CPCSD reduces facility fees

Hoping to bring more business to the community center, the Board of Directors of the Cameron Park Community Services District approved new rental fees for the facility at its Jan. 16 meeting.

Effective immediately, fees for renting the Assembly Hall will be reduced by 20 percent. Previously the cost to rent the entire Assembly hall for a day ranged from $1,125 to $1,500. The new fees will be $900 to $1,200. The board also voted to reduce facility deposits to $300 regardless of what part of the community center is being rented. Park and pool fees will remain unchanged. Staff were directed to develop a separate fee structure for corporate events or large events at the parks or fields. Those fees will be discussed at the March meeting.

Also discussed was revisiting a November decision by the board to give General Manager Mary Cahill the authority to negotiate facility rates.

Board members Shiva Frentzen and Vicky Neibauer suggested establishing parameters for Cahill to stay within when negotiating rates. Neibauer said that not doing so would leave Cahill open to potential charges of favoritism. The board will take up that topic at its March meeting. Rentals already negotiated by Cahill since November will be discussed at their February meeting.

Frentzen also requested that staff track how much time they spend when putting on events. That request became more important when later in the evening Cahill reported that the event planning company, EzEvents, wouldn’t be putting on any events for the district this year because of scheduling conflicts. Last month the firm made a presentation and proposed putting on three events. Cahill said the firm promised to work with the district in 2014.

Denise Herrnberger, Senior Accountant for CPCSD, reported that six months into the fiscal year, the district is doing better than a year ago. Last year at this time the district had a $53,532 loss from recreation and community center programs; this year it is only $31,084. Herrnberger also reported the district has received its first installment of property taxes. El Dorado County estimates the district will receive $3.1 million in property taxes for the year, net of administrative fees.

The topic of the community center continued to pop up throughout the evening with Frentzen suggesting the board adopt a policy of making the community center revenue neutral by a certain date. She suggested revisiting the recommendations of a revenue enhancement group established several years ago.

“We’ve got to stop the bleeding before we’re broke,” said Neibauer, although Cahill remarked it was an unanswered question if the community center would ever be revenue neutral.

An update to the district’s Cost Recovery Policy was also discussed by the board. It was referred to the Park and Recreation Committee and will be brought back to the board in March.

Staff reported they are continuing to have server issues and are researching how to upgrade the system.

Committee assignments were made with Frentzen and Neibauer to serve on the CC&R Committee; Stanton and McNeil on Parks and Recreation; Tucker and Neibauer on Budget and Administration; and Tucker and McNeil on Fire and Emergency Services.

The board also announced that a workshop on a marketing plan for the community center will be held on Jan. 23 from 6 to 8 p.m. The public is invited.

Contact Dawn Hodson at 530-344-5071 or dhodson@mtdemocrat.net. Follow @DHodsonMtDemo on Twitter.