Section 3 – Organization and Administration

CAPRA Self-Assessment

3.1 – Organizational Structure

Standard:
The agency shall establish a staff organizational structure that reflects its methods of operation, its relationship to the community, and the relationships among the different organization components.

Narrative:
Lower Makefield Parks and Recreation Department is organized as such to provide the best quality of service to the Residents of the Township they serve. The Parks and Recreation Department is composed of a Parks and Recreation Director, who reports directly to the Township Manager. The Township Manager reports directly to the elected officials. The Parks and Recreation infrastructure has grown significantly since 2017 with the addition of a Community Center, programming, and a membership based dog park. With the growth came a need to expand staff, in 2021 the Board of Supervisors approved the addition of one additional full time maintenance staff to assist with the new demand. In 2022, the Board of Supervisors approved the addition of a full time year round Pool Manager and an Administrative Assistant for the department. The staff is now divided into Maintenance and Operations, Programming, Administration, and Aquatics.

Evidence of Compliance:

3.2 – Administrative Offices

Standard:
The agency administrative offices shall be accessible to the public and staff. There shall be administrative, meeting and storage space, and equipment adequate to perform the agency’s functions and responsibilities.

Narrative:
The Lower Makefield Township Community Center was not originally designed to host a full Parks and Recreation Department. There were just two small offices of the entrance of the facility. Some of the staff were located at the Township Building and some were located at the Community Center. When COVID19 Hit in order to spread staff out at the Township Building the remaining staff were relocated to the conference room within the Community Center. This has served the department nicely because there is more room for offices, planning and general administrative function. The offices are open to the public from 8:00AM-4:30PM and staff are also available by phone or email during business hours.

Evidence of Compliance:

The front entry to community center where the Parks and Recreation Department is located with Hours of Operation.

Hours of operation are also available on the Lower Makefield Township website.

Parks & Recreation

1550 Oxford Valley Road
Yardley, PA 19067

(We are located next to Fred Allan Softball Complex in the Community Center)

Phone: 267-274-1110 prinfo@lmt.org

Hours
Monday-Friday: 8:00 am - 4:30 pm

3.2.1 – Support Services

Standard:
Sufficient and appropriate equipment, technology, clerical and administrative staff shall be provided to enable the professional staff to perform their appropriate functions.

Narrative:
The Parks and Recreation Department has been improving since 2017 by adding additional technology as a resource to aid staff throughout the day. The staff uses Community Pass by Capture Point for registration, sign in, scheduling, and point of sale items which use Stripe readers with Apple Pay capabilities. The department added an automated key card scanner at the dog park that uses Brivo software, and a head counting system at the pool using cloud based software called SMS Store Trafficking Software. For the 2022 Pool season, the Parks and Recreation Department will add HydroApps as a new tool to help manage pool staff, training, and chemical maintenance. In addition, the Township embraced social media using Hootsuite as a platform to streamline information output through all social media channels. The office also has a full color printer with scan capability, document binder, laminator, and access to a sign shop. Each full time administrative staff has a laptop with multiple screens, all full time maintenance staff and full time exempt staff are all equipped with IPhones to be able to use the software for the different areas.

Evidence of Compliance:

3.3 – Internal Communication

Standard:
A communication system shall be established to ensure the accurate and timely transfer of internal information among staff.

Supporting Document:

3.4 Public Information Policy and Procedure

Standard:
The agency shall have approved policies that govern what information shall be released, when it should be released, and by whom it should be released and that demonstrate the agency’s commitment to inform the community and news media of events involving the agency.

Narrative:
Lower Makefield Township Residents can access information from many sources including all social media outlets, the website and the newsletters. If a Township resident is not satisfied with the information they received the resident has the right to make a formal right to know request per Pennsylvania’s New Right to Know Law, effective January 1, 2009. The directions to make a request can be found on the Township website Lower Makefield Township Right to Know Request Form, and the Township Right to Know procedure is available to all residents as well.

There are many ways the residents of the Township can access information including the following.

