Outsourcing Recreation Services to Begin July 15

Though Half Moon Bay will oversee its own recreation programs this summer, San Carlos will begin a contract to provide services on July 15, according to Katie Crowder, Assistant to the City Manager of Half Moon Bay.

The contract is expected to save Half Moon Bay $222,441 each year, a city staff report details.

By Sept. 1, two Recreation Department employees—Supervisor Dirk Alvarado and Administrative Assistant Caroline Weigandt—will be laid off and the department will be completely transitioned to San Carlos, according to Crowder.

San Carlos Recreation Director Doug Long spoke to the Half Moon Bay City Council at a special meeting on Tuesday night where details of the two-year contract (with options to renew for one year each) between the two cities were discussed.

Crowder and Half Moon Bay City Councilmember Marina Fraser both said that they expect the contract to come before the council for approval on June 7.

On July 15, San Carlos will start to provide 15 customer service hours per week at the .

"The exact days and hours would be determined by need and peak usage times," said Crowder.

Over the summer, there will be some crossover and transition time with San Carlos and Alvarado and Weigandt.

Preserving the acccess of the nonprofit as a location for its programming—including classes and lunch—to the Ted Adcock Senior/Community Center was a concern to some before the city voted to outsource its recreation services on April 2. San Carlos will take over facility management of the Senior/Community Center, the Train Depot and Smith Field.

"I am very happy that the Parks and Recreation team we’re working with will be collaborating with Senior Coastsiders to make sure they have access to facilities," said Half Moon Bay city councilman Rick Kowalczyk Wednesday night.

On Tuesday night, council members discussed the continued publication of a recreation guide three times a year with mailings to Half Moon Bay, Montara, Moss Beach and El Granada. The city will contribute $19,000 towards the guides' publication each year. Online registration for  recreation classes will be available through the City of Half Moon Bay’s website.

Earlier this week on Monday, Half Moon Bay hosted an information session to all of its recreation vendors to inform them about the transition.

Cara Schmaljohn, Executive Director of Senior Coastsiders, could not be reached by the time of publication for comment.