 80 years old.
> The last major renovation occurred in 1982 extending the life
>expectancy
> of the facility by approximately 25 years (2007) .
> Between 1995 and 2005 attendance declined dramatically by 48% - from
> approximately 38, 000 to 20, 000 visitors per summer.
>Carr Pool Operating Expenses:
>FY 06/07 Amend $92, 528
>FY 05/06 Actual $81, 618
>FY 04/05 Actual $90,706
>FY 03/04 Actual $85.437
>FY 02/03 Actual $77, 162
>The 'equipment repair' line item can significantly alter the budget for
>Carr Pool.
>The Capital Improvement Plan for Carr Pool currently includes the
>following:
>FY 07/08: $39, 000 (replace diving board, guard chairs, deck
>furniture/tables, handicap lift and install a shade structure)
>FY 08/09: $86, 000 (sandblast and paint pool basin, filter
>repair/replacement, replace pool water heater, create a family changing
>room)
>In the event the July 24th bond issue passes, staff will recommend that the
>above listed projects and related funding be removed from the Capital
>Improvement Plan.
>Regarding your question: "Did you have some sort of questionnaire that you
>sent out which inspired the
>idea for creating an outdoor aquatic center? If so, that questionnaire
>would be what I'm interested in learning more about. " No, the Department of
>Parks and Recreation did not send out a questionnaire.
>Best Regards,
>Nancy Carroll, Director of Parks and Recreation
>515-239-5357 Voice
>515-239-5355 Fax
>ncarroll@city.ames.ia.us
ti
>
>CITY OF AMES = "EXCELLENCE THROUGH PEOPLE"
> "Fuchs Erica"
> <ebfuchs@hotmail
> com> To
> NCarroll@city.ames.ia.us
> 05/31/2007 01:01 cc
> AM ackerl9@mchsi.com,
> amesaustin@mchsi.com,
> dwb@nyemaster.com,
> eklaas@iastate.edu,
> susanb5142@aol.com,
> tcardwell@valleyb.com,
> vitol_g@yahoo.com
> Subject
> Carr Pool; 'Pool Party' meeting
> information
>Dear Nancy Carroll and Ames Parks and Recreation Commission Members,
>As someone who supports creating (and maintaining) neighborhood pools
>instead of placing all public swimming facilities in one small area, I am
>wondering if the Furman family's generous monetary offer for the proposed
>13th Street Outdoor Aquatic Center might cause you to recommend keeping
>Carr
>Pool open even if an outdoor aquatic center is built.
>Will you ask City Council to remove Carr Pool's destruction from the Bond
>issue, since the Furman gift that would subsidize the Outdoor Aquatic
>Center
>would make more City money available to subsidize a second outdoor pool
> (assuming the Bond issue passes) ?
>One of the reasons I have supported the Middle School site for the Outdoor
>Aquatic Center is that the money saved (estimated to be $500, 000) by not
>building on the flood fringe on 13th Street could have been used to
>preserve
>and cherish Carr Pool, thereby giving three pools in three distinct
>neighborhoods so that more people would have easy access to a pool (of any
>sort) .
>Building an Outdoor Aquatic Center at the 13th Street site will result in
>all of Ames' three public pools being located in the Brookside Park area (a
>13th Street Aquatic Center, the High School indoor pool, and the Brookside
>Park wading pool) . I feel that such centralization, while having certain
>benefits, would also be Ames' loss, especially given your current
>recommendation to close Carr Pool, which is a beautiful, functional, and
>historic neighborhood pool.
>Would you please tell me the following financial information about Carr
>Pool?
> (1) Is the Carr Pool subsidy indeed $50, 000 per year (which I assume would
>go up if an Ames Outdoor Aquatic Center is opened) ? Does this subsidy
>cover
>maintenance costs of Carr Pool?
>(2) How much money has been spent over the last 10 years updating, fixing,
>and maintaining Carr Pool? I heard from a Carr Pool neighborhood resident
>that it was just remodeled several years ago.
>(3) What is the current "lifespan" of Carr pool, given its current state?
>How much money would be necessary to maintain the structure to keep it open
>for 10 more years? How does one determine when a pool is so old/damaged
>that it makes financial sense to rebuild it entirely?
>Secondly, I want to say thank you, Nancy Carroll, for sending the Outdoor
>Aquatic Center Final Data and comments from participants at the four public
>"pool party" hearings.
>Do you also have the sign-in sheets from each meeting so that I may learn
>the street names (but not house numbers) of the addresses of individuals
>who
>signed in so that I can see what areas of town the participants came from?
>As far as I know, the only place where street names would be recorded is on
> I
>the sign-in sheets.
>In my previous e-mail I asked about results from a questionnaire about pool
>issues. While talking with someone from the Carr Pool area, I learned that
>the City had sent him a questionnaire that asked for feedback on issues
>including public pools. I just assumed that this was a Parks and
>Recreation
>questionnaire used to gauge whether there was support for an Outdoor
>Aquatic
>Center, but perhaps this questionnaire was from a different part of the
>City
>government.
>Did you have some sort of questionnaire that you sent out which inspired
>the
>idea for creating an outdoor aquatic center? If so, that questionnaire
>would be what I 'm interested in learning more about.
>Thank you for your time reading my long e-mail!
>Sincerely,
>Erica Fuchs
>4014 Marigold Drive
>Ames, IA 50014
>292-2687