6/24/26, 1 03 PM Manage Survey Statistics Text Report
https //www portolavalley net/Admin/Components/Form/Statistics/TextStatisticsDetail/?page 8&size 30&formId 67&itemID 93237&id 7935 2/4 6/24/26, 1 03 PM Manage Survey Statistics Text Report
https //www portolavalley net/Admin/Components/Form/Statistics/TextStatisticsDetail/?page 8&size 30&formId 67&itemID 93237&id 7935 3/4 My apologies if this is a duplicate. I sent in earlier but realized I never got a confirmation.Thanks, Karen June 24, 2026
Dear Town Council and Staff -
I am writing this letter as an individual. Please note, however, that I did research and analyze Recreational sport-user fees for the Parks & Recreation Committee. I appreciate that Council asked our Committee to do some further research on how our fees compare to neighboring towns, as well as what potential impact might occur with the proposed rate increases. Parks & Rec focussed only on sport-user and picnic rental fees, as we felt those categorie were within our purview.
I respect the Staff recommendation of raising field Sport User fees by approximately 10%, and not raising Court usage rates. Even though this field-user rate increase is significantly higher than COLA, it still keeps us in line with other Towns. And in contacting some of our participating organizations, it appears that usage may not be impacted by a 10% rate increase. In the future, however, it may make sense to move to a per hour rental rate like our neighboring communities.
Regarding the picnic area rentals, I feel strongly that this rate should be charged as a flat fee (like our Redwood Grove rental) or on a per-hour basis. The proposed rate increase, from $3 to $13 per person, is too high (a 333% increase). Per data that was shared by Town Staff for 2024, I noted that picnic rentals ranged from 8 to 50 participants, and averaged $75 in revenue per picnic. A flat $100 charge seems very reasonable and would be an increase of 33% over that $75 average. Per the Matrix study comparison, Hillsborough charges $15 per hour, Saratoga charges $24 per day, and Burlingame charge $126 to $332 per reservation (based on residency).
With respect to Facility rentals and all the new “add-on” fees, I personally believe that we need to simplify how this is presented, clarify which fees are mandatory/optional, and what an end-user should expect when renting. I am also finding it difficult to understand how an application processing fee can be $492. If I am interpreting the proposed schedule correctly, the total rental rate is broken down as follows:
Community Hall (residents) (current rate is $2,777)
Proposed Room rental: $2,777 (fully-loaded cost per Matrix study is: $1,072) New Application Processing Fee: $492 (mandatory)
Mandatory Base Total: $3,269
New Kitchen fee: $83 (generally used when renting the hall, according to staff) New Consulting Fee: $246 per hour (generally used when renting the hall, according to staff) Base Total plus highly-likely fees: $3,598
There are also fees that may create additional charges - if cleaning is necessary that is $25/hour and if something is left in the hall, a storage fee of $144 will be charged.
Regarding the new key deposit, I do not understand why that cannot be included in the room deposit? May we simply state that the lost key charge is $150 and will be taken out of the room deposit?
Alder/Buckeye Room (current rate is $111 per hour)
With the proposed room rental rate of $288 per hour (100% of Matrix fully-loaded cost), I am concerned that charging an additional $492 application processing fee is out of line, and may diminish rentals. Just for a one hour meeting, a renter would be charged $780, when the current charge is just $11
I want to thank Town Staff (Darcy, Tony and Cindy) for their diligence and support in working with the Parks and Recreation Committee on the proposed Recreation Fees on the Master Fee Schedule. The proposal reflects, to a good degree, the comments and input provided by the Committee and me personally — but I don’t think it goes far enough. I’d like to offer the following comments and suggestions.
1. Move away from per-player fees for field/court usage.
Towns around us have moved away from per-player fees for field and court usage. Per-player billing has inherent problems:
• It requires an accurate headcount mechanism, which we do not currently verify — nor should we, since that would increase administrative costs and could create friction with user groups.
• It gives teams an incentive to undercount players to lower their fees. • It penalizes growth: a popular program that attracts more participants gets hit with higher fees, which is a perverse incentive, especially in areas like youth sports where we should be encouraging participation.
• Field maintenance costs (mowing, irrigation, wear-and-tear) scale with hours of use and field size, not number of players, so per-player fees don’t actually align revenue with our real cost structure.
A flat per-field/per-hour rate is simpler to bill, easier for both users and staff to budget around, and doesn’t require trusting self-reported numbers. I’d strongly encourage the Town to move away from per-player fees in favor of a simpler billing mechanism — if not this year, then in planning for the next fiscal year.
2. Picnic “space” fees at Town Center/Little People’s Park should not be perparticipant.
The Master Fee Schedule proposes billing $13 per participant for picnic spaces. Estimating headcount for a picnic in advance is impractical: if a group estimates low, do we bill them extra after the fact? If they estimate high, do we issue a refund? This creates real administrative burden for staff on top of being confusing for residents.
I’d suggest a flat per-event cost instead, consistent with how we bill Community Hall rooms and the Redwood Grove. If we want to account for group size, a simple tier works: $50 for under 25 people, $100 for 25 and over.
