To: Honorable Mayor and Members of Town Council
From: Kristin Zagurski, Assistant to the Town Manager
Title
Update: 2016 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 2016 performance objectives as outlined during this year’s application projects.
Attached are the reports from the organizations. Castle Rock Chamber of Commerce President/CEO Pam Ridler intends to make a five-minute presentation on behalf of the organizations that are members of the Castle Rock Economic Partnership. An additional presentation is planned from the Castle Rock Historical Society/Museum.
The amounts of each organization’s 2016 contracts follow, for reference:
Organization 2016 Service Contract Amount
Castle Rock Chamber of Commerce $99,720
Castle Rock Downtown Development Authority $140,549
Castle Rock Economic Development Council $180,550
Castle Rock Historical Society/Museum $71,000
Castle Rock Senior Center $120,000
Douglas County Housing Partnership $35,000
Douglas County Youth Initiative $19,800
Downtown Merchants Association $57,600
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 2016 application process.
Castle Rock Chamber of Commerce
Community Marketing
• Continue the systematic models of measuring the return on objectives of local events which include surveying vendors, event attendees and local businesses
• Continue to increase the VisitCastleRock.org website and social media presence adhering to the SEO Strategic Plan
Hospitality and Tourism
• Conduct research regarding the feasibility of maintaining the Visitors Center to include Saturday summer hours to greet and give assistance to visitors and residents
• Increase recruitment of hospitality volunteers to eight trained individuals
• 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 5 percent
• Continue to offer business trainings, increasing the participating with online and in-person training events
• Continue new business outreach to welcome and introduce these businesses to our local resources that 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. Prioritize projects that bring restaurant and retail space, office space and residential space, which are agreed upon goals by the DDA and Town Council
• Façade Improvement Program: Support façade and beautification projects. Focus on the core area of Downtown
• Festival Park: Continue to collaborate with the Town to design and construct an expanded and enhanced Festival Park with the goal to increase vibrancy and pedestrian activity in Downtown
Increase Charm and Pedestrian Activity
• Signage: Landmark signage is needed in Downtown, and the DDA will continue to investigate strategic investment in signage at the entry points to Downtown
• 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, the Town and the County, 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 quarterly development roundtable 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
• To 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. Support historic exhibits at other appropriate sites in Castle Rock. In the past, we provided an exhibit on the site of the hospital
• 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 local site tours that encourage visits to Castle Rock
• Continue providing informative historical presentations to groups including the general public, seniors and school children
• Assist the economic development of Castle Rock by presenting the development of Castle Rock from the founding to the present day; and encourage growth of local businesses as our partners, all the while preserving the small-town atmosphere
Castle Rock Senior Center
Programs and Activities
• Continue to serve over 3,000 (duplicated) senior participants each month with social, cultural and educational opportunities
• Provide over 125 or more activities and/or events per month that are recognized as essential components to healthy and successful aging
• Continue to expand awareness of and attention of our volunteer programs at the Center
Transportation
• Continue to provide over 600 rides to seniors and those adults with disabilities to medical appointments, social events and basic living needs
Health & Wellness
• Continue to provide VOA low-cost meals three times a week, and continue to coordinate Meals on Wheels weekly home deliveries to qualified clients
• Continue to expand the wellness programming to serve the needs of the seniors
Center Objectives
• Continue to expand our membership base as the population of seniors continues to grow in Douglas County
• Select and execute a new database system to better track activities, membership, donors and much more, all in one place
Douglas County Housing Partnership
• Douglas County Housing Partnership will provide homebuyer education classes monthly, which 35 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 40 Castle Rock households
• Douglas County Housing Partnership will provide reverse mortgage counseling to five households in Castle Rock
Douglas County Youth Initiative
• Serve 80-100 families via WRAP
• Establish Teen Court for unincorporated youth
• Add mentoring component for WRAP
• Obtain a second-year grant from the State Department of Human Services
• Increase attendance for events
• Develop a youth board
• Develop a WrapAround professional review team
• Refine the cost-saving tool developed to evaluate community savings
Downtown Merchants Association
• For 2016, the Downtown Merchants has taken a strategic approach to the planning and executing of events, evaluating the results of prior events and weighing them against events that are in popular demand with the community. The projected attendance for 2016 is approximately 25,000 visitors, with the following events being produced by the DMA
- Four family Starlight Movies
- Classic Rock Cruise In Concert and Street Party and Car Show
- Oktoberfest
- Two date night movies
- Concert Under the Lights (up to three concerts)
- Broncos Event - this may either be the Salute to Fans Tour or showing a Denver Broncos game night
- Trick or Treat Street
- Four Splash in the Park events
- Added Downtown marketing as part of the Community Partners portion of the DMA contract - including the direct mail piece that goes out two times per year in conjunction with the County, Town and Chamber
• The Downtown Merchants Association serves as a voice for the Downtown business community, and its communication network helps facilitate and support the work of the Town and Downtown Development Authority. In 2016, it plans to continue to organize Downtown Stakeholders Public Meetings and extends an open invitation to the Town, EDC, Chamber and business community to participate in these meetings
• The Downtown Merchants Association’s mission is to strengthen the Downtown business community. A stronger Downtown business community translates to increased sales tax and local jobs. Currently, membership is free. All businesses in Downtown are encouraged and welcome to join. For 2016, the goal is to continue to add new members
• The Downtown Merchants Association events support the Town’s goal of creating a vibrant Downtown, a strong sense of community and small-town atmosphere, which is strongly supported by the Vision 2020 Plan. The DMA helps to foster a sense of community for residents of all ages with community events and entertainment which contributes significantly to the attraction of living in the Town of Castle Rock. These events help unify Castle Rock and increase residents’ sense of community. The DMA events continue to foster the “small-town feeling” that residents say brought them to Town
• The Downtown Merchants Association events provide a strong marketing platform for the Town and all the Downtown businesses. In 2016, the DMA plans to continue to encourage Downtown businesses to participate in the events and the themes of events with offers, coupons, specials, etc., that will help them capitalize on a crowd that is attending a Downtown event in front of their store
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