Agenda Report
Fullerton City Council
MEETING DATE: MAY 17, 2022
TO: CITY COUNCIL / SUCCESSOR AGENCY
SUBMITTED BY: Eric J. levitt, City Manager
PREPARED BY: ALICE LOYA, DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF PARKS AND RECREATION SUBJECT: MAPLE NEIGHBORHOOD CENTER LEASE AGREEMENT
SUMMARY
Staff presented two lease agreements with non-profit agencies to lease the Gilbert and Maple neighborhood centers to provide neighborhood services to the surrounding community at the April 19, 2022 City Council meeting. City Council directed staff to bring back the lease with Friendly Center, Inc. for the Maple Center to add private after-hours facility rentals.
RECOMMENDATION
Approve lease agreement, in substantially the form as attached and in such final form as approved by the City Attorney, with Friendly Center, Inc. for the Maple Neighborhood Center to provide neighborhood services to the surrounding communities as recommended by the Parks and Recreation Commission.
Authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute and administer the Maple Neighborhood Center lease agreement and all documents related to the lease agreement, including options to extend, in a form approved by the City Attorney.
OR
Deny lease agreement with the Friendly Center, Inc. and direct staff to return with a budget and plan to turn the Maple Center into a private rental facility.
PRIORITY POLICY STATEMENT
This item matches the following Priority Policy Statements:
Infrastructure and City Assets
Fiscal and Organization Stability.
FISCAL IMPACT
The new lease agreement will approximately $67,000 in annual General Fund savings beginning in FY 2022-23 as the lessee will assume responsibility for building maintenance, liability insurance, phone, IT and custodial costs. The Maple Center has remained closed since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. If the City re-opened the center as a City-run rental facility, it would need approximately $135,000 in staffing and building costs, less any rental revenue.
Maple Center Background
The Parks and Recreation Department has operated the Maple Center since 1945. The programs offered at the center over the years included senior services and programs, youth after school programs, youth summer programs, gang prevention programs, social services, document assistance and recreation classes. As the City began experiencing financial constraints, social services and document assistance became referral services to other agencies and the City transferred senior services to the Senior Center and then to the newly constructed Fullerton Community Center.
The Parks and Recreation Department began private after-hours rentals at the Maple Center to generate additional revenue and supplement funding for the remaining programs. With the improvements made to the Maple Center in 2011, the Center became a moderately popular venue for private rentals on most weekends, with a gross revenue of $68,000 in 2019.
DISCUSSION
Staff presented lease agreements for the Gilbert Neighborhood Center and the Maple Neighborhood Center to City Council at the April 19, 2022 meeting. City Council approved the lease for the Gilbert Neighborhood Center with OC United and continued discussion of the lease agreement for the Maple Center with the Friendly Center, Inc. to determine if the lease could include private facility rentals.
Staff met with the Friendly Center to review the process and policies needed to offer facility rentals. The Friendly Center is a full-service family resource center that normally operates five days per week with many weeks offering classes and programs on the weekends and weekday evenings. They can offer private rentals in a portion of the Maple Center during their operational hours but not after hours.
As a full service family resource center, the Friendly Center, which began in 1924, will provide free programs and services to the public, focusing on Fullerton residents and the community surrounding Lemon Park. The Maple Center could become, Fullerton’s first and only full-service family resource center. The Friendly Center has served 269 Fullerton families in their current facilities in Orange and Stanton, indicating a need for their services in Fullerton. They estimate serving 1,000 unduplicated individuals, at a value of $350,000, during their first year of operation at the Maple Center. The attached summary, provided by the Friendly Center, lists the programs and services they would offer at the Maple Center, if City Council approves the lease.
Attachments:
Attachment 1 – Friendly Center Program Summary
Attachment 2 – Friendly Center, Inc. Lease Agreement
Maple Center Lease
May 17, 2022 - Page 2