COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA PUBLIC HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON PARKS, RECREATION AND CULTURAL AFFAIRS - - - Room 400, City Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Monday, May 24, 2004 9:3 a.m. - - - Bill 040508 - Ordinance authorizing the President of the Fairmount Park Commission, the Executive Director of Fairmount Park and the Public Property Commissioner on behalf of the City of Philadelphia to enter into a lease and related agreements and an easement agreement relating to utility conduits with PTM II Limited Partnership, etc. PRESENT: COUNCILWOMAN BLONDELL REYNOLDS-BROWN, (Chair) COUNCILMAN W. WILSON GOODE, JR., (Vice-Chair) COUNCILMAN FRANK DICICCO COUNCILMAN JACK KELLY COUNCILMAN FRANK RIZZO COUNCILWOMAN MARIAN B. TASCO - - - V A R A L L O Incorporated Litigation Support Services Eleven Penn Center 1835 Market Street, Suite 600 Philadelphia, PA 19103 (215) 561-2220 (215) 567-2670 2 5/24/04 - Parks, Recreation & Cultural Affairs
We will now call the Committee on Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs to order. First of all, let us apologize on this end. We are now ready to proceed with the hearing on Recreation, Parks and Cultural Affairs. Good morning. Before we get started, I need to read to everyone the letter I submitted to President Verna just this morning. "I write to disclose a potential conflict of interest and to announce my intention to disqualify myself from taking official action in related matters as a member of Council. "I serve as an uncompensated member of the board of directors of the Please Touch Museum. Under the State Ethics Act and the Philadelphia Code, I may not take official action affecting a corporation of which I am a board member. "Philadelphia Code, Section 20-608, mandates the particular procedure for officials to disclose financial interest in outside entities and announce their intent to disqualify themselves in matters involving such interest. This letter is for that purpose. 3 5/24/04 - Parks, Recreation & Cultural Affairs "I intend to have no official involvement as a member of City Council in any matters that come before Council that have a financial impact on the Please Touch Museum with the exception of matters that have only a" -- this is Latin -- "de minimus economic impact or which affect to the same degree a class consisting of the general public or a subclass consisting of an industry, occupation or other group which includes this nonprofit. I will, therefore, not be participating in these proceedings, and I am pleased to turn these proceedings over to the vice-chair of Recreation Parks and Cultural Affairs, Councilman W. Wilson Goode. He will carry us from there. Thank you.
I note that a quorum is present. Members of the committee participating today include Councilman Frank Rizzo, Councilman Jack Kelly, Councilwoman Marian B. Tasco, myself, W. Wilson Goode, Jr. I will ask the clerk to read the title of the bill.
Bill No. 040508, an ordinance authorizing the president of the Fairmount 4 5/24/04 - Parks, Recreation & Cultural Affairs Park Commission, the executive director of Fairmount Park, and the public property commissioner on behalf of the City of Philadelphia to enter into a lease and related agreements and an easement agreement relating to utility conduits with PTM II Limited Partnership (PTM II), a Pennsylvania limited partnership, under which the City would lease Memorial Hall and adjoining land (together the premises) to PTM II, which would sublease the premises to PTM III Limited Partnership (PTM III), a Pennsylvania limited partnership, which would sub-sublease the premises to Please Touch Museum (Please Touch), a Pennsylvania not-for-profit corporation under Please Touch, through PTM II and PTM III, would restore, improve and adapt Memorial Hall for use as a children's museum and operate the Please Touch Museum at Memorial Hall, all under certain terms and conditions.
