1017 COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA PUBLIC HEARING COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE FY '03 OPERATING BUDGET - - - Room 401, City Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Wednesday, February 27, 2002 9:45 a.m. - - - BILL 020001 - An Ordinance adopting the Operating Budget for Fiscal Year 2003. PRESENT: COUNCIL PRESIDENT ANNA C. VERNA COUNCILWOMAN JANNIE BLACKWELL COUNCILWOMAN BLONDELL REYNOLDS BROWN COUNCILMAN DARRELL L. CLARKE COUNCILMAN DAVID COHEN COUNCILMAN FRANK J. DI CICCO COUNCILMAN WILSON W. GOODE, JR. COUNCILMAN JAMES F. KENNEY COUNCILWOMAN JOAN L. KRAJEWSKI COUNCILMAN W. THACHER LONGSTRETH COUNCILMAN RICHARD T. MARIANO COUNCILWOMAN DONNA REED MILLER COUNCILMAN MICHAEL A. NUTTER COUNCILMAN BRIAN J. O'NEILL COUNCILMAN ANGEL L. ORTIZ COUNCILMAN FRANK RIZZO COUNCILWOMAN MARIAN B. TASCO - - - VINCENT VARALLO ASSOCIATES, INC. Registered Professional Reporters Eleven Penn Center 1835 Market Street, Suite 600 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103 (215) 561-2220 1018 BILL 020001 PAGE FAIRMOUNT PARK COMMISSION WILLIAM E. MIFFLIN, Executive Director ....... 1019 PAUL NICE, Deputy Director for Administration . 1033 JAMES DONAGHY, Director of Operations ........ 1033 ESTELLE RICHMAN, Managing Director ........... 1056 VIC RICHARD, Recreation Commissioner ......... 1133 PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART ANNE D'HARNONCOURT, Director ................. 1157 RECREATION DEPARTMENT VIC RICHARD, Recreation Commissioner ......... 1185 ROBERT DUBOW, City Budget Director ........... 1192 JANE GOLDEN .................................. 1196 WILLIAM CARAPUCCI, Deputy Commissioner ....... 1199 ESTELLE RICHMAN, Managing Director ........... 1207 CARLTON WILLIAM, Deputy Commissioner ......... 1215 BARRY HAMLIN ................................. 1220 CAMP WILLIAM PENN ROLAND CHANDLER, Director .................... 1236 ATWATER KENT MUSEUM DAVID RASNER, Pres. Board of Trustees ....... 1239 1019 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET)
Good morning, everyone. This is the continued public hearing of the Committee of the Whole regarding Bill 5 No. 020001. The first department to testify is Fairmount Park. (Witnesses come forward.)
Good morning. Please identify yourself for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Good morning, Council President Verna. My name is William E. Mifflin, the Executive Director of the Fairmount Park Commission. I'm pleased to be here this morning to present testimony on behalf of the Fairmount Park Commission for our Operating Budget for the Year 2003. I'm accompanied here this morning by, my immediate right is Paul Nice, Deputy Director. Behind him is Dennis Waller, Deputy Director. And to my immediate left is James Donaghy, our Director of Operations. And I'm also joined by a number of our volunteers and supporters of Fairmount Park.
We welcome all of you. Proceed with your testimony. 1020 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET)
Thank you very much. I believe you have a copy of my testimony, and I would just like to highlight a few things from the testimony and then, of course, be happy to answer any questions you may have. The FY 2003 budget is $772,000 above the FY 2002 estimated obligations and provides funding for mandatory wage increases for bargaining unit employees, the continuation of five volunteer coordinators, increased street tree maintenance, and compliance with City codes requirements and increase the funding for the Park Ranger Program. Council President, these are a number of issues that the Fairmount Park Commission has sought for a few years. They have been priorities for us and I'm very pleased, in fact, that I am able to report to you this morning that with total assistance of the City of Philadelphia, Mayor Street's Administration, we're able to provide this critical service to you. As you may know, the mission of the Fairmount Park Commission is to provide for passive and active recreation accessibility to all Philadelphia residents and our visitors. Our mission today is even more important than in the 1021 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET) past. The tragic events of 2001 combined with our present national economic situation, parks, in fact, play a very critical role in the quality of life experiences for all of our citizens. Fairmount Park provides the maintenance of facilities and amenities of our City parks and program leadership to support organized park activities, to preserve the park trees and open spaces as well as our historic sites and buildings. The Park Commission has a responsibility for nearly 9,000 acres in the City, which is one-tenth of the total City land mass and more than 50 neighborhood and regional parks are managed by the Commission which composes one of the largest municipal landscape park systems in the country. And we have enjoyed the support of this Council in many years in providing these critical opportunities for our citizens. In addition to the citizens of Philadelphia, the park system is also a destination site. This past summer, as an example, we hosted the Extreme Games as well as, for the first time, the International Dragon Boat Championships, both in part held on the Schuylkill River. So in addition to providing the critical quality of life 1022 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET) opportunities for our citizens, we also provide a major role in the tourism and eco-tourism, particularly, in the City. It's estimated that millions of dollars are spent annually by visitors to this City to come to Philadelphia for a special event or come to Philadelphia to view our world renowned historic facilities or to return to Philadelphia to visit family and to use the wonderful green spaces for picnics and other than opportunities in Fairmount Park. So we, in fact, play a critical role in improving the City of Philadelphia. Major accomplishments last year: As part of the William Penn Foundation Grant include the completion of a natural lands restoration plans for seven parks which identified 452 high priority restoration sites. Completion of trail master plans for Cobbs Creek, Fairmount, Tacony, Pennypack and Poquessing. And as a result of the grant from the William Penn Foundation, another $1 million in additional grant funds have been obtained from various sources. These funds will be used to fully 1023 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET) or partially fund wetland creation and gully repairs in Cobbs Creek Park, restoration of Concourse and Centennial Lakes in Fairmount, streambank stabilization in Tacony Creek Park, and the restoration of Meadow Lake in FDR Park. Ecosystem restoration projects have occurred in seven parks with combined effort of park staff, volunteers, and contractors. And I'm very proud to report that over 30,000 volunteers, some of whom are here this morning, have engaged in restoration projects, working over 75,000 hours on over 1500 projects.
