FINANCE, ADMINISTRATION, RECREATION, SERVICE,
ENGINEERING and GORMAN FARM
COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
June 14, 2010
The Finance, Recreation, Service, Engineering and Gorman Farm Committee met at 5:00 pm on July, 14, 2010 at the Gorman Heritage Farm. Present were Councilmembers Vonderhaar, Smiley Robertson, and Schaefer. Also in attendance during the meeting were Sandra Murphy, Susan Van Amerongen, and Gene Powell, resident.
The purpose of the meeting was to finalize the process of negotiating a renewal of the lease and contract between the Gorman Heritage Farm and the Village of Evendale.
The committee has been going through the contract paragraph by paragraph with farm representatives. The level of compensation discussions have been deferred until this meeting.
Essentially the Gorman Farm proposal, after discussing various elements with the committee, is as follows:
1. Continue the compensation at $75,000.00 per quarter thru 2012. In 2013,this would be reduced to 3% of earnings tax revenue should earnings tax revenue fall below $10,000,000.00 annually. Should the payment be reduced, the reduction would be made in the fourth quarter payment. This agreement shall be renegotiated in the fourth quarter of 2016.
2. Eliminate the fixed capital improvement amount of $40,000.00. Instead, Gorman Farm request for additional capital improvement funds would be on an item by item basis as are similar requests by Village departments.
3. The farm would grant free membership to all Village residents. (Potentially a $50,000.00 value).
4. Free use of Hay, Straw and corn stocks for Evendale Fall events.
5. Free use of the Mule team for Fun in the Sun summer camps.
6. The Gorman Farm will continue to be the premier educational resource for the community.
7. The Gorman Farm will continue to conserve the unique green space for the community to enjoy for years to come.
8. The Gorman Farm will continue to serve as a local food source.
9. The Village will add the Farm Buildings to its property insurance contract provided that it is economically advantageous to both parties.
The back drop to this proposal is that two elements of service by Evendale which were in the original contract but unilaterally terminated by Evendale be reinstated. These are janitorial service and trash removal.
Finally, the trails have become an issue. The proposal is that they remain open to the public. The trail system was extended by a proposal originating with the recreation commission. While the Gorman Farm supported the trail system extension, it needs help maintaining the trails. Maintenance shall include: brush removal, tree trimming , repairs, tree removal and grass mowing. The Gorman Farm proposal is that the through trails, not needed for Gorman Farm operations, be maintained by the Village.
Additionally, the Gorman Farm set out the following metrics to judge their performance:
1. Types and numbers of visitors
2. Comparison of numbers of visitors over past 6 years
3. Comparison of income by category over the past 6 years
4. Income sources for previous year
5. Growth of endowment over past 6 years
6. Membership categories by percentage for the previous year
While the Committee did discuss elements of the proposal, and, in response to that discussion, some of the elements of the proposal were altered, the Committee chose not to immediately vote on the matter.
The Committee did approve having Councilmember Schaefer and Susan Van Amerongen, the Chair of the Gorman Heritage Farm Foundation Board of Trustees meet with Tim Burke to formalize the contract provisions agreed upon by the committee and language which would support the compensation request by the Gorman Farm
The meeting adjourned at 7:15pm.
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Christian J. Schaefer
Committee Chairman
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