• In person 1550 Oxford Valley Rd. Yardley PA 19067
• Phone 267-274-1110
• Township Website
• Parks and Recreation Link
• Parks and Recreation Facebook
• Township Instagram
• Township LinkedIn
• Township Facebook
• Township Twitter
• Township YouTube
• Email Blasts
• Newsletter

Supporting Documents:

Evidence of Compliance:

3.4.1 – Public Information and Community Relations Responsibility

Standard:
A specific position in the agency shall be designated to direct the public information and community relations functions. The position serves as a point of control for information dissemination to the community and the media. The intent of the standard is to establish the authority and responsibility for developing and coordinating the agency’s community relations function in an identifiable position.

Narrative:
It is the responsibility of the Parks and Recreation Director to disseminate information regarding the Parks and Recreation Department to the Township.

Evidence of Compliance:

3.4.2 – Community Relations Plan

Standard:
The agency shall have an established community relations plan that identifies and addresses community needs for all segments of its service population, which is evaluated periodically for effectiveness.

Narrative:
The Marketing and Community Relations Plan was developed to provide a guideline for outreach to the community. Per the plan, “Bringing the community together” is one pillar of the Lower Makefield Township Parks and Recreation Mission Statement. This emphasizes how important community interaction and relationship development with department partners and residents is imperative to the success of the Parks and Recreation Department. This Community Relations Plan demonstrates how Lower Makefield will bring the community together in play but also how it will include the community in the decision-making process pertaining to the future of the Parks and Recreation Department. These efforts are aided by local community partners.”

Supporting Documents:

3.4.3 – Marketing Plan

Standard:
The agency shall have an established marketing plan, based on market research that is evaluated periodically for effectiveness. The fundamental principle of marketing is to gain an understanding of customer needs, wants, concerns and behaviors. The marketing plan addresses the appropriate mix of communications tools to promote agency programs, facilities, events and services and to provide accurate, timely and useful information to the various segments of the target audience.

Narrative:
Lower Makefield Township Marketing and Community Relations Plan outlines the strategies that Lower Makefield Township’s Parks and Recreation Department utilizes to continuously advance the department’s vision of “cultivating health, happiness, and community.” The department provides a wide array of programs, special events, activities, and summer camps that are designed to bring the community together, promote wellness and a high quality of life. This plan details opportunities for the Parks and Recreations Department to showcase these efforts. This plan will be used to ensure that the department is enhancing the community and engaging the residents of Lower Makefield. Marketing and Community Relations allows the department to gain an understanding of Township needs, create innovative programming, and provide unique resources to the Township.

Supporting Documents:

Sample:
We use information collected throughout the year and develop an annual report that includes information and review of Marketing efforts this information can be found in the 2022 Annual Report. Department staff use this report as a way to identify trends with participation with our digital marketing efforts.

3.4.3.1 – Marketing Responsibility

Standard:
A specific position shall be designated to direct the marketing function. Marketing functions shall be the responsibility of a permanent position of the agency that works closely with all agency units in developing, coordinating, and implementing the agency marketing plan.

Narrative:
It is the responsibility of the Director of Parks and Recreation to develop and implement a marketing strategy for the Department.

Supporting Documents:

3.4.3.2- Social Media Policy

Standard:
An agency shall have a policy on the use of social media in their public relations and marketing efforts. The policy should include how social media is issued in both community relations and marketing programs, identification of social media platforms, types of content and designated person for management and operation of the platforms.

Narrative:
Just recently the Township embraced social media as a means of disseminating information to the public. The Social Media Policy was designed to outline how that would look for the residents and how employees should or shouldn’t engage in social media.

Supporting Documents:

3.5 – Utilization of Technology

Standard:
Technology shall be used to enable the agency to operate more efficiently and effectively. The agency should research and apply such resources progressively.

Narrative:
In the last few years Lower Makefield Township has made extreme progress with regards to the use of technology. In 2017 all calendars were kept on paper, receipts were hand written and permits were produced manually. Since then we have embraced Capture Point. Capture Point allows the staff and residents to have an overall knowledge of what is happening within the park system. We now use Capture Point for membership, class registration, point of sale, credit card payments, and much more. Since then we have added:

• HydroApps New in 2022
• Constant Contact
• Munis
• Brivo
• ID Card Scan
• Microsoft Teams
• Zoom
• Drop Box
• Google
• Local Government Cable Channel
• Go Daddy, WordPress

Evidence of Compliance:

2023 Annual Review:

3.5.1 – Management Information Systems

Standard:
The Agency shall have management information systems that can produce reliable statistical and data summaries of agency activities, such as daily, monthly, and annual reports for use in management decision-making. The reports shall provide comparative data and statistics.