That's an absolutely significant and remarkable number and, quite frankly, other cities cannot compare to that level of volunteerism. For Fiscal Year '03, the City has demonstrated an increased commitment to the park, as I've indicated, by budgeting for volunteer coordinators who are presently funded by the William Penn Foundation Grant. These positions will continue to facilitate volunteer projects in the natural areas while expanding to support additional stewardship activities throughout the park system. 5 million to the Fairmount Park Conservancy to support, among other items, additional restoration in the park system. With the support of the Conservancy, the park will begin implementation of the Growing Greener funded restoration of FDR Park, completion of installation of gates and 2300 linear feet of 10 guide rail to protect healthy ecosystems and 11 recently restored sites. Unfortunately, with the 12 parks open spaces and numerous areas in which 13 illegal dumpers can come into the park usually in 14 the cloak of darkness, it's imperative that we 15 maintain the park areas prohibiting illegal dumping 16 that is in some parts actually wide spread. 17 Regarding our tree maintenance program, which is always, I think, of utmost importance to City Council, we're proud to provide a comprehensive tree maintenance program, including tree removing, pruning, planting, and spraying. Maintenance services are provided on an estimated 250,000 street trees as well as the millions in the park system. Tree removal is performed when a tree is dead, defective, or creating a public safety hazard. 1025 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET) Pruning is performed to create clearance for vehicles and pedestrians, particularly around traffic control devices to relieve hazards and trees and to improve the health and extend the life of trees. In Fiscal Year 2002, Fairmount Park will prune 13,105 trees with a projection of 14,000 in Fiscal Year 2003. And, Council President, you may remember I've testified previously to levels of approximately 4,000 and 5,000 per year pruned. So these are remarkable numbers and these will clearly extend the health of our existing street tree population. In Fiscal Year '03, we plan to plant 500 trees. That's not enough tree plantings, but our program in this five-year increased tree maintenance plan is to, in the outer years, reduce the number of removals because we would have caught up with the backlog of removals and then have a more aggressive tree planting so that we keep our streets green. In FY '02, we anticipate removing a total of 1800 park trees, and often we focus in areas of high public use like our downtown squares and our playgrounds and picnic areas. 1026 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET) As I mentioned earlier, our park rangers will now be fully funded. This will provide 4 rangers throughout the park system. Twenty-four is 5 clearly not enough for all of the park, but we were, 6 quite frankly, in jeopardy of losing those 24 7 starting July 1st because of a budget shortfall. 8 And the City has recognized that critical need and 9 has fully funded the rangers along with the support 10 of the Park Ranger Board which provides a small 11 endowment to make up the difference for the annual 12 cost of the rangers. 13 In '03 we will open our first large 14 picnic grove known as the Belmont Groves. 15 Picnicking is perhaps the No. 1 recreational 16 activity in the 9,000 acres, although there are 17 many, many activities that are pursued by our 18 citizens. And this is a facility on the site of the 19 former Playhouse in the Park, and we will be able to 20 accommodate 250 picnickers at any given time under 21 shelter with ADA acceptable rest rooms, play 22 equipment, grills, et cetera. And this will be 23 staffed in part by our Park Ranger Program.
24 In December of '01 under the leadership of the Managing Director's Office, we initiated a 1027 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET) program with Ready, Willing and Able. These are individuals, formerly homeless and disadvantaged men, who provide an extremely valuable service to the Park Commission in maintenance of our areas along Kelly Drive, the Vine Street Expressway. And as I came into work this morning, they were performing work near Memorial Hall. We accomplished a great deal in Fiscal Year '02, and we hope to accomplish the same in environmental education, which we believe to be a main tenet of our programs and services in Fairmount Park. Last year we reached out to 33,000 individuals, adults and children, in providing 269 on-site or outreach programs to schools, community groups, senior citizens, special needs, scout groups, et cetera. We hope to continue to provide what we believe to be a very valuable service in teaching the users of the park about this finite resource. In partnership with the Mayor's Health and Fitness Office, the environmental education division has developed the Mayor's Health and Fitness Hikes in Fairmount Park. We invite all members of City Council to participate in these 1028 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET) hikes through our seven watersheds along our newly restored recreation trails, and it's a nice opportunity to learn more about the park and to have a healthy aerobic exercise at the same time. And we expect to offer the same high-quality program this coming year. The private support and services for the park continue to be at an all-time high. I've mentioned the establishment of the Fairmount Park Conservancy which is taking a unique approach in working and coordinating with business. We believe the corporate sector and the business sector can help the park, in fact, very specifically with special events and with programs that, again, improve the quality of life, but work towards their ability to retain quality employees in their offices and their areas of employment. Here in Philadelphia, it's very important that they have an opportunity to participate in park activities. And this is one of the valuable services that we play, and we look forward to working with the business community. 's Day of Service. And we now have agreements with LaSalle, Temple, Villanova, St. Joe's, Drexel University, Philadelphia University, University of Pennsylvania, and Ursinus have all partnered with Fairmount Park to help improve the quality of our neighborhood parks as well as the School District of Philadelphia and their Service Learning Initiative. Quickly to summarize the remaining of my testimony, we have a number of management initiatives. Councilmembers support the Fairmount Park on our Fairmount Park Historic Preservation Trust Board. This is a non-profit organization which assists the Fairmount Park Commission in property management and to date has brought over $3 million in restoration funds to historic structures where the trust can provide long-term leases to both for-profit and non-profit organizations who would like to help restore these very important historic structures. In '03 we plan to negotiate and execute long-term agreements for the Ohio House, Loudon Mansions and Rockland Mansion. In Fiscal '03, the Fairmount Park 1030 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET) Commission will initiate a new playground safety program. The purpose of the program is to provide the safest play environment for our children. The national playground safety standard will be used as a guide, and the program will include an audit of existing playgrounds to identify and correct problems. Frequent inspections will be performed to keep the playgrounds safe and in good repair for an enjoyable experience for all our children. A number of our park employees have recently completed the rigorous training to qualify as playground safety inspectors.
