Administrative Policy #5.12 - Contracting Parks and Recreation Class Instructors
Purpose
The purpose of this Policy is to establish guidelines for selecting contracted services related to instructors of Parks and Recreation classes.
Scope
The Parks and Recreation Department offers a large number of classes and activities for children, youth, and adults and, consequently, enters into a large number of small contracts for various instructors and facilitators. Virtually all of the contracts fall under $15,000 in any given fiscal year, and most fall well under $3,000 for a fiscal year. The Department arranges a large number of classes and activities and desires to provide as many classes and activities as participants demand. Due to the relatively informal nature of many of the programs, in October 2002 the City Council, acting as the City's Contract Review Board, exempted these types of contracts from the competitive bidding process.
Policy
It is the policy of the City of Corvallis that the acquisition of contracted class and activity instructors shall be done in an open and competitive manner so that current or potential instructors will have an opportunity to submit proposals for said classes and activities. This shall be accomplished through the following procedures:
a. The Parks and Recreation Department shall develop a short class proposal form which will be available online and at all Parks and Recreation facilities, including the administrative offices, the Senior Center, and Osborn Aquatic Center. At any time that a person, business, or organization has a proposal to teach a class or facilitate an activity, that person, individual, or organization will be asked to complete the proposal form.
b. In each of the Parks and Recreation Department's semi-annual activity guides and at least once per year in the City newsletters, the Department shall publish a request for proposals from potential instructors or facilitators. The Class Proposal form will also be available at all times on the Parks and Recreation Web site.
c. Instructors and facilitators currently under contract to the City will be asked to submit proposals throughout the year and especially at the time of publications indicated in Section 5.07.031.b., above.
d. Prior to the regularly scheduled enrollment periods, all reasonable proposals by qualified instructors for classes and activities will be reviewed and scheduled as long as space is available, agreement has been reached regarding fees and charges, it supports existing agreements with established community partners, there is an existing or potential demand for the activity as determined by Department staff, and a signed agreement has been completed. Current contractors will be given priority for maintaining the same time and location as their current classes.
e. Registration in the classes will be at the discretion of the participants. City staff will provide guidelines on minimum enrollment over a specified period of time so that available space and time is used most efficiently but also so that experience and "word of mouth" has time to develop.
f. Classes will continue as long as enrollment meets the minimum level of registrants, participant evaluations meet the Department's Cost Recovery Methodology, and locations for the activities can be secured. If a class falls below a pre-determined minimum number of registrants for more than two (2) consecutive sessions, the class and instructor's contract may be terminated.
Review/Update
The Parks and Recreation Director will prepare the Administrative Policy review every three years for City Manager approval.
Last reviewed: 10-2014