Thank you. Our first witness today is Nancy Kolb of the Please Touch Museum. Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 5 5/24/04 - Parks, Recreation & Cultural Affairs My name is Nancy Kolb, president and CEO of the Please Touch Museum, and I'm present today to testify in support of Bill 040508 proposing the move of Please Touch Museum to Memorial Hall in Fairmount Park. Memorial Hall, one of Philadelphia's most endangered national historic landmarks, has fallen victim to time and lack of resources. Please Touch Museum will be the means of restoring and rejuvenating this grand old building to its original purpose, a museum, all at the museum's own cost and expense. In addition, we will keep and maintain the premises in good order and condition throughout the 80-year term of the lease. The new Please Touch Museum at Memorial Hall will be a place for learning and a place for fund for children and families. Our goal is to tell the story of the Centennial Exhibition, which generated over nine and a half million visitors to Philadelphia in six months in 1876, a goal we should have for today. In addition, Please Touch Museum's involvement with our new neighbors, the Parkside 6 5/24/04 - Parks, Recreation & Cultural Affairs community, will help this underutilized and under-appreciated neighborhood achieve its vision for a more prosperous future. The Centennial District, a nexus of cultural and family entertainment attractions, will include our museum, the Philadelphia Zoo, Fairmount Park and the Mann Music Center for the Performing Arts and will have a significant economic impact on the Parkside community and the City of Philadelphia. We expect at least 450,000 visitors per year, not just from the Philadelphia area, but also tourists from all over. Under the lease for Memorial Hall, the museum will provide a number of services. We will provide free admission to the museum for children in prekindergarten, kindergarten and first grade who visit the museum with trips sponsored by the city schools. We will continue our parenting programs for disadvantaged families throughout the city. We have agreed to lease back to the Fairmount Park Commission certain portions of Memorial Hall for Commission meetings. We are building bathrooms to accommodate 7 5/24/04 - Parks, Recreation & Cultural Affairs Kelly Pool. In our restoration and operation of Memorial Hall, we will be employing a number of people in connection with that, and we have developed an economic opportunity plan approved by the Park Commission and City representatives for including disadvantaged business enterprises and minority and female employees in the construction and operation of the museum. And I will be happy to answer any questions.
Thank you for your testimony, Miss Kolb. Any questions from members of the committee? Our next witness is Karen Borski. Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Good morning, Chairman Goode, Members of City Council. My name is Karen Lloyd Borski, and I'm the interim executive director of the Fairmount Park Commission. I am pleased to appear before you today on behalf of the Fairmount Park Commission in 8 5/24/04 - Parks, Recreation & Cultural Affairs support of Bill 040508, allowing the Fairmount Park Commission to enter into a lease with the Please Touch Museum for their use of Memorial Hall. I would also like to acknowledge that with me today is the vice president of the Fairmount Park Commission, Debra Wolf Goldstein, who spent countless hours working with the museum and our law department in negotiating this arrangement and ultimately bringing it to fruition. Memorial Hall has served many and varied purposes since it was built for the Centennial Exposition in 1876. Over the last 40 years it has been a full-service recreation center with indoor swimming pools, a venue for major City events, the home for a variety of different police department districts and units and, most notably, the headquarters of the Fairmount Park Commission. Despite this storied past, the building is in need of significant restoration if it is to remain as a true historic Philadelphia landmark. Council Bill No. 040508 would authorize the City to enter into a long-term lease with the Please Touch Museum to restore, improve and adapt Memorial Hall for use as a children's museum. This 9 5/24/04 - Parks, Recreation & Cultural Affairs project will not only expand a popular children's activity destination but also invest millions of dollars into the restoration and stabilization of one of Philadelphia's most treasured buildings. Scheduled to open in 2007, the museum will also greatly enhance the public's ability to visit and learn about Memorial Hall. There is also great benefit to the City beyond the restoration of this historic building. Savings will be realized in both the operating and capital budgets, as all of these annual costs related to the building will become the responsibility of the Please Touch Museum. Relief from the utility costs alone will save the City $100,000 annually. Visitors and community residents alike will also benefit from improvements made through this partnership to the landscape and grounds around Memorial Hall. Together with the Philadelphia Zoo, the Mann Center for the Performing Arts and neighborhood development in the Parkside community, this project will breathe new life into West Fairmount Park. Plans are also underway to create a 10 5/24/04 - Parks, Recreation & Cultural Affairs Centennial District among these cultural institutions on the very same grounds where our country celebrated its centennial anniversary in 1876. Lastly, realizing the challenges to Fairmount Park's operations that this project will pose, I am pleased to report that the Please Touch Museum has committed $500,000 towards the cost of relocating City employees and facilities from Memorial Hall including moving Fairmount Park employees and offices into the One Parkway Building and other park sites and facilities later this year. It is with great satisfaction that I appear before you today to pledge the wholehearted support of the Fairmount Park Commission for this legislation. I would also like to thank all of the commissioners and staff of the Fairmount Park and the Please Touch Museum for their hard work and diligence in making this project become a reality. I also am glad to answer any questions you may have. Thank you.