In conclusion, the Park Commission will continue to work creatively with the Friends of Park groups, private sponsors, foundations and park users to ensure that all Philadelphians are aware of our park resources and have access to them. We plan to continue our close association with volunteer groups and funding entities that support them. I have included a service level graph for your review that identifies some key performance measurements in support of our efforts. And, again, I'm sure you'll have a chance to recognize some of the folks who are here 1031 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET) today who have been supporters of Fairmount Park and of parks in the Department of Recreation. And they really, quite frankly, provide the wind for our sails in many times when it's such an enormous task to maintain this wonderful system with so many needs and concerns. And the passion and the support of the citizens of Philadelphia has been extraordinary through the years. And the Park Commission really can't say enough about them. I've invited my friend James Trachtenberg here this morning. Jim is just an example of what people do in the City of Philadelphia. He's a third-generation furniture maker. He has a warehouse in North Philadelphia. He lives on Pennsylvania Avenue in the Fairmount area. He has adopted the part of Fairmount Park on Pennsylvania Avenue and at his expense brings his employees out to keep that part of Fairmount Avenue clean and enjoyable for all the people who use that part of the park. I could be here the rest of the morning giving you examples like Jim Trachtenberg and Lydia Hunn who do things with Temple University. But they'll have opportunities perhaps during public testimony to share with you their personal experience. I'm just pleased to be here this 1032 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET) morning with them. And I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have.
Thank you, Mr. Mifflin. You. Mentioned the restoration of Meadow Lake in FDR Park. Is that where the swimming pool was?
Yes, it is, Council President. The swimming pool has been abandoned for a number of years.
Let me ask Mark Folk, the Director of the Natural Land Restoration Project. June of 2003.
Thank you. I notice that you have a slight increase in your budget in Class 100.
It does include the park 1033 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET) rangers -- I'm sorry, Council President. The park rangers increase is Class 500. The increase in Class 100 is for the five volunteer coordinators.
Fine. What is included in your FY '03 budget for street tree pruning and removals and how does that compare to your FY '02 estimated obligations?
Councilwoman, my name is Paul Nice, Deputy Director for Administration. For street tree maintenance, removal, and pruning in FY '02 our estimated obligations are $1,006,865. And in Fiscal '03, it's $1,163,279, an increase of $156,414.
Thank you. Can you tell us what the current backlog is for removals?
I'll ask Director of Operations, Jim Donaghy to provide you with that estimated number.
My name is Jim Donaghy, Director of Operations. At the current time, that number is 6,000. It's down from 8,000 the start of 1034 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET) the year. This year we're going to be removing about 4300 trees. And on an annual basis, we receive 2500 new requests for tree removal. And so with the current plan, we anticipate that within five years we'll be able to completely eliminate the backlog.
How is the NTI Program interacting with the Fairmount Commission for tree removals?
The NTI program is providing additional funds for the removal, as Mr. Nice just quoted you a number about $1.1 million in our budget. There is $3.1 million through the Managing Director's Office that also is used for the street tree pruning, street tree removal, and street tree planting. And the numbers that Mr. Mifflin had just reported to you in his testimony are the total numbers of street tree work that we're currently performing with the combination of those funds.
Mr. Mifflin, you did explain about the Ready, Willing and Able Program. How many people have participated in this program?
Today it's 17. 1035 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET)
We anticipate a continuation of the program. We don't receive the funding directly. It is administered through the Managing Director's Office. Because of its success, the indications that we've received is that it will, in fact, expand. And we have not been informed of a termination date for this program. All signs would indicate that it's going to continue into the future.
When was the last time the Park Commission commissioned a master plan?
The '83 plan has not been updated since that time. There have been a number of plans that have been completed such as those that I've referenced this morning, master plans, restoration efforts for our watershed areas, plans 1036 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET) for our trail master plans throughout those areas. And there have been numerous mostly physical plans completed for parks such as Franklin Square, Washington Square, Rittenhouse Square, Flora Park. So there have been a number of planning exercises, particularly in the most recent four to five years. I testified here on October 31st in a special hearing on parks and recreation that in fact a strategic action plan is necessary for Fairmount Park, and we are very interested in pursuing that and have actually put together the basis for a proposal to the Commonwealth to in part fund a strategic action plan.
Is the budget before us representative of what the park requested?
The Park Commission, like most other departments, seeks additions to their budget that are not funded in totality.
We had requested approximately 1.6 in addition to the park budget, largely in Class 100.
Can you tell 1037 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET) us what the Administration's rationale was for denying the request?
Well, I think that, again, not unlike other departments, the City is facing specific economic changes and the park is part of the City team and it's, I think, reasonable for the park to get a response that we would not be able to receive all of the funding that's requested. I'm pretty much a veteran of having submitted budgets that, you know, come back not looking the same as I had originally requested. But the one that I'm testifying to here this morning, quite frankly, has, as I indicated earlier, initiatives within it that cause me to be, quite frankly, pleased with able to provide park rangering and volunteer coordinators and working with the Managing Director Office an increase in street tree preservation.
At this time, the Chair recognize Councilman Ortiz.
Commissioner, how are we doing in terms of tree replacement, new trees, 1038 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET) and getting rid of the ones that are diseased and so on? As I drive, I see more and more spaces between the trees that were there before.
