04-13-13 Special Meeting of La Porte City Council

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REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM Agenda Date Requested: April 13, 2013 Requested By: Stephen Barr Department: Parks & Recreation Report: Resolution: Ordinance: Exhibits: Budget Source of Funds: Account Number: Amount Budgeted: Amount Requested: Budgeted Item: YES NO SUMMARY & RECOMMENDATION This item was placed on the agenda at the request of Councilman Moser. The Parks & Recreation Department offers a variety of summer recreation activities at its recreation centers each summer, including Track & Field, Basketball Camp, a Summer Camp Program at Evelyn Kennedy, and recreation summer programs at Brookglen and Northside Parks. The Police Department D.A.R.E. program also offers a Safety Camp, four times during the summer with different safety aspects featured for each camp. Our traditional Summer Camp programming is restricted as to the number of kids who can participate, mainly due to limitations on staffing levels and very limited transportation. Summer Camps are offered for ages 6-12 for three one -week sessions at the Evelyn Kennedy Civic Center for $60 for each of the three week sessions. Evelyn Kennedy Civic Center was chosen for the traditional Summer Camp because of its central location when compared to the other two centers. For a number of years, the City worked with Harris County to provide a summer camp program at Northside Park. In addition to the County Summer Camp, the City participated in a free lunch program through a federally funded program administered by the City of Houston that is open to anyone. The Summer Camp program was cut by Harris County after the summer of 2010 due to extreme budget constraints brought about by the recession. The City of Houston Summer Lunch program has continued and runs from approximately 3 days after school lets out, through the second week in August (school starts back on August 23ra) Parks and Recreation implemented a substitute program in 2011 that was able to duplicate some of the Harris County program that was eliminated. Some highlights of that summer program are as follows: • Starting when school is out, the Northside Center is open from loam until 9pm each weekday • Lunch is served at 1 lam to any person under the age of 18, who signs in for the program (based on availability of meals provided for the day, which varies based on demand from the day before, and scheduled by City staff).