Council's Decision On Task Force Recommendations
 |
||
|
|
|
|
||
On March 22, 2005, Council adopted the following recommendations from the Task Force to Review Services for the five services under review.
-
Charter bus service:
Council approved the recommendation to exit the charter bus service currently provided by Kingston Transit as follows:- Exit the local shuttle business for non-tourist related activities, such as shuttles of residents or students to bars, as there are sufficient private sector operators to provide this service.
- Do not compete where service needs can be met by the private sector.
- Use city charter bus services to shuttle city and utilities departments when the cost of service is less than the private sector services available and/or when the service needs cannot be met by the private sector. Price of the city service should be set to recover the full cost.
- Maintain and clearly define operations and services that support tourism and economic development related activities for large special events that cannot be accommodated by the private sector.
- Council directed staff to develop a policy to execute the recommendations and to clarify in which circumstances charter/shuttle services should be provided limiting the provision of charter/shuttle services to tourist-related activities or large special events that cannot otherwise be met by the private sector.
-
City property and city facility leasing:
Council deferred a decision on city property and city leasing services and directed the operations standing committee to report back to council within six months on the following items:- Develop criteria to determine which buildings and properties should be identified as surplus and sold, with the exception of airport properties.
- Identify the buildings which could be determined to be surplus.
- For those assets not declared surplus or for those assets that do not attract a buyer, undertake an analysis to determine what the market rent would be to lease the space and the marketability of the space.
- Compare the market rent against the total cost of maintaining the asset (operating capital, indirect) against other options to determine if leasing is the most feasible option.
-
Recreation day camp programs:
Council approved the recommendation that the City of Kingston continue to provide recreational day camp programs and directed the community services standing committee to:- Pursue opportunities to improve community partnering.
- Ensure subsidies continue to be available regardless of the service delivery model employed according to the current practice.
- Identify capacity within the market to permit existing agencies to directly provide services on behalf of the city, where appropriate.
- Clearly define the city's role in coordinating the provision of services, programming and other roles, such as support and facilitation for other service providers.
- Avoid duplication and direct competition.
- Develop a business case as to why the city should continue to be the sole service provider for all their programs.
- Develop a business case prior to expanding any existing services or developing new programs to offer. The business case should include a market evaluation of other services currently provided by other agencies and the reason that the city also needs to provide these services.
- Develop a clear user fee and cost recovery policy for residents and non-residents.
- Review the current programs to ensure that they are consistent with the role and outcomes identified.
- Hold discussions with existing service providers to review the above noted opportunities and provide an appropriate forum for input.
-
Belle Park Fairways Golf Course:
Council approved the recommendation that the City of Kingston continue to provide a golf course at Belle Park Fairways and directed staff to:- Conduct a review of the mandate of the golf course to operate on a self-sustaining basis, including all costs associated with golf course operations such as administrative overhead and capital.
- Prepare a business plan that will identify the feasibility of meeting the existing public policy objectives, while at the same time eliminating (lowering) the taxpayer subsidy, and to report the results to the Task Force to Review Services.
-
Develop performance measures, standards and mandatory reporting mechanisms including:
- Revenue management
- Expense management
- Customer profiles and feedback
- Yield management (detailed tracking of rounds played and rate structure)
-
Lake Ontario Park Campground:
Council approved the recommendation to exit the campground business at Lake Ontario Park at the end of the 2005 season and directed that future uses of the park be determined through a public consultation exercise for the Lake Ontario Park property. Council directed staff to develop an exit plan for approval by council.
