To: Honorable Mayor and Members of Town Council
From: Kristin Zagurski, Senior Management Analyst
Title
Update: 2015 Service Contract Year End Reports
Body
________________________________________________________________________________
Executive Summary
Each year, Town Council reviews requests from service organizations for funding their operations and/or community events and services. Per the Town’s agreements with these entities, they must submit semiannual reports on their activities. This includes, but is not limited to, financial reporting information and achievements toward 2015 performance objectives as outlined during the annual application process.
Attached are the reports from the organizations. No presentations are planned, but staff is happy to relay any questions regarding the reports to representatives of the various organizations.
The amounts of each organization’s 2015 contracts follow, for reference:
Organization 2015 Service Contract Amount
Castle Rock Chamber of Commerce $99,720
Castle Rock Downtown Development Authority $124,228
Castle Rock Economic Development Council $180,550
Castle Rock Historical Society/Museum $71,000
Castle Rock Senior Center $102,000
Douglas County Housing Partnership $35,000
Douglas County Youth Initiative $19,800
Downtown Merchants Association $55,600
Discussion
The Town contracts with various community organizations for services that the Town might otherwise directly provide the community. By contracting with these organizations, the Town leverages its funds with other dollars. The organizations also bring volunteer support, expertise and other resources to the table, which result in the Town receiving a better return on investment and level of service than if the Town provided the services directly.
This section summarizes the performance objectives each organization set during the 2015 application process.
Castle Rock Chamber of Commerce
Community branding and marketing:
• Continue the systematic models of measuring the return on objectives of current local events which include surveying vendors, event attendees and local businesses.
• Continue to increase the VisitCastleRock.org website and social media presence.
Hospitality and tourism:
• Conduct research regarding the feasibility of expanding the Visitor Center’s (hours) to include weekend hours to greet and give assistance visitors and residents.
• Research other Colorado Visitor Centers volunteer training models.
• Coordinate and facilitate the Colorado Artfest, Douglas County Fair Parade, Starlighting, Healthy Living Expo and the Castle Rock WineFest with the objective to increase community engagement, which adds to the Castle Rock lifestyle and sense of community, including enhanced social and cultural experiences, educational excellence and recreational opportunities.
Business Support Services - Castle Rock Economic Gardening:
• Increase the number of business counseling service hours by 10 percent.
• Continue to offer business trainings, increasing the participation with online and in-person training events.
• Continue new business outreach to welcome and introduce these businesses to our local resources, which can assist in their business success.
Castle Rock Downtown Development Authority
Increase economic activity in Downtown:
• Development projects: Actively engage the private sector to bring positive development to Downtown Castle Rock. Drive development to the core and build redevelopment momentum in the core of Downtown. Actively participate in place making in Downtown.
• Façade Grant Program: Support façade and beautification projects through the Façade Program. Focus on the core area of Downtown.
Increase charm and pedestrian activity:
• Signage: Landmark signage is needed in Downtown, and the DDA will research cost and possible locations.
• Patio Program: Study after study has shown that by increasing pedestrian activity, there is an increase in economic activity. The Patio Program provides a public gathering place that also facilitates commerce and enhances the environment.
• Flower boxes: Increase the number of flower boxes and Downtown beautification projects.
• Christmas decorations: In partnership with the Chamber of Commerce and the Town, the DDA will participate in bringing professional holiday decorations to Downtown Castle Rock.
Increase sales and traffic:
• The goals outlined above are expected to enhance the environment and increase traffic Downtown and, in turn, sales to Downtown businesses - the key stakeholders in Downtown. On top of this, the Downtown Development Authority hopes to identify and pursue projects that help to increase sales tax and property tax Downtown. Projects that have a catalytic impact to Downtown will be actively explored and pursued, and the Downtown Development Authority will report back on this activity.