Thank you for your testimony, Miss Borski. 11 5/24/04 - Parks, Recreation & Cultural Affairs The Chair recognizes Councilman Rizzo.
Director, could you please comment on this letter in reference to Fairmount Management?
There was a letter delivered today. Councilman, that is a matter that is being handled by the legal entities for both Please Touch and Fairmount Park.
If you will excuse me for a second, this call is in reference to this.
Miss Borski, Miss Kolb, thank you for your testimony. We actually will just take testimony from Judith Nylon right now from Fairmount Management. Councilman, we are actually going to take testimony from Fairmount Management.
Councilman, I have conferred with counsel, and it is our understanding that commission action or Council action on this bill would not affect the contract with Fairmount Management in any way.
I need to hear that 12 5/24/04 - Parks, Recreation & Cultural Affairs from them.
Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
My name is Judith Nylon. I am president of Fairmount Management, Fairmount Park's master concessionaire. By way of testimony, if I may, I would like to read to you a very brief letter written by our counsel who, unfortunately, could not be here today, if I may.
"Re: Memorial Hall, Bill 17 No. 040508. Dear committee members: I am writing on behalf of Fairmount Management, LLC, which just learned of your upcoming hearing today and asked me to present to you the legal considerations of which you may already be aware but from the point of view of Fairmount Management. "Fairmount Management is an ongoing and hardworking business which presently has a real contractual interest in the use of Memorial Hall 13 5/24/04 - Parks, Recreation & Cultural Affairs pursuant to a contract authorized by Council and entered into with Fairmount Park Commission as the exclusive operator of Memorial Hall. "Pursuant to the contract, Fairmount Management has expended hundreds of thousands of dollars on various elements of the contractual facilities including Memorial Hall. "The Fairmount Park Commission has completely failed and refused to comply with the provisions of the contract, which would be violated and negated by the proposed bill to turn Memorial Hall over to the Please Touch Museum. "Fairmount Management has indicated to the City and the Park Commission its willingness to work towards mutually beneficial arrangements for the operation of Memorial Hall with the Please Touch Museum. In violation of the contract, these indications have been ignored. "In these circumstances, in our opinion, adoption of the proposed ordinance would clearly violate Fairmount Management's contract rights and subject the City and Fairmount Park Commission to significant legal damages. In addition, the proposal would adversely affect the utilization of 14 5/24/04 - Parks, Recreation & Cultural Affairs Memorial Hall by the public through the assistance of Fairmount Management. Accordingly, in our opinion, Fairmount Management would suffer a severe legal wrong, in violation of the Pennsylvania Constitution and law, if this ordinance is enacted and the proposed contract is executed, and Fairmount Management would have legal right to relief. "Thank you to your consideration in this matter." This letter is signed by Robert J. Sugarman, our counsel.
Thank you for your testimony. The Chair recognizes Councilman Rizzo.
Thank you. Did you hear Miss Borski say this would not affect your relationship with --
How would she have that impression. She is very reliable. 15 5/24/04 - Parks, Recreation & Cultural Affairs
I am not counsel, Councilman, and therefore I dane to get into the legalities, but we have an existing contractual right to operate at Memorial Hall through the year 2016 and therein I base the letter.
Mr. Chairman, could you bring the counsel to Miss Borski or the Fairmount Park Commission to the table, please?
Miss Borski, will you please approach the witness table?
Counselor, could you state your name for the record and who you represent?
My name is Larry Copeland, senior attorney with the City of Philadelphia Law Department.
Counselor, I'm hearing conflicting stories here. I'm hearing one saying that enacting this ordinance would have potential litigation against the City, and then I'm hearing the Fairmount Park Commission, the director, saying that that is not the case. Could you clarify, please? 16 5/24/04 - Parks, Recreation & Cultural Affairs
Councilman, I first saw this letter this morning. I would point out that what Council would do by this ordinance is merely authorize the City to proceed. The City and Please Touch Museum are aware of Fairmount Management and the parkwide concession which is referenced in the letter. They have been discussing it. Nothing about the ordinance or the actions so far would terminate those rights that Miss Nylon was referring to.
