HomeMy WebLinkAbout07/06/2004, COUNCIL LIAISON REPORT #1 - JUNE 24 MEETING OF PAC COMMISSION MEE V AGENDA
DATE ITEM # -o
. . Itaru
U
aeson Report
June 29, 2004
To: Council Collea s
Copies: Ken Haa�ian, endy George, Diane Reynolds
From Ken Schwartz �
Re: June 24 meeting of PAC Commission
While Dave was busy playing Sonny to Christine's Cher, I attended the PAC meeting last
Thursday as the City's alternate delegate.
Our own Wendy George chairs the Commission and ran a very business-like meeting the
high points of which were:
1. The Operating budget for '04— '05 was unanimously accepted. The budget will
require a $53,175 transfer from the operating reserve. No one was happy about this,
but the `partners' of which the City is one—declared early in the budget
preparation process that they would be unable to provide beyond their previously
agreed upon fair share contributions. Management believes that it has cut expenses
to the bone,but big `hits' in insurance costs and workman compensation fees phis
regular cost-of-living increases require dipping into the reserve for next year. The
other side of the coin is that income has declined due to lower than expected
attendance at events as well as fewer PAC users. Management is hopeful of
improvement during the next fiscal year.
2. A work program for acoustic improvements was unanimously approved.
.The acoustic subcommittee has been working with an acoustician to determine what
might be done to the house in order to improve its acoustics—both for the audience
and for the performers. The list of recommendations was significant and the cost to
achieve the full spectrum of the recommendations was,well, staggering—some
$5.5 million. The acoustic"cloud"so often spoken of would cost better than$2.7
million by itself (The new term for"cloud"is"canopy.")
The acoustic committee broke their recommendation down into five groupings of
projects. The first project group consists of comparatively minor improvements yet
totals$2929517. It just so happens that SLO City and Cal Poly have this sum
already dedicated so it will proceed. Recognizing that the only revenue stream that
could be tapped to carry out the remainder of these recommended projects would be
fimds that could be raised by FPAC,the Commission had to look to what might be
feasible for FPAC to handle. The outside hope is that FPAC might be able to fund
project groups 2 and 4 if last minute fimd raising to be completed by July 15 is
successful. Project 3 (Musician Risers)and project 5 (the Canopy, et al)will have
to be deferred indefinitely.
':- ..;proving work projects, the staff has an extremely difficult time tiptoeing between the
scheduling needs of performances and the scheduling needs of contractors who need to
do the physical work. Not clearly understood in this process,it the need of the acoustians
to 'time"the house as the various projects are put in place. This means, in part;the need
for absolute silence--no construction noises or performance noises—during this process..
The condition of the seating in Harman Hall continues to be a challenge due to the poor
design and endurance of the actual chairs. No replacement parts are to be had. A scheme
has been proposed to remove and replace about 300 seats in one of the galleries and gut
them for parts to keep the remainder of the seats in serviceable condition. That brings up
a `storage problem'—what to do with the seating pieces to be used as replacements?
Apparently,the PAC just does not have adequate storage space.
As only an occasional attendee,itappears to me that FPAC is going to have to carry the
major burden of acoustic refinements well into the future.