There are clearly gaps in the street tree population. We've been using the figure of 250,000 estimated street trees for a number of years. And in fact, we only have about a quarter of the City accounted with street trees. And we have been removing more trees than we have been planting them, which is disappointing, quite frankly. But with the resources available to us, and now again with the expended resources through the Managing Director's Office, our No. 1 focus has to be on safety. And we are removing dead and dangerous trees which potentially could, if we don't remove them, cause personal and property damage. After we remove the backlog, and staff has just testified this morning that they're about 6,000 trees that need to be removed. Once the backlog is eliminated, which will probably take us close to two years because that number doesn't stay stagnant. Each year we get a number close to 2,000 more trees that have reached their maternity. We planted a lot 1039 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET) of street trees in Philadelphia back in the '30s and '40s. And so if you look at areas like Logan and Germantown, and West Philadelphia, these large lemon plain trees are dying. They've outgrown their space. So we have quite a large backlog. Once we remove that, we'll have a more aggressive tree planting program. And we work with organizations like the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, the City Council District and many others who are helping replant Philadelphia street trees.
But in the park itself, the reforestation of the park itself, we have taken down a lot of trees within the park itself. And that forest look to it is kind of missing. What is the plan, the strategic outlook reforesting Fairmount Park? By the way, we have a lot kids here today and this is thier park and we got to leave it for them.
As part of the William Penn Foundation Grant, we plan to install 6,000 native trees and shrubs and herbaceous plants through volunteer restoration projects. This in FY '03. There are a number of reasons why some of the 1040 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET) forest areas are looking thin. Some of it is just the maturity of our forest. Others, the trees are succumbing to the ills of the urban environment with acid rain, with the drought situations, in fact, that we're in today. Some of our parks are overbrowsed by deer and we do not have new vegetation or acceptable vegetation reoccurring. So the strategic plan is to work with our support groups, to work with organizations like the William Penn Foundation in the reforesting of many of these natural areas. We can't do it in certain areas, in particular, the Pennypack and Wissahickon, until the deer population is managed, and that will take us about another year.
Well, I guess it depends on your perspective. If you were a deer, probably not doing so well. But we think we're -- we had last year a very successful management plan led by Barry Bessler, my Chief of Staff. And this year we're right on track where we would like to be as well. We'd like to bring the numbers down in balance so that other wildlife and habitat for 1041 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET) wildlife can reoccur, and I'm certain that we'll reach that goal.
I've gotten some calls from neighbors from Pennypack about abandoned dumping of garbage, dumping of other materials, even cars. How is that going in terms of Pennypack and other areas in Fairmount Park which have been over the years sort of recipient of those bad habits of citizens?
It's outrageous that the park is a dumping ground for abandoned cars. Jim Donaghy can tell you that -- I don't want to pick on a particular park, but whether it's Cobbs Creek or Tacony Park or the others, we've removed hundreds of abandoned --
Well, Pennypack as well. They're stolen cars, they're stripped and then they're sometimes lit on fire, arson, and rolled down the hill. And it's really difficult to get these wrecks out of the park. Part of this initiative of installing 2500 linear feet of guide rail, putting in gates, working with the 1042 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET) Philadelphia Police Department, increase ranger patrol, town watch. We try to remove them as quickly as possible, and we try to prevent it. It's a tough -- it seems to be just a never-ending issue. And I must say when the City completed their removal of 40,000 abandoned automobiles, there was a concerted effort as well to do that in Fairmount Park. But like anything else, it's a continuum. We can't let our guard down.
The ball fields on Ninth and Hunting Park, I play some ball there during the summer. And last summer they were really not in the best of conditions. And I went by there not too long ago, a couple weeks back, and they don't seem to be -- I've gotten some phone calls from the baseball leagues that play there in the summer and they're concerned as to how the grass is going to be, the ground and so on. And I know that we have a problem there specifically with dirt bikes.
How is the coordination between the Police Department and Fairmount? Because I've seen them, I've been there 1043 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET) when they come in and if it's raining and the dirt bikes come in and the all terrain bikes, within just one day they can destroy a ball field and make it almost unplayable. How are we doing in order to prevent that sort of vandalism from taking place?
Well, we're working very closely with the Philadelphia Police Department.
Do you have any idea how many dirt bikes, all terrain bikes -- because they're illegal within Philadelphia. How many we have confiscated, if any at all, within our parks, within the Fairmount Park and specifically that area?
I cannot give you a number, Councilman, of bikes that have been confiscated or dirt bikes or ATVs. I really would have to turn to the Philadelphia Police Department for that number. It is my understanding, and you could be totally correct on this, that the ownership of an ATV is not illegal anywhere in Pennsylvania, including Philadelphia County. It is illegal to operate one in Fairmount Park.
And my understanding, in any public space in Philadelphia, not just Fairmount Park. I sit on a board at the state level, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and illegal use of ATVs is the No. 1 issue facing state parks and forests as well as urban areas. And our parks are -- they look like a state park.
Well, I've seen them. I've been present when they've done it.
At least three districts in the Philadelphia Police Department are now equipped with what we call dirt bikes, motorized motorcycles. Part of the problem is tracking down these usually young people because they can zip in areas where a vehicle or certainly someone on foot or even horse couldn't track them down. So the police now are arming themselves with the same type of equipment as the illegal ATV users, and we're actually seeing an improvement at least in the number of arrests that we're having. The number, I can't give you. But we know that they're focused in Tacony Park. We know there are certain areas -- I guess that's the 26th District. The 18th District 1045 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET) out in Cobbs Creek are armed with dirt bikes. The 92nd --
It is. It really is. So we work closely with them. We know one area where they actually bring trailers in and unload the bikes from the trailers and then go into the park. So we're focussing on those particular areas. And we build physical barriers to stop it as well. But sometimes those barriers are actually challenges.
Every summer there's a problem with the pool on Ninth and Hunting Park. How are we doing with that?
I think we've done well. As you know, we completely restored the pool. You were there for the opening two or three years ago, I guess it's been.
