John Glassman, director of Douglas County Senior Service, contacted me on May 15, 2008 about the usage of the multi-purpose room

City of Lawrence

Parks & Recreation

MEMORANDUM

DATE: March 3, 2009

TO: David L. Corliss, City Manager

Cynthia Boecker, Assistant City Manager

FROM: Ernie Shaw, Interim Director Parks and Recreation

RE: G-Force Jets

In March 2005, after 25 years at KU, we were asked to vacate Robinson Gym where we offered our gymnastics program consisting of parent/tot tumbling, preschool tumbling, gymnastics for boys and girls, levels II and III, team gymnastics and competitive cheerleading. We utilized two full sized basketball courts to run this program. Our program was relocated to East Lawrence Recreation Center in August 2005 to the "little gym" where our activity space was reduced by 75%. This necessitated disbanding our competitive gymnastics and cheerleading teams.

In March 2008, G-Force Jets approached the Lawrence Parks and Recreation Department with a proposal to partner with them to offer competitive cheerleading, power tumbling and recreation classes. Our gymnastics program has been steadily growing for the last 5 years and each session sees classes filled to 95% capacity. We felt this partnership was a good opportunity to increase our class offerings and bring back competitive teams.

Lawrence Parks and Recreation and G-Force Jets formed a partnership in May 2008. At this time G-Force Jets was located at 801 E.23rd Street. An agreement was set in place for both parties. Listed below are the responsibilities for each agency.

Parks and Recreation Responsibilities

· The City agrees to advertise and market the classes and programs offered under this agreement; take responsibility for the registration of participants of the classes and programs offered under this agreement; provide G-Force Jets with a participants roster for each class or program offered under this Agreement; pay G-Force Jets 80% of the registration fees the City receives from enrollees in the G-Force Jets classes or programs co-sponsored by the City of Lawrence Parks and Recreation Department. Payment for the competitive team programs shall be made at the end of each month when classes are in session by Check from the City of Lawrence to G-Force Jets. Payment for the co-sponsored recreational classes shall be made at the end of the recreational class session by Check from the City of Lawrence to G-Force Jets.

G-Force Jets Responsibilities

· G-Force Jets agrees to provide qualified and trained instructors for the classes offered under this agreement; to provide and maintain suitable and safe facilities and equipment for the classes offered under this agreement; be responsible for paying all salary and benefits, including payroll taxes to the G-Force Jets employees, including all instructors; be responsible for hiring, supervising, and training all G-Force staff during the term of this agreement; hire a sufficient number of instructors and other necessary staff to fulfill the City’s expectations for instruction of the subject classes. Instructors shall have the requisite knowledge, experience and training to teach the class or program to which the instructor is assigned. G-Force Jets shall schedule the necessary instructors and staff for the subject classes; supervise the classes and the programs offered under this Agreement; procure and maintain during the term of this Agreement, and any extensions thereof, liability insurance by a company authorized to transact business in the State of Kansas covering damage to persons and property in the amount of $500,000 per occurrence. Said insurance shall name the City as an additional insured and shall not be cancelled or the levels of coverage reduced without 60 days prior written notice to the City of Lawrence. G-Force Jets further agrees to procure and maintain workers compensation insurance, if applicable, in amounts required by the Kansas statutes pertaining to Workers Compensation; coordinate scheduling of the classes and programs with the City’s Recreation Program Supervisor; abide by all applicable local, state and federal laws in fulfilling the terms of this agreement; shall not discriminate against any person by reason of race, sex, religion, color, national origin, age, ancestry, familial status, sexual orientation or disability in offering or providing the programs and classes under this agreement or in its employment practices; will not market or advertise the City’s recreation programs, including the classes and programs offered under this agreement without the prior written approval of the City’s Parks and Recreation Department Director or his or her designee.

The Recreation Department receives 20% of all enrollment fees equaling around an average of $17,000 per year.

In December, 2008 G-Force Jets vacated 801 E. 23rd St. and began preparing to offer classes at 725 N. 2nd St. Classes were scheduled to begin in January 2009 and advertising had been in place for several months prior to this facility change. Due to delays with building permits and other issues, G-Force has been unable to begin the construction that will allow classes to resume at this new facility.

As per our agreement, we include G-Force class schedules in our bi-annual activity guide. This guide is published at least one-two months prior to classes beginning and scheduling begins four-six months in advance. The community trusts Lawrence Parks and Recreation to provide accurate and reliable information in our class listings. While we do maintain the right to change our schedules, we try to do so as little as possible and communicate any changes in a responsible and timely manner. G-Force's inability to move in to the new facility caused us to cancel the first two weeks of winter classes, move classes to East Heights for two weeks and finally relocate to KU in Robinson Gym for the last two weeks of the session, which will end mid-March. The repeated schedule and facility changes led to much confusion and frustration, despite our best efforts to minimize such issues.

Lawrence Parks and Recreation has upheld a reputation of being organized and dependable and this issue has negatively impacted our programs and reputation. Parents have become frustrated and, in result, we have lost 15 recreation participants and 3 team members from the winter session.