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Session 1320, Minutes Page 3 December 6, 1982 principle of the summer recreation program, and that final details would be worked out by the Park Commission at their January meeting. Mrs. Metcalfe said that because it was necessary to approve this program so far ahead, the Council had to depend on the administration to make a judgment that this program would not be accomplished at the expense of some other program, in terms of the City's total fiscal outlay. Mr. Ollendorff said the recreation portion of the Parks and Recreation budget will be the same or smaller than last year's program. He said some staffing changes had been made that enabled the administration to cut back on some of the overhead and administrative costs, mainly as a result of closing the ice rink. He said the recreation budget that will be presented as part of the Park Department's overall budget will probably be slightly smaller than the one ap- proved last spring. Mrs. Metcalfe then asked if the City was not anticipating major cuts in other departmental budgets, so that this one would not be disproportionately uncut. Mr. Ollendorff said cuts have been made in the last few months and that there are three fewer positions in the Park Department than were approved last spring. Mayor Mooney asked if there might be a lessening of service since no fee increases were asked for or anticipated. Mr. Ollendorff said the only changes were the ones noted in the report Council received, and it was felt that there were no cutbacks in the quality of services. In fact, he felt the quality of°the swimming and play- ground programs would be improved. He said there was no question that fees charged do not begin to pay the cost of the programs, but because of the necessity to bring fee increases to the voters, he would not suggest the cost of an election (in the neighborhood of $6,000) to recoup a smaller amount in fees. He said this might be considered every few years or so, with a variety of fees on the ballot, in order to spread the cost of an election over a longer period. Mrs. Thompson asked about the report that the skating rink was to be used for soc- cer. Mr. Ollendorff said that was being considered and would be brought before the Council some time soon. It was necessary to examine the financial aspect to see what the total cost would be, and how much the City could absorb and how much could be passed on to the users. Mr. Levy asked if there were children who were unable to attend last summer's play- ground program because of the fee. Mr. Ollendorff said he did not know of any, but if a child or adult was found who could not take part because of income, there were limited resources available to assist that person. He said there were not many re- quests, probably because the assistance was not advertised. Mr. Lieberman said he did not see how the summer program material could be prepared for distribution to the public this early. As liaison to the Park Commission, he noted there was very limited participation and little discussion by the Park Commis- sion when this program was presented to them, and both they and the Council were be- ing asked to approve the program in principle without going into detail. He said the Park Commission would discuss the summer program in depth at their January meet- ing, but he didn't see how the Council could allow the administration to print infor- mation for the public until there was agreeable consensus from the Commission that they concur with the program. He said the differences may not be as minor as pre- sented by the administration. Mayor Mooney asked if the Council should defer action until after the Park Commis- sion has met to approve the summer recreation program, and then include the infor-