More than that? Well, time goes quickly. From the physical standpoint, the pool is doing as well as any. We have an on going problem with illegal swimming. Some nights there's as many people in the pool at 2:00 a.m. -- 1046 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET)
No, sir. It's close to a million gallon pool. It would be unreasonable to drain that pool. It will take a three-day recovery on the pool. So police are assigned to the perimeter of the pool, do their best to maintain a semblance of decorum at late night swimming.
The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Blondel Reynolds-Brown.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Good morning, Commissioner and your team.
I would like to first follow up on President Verna's questioning around the strategic plan. We know that that too was one of the priority recommendations that came out of the hearing last October 31. And you've mentioned what might be called many plans for 1047 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET) special projects. Where are we -- let me just say this as well. Of the 1.5 million that was given, you say here that the 1.5 million is designed to support Fairmount Park Conservancy among other items. Could one of those items be support for a strategic plan?
Indeed it could and conservancy recipient of the grant has identified a strategic plan, a marketing plan as one of the priorities for the Fairmount Park Commission. The plan in 1983, and I was part of that process, took two years to complete at a cost of $250,000. We believe that since that time, because of the interim plans and specific plans, some coming from the William Penn Foundation Grant and others as I've indicated here, it would not be necessary for us to recreate the wheel again because we think we know a great deal more now about the park than we did back then. We now have GIS System mapping for all of the park system. We have all of our 400 buildings identified. We can tell you to the detail what is in our historic buildings and other buildings as well. I think the plan today should focus on what we have. Is it the right number of 1048 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET) facilities; what neighborhood is it providing services to; can there been economies of scale with other agencies, whether it be the Philadelphia Department of Recreation, the School District of Philadelphia, Boys and Girls Clubs, YMCA's, you know the gamut. There are other agencies besides Fairmount Park that provide recreation services. So we need to begin looking at those services and come back to this body and to the citizens, I think, with a comprehensive plan to ensure that we're providing the greatest bang for the buck. I'm convinced that we are today. I want to make sure that things are not falling through the crack and that there are perhaps some economies of scale in what services are being provided. That's extremely interesting to the Fairmount Park Commission. At our next meeting in March, Chairwoman Borski, who chairs the Planning Committee of the Fairmount Park Commission, is prepared to begin a dialog on a strategic plan for Fairmount Park.
How do you see that ultimately being funded, public dollars, foundation dollars?
As most things, I see it 1049 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET) as a partnership. We have already approached the Commonwealth for a planning grant that could range between 50,000 and a 150,000. The William Penn -- and I shouldn't mention that one foundation, but there are other foundations that we believe would be supportive of such an effort. We'll certainly inquire about City funding as well. My staff has already developed the outline of some of the key points that the strategic plan should include. We think perhaps there's even an interim plan that we could develop. Again, I'd rather not take a two-year period of time and just kind of sit still while we're going through this process, but looking at something that could take perhaps six months or so and come back with, "Here's what we have today. Here are the costs for providing those services. Are there management initiatives that we should look into?" You may know that for the last two years we've contracted out 90 percent of the mowing that occurs in Fairmount Park because we believe that's an economic benefit to the City. We do the same thing with street trees. There may be some other initiatives that we could consider with profit or 1050 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET) non-profit organizations to provide the services that the Fairmount Park Commission is now providing.
You've mentioned, and we all know that the Administration stepped up handsomely with regards to responding to the interest and volunteer coordinators and park rangers, and the foundation community has again come forward. Noticeably absent is the business community. Are there discussions underway at any level to see how -- I'm smiling at my colleague Councilman Frank DiCicco who cares very much, like we all do, about the business community -- but seeing how we can involve them in the future continued maintenance and survival of our parks?
I think, Councilwoman, that the corporate and business community is -- it's not that they've been untapped, but I think has a significant potential to advance the mission of the Fairmount Park Commission. And in fact, the Fairmount Park Conservancy which is lead by Fairmount Park Commissioner John Binswanger, certainly has some business experience in the City and has already reached out to a number of friendly business folks who have an interest in the park. We 1051 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET) have met recently with Charley Pezzi (ph) at the Chamber of Commerce and have sought an opportunity to come to their regular meetings where we can have a chance to share with the business community the needs and the concerns and, quite frankly, the opportunity for businesses to support Fairmount Park. So I think you're going to hear a lot more from Fairmount Park as it relates to the business community. We've done an excellent job with volunteerism, and I think the City has held up it's side of the equation with volunteer coordinators and the rangers. And now I think it's an opportunity for us to take this system even further with the support of the business community.
The Class 500 dollars included an increase for park rangers. Define what that is means. Currently, we have how many?
What does that mean? 1052 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET)
It means that the complement of will continue and, in fact, will be 4 fully staffed. We were facing an issue as of July 5 1st where the ranger program may have terminated 6 because of a lack of funding. And we were not able 7 to make up the difference in either the private 8 community or non-profit foundations. So the City 9 has stepped up in concert with a small endowment 10 that the Ranger Board administers to fully fund the 11 24 rangers. So this is, obviously, a valuable 12 service. And I won't go into all the details, but 13 right now we have five or six vacancies of the 24. 14 The rangers themselves were always concerned that 15 the funding was going to be eliminated, so when we 16 new job opportunities came their way, they went for 17 them. And we were somewhat reluctant to backfill 18 them and only offer someone five months worth of 19 employment. So now we will ramp up to the full 20 funding level, and we're very appreciative of that. 21 We could always use more rangers. There's no 22 question about that. But in their existence, and 23 they're not in their 12th year, we have an excellent 24 rapport with Philadelphia Police Department. They've always been the eyes and ears of the Police 1053 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET) Department. Our rangers do not have full enforcement responsibility, but they're a good bang for the buck when it comes to law enforcement in the City because they can summon the police, they work closely with the police, and when necessary, and it often isn't that necessary, to bring in a policeman for an arrest of some type, there's a relationship there. But usually just the presence of a uniformed person who has the skills of interpretation and information and conservation is enough to correct the park violation that that individual or that group may be involved in. So we are very exited about that.
