SR - AGR-3473.D - BALL FIELD MAINTENANCE ADULT SOFTBALLAGENDA ITEM
Meeting Date: October 14, 2014
ReviewedNer' ied By:
City Manager
TO: Honorable Mayor and Finance Dire for
Members of the City Council To Be Present y: Marie Knight
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FROM: Marie Knig 01�
Community Se ices Direct r
1. SUBJECT
Ball Field Maintenance and Adult Softball Program Services Agreement
2. SUMMARY
Agreement between the City of Orange and Major League Softball Inc., for the maintenance of
City -owned and/or operated adult softball fields, the administration of the City's adult softball
program, and the use of the Maintenance Garage at Hart Park.
13. RECOMMENDATION
Approve the Ball Field Maintenance and Program Services Agreement and authorize the Mayor
and City Clerk to execute the agreement on behalf of the City.
4. FISCAL IMPACT
It is estimated the City will receive approximately $78,000 in annual General Fund revenue
through this agreement for the administration of the adult softball program. In addition, the
agreement saves the City an estimated $154,000 in administrative costs to run the program.
5. STRATEGIC PLAN GO
3: Enhance and promote quality of life in the community
b. Deliver high quality and safe recreational, social, environmental, educational and
cultural services.
e. Develop and strengthen collaborative partnerships to enhance and promote quality of
life programs, projects, and services.
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1 6. BACKGROUND and DISCUSSION J
Background
In 1986 the City contracted with Major League Softball, Inc. (MLS) to assign umpires and
scorekeepers only for the City's adult softball program to save City resources that would be spent
to provide these portions of the program in- house. Since this time, the following elements have
been added to this agreement: 1) a Lease Agreement which allows MLS to utilize a small portion
of the Maintenance Garage at Hart Park as an office and equipment storage area, 2) the City
revised the agreement to have MLS provide ball field maintenance services, which include
standard ball diamond maintenance, athletic infield treatments, and ball field preparation (lining
and dragging of each infield in preparation for a game). Initially these services were provided by
in -house maintenance staff and the contracting of these services was an expenditure savings to
the General Fund of $16,875 and 3) the City replaced the umpire /scorekeeper contract service
package with a full- service Operating Services Agreement that provides for program
administration, officiating services, storekeeping services, and field maintenance /preparation as
it relates to adult softball. Under this agreement the City retains a portion of the registration fees
paid by each team to cover our costs.
Research has been conducted as each contract renewal period approached to find comparable
companies that provide the same services to the scale of MLS, however, the research has
concluded that there is not a local corporation or organization that can provide these same
services.
In January 2010, the City entered into a new five year full- service agreement (Operating
Agreement, the Ball Field Maintenance Agreement and the Maintenance Garage Lease
Agreement) with MLS. The differences from the prior contract included the following: 1) a
revised methodology for calculating the revenue paid to the City by MLS and 2) the lease rate of
the Maintenance Garage was increased from $400.00 to $510.00 per month for use of increased
space at the Maintenance Garage. Since MLS was determined to be the only full- service contract
provider, the contract with MLS was considered on a "sole source" basis. This agreement is set
to expire on January 1, 2015.
Discussion
At this time staff has negotiated with MLS for another five year frill- service agreement. Through
staff research and communication with other local municipalities, staff has again determined
Major League Softball is the only local "full service" (program administration, officiating
services, storekeeping services, awards and field maintenance /preparation) adult softball
provider to meet the requested services offered by the City of Orange.
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ITEM 10/14/14
Services provided to the City of Orange through this agreement.
1. Softball Leagues - This agreement allows MLS to provide our City -wide Adult Softball
Leagues. Currently, the adult softball program utilizes Hart Park Diamonds #2 and #3,
Shaffer Park and Steve Ambriz Memorial Park six days a week, Monday — Friday and
Sundays. Approximately 11,000 adults a year participate in four sessions annually. Three
sessions are 10 weeks long and one is 8 weeks.
The current cost per team per session for a ten game season is $600.00 for new teams and
$565.00 for returning teams, which includes all umpire, scorekeeper, and forfeits bond
fees. The fee proposed for the new agreement is $615.00 for new teams and $580.00 for
returning teams due to an increase in administrative costs and in an effort to maintain a
competitive rate. This proposed fee is equivalent to the City of Fullerton which offers a
comparable league to the City of Orange.
Based on these fees, MLS will receive approximately $269,875 in registration fees, with
the remainder going straight to the umpires and scorekeepers. Per the agreement, the City
will received 29% of those fees, which is approximately $78,000. MLS uses the
remainder of the fees to fund their operations which includes; collecting and processing
all registration fees, submitting quarterly league payments, program marketing, field
preparation and maintenance, game schedules, electronic scorekeeping, league awards,
staff and umpire schedules, as well as complete online registration, league statistics and
ball field maintenance and insurance.
2. Tournaments - In addition to annual league play, this agreement will provide for one -day
tournaments at City of Orange facilities. These one -day tournaments allow participants to
compete in a variety of softball formats of play and also serve as a key marketing tool to
showcase the adult softball programs offered in the City of Orange and increase future
participation.
3. Ball Field Maintenance - MLS shall provide Ball Field Maintenance Services for the
Shaffer Ball Field, Steve Ambriz Fields #1 & #2, and Hart Ball Fields #2 & #3. The
MLS Standard Ball Field Maintenance System and Infield Treatment Program ensure
softball fields are safe and in high quality game conditions. Various services provided by
MLS in the agreement include: providing infield mix, laser leveling, edging of the infield
perimeters, conduct base peg measurements and ball field lighting tests, minor infield
grading and sod replacement, and scarifying. MLS will also clean out dugouts, paint foul
lines and coed arcs (City will provide paint), water -blast the infield perimeter borders
every other week and drag and water fields before each day's games. In addition to
providing high quality softball fields, the Ball Field Maintenance program provided by
MLS saves the City approximately $61,674 in staff costs that would otherwise need to be
funded by the General Fund.
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4. On -Site Presence — MLS desires to continue to lease a portion of the Maintenance
Garage at Hart Park for administrative services and activities directly related to the Ball
Field Maintenance and Softball Program Services Agreement. The current monthly lease
fee is $510.00 and it will be increased 12% to $575.00. The monthly lease fee is based on
the following factors: the Maintenance Garage is a specialized space; there is an inherent
benefit to the City and its adult softball participants of having MLS on -site in Orange; and
that there is no other market for use of this space. The increase represents an adjustment
for the current estimated value of the use of the facility, which was increased in 2010
based on square footage only. The lease fee has not otherwise been increased since 1994.
Cost Recovery Research & Proiected Revenue
The Community Services Department has created an adult softball rate model to ensure the adult
softball program is full cost recovery to the City. Recovery items included in the rate model are
staff time, maintenance items, lighting, overhead, and an amortized field use cost. It was
determined the City needs to retain 29% of the gross revenue collected for league fees to fully
offset our costs. For one -day tournaments it has been determined the City needs to retain 18% of
the gross revenue collected for tournament fees to fully offset its costs. It is estimated the City
will receive approximately $78,000 in annual General Fund revenue through this agreement
which is 29% on average of the registration fees.
7. ATTACHMENTS 77::::1
• Ball Field Maintenance and Adult Softball Program Services Agreement
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