Thank you. I apologize. I got here a few minutes late. Explain to me briefly what the management company has to do with the building, in particular the Please Touch Museum -- excuse me -- Memorial Hall. They are the general concessionaires for Fairmount Park; is that correct?
Yes, the Park Commission 17 5/24/04 - Parks, Recreation & Cultural Affairs issued a -- I'm sorry, Councilman. The Park Commission issued what they call a parkwide concession, and under that Fairmount Management has rights to use certain facilities within the park. One of those rights includes catering events in Memorial Hall. I would point out that contract was not approved by City Council. It was a concession agreement.
Is it exclusive rights to the use of Memorial Hall, or is it on a job-by-job, if you will, basis? If they have a catering, then they get to use it, or is it -- if I wanted to go use that facility, I would have to go through them?
It would depend on the use, but the use is for catering in Memorial Hall.
I know. I have been to a wedding, not that I'm ready to get married again, but if I wanted to rent the hall for a wedding or some event, affair, how would I do that? Would I go to the Fairmount Park Commission or the management company?
You would be sent to 18 5/24/04 - Parks, Recreation & Cultural Affairs Fairmount Management.
Mr. Hawkins was married in that facility a couple years ago. I forgot, John.
It's a fabulous facility, and we hope to make it even better.
I know it is a great facility. I know. Miss Nylon, in your testimony you have testified that your company has put hundreds of thousands of dollars into -
Do you have any idea how much your investment was in Memorial Hall?
In Memorial Hall for physical improvements, almost nothing; only improvements to sort of hide the plaster damage and so forth while it is being repaired, but that is because there has been an ongoing repair project in Memorial Hall almost from the inception of the 19 5/24/04 - Parks, Recreation & Cultural Affairs contract. What we have done with regard to Memorial Hall is to mount a significant and costly marketing campaign to develop Web site materials and so forth to promote the use not just of Memorial Hall but of the catering facilities at the other facilities we represent within the park. So Memorial Hall is part of all of our efforts on behalf of promotion of Fairmount Park and services therein.
I'm aware of the condition of that building. It certainly leaves much to be desired. Have you had or has your company had any discussion with the folks at Please Touch Museum about possible -- and I'm not even sure if they would entertain this -- about possible uses for catering in that museum?
Councilman, we have not. When we first learned of the project nearly a year and a half ago, we immediately registered our concerns and the contractual problems we saw with the arrangement with the Fairmount Park senior officials, and we have tried literally since then to have our voice heard to discuss this. We have had 20 5/24/04 - Parks, Recreation & Cultural Affairs some unsuccessful meetings. We have had, honestly, admissions all along the way that, in fact, we had substantial contractual rights at Memorial Hall, and so we did not know about this hearing until late on Friday, and this letter is just a short way for us to make sure that the Council is aware of these issues.
I can appreciate that. I have had some history with the folks at Please Touch for a number of years. It was actually my idea to get them down to Penn's Landing, although Penn's Landing never came to fruition, and they have been struggling for a long time, and it is a great asset to the City of Philadelphia, and we certainly would hope that we don't have another situation where Please Touch has to start looking for another place because my guess is it won't be in Philadelphia. They will either stay where they are or they will look to go elsewhere. I'm a firm believer that if all sides sit down, the likelihood is that agreements and arrangements can be worked out for everyone. It does take some time. I would like to through the Chair maybe 21 5/24/04 - Parks, Recreation & Cultural Affairs request that all the parties sit down in a room, get all your lawyers together. I know that can be difficult in and of itself, getting a lot of lawyers together. You may not get anywhere, but maybe nonlawyers should get in that room and figure something out. I think there is an opportunity here for the Please Touch to move forward and for Fairmount Management Company to have some ability to use or coexist, if you will. And I can't speak for Please Touch. They have their agenda obviously, but I have a feeling there is a way of working this out. And I see Miss Kolb raising her hand. But I would ask that all parties sit down in a room once and for all and try to work through this, and I'm certain that the Chair would be more than willing to -- I don't want to give you a job that you don't want, Wilson, but they might be willing to negotiate or this committee would be willing to sit down with all of you to see if we can work something out. I don't think we can do that here. Obviously there is just not enough time. I think there is an opportunity here. I'm looking at it in an entrepreneurial way in which all factors, all 22 5/24/04 - Parks, Recreation & Cultural Affairs people, all parties could benefit by this. The building certainly needs repair. I don't think your company is in the position financially to take that huge capital investment. They may be. I just have a feeling they don't because that's a big, big, very expensive project there to get that building back to the grandeur that it once had. So since Please Touch would be making this huge capital investment -- I'm sure they are going to have rooms in there that would be available for parties and other kinds of events, and I see Miss Kolb with her hand up again. If you want to approach the table, you can. I'm not the chair of this committee, but... Thank you.