Given their tremendous value and referring to the partnership that you say exists with various universities, is there or could there been an internship program with the universities where there already is an existing relationship where we could have interns specializing in park ranger activities to fill that need and that gap?
Yes. And in fact, we are presently doing that. I'm personally familiar with intern relationships with Drexel University, the 1054 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET) University of Pennsylvania, and with Temple University as well. Those internships are in historic preservation. They are in environmental activities and recreation activities. So we do need to ensure that we're taking full advantage of these educational institutions.
Moving on to another item that has been raised the past few years I've been here and again was cited and discussed at length during our park hearings and at the bottom of your testimony on you list in detail all of which Fairmount Park operates, including several recreation centers. Where are the discussions with regards to Fairmount Park and the Rec. Department looking at smarter ways to facilitate management of the properties?
Well, I think, Councilwoman, we work very close with the Department of Recreation. I think that we have through the years shared our resources to each other. And I 1055 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET) know Commissioner Richard is following me here at this table, so he can clearly talk the details with his department. But if you look at the different issues, playground safety, tree maintenance, lifeguard hiring and training, we continue to collaborate on those very specific issues. I think part of the -- and I will not repeat myself. But I think the strategic plan that the park will be considering will, again, look at those facilities that the park issues or that the park is responsible for and ensure that we have the capacity for providing the quality experience that a recreational user deserves. Just by nature, the park staff tends to be more involved in resource management, environmental education, and outdoor experiences. We certainly have more of those than the Department of Recreation; and conversely, they have more active recreational activities. But we have a great working relationship. The Commissioner of Recreation sits on the Fairmount Park Commission Board. We both report to the Managing Director who oversees all of the operating agencies. I feel very comfortable that there is an effective working relationship. 1056 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET)
But again, the need for strategic plan is underscored when we can look to see that opportunity exist for Rec. and Fairmount Park.
of your testimony you speak about Ready, Willing and Able. How do you recruit the young people for that program?
I would have to defer to -- and I don't believe he's in the audience this morning, Mr. Hess in the Managing Director's Office on the recruitment issue.
Hi, I'm Estelle Richman, Managing Director. The Ready, Willing and Able Program is an agency we brought in from New York City who's been operating this model for many years there. They are a program that is designed to work with young men, in this case, who often have backgrounds who may have criminal backgrounds, may have homeless backgrounds who may have a Behavorial Health issue, but in working with them and identifying them and they're getting referrals both from the shelter, primarily from shelters, we have 1057 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET) put together what we believe are the primary focus to get them back on the right track: Living arrangements, a job, training, and an opportunity to save money to be self-supporting when they finish the program.
So they're funded by Fairmount Park or by Behavorial Health?
They are funded by some joint dollars between the Homeless Initiative and Behavioral Health.
It's too early to report, although I'm sure that Mr. Hess will be reporting on in his testimony next week. They're on a performance-based contract. This is one of our first ones. We have it, actually, very tight and there's work force development dollars that are being used to support part of the initiative at Fairmount Park. 1058 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET)
My final question for this round is, Commissioner, you list a number of programs throughout your testimony. I'm curious to know where is the community relations or public relations officer responsibility weaved through those programs? How does that happen? What's the role of your community relations officer or community affairs officer?
The Park Commission has really two positions allocated for this. One is our public information officer and the other one is the park community of affairs position. The information officer tends to work more in the role of providing information, responds to questions, often deals with the media, supports the Director of Volunteer Services. The community affairs individual tends to cultivate relationships in the community where Friends Groups do not exist. As an example, this past summer when we hosted the International Dragon Boat Races, we discovered that the Asian community in Philadelphia has an intense love for this activity, so we're now working specifically in Chinatown and in other areas with the Vietnamese, with Cambodians and others to continue dragon boat 1059 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET) racing on the Schuylkill River. So it's those types of activities.
The function is primarily related to special project related efforts?
I also would like to recognize three Fairmount Commissioners who are here this morning, Commissioner Robert Nix is here joining me and if they could come up and sit, with your approval.
Commissioner Binswanger, John Binswanger who was previously mentioned, and Commissioner James Bloom.
We certainly welcome them. At this point, the Chair recognizes Councilman Rizzo.
Thank you, Madam 1060 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET) Chair. Director Mifflin, good morning, and the members of the board. We're glad you're here.
Could you please describe the overlapping -- for lack of a better word, I'll call it the overlapping responsibility in reference to the street tree program between the Fairmount Park Commission and the Managing Director's Office. Why now then the Managing Director's Office? I understand that NTI is going to providing funds for the program, but could you explain the overlapping relationship?
Yes. I guess sometimes overlap might have a negative connotation. The way it works in practical terms is that the funding is provided through the Managing Director's Office for street tree maintenance. The administration of the day-to-day activities, largely by contractors, is the Fairmount Park Commission's responsibility. It's almost as simple as just a budget or an accounting process where the money is not in the park's budget directly, but in the Managing Director's Office. But the Managing Director's 1061 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET) Office utilizes the professional expertise of the Park Commission in administering the more aggressive street tree program.
Well, in an effort to keep it simple, why isn't the money just given to you since you're the tree people?
I'm really not certain, councilman. We have total access to the funding and deal with it as if it's in our budget. But the decision at this point -- and it's the first year in the program and I'm not certain if anything would change, but it is a seamless cooperative effort.
I'll accept that answer for now. The next question I have is the 17 positions for the -- what's the title called? For 18 the park rangers. 19
In years past where 21 there was regular police presence, Philadelphia 22 Police Park Division presence in the park, 23 occasionally I see a mounted unit. Very, very 24 seldom do I see a Philadelphia Police Officer in Fairmount Park. And I spend a lot of time in the 1062 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET) upper Wissahickon walk from Northwestern to Valley Green. To tell you the truth, there's times when it's a little unnerving, especially if you're walking down there when it's getting close to darkness. Very little police presence, and I don't think the park rangers are out there late in the evening. I don't know hat shift they work. How do they work?
