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The parks commission approved a new digital point of sale service in its meeting Wednesday.
The department originally agreed to utilize the Square point of sale system recommended by the city's I.T. Contractor Victor Trimmer, but Parks Director Shane Franks said that the department's new recreation supervisor, Kelli Pastore, had found an alternative that was more cost effective and better suited the department's specific needs.
The Pineapple system by Pineapple point of sale will have a monthly cost of $15 per terminal for each of the three terminals planned by the department to rent the equipment, for a total monthly cost of $45, plus an initial, one-time fee of $89, to be FDIC compliant and process credit card payments. Had the department elected to proceed with utilizing the Square system it would have had to purchase the equipment directly, incurring an upfront cost of approximately $1,000.
The Pineapple system can operate even without Wi-Fi and can also accept contactless payment services, such as Google and Apple pay. The system also calculates and tracks sales tax and inventory control automatically and can be set up to automatically report revenue as frequently as every hour, and can even track cash sales.
"At the end of the day, whoever is taking money for entry into the pool should be able to batch out their machine, and it will show cash sales and credit card sales for the day, so whatever money is in the money box should match exactly what is shown on the receipt," said Pastore.
The system will charge a 4 percent fee on all credit card sales which will be factored into the price paid by a customer, allowing the department to retain the full sale amount of a given item. Pastore also said that as the system does not come with a long-term contract, should the department find a given terminal does not produce enough revenue to justify the monthly expense, or should the technology become obsolete, it can simply be sent back with no additional cost to the department.
In her report Pastore announced that she had received the required materials for her Certified Pool Operator's license for the operation of the Centennial Park Pool and would be taking the certification test soon. Pastore also proposed becoming a certified lifeguard trainer for the department at a cost of $300 for the training program and an additional $120 for required materials, for a total cost of $420. Pastore said that this would allow her to conduct the lifeguard training, when necessary, drastically reducing the cost the department pays to train lifeguards each year and easing the burden of scheduling training.
Pastore also announced that the Centennial Park Pool will officially open June 4. Franks thanked the local Boy Scout troops that help clean and prepare the pool to open every year. Franks said that this year the scouts had come May 20, wearing rain gear to help despite the severe weather at the time.
Preparations for pool season proved to be the theme of the meeting as the commission also approved the final rules and policy flyer for the Centennial Park Pool and Splash Pad following the department's full review and revision of the rules the last few months. Franks said the new pamphlet will be given out when a patron purchases a season pass and to patrons visiting for the first time for the season.
The commission also approved the hire of seasonal employees for the pool and splash pad including Pool Manager Bill Cowgill; Lifeguards Kyle Costal, Cory Wolfe, Sallee Kenniston, Aubrey Benner, Trenton McCoy, Eva Rand, Aiden Davis and Audrey Barborak; and Concession Stand Cashiers Cindy Lewis, Braydon Fennema, Alexis Mathis and Madison Bufkin.
The parks commission will meet next at 5 p.m. June 28.
mahart@mojonews.com