Councilman, thank you. I would point out that City officials have met with Fairmount Management, so the conversations are going on. So from our perspective we are working towards a solution.
Thank you, Councilman. Councilman Rizzo, do you have any 23 5/24/04 - Parks, Recreation & Cultural Affairs further questions for this panel?
Yes. That's exactly what I was thinking. Instead of this being negative, it could be very positive for you, and I think with some assurances, because this is just -- not just. It is coming out of committee that we still have some time to deal with the issue, so would you perceive this as possibly an opportunity for your company rather than a negative circumstance?
Councilman, we have always perceived it that way, but our attempts to reach some kind of mutually beneficial agreement have been unsuccessful; herein, my appearance here.
I plan to vote for this if I hear when Miss Kolb comes to the table that that in fact is what is going to happen. It will not affect you negatively and your recourse is obviously to do what you have to do, but I would prefer, like my colleague just said, to have this work out in a way that is agreeable because this is an opportunity we can't just let slip by here.
Councilwoman Tasco. 24 5/24/04 - Parks, Recreation & Cultural Affairs
Thank you. Good morning. I won't get into the terms of the contract or why one organization was given that kind of a contract, which I have a problem with, but that's not before us today, but I certainly think that to give one entity a multiyear contract excludes and prevents a number of caterers in this city who do business to prevent them from working in the park. And it also does not help to control the cost. Competition keeps the cost down. So as you all -- and I see the chair of Fairmount Park Commission is here -- look to renegotiate or negotiate other contracts that they do not negotiate contracts that are exclusive to any one group, which does not provide for diversity in this city. The other thing I want to put on the record is that Councilman Nutter is not on this committee, but the Please Touch Museum is in his district, and I spoke with him this morning, and he wanted me to go on the record for him to say that he supports this wholeheartedly. I thank you very much.
If I can make a quick 25 5/24/04 - Parks, Recreation & Cultural Affairs announcement, the Committee of the Whole and the Committee on Fiscal Stability that was scheduled to meet at o'clock today is being recessed until 5 noon. Thank you. 6
Yes. 9 I just spoke with Councilman Nutter, and 10 Councilman Nutter assures me that he is going to work on resolving these issues. So I think that is -- are you okay with that?
Is there anyone else here to testify on this bill? Is there anyone else here to testify on this bill? Seeing no one else, we will move from our public hearing into our public meeting. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Tasco for a motion on Bill 040508.
I move that bill 23 040508 be moved out of committee with a favorable recommendation and that the rules of Council be suspended so as to have first reading on the next 5/24/04 - Parks, Recreation & Cultural Affairs day of Council. (Duly seconded.)
The ayes have it. Bill No. 040508 is reported out of committee with a favorable recommendation with further recommendation that the rules of Council be suspended for the first reading at our next Council session. This public meeting is now adjourned. (The hearing adjourned at 10:15 a.m.) 27 CERTIFICATE I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing proceedings of the Committee on Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs of the Council of the City of Philadelphia of May 24, 2004, were reported fully and accurately by me, and that this is a correct transcript of same. ______________________________ Cynthia A. Whyte, RPR (The foregoing certification of this transcript does not apply to any reproduction of the same by any means, unless under the direct control and/or supervision of the certifying reporter.)