Jim Donaghy is the overall administrator of the program. Seasonally, they work two shifts beginning at 7 a.m. and concluding at 11:00 p.m. I guess that's about April to October. The remaining part of the year they are on mostly day time shift. They work seven days a week, so if you spread rangers through 2 shifts over 9,000 17 acres, you know -- 18
The point being is 22 that there's word that the 92nd Police District is 23 going to be closed in the near future. I don't know 24 if that's fact or fiction, but the presence of the Philadelphia Police Department -- and we talked 1063 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET) yesterday about DROP and the effect that it's going to have on the Police Department or the non-effect. I think there is, honestly, going to be an effect. Do you have any feel for how many Philadelphia Police Officers actually an assigned to patrol Fairmount Park, that 9,000 acres you just described above and beyond the positions which aren't 9 filled? 10
I really can't give you 11 the specific number. The responsibility of the 92nd 12 District does have primary responsibility for the 13 Wissahickon and East Park and all the way down to 14 JFK Plaza. The other park areas in the City are the 15 responsibility of the appropriate Police District. 16 And I'm not able to give you a specific number 17 that's assigned to the park. That would have to 18 come from the Police Department. 19
Well, I would hope 20 that we would know how well our park is policed. 21
Well, I testified that we 22 have an excellent working relationship with the 23 Police Department. You know, Councilman, that I've 24 been here when the park guards were part of the police entity patrolling the Fairmount Park 1064 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET) Commission. That was 500-person police force at one time. We clearly don't have those levels in the park today. I think that the 92nd district, which I believe has a complement of approximately 50 police officers, are providing a service that is actually improving with, again, the addition of assigning officers to bike patrol and to motorized bike patrol, so they are being more creative in the way in which they are maintaining the police presence in the park.
Any official word that the 92nd District on Lincoln Drive is going to close?
An issue that we've 1065 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET) been talking about here for years and we keep getting -- we've had a lot of conversation about the responsibility of the neighborhood parks versus the Recreation Department taking care of them versus Fairmount Park. And it appeared that the last time we were here during a hearing that there was some sincere interest between you and the Recreation Commissioner to assess that to see if the Fairmount Park Commission would be better to take care of the neighborhood parks, as I call them. They're not really recreation centers, there's no recreation equipment in many of them. Is there any movement in that area to streamline how we maintain those facilities?
I think as I've said earlier this morning, Councilman, that we work very closely with the Department of Recreation. We share resources. To just swap or transfer a park for the sake of transferring, obviously, we wouldn't do. I think we're both looking at our capabilities and our strengths and our weaknesses. This is an ongoing dialog. I think you'll be hearing more about that in the future. But we certainly haven't made any specific decisions. 1066 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET)
I don't want to get into the entire issue here, but I'll just craft the question this way. Could you please bring us all up to speed on the situation -- if you've done this, I was out of the room, I'll follow up with you later -- the Pennypack Environmental Center staffing situation? Could you explain the situation and then let us know where we are with that issue.
We are reviewing our various options as it relates to the staffing of environmental centers. As you may know, the five-year grant from the William Penn Foundation, the original grant, will conclude on June 30th of this year. The foundation has elected not to continue the funding for environmental educators. So we at the Park Commission are evaluating our various options. We've not concluded that those staff positions will be other than telling those individuals that their funding will terminate on June 30th, we've also made a commitment to them to identify to the best of our ability additional funding sources. Options, quite frankly, include working more closely with the Philadelphia Water Department, which is doing a lot of work in 1067 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET) watershed management. The Park Commission and the Water Department have a lot in common as it relates to protecting our watersheds. The newly opened Cobbs Creek Community Environmental Education Center there at 63rd and Katherine actually enjoys funding from outside the City of Philadelphia. We're hopeful that they can continue provide staffing. We're creating a partnership with the Pennsylvania DCNR, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. In fact, their director of environmental education is coming to Fairmount Park on March 18th. I'm taking her a tour of all environmental education centers. The Commonwealth is very interested in supporting environmental education in urban areas, including the Fairmount Commission. Now with full funding for the park rangers, we can provide our 18 outreach programs, particularly during the winter. 19 We continue to have positive discussions with the 20 National Audubon Society who are very interested in 21 creating an urban environmental center in 22 Philadelphia, in Fairmount Park. And lastly, the 23 Fairmount conservancy has identified environmental 24 education as one of its funding priorities. So we have a number of, sort of, irons in the fire, if you 1068 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET) will. We are committed to the Pennypack Environmental Center, as we are to the environmental Center in Wissahickon and, obviously, at Cobbs Creek in providing quality programs.
Mr. Mifflin, obviously there are a lot of irons in the fire, but it's almost March, and June 30th you're out of money?
Well, we are in that grant. The centers will remain open. They are staffed by Civil Service employees. We've been able to expand the services through the grant. Our goal is to continue to reach -- and I may have testified to this number; and if I didn't, I apologize -- to reach the 53,000 individuals that we reached in '02 in 03. Some of the initiatives I just outlined, I think, provide the footprint or the format as to how we would go about doing that. So it's difficult for me to sit here and say that I feel for those employees who are affected by the termination of this grant. They were hired with the full understanding that this grant was for a five-year period, so there was no hidden agenda here that all of a sudden the rug's been pulled out from under 1069 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET) their feet. They knew the grant would terminate on June 30th. We're seeking to extend their good efforts, because we do value their services. As the park director, it's my job to provide services to as many people as we possibly can and provide them in the most economical way. And if I can develop partnerships with other organizations, that's the way we'll provide environmental educational. That's what I try to keep my eye on that.
