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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgendas/Packets - 1970.12.18 - 39498OAKLAND COUNTY PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION AGENDA December 18, 1970 1. Call Meeting to Order 2. Roll Call 3. Approval of Minutes of November 24, 1970 4. Report on Giant Slide 5. Report on Food Concession Operation 6. Salary Schedule 7. Administrative Budget 8. Review of Operating Budgets 9. New Business Letter from Mrs. Kadella Soap Box Derby 10. Adjourn REPORT ON GIANT SLIDE The owners of the giant slide have been con- tacted again. Their orig_i.nal asking price was $38,000, which included erection on our site. Since our conversation we have a new price of $30,000 plus $6,000 for installation on our site. They claim this $6,000 will be a minimum cost. This is a reduction of $2,000 from the original asking price. The value of the slide for our system is questionable. It is doubtful if the use of it should be charged for, in addition it means at least one person for supervision while in use. There is no doubt that we do need recreational equipment for all of our parks, however, at the present it would seem this amount of money could purchase a considerable amount of equipment that would provide more recreation opportunities. PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION oakland county service center 2800 watkins lake road pontiac, michigan Frances Clark Chairman Clarence A. Durbin Vice -Chairman M E M 0 Velma Austin Secretary Daniel W. Barry DATE: December 4, 1970 Thomas J. Dillon Sol D. Lomerson TO: Members of the Oakland County Parks and Carl W. O'Brien James L. Reid Recreation Commission E. Frank Richardson Henry A. Schiffer Commissioners Kenneth L. Van Natta Director ® For some time we have been researching the food service industry in an effort to obtain a Gerard C. Lacey Assistant Director sound program for our park system. Ours is a ® difficult problem if we are to pursue our desire of having fine quality foods at reasonable Pauline McCormick Adm. Assistant prices for our park visitors. To accomplish ® this desire, we will have to control quality, portions, and prices; be above accepted sanitary standards; and keep close auditing and security control. An unimaginative, easy and simple approach would be to let this business to the highest percentage bidder. This is a generally accepted practice that offers the course of least resis- tance. Under this arrangement we lose control of quality, price, and portions. The highest percentage bidder is usually the more knowledge- able operator --knowledgeable in corner cutting, discounts, kickbacks and substitutions. This is a skilled accomplishment obtained through ex- perience, usually at the financial cost to the consumer and the reputation cost to the owner. My small experience in this field has me convinced this is not the operation we want for our parks or for the people that support us. • 338-6196 MEMO - Page 2 December 4, 1970 To turn from an easy and accepted method is difficult, but the easy and accepted method does not hold any awards for us or our park visitors. We have not been an ordinary system from the time of conception, and I would hope we never become "commonplace." We now have arrived at a point where we must make a decision that could affect our future. Mr. and Mrs. Hill and the two girls are leaving our employment at Addison -Oaks; they will all be gone January 15, 1971. Our operation at Addison - Oaks has not been entirely satisfactory and we have been taking a long, hard look at it. The recent chain of events, such as the Hills' action and changing our priorities to development rather than acquisitions, has brought the problem into immediate focus. Not knowing all of the problems that may confront us makes it difficult to present you with a written format in a contract form that you could approve or disapprove of. However, I am enclosing a letter from a Mr. Hugo Slotkin that contains some alternatives. I would like to have you examine alternate #2 as a proposal. I have not, to this date, found a better solution or one that holds as much hope for our future as this, and I would recommend that we pursue this course. I believe the following should be known: Mr. Slotkin has been a friend of mine for some time. He was formerly the president of Hygrade Food Products Corporation and chairman of the Board of Directors. He sold his interest in this business and has retired from general daily routine. He is 57 years old and is presently on the Board of Directors of Nathan's, a New York food service corporation that does a 20-million dollar a year business that handles the concessions at Jones' Beach and other parks, plus restaurants in New York City. He also serves as a director in other corporations. Mr. Slotkin is a resident of Oakland County. He owns a 500 acre farm named Hy -Meadows in Holly Township and is breeding and raising championship cattle. December 3, 1970 Mr. Kenneth L. Van Natta Oakland County Parks and Recreation Commission 2800 Watkins Lake Road Pontiac, Michigan 48054 Dear Ken: Pursuant to our many conversations, I wish to inform you of the following conclusions I have arrived at in respect to food service in your park system. These conclusions were arrived at after serious consider- ation was given to some of your problems and also those of a person who would undertake furnishing the service. The problem was approached with one main line of thought: What is best for the park system, now and in the future; and if this concern is the prime object, then the profit motivation must become secondary. I would recommend and be willing to undertake the task of putting an organization together for you that could and would function with the prime concern being the park system and its reputation. This can be done one or more ways: 1. On a consultant fee basis Under this program I would, for a fee, put an organization together that would operate as a County endeavor. This would include accounting procedures, buying practices, quality and quan- tity control, and engaging employees. Under this procedure, all employees would be under the County system and the entire unit would function as a branch of the park system. 2. On a share or partnership basis Under this program the County would furnish all the facilities. I would furnish the technical know-how that includes purchasing practices, accounting, management, and engaging the em- ployees, and in effect they would be working for a private individual who would have control. Under this arrangement we would split the profit and/or loss on a 50/50 basis. Page 2 Either of these agreements should be for a minimum period of three years, and at the end of that time, a good operational history would be available. A new agreement could then be entered into on the basis of the results and data that had been accomplished in those three years. Without adequate past or current performance records, any projection of the amount of food business that has been or could be generated would be pure speculation. I am firmly convinced any catering service would, at the out- set of their operation, sustain a loss. The park system could suffer either through lowering of quality, cutting of portions, poor service, or raising prices, all of which create long-lasting disastrous results. The development of your entire park system into an established operation will also change this picture. The three year trial period may allow enough time to have all your parks properly developed, and this may change your entire operation. In pursuing this program, I was encouraged by your plans of development for your park system. As outlined to me, this aggressive program should enable you to satisfactorily serve our growing population. As your parks are being developed, your food operation consti- tutes a serious challenge, which I am prepared to accept and, together, make our County park system the finest. This is a preliminary proposal and should be further discussed and itemized before finalization. Yours truly, � (� - Q-� -_ 4 , -', - - Hugo lotkin MEMO - Page 3 December 4, 1970 This man has spent his entire life in the food industry business and knows every facet of it from concessions through fine restaurants, all over the world. With his knowledge and reputa- tion, we could not possibly afford to hire him. Fortunately for us, he has always had a keen interest in and has been a staunch supporter of our park system. His ideas about the way a food service business should operate coincides with ours. He is interested in taking this project on because it is presently a challenge he would be willing to accept with us; and also he believes, as we do, that handled correctly the food business in our park system has a real potential that he would like to be a part of. This item will be on our agenda for the December 18, 1970 meeting. I would appreciate it if you would jot down some of your thoughts re- garding this so they may be discussed. Cordially; Kenneth L. Van Natta KLV:clw