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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCS-X 1981-02-06 to CAO q R E P O R T TO: David Sims, Acting Administrator Town of Newcastle FROM: Thomas A. Fanning, R. D. M. R. Director, Department of Community Servies .� DATE: February 6th, 1981 t SUBJECT: Deputy Directors Report r Re: Mrs. Janice Slocombe's Letter �, p QEPA,1�)IMFNT With reference to the attached Report and letter regarding * swimming registration on Tuesday evening February 3rd;. 1981. In, summarising the Deputy Directors. Report, which pertains .' to Mrs.- Slocombes letter regarding (372) people registering for swimming classes and long lineups in freezing weather. It has been my experience in past years that we have had long 'lineups in incl,imate weather, whether .it' is summer•or winter. There were six (6) staff members on duty and they were Program/Aquatic Director, Office Secretary and four (4) Instructors. To me that is sufficient for the facility (Bell Building) . The Newcastle Fitness Centre would not be a proper place to conduct registrations due -to the size of the upper level room, hallways and stair wells: We would have problems with people trying to enter the Pool Area and going upstairs. This could develop into _mass confusion. and accidents. The registration system is a slow process.', but an efficient process set up by the Treasurer's Department. We only have two (2) receipt machines. If they want instant service then we would require about twelve (12) machines plus more staff at additional costs,to .the Taxpayer. On Wednesday evening, there were one hundred and one (101) people who registered for swimming. In discussions. with staff on duty, the registration system was properly organized despite rumours that there was disorganization, crowding and pushing. ' Other communities have this problem regarding registrations. Arenas have long lineups in cold weather and rain during the play-off season. Continued. . .2 Re: Mrs. Janice Slocombe's Letter Page 2. In all honesty, we did not expect that large number of registrations on Tuesday, February 3rd, 1981. We do not try to create problems, we try hard to assist the public in giving a good and efficient service, however, our facility is not the best for riass registration. We intend to revise our system for the next registration period. TAF/sa Enclosure: 2 co: Mayor G.. B. Rickard Councillor Maurice Prout J. M. McIlroy, Acting Town Manager" Mrs. J. 'Slocombe C o w. 80 Lawrence Crescent, Dowmanville , Ontario. LlC 05 February 3► 1991, Mr. B. Fanning, Ditector, Community Services , Town of Newcastle, 40 Temperance Street , B6wmanville , Ontario. Dear I51r. . Fanning: I have ,just returned from 152 Church Street after registering my children for swimming lessons. I feel compelled to express to you my annoyance at the complete inadequacy of that building for this eveningts registration purposes . I arrived there about 6 : 00 p.m. , anal by approximately- 6.10 p.m. , that small room was packed with . people and there was no room whatsoever to form a proper Line-up. At my suggestion,, and to. avpid- a jossible confrontation at 7 : 00 p.m. , your staff 'obliginaly. issued numbers which they had to .write ou•t. on pieces of .paper. I fully appreciate that this is the Community Services 'Department`ts first. venture into mass, registration procedures , but surely, you must have AntipipaYd ra, Kood. response; from tho;public. I am sure that you are aware of the years of problems your counter- parts in, Oshawa oxperienced. with swimminc registrations and I expected that you would foresee an extremely good turn out from citizens who have waited for years for this beautiful complex and have donated money and volunteered so much of their time to finally realize its completion. I was irritated by the proceedings within the building but totally infuriated when , I emerged from the Inside to find a line--up, of people -- 4 deep, ,from 152 Church right round the corner to the ; Temperance Street exit. These people were absolutely frozen and wanted. to know if there was any way they could get into the building. I had thb unpleasant task of Informing them that the building .was already packed like a can of sardines . I later learned that people in the waiting room had Finally looked the door to keep these people from pushing; their ,ray inside as there were again, no numbers left to hand out. 'lhe sad thing is , that there was absolutely no necessity for anyone to be standing outside in sub zero temperatures . There are any number of facilities . in Town .which could have accommodated those people INSIDE and I cannot understand why such a small building was chosen. Perhaps you have a very good reason. I must emphasize that I feel that the staff on duty performed. to .the best of their ability with the accommodation and arrangements with which they were provided. n 2 As a fDrmer municipal employee , I am fully conversant with civic procedure and realize that demands are made on you by the public , such as myself and also SO Puliticians - I no, therefovo , forwarding a copy of this letter to the Chairman of your Committee. it is not my Intention that this 1ptter be placed on their agenda, but I have no objection to that course of action if you deem It necessary. The following are a few point, which I wish to raise with respect to improving the registration procedure: - (1) Accommodation should be adequate to house ,prospective registrants - IN31DE the building - especially in winter conditions . (2) A proper numbering system should be made available to your. staff. This is the only fair and efficiekt, ;manner In which this procedure can be organized.. (3) There I ya.s .far ' too muchkandwritten informatlon to be put ' on the recelpts4 cans ider-Ing the presiure the staff were undor at the start of the registration. This resulted In yet anotherMne-up. is it really necessary to register at different tables for different levely ? This caused yet another concern that while lining .up to register one child, the class you* wished to register your other child in, would be filled by the time you reached the other table. . I sincerely hope that you will consider the -foregoing as constructive .criticism as this is not only my opinion, but the reiteration of many of• the people there tonight. ' I .would appreciate your comments regarding this matteT. yours sincerely; Ja, m,rs . ) Janice 6locombe. , COW. Chairman, Community Services Committee (For Information Only) . R E P O R T TO: Thomas A. Fanning, R. D. M. R. Director, Department of Community Services FROM: J. P. Caruana, D/Director Department of Community Services SUBJECT: Letter received from Mrs. J. Slocombe DATE: February 5th, 1981 In reviewing Mrs. Slocombe's letter, of February 3rd, 1981, I will comment on the concerns voiced. (a) Inadequacy of Be11.Building.to house registrations. The Bell Building as you are aware.has served as our head office for the past three (3) years. In that time, registrations have taken place there. It is the only building that the majority of people identify with for registration of all recreation programmes. It was believed that to avoid confusion we would hold registrations. there as people are accustomed to and familiar with that building for the said purpose. Perhaps it isn't a suitable place for masses of people, but. it is all we have available. (b) Incorporate a numbering system. This is perhaps a good idea for registrations of this nature, and one which we will look at and try to introduce when the occasion arises again. (c) Handwritten information on receipts. This is a problem that our staff has had to cope with since the introduction of the computer system. I have discussed this some time ago with Mr. Degroot., Town Treasurer and was informed there is no other way, that can accommodate the system. (d) Lining up -at different tables. This is the system that our department has .found to be the most efficient. I will admit it may take more time, however, it is less confusing for our staff where stations are set-up and each person is responsible for their specific class. Certainly, you can appreciate if each person registered all levels of all classes the confusion and extra paper work to. be handled would-be very frustrating for our staff. Page 2. In conclusion, we are certainly pleased to see the interest in our department programme and for the most part, a good response was expected. However, the response was quite overwhelming and I can truthfully say we did not expect the numbers we experienced. I do sympathize with the people who did have to wait in the cold but until we have a facility that can accommodate hundreds of people for registration purposes, I can't see an alternative without additional expense to the taxpayer. Perhaps one idea would be to conduct registrations during business hours at the Community Services office similar to our hockey registrations which experienced the same problems a number of years ago. This is a new programme, we have never had a facility to conduct swimming lessons all year round and I would hope that the taxpayer please give us a chance to develop_ an efficient system. I certainly appreciate Mrs. Slocombe's concerns and I assure you they are received with .a constructive attitude. I trust the inform- ation provided is as requested.