Well, since we all agree the importance of environmental education and the five-year grant is expiring and the employees knew that that was going to be a five-year grant, how much money are we talking about? Did you ask for since you consider this an important facet of what you do, the educational piece, did you ask for that to be put in the budget? And how much would you need in the budget to make that work?
We're looking at five positions that would -- I'm sorry, a total of nine positions, five environmental educators and four administrative assistants, which would come roughly to about $400,000. Part of our initial budget request included three additional environmental 1070 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET) educators. So our original in my Operating Budget is for three environmental educators. We just learned in February, earlier this month, the decision of the William Penn Foundation, so we did not ask for the nine additional positions.
Don't you also at the Commission have grant money that's in an account somewhere that you could draw on if you believe that this program should move forward? I believe you manage a significant multi-million dollar account that has money to be used for purposes like this.
Well, for the record, we administer a number of -- more than 30 trusts and funds and accounts that in total is about $5 million.
Well, it its multi-million, but I wanted to get the number out on the record. Most of that, we're only able to, of course, spend the income and they are very definitive and specific to the expenditures. So it's not as if we could pool all of that income and just put it all into environmental education. Where we can, we will, but it clearly would not be 1071 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET) available to make up this level of funding.
Could you tell me why the William Penn Foundation is not interested in -- that might be just the way they run their foundation, five years of this. Is there anything negative associated with their notification that they're not willing to keep this program in place?
No, they came back with an additional, as I've said, one and a half million dollars. And two-thirds of that would focus on the natural environment. They've indicated, it's almost once a year or every other year they sit down and develop what they believe to be their priorities for the next funding cycle, and environmental education which was a priority five years ago no longer enjoys the top priority at the foundation.
My last question, I was asked to ask you this question. A constituent wrote to me asking me about the mansions along the Schuylkill River, the 18th and 19th Century plantations. Could you explain what exactly is occurring with those facilities? Are they being leased? Are they being maintained? How many are there? "The plantations" they referred to them. I 1072 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET) call them park houses, but maybe you can tell me exactly what the situation is there.
Well, I think it's a positive situation, if you will. I know that's a very general statement. They're not all protected and preserved as well as we would like them to be basically because these are 17, Century 9 facilities that require a significant amount of 10 infrastructure and code compliance work. When 11 you're dealing in a historic property, that's not an 12 inexpensive issue. Our rule is that we will have 13 each of them occupied in some way, either with a 14 caretaker or with a caretaker and an organization or 15 at a minimum just with an organization. Most of 16 them are non-profit organizations. Some of them 17 have been in our park houses for more than 50 years. 18 The committee of 26, as in 1926, has occupied Strawberry Mansion for more than 50 years. They do an excellent job in helping maintain Strawberry Mansion. Often they're responsible for all the interior improvements, they keep the building open to te public for tours and we literally couldn't do it without them. The Fairmount Park Historic Preservation 1073 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET) Trust of which you are a board member and capably represented it by staff at our monthly meetings, provides the opportunity for longer term leases for organizations who have the financial capability to invest in both the interior and exterior renovations of these homes. Often non-profits do not have that real financial capability. So in the last years, 9 we've really made a conscious effort to manager our 10 properties as a trust, and I think that's proved to be extremely successful.
The Canoe Club is one that I'm familiar with in Wissahickon, has that situation been resolved with the occupants, the Canoe Club that occupies that facility and do we have a care taker there now?
We are actually between caretakers right now. We had a caretaker who vacated the property. It seems like it was a month ago. We're interviewing new caretakers. The reason why a caretaker works in that property, one, it's very isolated; and two, it is it's undergoing major systems renovation and restoration efforts both City dollars as well as state dollars. So the organization that was previously in the building had 1074 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET) to vacate during the restoration efforts. And once those are completed, which should be, I believe, this calendar year, we will be offering an opportunity for the group to return.
Thank you, Director Mifflin. I appreciate it. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Nutter.
Let's stay in the grant area. Let me do a little bit of background and then we'll get to some specific questions. The William Penn Grant was made when?
It was announced in the fall of '96. It began in spring of '97.
And it is scheduled to conclude at the end of this Fiscal Year?
By June 30th, we will have 11 spent approximately 17 million. 12
Now, I assume that 22 when the grant was made there was the full belief at 23 the time, either in the fall of '96 or the spring of 24 '97 that you would spend the entire 26 and a half 25 million dollars; is that correct. 1076 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET)
And what either problems, barriers, or obstacles did you run into in not being able to spend the full grant amount?
We had anticipated that the planning portion of the grant would be completed more quickly than it actually was.
Okay. I appreciate the spelling. Thank you so much. The planning portion. So was that a resource issue or additional dollars were going to spent on planning that did not happen? I'm not completely understanding the answer.
Well, once we began the work of identifying the needs in our watershed and developing restoration plans, we determined that it made sense to do a more exhaustive planning process. And what that included was the retention of the Academy of Natural Sciences which led the initial planning process. And it took longer to traverse 1077 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET) the watershed areas and map them and develop the details of the plan, then move on to construction documents. I've identified 459 priority sites. And it just took -- that whole process took longer than our initial aggressive plans. But yet, we think the time was well spent.
Well, how much would this planning portion have cost or how much would that have used of the remaining 9 and a half million dollars? I guess I'm just not completely understanding how the planning activity or the lack of the planning activity results in essentially leaving 9 and a half million dollars on the table. I'm not understanding that.
Really, it was just an issue of timing. What we thought would take one year took three years.
Well, are you saying that with another year you would have exhausted the 9 and a half million dollars?
Probably two more years. We were originally planning to spend about 5 million per year.
Your current budget 1078 2/27/02 - WHOLE - BILL 020001 ('03 BUDGET) is what?
But we're talking about FY '03 today, right? Isn't it 14.3?
To kind of conclude this, you received a grant four years ago, four and a half years ago, which was double your regular annual appropriation from the City. Your budget's been about 12, $13 million a year.
To spend over five years, and the conclusion here is that about 35, 40 percent of the grant remains unspent?