Narrative:
Lower Makefield Township is able to pull data from a number of sources in order to make decisions about operations. Reports from Hootsuite, Community Pass, Munis, SMS Systems, YouTube, Instagram, and Google Analytics are used to make decisions about operations on a regular basis. An example of information recorded can be found in the Annual Report.

Lower Makefield Township staff produces an annual report to the BOS, the Parks and Recreation Board each year during the Parks and Recreation Road Tour. Each year the Parks Director and some staff provide a Tour by bus or trolley for the Boards, while reviewing information with the packet. During the Tour the group visits five or six sites that are of interest due to capital improvements needed, capital improvements in progress, or potential development sites. The report provided to the Boards includes both quantitative and qualitative information that is used to make decisions for the budget, during staff meetings and for programming. Most recently this report was used in discussion in a BOS Capital Improvement approval process for our Schuyler Park Tennis Court repair. The board voted to repair the courts at a cost of $400,000. The meeting minutes are not available at this time, the meeting occurred June 9, 2022. This report is also made available to the public so they can give informed feedback about our programs. This report has evolved significantly over time and will continue to produce information for decision making.

Recent Examples:
Information from the Road Tour Report, community pass and Munis in addition to staff and resident feedback helped us make decision about fee structures within the pool for the 2022 season.

Data from Community Pass 2022 Summer Camp Report allowed us to expand our camp program for the 2022 season by adding an air-conditioned tent to our program, we continue to actively seek alternative space to accommodate even more campers.

Swim lesson report within the annual report taught us that we needed to offer more lessons, particularly lower-level classes. We changed the schedule this year to accommodate and partnered with the swim team to offer a transitional swim program for higher level participants.

Pickleball numbers within the annual report allowed us to change a grant project from four dedicated tennis courts to three tennis courts and four dedicated pickleball courts. These we the first non-convertible courts in the Township.

Information from this report was also used as part of the master planning process for the Department.

The Department has also made decisions about purchasing software based on the inability to produce data. In the past we have used spreadsheets for scheduling the 120-130 pool staff every summer but that was becoming too difficult, in 2019 pool management tried to use homebase for scheduling but recognized quickly that many of the staff did not find it to be user friendly and we were unable to track much as far as hours worked in real time, overtime the way we wanted to. We started looking for other applications and found HydroApps which provides ease of scheduling, incident reporting, chemical tracking and much more. This app was purchased for the 2021 season and we are already able to track so much more. Here is an example of a recent Facility Check Sheet.

Supporting Documents:

3.6 – Records Management Policy and Procedures

Standard:
The agency shall have established policy and procedures for control, maintenance, and retention of records that are periodically reviewed. Records management policies and procedures address retention, disposal, access, disclosure and distribution of documents, including freedom of information requests, and they must be consistent with legal requirements.

Narrative:
Lower Makefield Township retains records on site for a period of seven years, at the start of the new fiscal year the Board of Supervisors approves a resolution for the destruction of records.

Supporting Documents:

2023 Annual Review:

3.6.1 – Records Disaster Mitigation and Recovery Plan and Procedures

Standard:
There shall be an established records disaster mitigation and recovery plan and procedures that are periodically reviewed for protecting records, storing them and recovering critical information after a disaster.

Narrative:
This is referenced in the Risk Management and Emergency Action Plan in Section 4.81.

If evacuation of the premises is necessary, some items may need to be secured to prevent further danger to the facility and personnel on hand (such as securing confidential or irreplaceable records or shutting down equipment to prevent release of hazardous materials). Only the Safety Coordinators may remain in the building for the prescribed amount of time to secure the property and equipment to which they have been assigned.

All people remaining behind to shut down critical systems or utilities must be capable of recognizing when to abandon the operation or task. Once the property or equipment has been secured, or the situation becomes too dangerous to remain, those who remained behind must exit the building by the nearest escape route as soon as possible and meet the remainder of the employees at the designated assembly area.

Supporting Documents:

Evidence of Compliance:

2023 Annual Review: