LRPP Meeting #1 Notes - 06/1/2013

On June 1, the newly established Long Range Property Planning Task Force met for the first time at the Kodosky Service Center in Austin. The meeting was led by Glen Chin of GSUSA and he conveyed the responsibilities of the task force members and their goals for the upcoming six to eight month time period. It was discussed that membership participation is critical to this process. These groups will collect data and present their preliminary findings to the entire task force at the September meeting.

Future Task Force Meetings are as follows:

• September 7, 2013
• October 19, 2013
• December 13, 2013

UPDATED 7/8/13

Task Force Members 

• Trish Coy, Board and Task Force Chair - China Spring
• David Boehner, Board - Waco
• Lisa Sikora, Board - Austin
• Janie Mehrens, Community at Large - Brenham
• Bill Gurasich, Community at Large - Austin
• Dan Robertson, Community at Large - Austin
• Michele Anderson,Volunteer - Waco
• Carrie Yager, Volunteer - Austin
• Maricela Cantu, Volunteer - Brownwood

Advisory Members

• Glen Chin, GSUSA Property Consultant
• Lynelle McKay, CEO Staff
• Sande Chaffin, Facilities Director Staff
• Gayle Turner, Membership Lead, Staff
• Sherry Wolfe, Programs Director Staff
• Lolis Garcia-Baab, Marketing and Communications Director Staff
• Angie McFarland, Fund Development Director Staff

Sub-Committees:

Program Sub-Committee

• Carrie Yager - Chair
• Janie Mehrens
• Lisa Sikora
• Staff Liason: Gayle Turner and Sherry Wolfe

Tasks of Sub-Committee: 

• Review staff and volunteer training requirements
• Identify what facilities support the program and if they have the appropriate capacity and condition
• Identify duplicate programs within council sponsored programs and research program opportunities outside of the council
• Identify alternative program delivery sites – facilities owned by other organizations
• Review how we market our camps and identify opportunities to collaborate with other organizations
• Review camp usage – annual, monthly, weekly
• Review cost per girl/per day
• Review program outcomes
• Review staffing expertise, cost, supply
• Identify the current amenities at the camp and determine if they meet needs and expectations

Property Research Sub-Committee

• Maricela Cantu - Chair
• Bill Gurasich
• Staff Liason: Sande Chaffin

Tasks of Sub-Committee:

• Identify facilities and determine how/if they meet the needs of the council
• Identify the maintenance and personnel needs for upkeep of camps and facilities
• Determine the total cost of deferred maintenance
• Identify solutions to reduce cost, increase safety, and support council programs
• Gather information from all subcommittees and create a five year capital improvement plan that identifies upgrades and/or new facilities that are needed
• Review operating costs
• Review ownership/insurance values and coverage
• Assess overall maintenance condition

Market Research Sub-Committee

• Michele Anderson - Chair
• David Boehner
• Trish Coy
• Staff Liason: Lolis Garcia-Baab

Tasks of Sub-Committee:

• Identify transportation and time/distance concerns
• Identify program needs, issues, interests and expectations
• Research the availability of programs for all age levels through council offered programs and collaboration with other organizations
• Review gathered market research data
• Identify hurdles to participation
• Gain information on outdoor program trends

September 7 will be the next meeting. At that time, each sub-committee will report their findings to the committee at large. 

Upcoming Program & Property Visioning Meetings

GSCTX will host several area visioning meetings to discuss council owned and operated properties. All meetings are open and membership is encouraged to attend.

Long Range Property Planning - Visioning Meetings

Four meetings are scheduled for August 15-17, 2013 at the following locations:

• August 15, 2013 at 6:30p.m. Brownwood Service Center
• August 16, 2013 at 6:30p.m. Killeen Service Center
• August 17, 2013 at 10a.m. Kodosky Service Center (Austin)
• August 17, 2013 at 4p.m. Bryan Service Center

The intent for these meetings is to have a dialogue about council facilities including outdoor program sites and service centers and its future programming in order to assure that girls gain the absolute best leadership experience. The council is currently undertaking an extensive research and direction setting program for council owned and leased properties for the next five to ten years. Feedback from the Girl Scout membership at the Program and Facilities Visioning meetings is viewed as critically important and will be incorporated into the fact finding and recommendations delivered to the Council’s Board of Directors.

For questions or comments, please contact lrpp@gsctx.org. Let your voice and ideas be heard, and continue to check our webpage for updates.

Updates on Property & the Long Range Property Process

Memo: Updates on Property and the Long Range Property Process

From:  Kirsten Billhardt, Board Chair, Girl Scouts of Central Texas

Date:  April 17, 2013

At our annual meeting in late January, I shared some of the key goals we have at the Board level.  First, we need to find and onboard a new CEO who will guide us to become a stronger and more united organization, better able to fulfill our mission to build girls of courage, confidence and character who make the world a better place.  Second, we are focusing on our property portfolio.  We own or lease quite a bit of camp property, Scout Houses, and Program Centers  in our 46 counties and it does require a good share of our financial resources to just keep up with simple maintenance and upkeep.    

In regard to our second goal of assessing GSCTX properties, we have made a few decisions that we would like to share with the community. 

1. Moving the Brownwood Program Center – Our facilities staff has found a new space in Brownwood for our four staff members and computer lab.  This location will be shared with other community organizations, including the Red Cross and Boy Scouts, which opens up opportunities to collaborate in the community.   We are able to end the lease of our existing building, which had an unusable third floor and was not a desirable facility.
2. Place Camp Wood Lake on rest – Camp Wood Lake served less than 200 girls last year (as compared to over 4000 at Texlake and 1500 at Kachina) and cost the Council over $50k in maintenance.   We have placed this property on “rest” – which means we have closed the property for reservations.  This allows us to make immediate and necessary cuts in spending, while we as a community study the value this property adds for the girls. There will be opportunities for the local community to give input around this process before any final decisions are made.
3. Temple Area Service Center - We have asked the Facilities Director to research a more cost effective way to continue our Girl Scout presence in the Temple area, and bring recommendations back to the Board.
4. Renaming of Program Centers – To reduce confusion, the names of the Program Centers need to be consistent with names that are commonly used by most volunteers and staff.  This is also a unification activity to move past previous council names.

·         Bluebonnet becomes Waco Area Service Center

·         El Camino becomes San Angelo Area Service Center

·         Heart of Texas becomes Brownwood Area Service Center

·         Lone Star becomes Kodosky Service Center, Austin area.

As many of you are aware, we kicked off a Long Range Property Planning process to engage our volunteers in helping shape the role that property has in our Council, and to make further recommendations to the Board as to future changes in the property portfolio.   A cross-council volunteer task force was put together, and a series of Program Visioning workshops were held across our community.

A number of significant concerns came up over the past few months.  Most importantly – volunteers did not feel they had adequate and timely knowledge of the Program Visioning workshops, so they missed their opportunity to have their voices heard.   There was also demand for more information about our properties, which is under development by facilities staff and will be posted on our website within the next few weeks.  Also, many of the task force members were not able to attend key meetings, leaving decisions in the hands of just a few.  And finally – there were concerns that not every task force member was able to be objective in their participation.

Due to all these concerns, we have decided that given the importance of this initiative, we need to start over with the Long Range Property Planning process.   We disbanded the existing task force, with the exception of the Chair, and will be forming a new task force.   Here is the process moving forward:

1. Recruit new task force members made up of Council volunteers and Board Members and community members with strong property backgrounds who do not have a volunteer history with Council.   Applications are available here and will be accepted until May 20.  
2. Schedule a new series of Program Visioning workshops with a minimum of 60 days notice.  We expect these workshops to kick off in August.
3. Gather the recommended data for all Council properties and programs for use by task force members.
4. Publish a draft of the task force’s recommendations for review by all volunteers prior to presentation to the Board for its final decision.  We will be asking for your comments and concerns.

We are looking forward to working through key property decisions with a team that is cognizant of the history of the Council, but able to think of the needs of our girls moving forward.   While I am quite sure that we will have to make some tough decisions that some will be unhappy with, I know that the end result will be the ability to invest more dollars in assets and programs that will directly benefit our girls.  

Yours in Girl Scouting –

Kirsten

Membership Invited to Attend Visioning Workshops

Please read the latest update below regarding the GSCTX Long Range Property Planning project.

Your Input Affects the Future of GSCTX Properties

A Long Range Property Committee has been activated, including local volunteers and GSUSA personnel, to determine the future of all GSCTX properties, including program centers, scout houses, and camps. As part of the process, the committee wants to know what the local Girl Scouts truly want in their programs and properties.

Therefore, the committee developed a survey via Survey Monkey. This survey includes questions on current and future usage of all facilities, as well as program goals for our Girl Scouting Program. A random sampling of girls and adults was used, including girls of all program age levels. Those randomly chosen were sent the survey via email addresses. For those without email addresses, a postcard was sent with the contact information.

If you received this survey, please complete it as your opinion counts! In order to guarantee randomness, only those receiving the request may complete the survey. Younger girls will need parental assistance and approval in completing their portion, but their opinions will be considered. The survey has a deadline date of February 8, 2013. If not enough surveys are returned, a second list will be developed at that time, to insure adequate input from membership.

Thanks for your participation, The Long Range Property Committee