Castle Rock Economic Development Council
Castle Rock EDC Business Attraction and Retention Measurables:
• 30 business retention/expansion visits to Castle Rock businesses
• Hold four commercial/industrial broker and developer marketing events
• Hold two retail recruiting events, including ICSC annual conference
• Hold 10-12 primary employers events
Castle Rock EDC will provide quarterly economic indicator updates that will include:
• Castle Rock unemployment rate
• Commercial/industrial/retail vacancy rate
• Primary and retail prospect activity report by category
• Number of jobs attracted or expanded
• Capital investment
• Business retention visits conducted, issues logged and issues resolved
Castle Rock Historical Society/Museum
• Continue to discover, collect and promote the preservation of any archive material, sites buildings and oral history which may help to establish or illustrate the history of the Castle Rock area. The Castle Rock Museum has illustrated the geology, exploration, settlement, development, conditions, events, public figures and progress of the Town.
• Hold open the Castle Rock Museum four days per week, five hours per day, excluding holidays, with no admission charge, 100 percent of the time. We would like to expand hours based upon financial resources.
• Provide permanent exhibits of artifacts and curated exhibits at the Castle Rock Museum.
• Continue to curate traveling and rotating exhibits at the Castle Rock Museum.
• Continue hosting historical tours of the Castle Rock area. Past examples include a Trolley Tour, Walking Tours and Biking Tours.
• Continue providing informative historical presentations to groups including the general public, seniors and to school children.
• Assist economic development of Castle Rock by presenting the development of Castle Rock from the founding to the present day, and encourage growth of local business as our partners, all while preserving the small-town atmosphere.
Castle Rock Senior Center
Programs and activities:
• Continue to serve over 3,000 seniors each month with social, cultural and educational opportunities including (but not limited to) golf, softball, bingo, seasonal parties and more.
• Host training seminars for the members who volunteer - help them to expand their skills and become more involved in their community.
Transportation:
• Continue to provide up to 1,000 rides per month to seniors and those with disabilities - to medical appointments, social events and basic living needs such as grocery shopping.
• Renew free or very low cost once-a-month trips to Denver cultural attractions such as the Denver Zoo, the Performing Arts Center and more.
Health and wellness:
• Continue to provide VOA low-cost meals three times weekly and Meals On Wheels weekly deliveries to qualified customers.
• Add vision testing to our existing programs of audiology, reflexology, massage, foot care and Lunch & Learn personal health classes.
Overall Senior Center objectives:
• Develop and expand our member and volunteer databases to include more categories.
• Broaden our membership base to include more diversity in ethnic and cultural groups.
Douglas County Housing Partnership
• Douglas County Housing Partnership will provide home buyer education classes monthly, which 30 Castle Rock renters considering homeownership will attend.
• Douglas County Housing Partnership will provide down payment assistance to nine households purchasing homes in Castle Rock.
• Douglas County Housing Partnership will provide foreclosure mitigation counseling to 75 Castle Rock households.
• Douglas County Housing Partnership will provide reverse mortgage counseling to two households in Castle Rock.
Douglas County Youth Initiative
• Continue to serve families through the WrapAround program.
• Work with three Castle Rock-based schools - Castle Rock Elementary, Mesa Middle School and Castle View High School - focusing on children who receive Free and Reduced Lunches and who have a mental health diagnosis.
• Develop new DCYI programs: Juvenile Justice Coordination and a mentoring program.
• Continue working on an evaluation tool to measure WrapAround’s effectiveness and cost savings.
• Work with the Douglas/Elbert Task Force and The Crisis Center to identify three to five families who are repeat visitors to the agency and offer WRAP as a direct service to the family to help families reach self-sufficiency and reduce their dependency on those agencies.
• Implement Teen Court in unincorporated Douglas County and Lone Tree.
• Research new programs to host under the umbrella of the Youth Initiative.
Downtown Merchants Association
• Host a series of about 17 events, projected to bring 20,000 visitors to Downtown Castle Rock.
• Continue to organize Downtown stakeholders public meetings.
• Continue to add new members.
Attachments
Attachment A - Year End Report for Castle Rock Chamber of Commerce
Attachment B - Year End Report for Castle Rock Downtown Development Authority
Attachment C - Year End Report for Castle Rock Economic Development Council
Attachment D - Year End Report for Castle Rock Historical Society/Museum
Attachment E - Year End Report for Castle Rock Senior Center
Attachment F - Year End Report for Douglas County Housing Partnership
Attachment G - Year End Report for Douglas County Youth Initiative
Attachment H - Year End Report for Downtown Merchants Association