HomeMy WebLinkAboutINS-2021-6 - RBJ Schlegel Sponsorship Funding AllocationREPORT TO:Finance and Corporate Services Committee
DATE OF MEETING:August 9th, 2021
SUBMITTED BY:Niall Lobley,Director of Parks & Cemeteries,
PREPARED BY:Niall Lobley, Director of Parks & Cemeteries, Cory Bluhm,
Director Economic Development, Kim Kugler, Director, Sport,
Mark Parris, Landscape Architect
WARD(S) INVOLVED:5 (ALL)
th
DATE OF REPORT:July 29, 2021
REPORT NO.:INS-2021-6
SUBJECT:RBJ Schlegel Sponsorship Funding 2020/2021
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RECOMMENDATION:
That staff allocate the 2020and 2021RBJ Schlegel sponsorship funding tosupport
the development of Phase Two amenities at RBJ Schlegel Park, the Huron Road
entry signage and the installation of Cricket netting; and,
That staff report back to Council on a recommended approach to future allocations
of RBJ Schlegel sponsorship funding.
BACKGROUND:
On May 7, 2018 a sponsorship and naming rights agreement was completed between the
City of Kitchener and Schlegel Urban Developments Corp(Sponsor). The Sponsor will
contribute $230,000.00 annually over a period of ten (10) years beginning from the Park
Opening Date. The City agreed to officially name the site RBJ Schlegel Park for a forty
(40) year period, in addition to three (3) sportsfields for a ten (10) year term. The City
retains the right to name all other amenities separately, including the indoor recreation
centre.
Use of the funding is at the sole discretion of the city, guided by the sponsorship policy
‘GOV-COR-2000-Municipal Sponsorship’. Within the policy there are four (4) possible
streams to which the funding can be allocated:
1.Improving the sponsored program and/or audience experience;
2.Direct servicing costs of any sponsorship arrangement (e.g. the preparation of
partner/facility signage, official announcement events, changing names on
publications, etc.) and program implementation costs (e.g. staff, overhead, admin
expenses, or marketing);
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3.Administrative costs associated with the Office of Strategic Partnerships;
4.Deposited to a reserve account for future investments in the community.
The official park opening date was finalized as September 6, 2020. The city invoiced the
full annual amount on September 10, 2020 and is currently unallocated. The 2021
paymentwill be received in early September.
REPORT
Staff have identified a number of pressuresat RBJ Schlegel beyond capacity of existing
approved budgetsthat could be alleviated by the allocation of the 2020 and 2021
sponsorship to the ongoing RBJ Schlegel park project.
Huron Road Entry Sign
An entry sign concept has been developed for the Huron Road entry to the site. This is
currently the primary access to the site, though, in later years, once access is obtained
from Fisher Hallman, this will become a secondary access.
The need for an entry sign stems both from the significance of the park, but also it is
embedded within the sponsorship agreement; there is a commitment to have the site
name at the entrances. Broad consensus with the Schlegel Family on the nature and
design of the sign has been reached, however, budget to implement the signage is not
within the scope of the existing RBJ Schlegel project. The total cost of the signage is
estimated at between $55,000 and $70,000 and will be a significant sign promoting the
park, drawing design comparisons with the other City-wide parks, Kiwanis, McLennan,
Huron Natural Area and Victoria Park. This work aligns with bullet 2 above, in so far as
these are costs associated with servicing the sponsorship agreement.
Cricket Field Netting
The natural turf cricket field was planned and constructed as a 110m diameter field with
artificial pitch. Clearances to the adjacent residential property line and
splashpad/playground are approximately 130m diameter, including retaining walls
between 2-3m in height. The field was closed for the entire2020 Fall season to allow for
seed to properly establish.
This is a good size field, but is, by necessity of the site, not a full-sized field. In early spring
based on user feedback, staff identified that skilled players were able to strike the ball
and carry to the splash pad area and neighbouring residential properties. On this basis,
it was agreed that the field should be used for youth programming only.
However, as has become apparent through 2021, there is a strong community desire to
use the field and recreational play is routinely occurring. As this is not controlled through
an organised and affiliated sports group and not subject to booking, staff are seeing
concerns around ball strikes carrying to areas of the park where they could strike users.
An adjustment to the alignment of cricket square by rotating it and adding protective
netting is the preferred option understanding the city cannot control all use of the field. It
is estimated that this rotation of the pitch and addition of fencing would cost around
$70,000At a minimum, netting will be designed along the northern property boundary
(~70m), and along the splashpad/playground walls (~40m). There are no conflicts
projected with Phase 2 amenities. Netting will be similar if not match the netting installed
on the western artificial turf field spanning the Union Gas corridor.This work aligns with
bullet point 1 above, improving the audience experience.
Phase 2 Outdoor Amenities
The Phase 2 outdoor amenities are currently under tender, with an anticipated award in
August or September. These amenities consist of a number of courts (tennis, pickleball
and basketball) being added to the site and are considered through the master planning
for the park. However, in late 2020 it was recognisedthat a change in scope to eliminate
parking areas that were surplus to the needs of the sitewould provide significant added
parkland value to RBJ Schlegel and so a comprehensive redesign of Phase 2 was
engaged.
This eliminated a roadway, parking and the required supporting infrastructure (lighting
and stormwater) and added dedicated pickleball courts, a pedestrian promenade areas
and pedestrian scale lighting to enhance evening and event use of the plaza area.
While it is envisaged that this rescopingcan be largely accommodated within the existing
contingency identified for Phase 2, it does place pressure on provisional items such as a
shade structure andcoloured playing surfaces for the courts. In addition, staff are
experiencing increases in contract pricing in many areas as a result of the direct and
indirect impacts of COVID-19. Through allocating additional capital to these projects,
aligned to stream 1 of the sponsorship funding,will provide greater flexibility in managing
Phase 2 amenity works.At this time, it is not known how much additional funding may be
required to support this work; this will be highlighted within provisional items in the Phase
2 tender work. This work aligns with bullet point 1 above in that it improves the sponsored
program.
Future use of Sponsorship Funding
The Office of Strategic Partnerships has not yet developed a recommended approach to
the future allocation of the RBJ Schlegel Sponsorship funding across the four approved
streams. It is anticipated that this work will be undertaken in 2023 with a future
recommendation to come to Council.
RECOMENDATION
It is proposed that the 2020 and 2021 sponsorship money be fully allocated to support
the three projects identified above; entry signage, cricket netting and Phase 2 park works.
Through 2021 and 2022 the Office of Strategic Partnership (OSP) will propose a
proportional breakdown for sponsorship over the four identified streams.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT:
INFORM:
This report has been posted to the City’s website with the agenda in advance of the
council / committee meeting.
ALIGNMENT WITH CITY OF KITCHENER STRATEGIC PLAN:
This report supports the delivery of core service.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:
The sponsorship revenue in 2020 and 2021 sums to $460,000.
It is proposed that up to:
$85,000 be allocated toward signage (allowing for contingency)
$85,000 be allocated toward cricket field improvements and netting (allow for
contingency) and,
The balance, or$290,000, (which ever is lesser), be made available to support the
award of the tender and provisional items within Phase 2.
Any funds unused will remain available for future use as per the sponsorship
agreement
As these funds are currently unallocated, there is no net impactto approved budgets or
existing project scope.
ACKNOWLEDGED BY: Denise McGoldrick, General Manager, Infrastructure Services