3. Pickleball court fees should better reflect actual maintenance cost.
Pickleball Club players are currently charged the same per-player fee as the grass-field sports clubs — $100 per player per season. This doesn’t hold up: the cost to the Town of maintaining a concrete pickleball court is substantially lower than maintaining an irrigated grass field, and the fee structure should reflect that difference. I’d propose cutting the pickleball fee in half, to $50 per player per season, as a reasonable first step toward aligning fees with actual cost of upkeep.
Recreation Fee revenue is less than 1% of total Town revenue. What we need is a Master Fee Schedule that’s simple for both our users and our staff to administer, and that actually makes sense given our cost structure. Most users of our recreational facilities have a choice to go elsewhere — our Rossotti’s soccer families, for instance, though that’s a topic for another conversation. We have beautiful, functional, and desirable facilities. Let’s make it easy for people to want to use them.
Thank you for all you do.
Patty Dewes
Questions we have raised over the years:
• 1.1.1. The County agrees, through the Sheriff, to provide general law enforcement services within the corporate limits of the Town to the extent and in the manner hereinafter set forth in this Agreement. What are these general services?
• How many hours of overtime and how is this determined. How has PV Town council oversight when they hold them harmless.
• 1.1.2. Except as otherwise specifically set forth in this Agreement, such services shall only encompass duties and functions of the type coming within the jurisdiction of and customarily rendered by the Sheriff under the County Charter, the statutes of the State of California, and under the Town municipal codes. What is considered “customarily “
• 1.1.3. Services also include basic traffic law enforcement s e r v i c e s ; special event security details; attendance and participation at various Town meetings and neighborhood groups; and quarterly statistical reports. Please provide details for the special event security. Which events are included. • 1.1.4. Sheriff support staff will provide services representing technical; records and evidence management; fiscal services; and human resources support.
• 1.1.5. Sheriff support staff will provide general administrative support and will perform the services necessary for the collection of fees such as, but not limited to, abandoned vehiclerecovery,alarm permit and response fees,movingcitations, vehicle releases, accident reports, and crime reports.
How accurate are these reports? How often have we, PV residents, reported accidents, but nothing showed up on these reports.
• How often did Law enforcement conducted an investigation in Portola Valley and how often did they report results?
• 1.1.6. General law enforcement services performed hereunder may include, if requested, by the Town, supplemental security support, supplemental sworn officer support, and supplemental professional civilian support staff.
What are these general law enforcement services
ADDITIONAL SERVICES PERFORMED BY SHERIFF'S OFFICE.
1.2.1. The Sheriff may provide additional services which fall outside of the contract scope described under 1.1. and this determination shall be at the sole discretion of the Sheriff. When resources are available, services may include:
• SchoolResourceOfficerservices- what kind of services and how many hours of services are requested from PV public schools and private schools. How much has PV spent in the last few years for these additional services. • K-9Unitservices - how many hours and at what cost for PV in the last few years? How much of these services were billed to PV in the last few years.
What for? And how many were needed at our schools ?
• Special investigative services including the Vehicle Theft Task Force (VTTF).
The Town will not be a signatory to any other agreements or VTTF services.
How many times has PV used these services and did it offer results? • Emergency Service Bureau services including specialized units such as SWAT and Search & Rescue. We had one operation reported via local media last year for a missing woman in the Windy Hill area. How many other search and rescue services were needed in Portola Valley • PsychiatricEmergencyResponseTeam(PERT)services How much time and money was spent on PERT services for Portola valley ? Any reports? • Why are we signing a 2 million contract and hold them harmless • 6.1. Town shall defend, hold harmless and indemnify County, its officers, agents, and/or employees from any and all claims which arise out of the terms and conditions of this Agreement and which result from the acts or omissions of Town, its officers, agents and/or employees. • 6.2. County shall defend, hold harmless and indemnify Town, its officers, agents and/or employees from any and all claims which arise out of the terms and conditions of this Agreement and which result from the acts or omissions of County, its officers, agents, and/or employees.
6.3. In the event of the concurrent negligence (or intentional or reckless acts) of Town, its officers, agents and/or employees, and County, its officers, agents and/or employees, then the liability for any and all claims which arise out of the terms and conditions of this Agreement shall be apportioned under California’s theory of comparative fault.
Additional questions:
office space?
There has been office space allocated for the sheriff next to the Maintenance barn and across from Spring Town Council has proposed to occupy empty office space in Town Hall and collect revenue. Which office space and how much is the rent? Personnel Costs: Includes staffing associated with patrol, enforcement, investigative services, and direct administrative services.
Where is the data to support that these costs were for services in Portola Valley? • Operating Costs: Includes various supplies, equipment, training, vehicle expenses, and support for technical, records and evidence management, fiscal services, and human resources.
What kind of training?
Has any town council member looked at the actual operating costs and verified if the submitted services correspond with the actual agreement? How much overtime? if the contract states 2 officers - are these officers in Portola Valley? Or only in Portola Valley when dispatched.
Many questions we have asked over the years and never answered.
Many concerns reported over the years and never resolved.
Please answer our questions and report the facts to substantiate your decision Thank you,
Caroline Vertongen