Parks & Recreation Advisory Board

Parks & Recreation Advisory Board Notes Wednesday, June 5, 2019 | 6:30 p.m. | 5th floor City Hall, Canty Conference Room Members Present: Dr. Norman Merrifield, Kathy Dermanis, Shawn O’Keefe, Steven Raudman, Jennifer Colton Members Absent: Tara Wilcox Staff: David McCauley, Alison Eubank, Rachel Faunce, Sunny Deming, Karen Harden Guest(s): Special Events Team (Rachel Faunce, Sunny Deming, Karen Harden) Opening Business Welcome, Introductions and Call to Order – Shawn O’Keefe called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. which was followed by a round of attendee introductions. Approval of May 1, 2019, Minutes with one correction (FreePlay was corrected to GreenPlay) – Steven Raudman moved, Alison Eubank seconded and the minutes were approved. Director’s Update – Dave announced Wanda Davis is the new Senior Administrative Assistant in PR&LS. She will supervise Kathy Perkins at the front desk. If Dave is not available, contact Wanda Davis. During Memorial Day weekend, Buckroe exceed its capacity. It is estimated that there were 10 to 12 thousand people compared to last year’s high of approximately 6 thousand. This was due to the beautiful weather, people not leaving the beach along with events such as Groovin’ by the Bay. We are a victim of our own success but it’s a good problem to have. Dave expressed how proud he is of the staff for all the work they did to prepare Buckroe for prime time and make the weekend a success. City Manager called meeting with Mayor, Council, Chief of Police, Dave and others as a result of some of the feedback received regarding Buckroe’s overcapacity and parking on Memorial Day. A review was done of the events scheduled for the rest of the summer with special attention to holiday weekends. Fourth of July schedule looks good because it’s on a Thursday, holiday is observed on Friday and Groovin’ by the Bay is not until Sunday. Labor Day is more of a concern because one of the more well-known bands, Slapnation is scheduled. The venue will be moved to Mill Point Parks, Recreation & Leisure Services 22 Lincoln Street | Hampton, Virginia 23669 www.hampton.gov | P: (757) 727-6348 Park. This will provide more parking (around the city & parking garage) as well as police control. (Looking into making it more of an event, starting at noon with more downtown activities) Events will not all be moved to Mill Point Park unless they land on a holiday weekend and/or there is an anticipated extra-large crowd. Want to make sure our residents have the best venue possible and everyone has access. Good news is that more people did use the shuttle service at Jones Middle School; however, the lot was still not full. Events & Items of Interest Event Date Time Location June 1 – Community Center Classes Varies Varies 30 Hampton Clean City June 1 – Varies Varies Commission 30 June 1 – Hampton History Museum Varies Varies 30 Parks & Recreation - June 1 – Athletics (Peninsula Pilots Varies War Memorial Stadium 30 home games) 20th Annual Blackbeard Pirate June 1 – 10:00am – Mill Point Park Festival 2 6:00pm Buckroe Beach Farmer’s Every 9:00am – Buckroe Beach gazebo Market Saturday 1:00pm Every 6:00pm – Groovin’ by the Bay Buckroe Beach and Park Sunday 9:00pm 11:00am – Buckroe Beach, North 1st Remembrance Day 2019 June 8 2:00pm & Pilot Ave. on the beach Words on Wheels June 23 1:00pm Sly Clyde Ciderworks (Bike Walk Event) New Business Special Events – Rachel Faunce advised the team is fairly new; Karen has been here prior to being in Special Events she managed Facilities. Sunny and Rachel came in 2016. There is two part-time staff; just lost one part-time event coordinator and that position will be open soon. Responsible for:  Special Events  Marketing for the department  Permitting Parks, Recreation & Leisure Services 22 Lincoln Street | Hampton, Virginia 23669 www.hampton.gov | P: (757) 727-6348   Grant Program (Love Your City)  Special Projects  CivicRec (On line registration software system) Recapping for Blackbeard, just starting Buckroe and working on Crab Town now which is in August (2nd year), then Bluebird Gap Farm Festival for October (adding another day this year), then the Holiday events: Holly Days, Santa’s Attic (City Hall), Parade, and any add on events like this year the Pier dedication and Dock dedication. Sunny Deming advised there is a lot of behind the scenes work (studying zones for events, parking, working with City departments and various other agencies, risk assessments, permitting, etc.) Four City Signature Festivals  Crab Town Seafood Festival (Newest) – last year attendance was approx. 3500. This year trying to expand with additional food vendors, interactive heritage exhibit, and add new partners.  Hampton Holly Days Parade – longest running illuminated parade in Virginia. In years past has been televised, looking into the possibility/funding. Rachel came up with this year’s theme – Holly Days Around the World  International Children’s Festival (3rd weekend in April) – typically 12,000 people, event sometimes falls on Easter or Passover. This year is the 20th anniversary.  Blackbeard Pirate Festival – Was the City’s only two day festival. City’s only produced fireworks show. Karen is the lead on most of the festivals and does a lot of the programing and creative extras. Other Annual Festivals and Events  Groovin’ by the Bay concert series over the summer attended by over 90,000 people has grown  Bluebird Gap Farm Festival new in 2016 – first year out over 18,000 visitors making it our 2nd most attended festival. Last year with rain still had over 6,000. This year expanding it back to 2 days.  Santa’s Attic Craft Show held in City Hall lobby  Support Alison Eubank with various bike promotions and events - Tour de Fort event at fort Monroe and Words on Wheels. Rachel Faunce – Marketing: Special Events coordinates with Marking Ink which is the marking department for the City, coordinates with CBB their tourism department, good relationships with Parks, Recreation & Leisure Services 22 Lincoln Street | Hampton, Virginia 23669 www.hampton.gov | P: (757) 727-6348 Daily Press, some radio, billboards, started a new department publication just to provide more of a summary about the department; prepare press releases, brochures, flyers, apparel, business cards, a lot of Community appearances, surveys, photography, videography and media relations. There are a combination of things that help to bring it all together to promote the department; along with the support from partnerships with DHPD, Phoebus, Buckroe Improvement League and other community organizations. Pictures where shared – Snapshots of Marking / Special Projects (Sports Hall of Fame – Every 3 years, new induction in 2020) Sunny Deming – There is a City scale permit process on line designed to maximize the use of resources and try to control that within the city. If someone wants to hold an event in the City such as Whisper Concert or different festivals we want to encourage that as much as possible but also make sure we are not over allocating resources. The Permit Committee has representatives from the Health Department, Fire Department, Commissioner of Revenue office, Codes, and various departments. Each application has to be signed off by each committee member. It is a lengthy process but it ensures requirements are met. A discussion was held regarding the different types of permits Special Events handles in different locations within the City. Concerns with what type of permit is needed and the process related to Athletics events will be relayed to DeRocke. Guidelines pertaining to the permit process will be forwarded to members. A discussion was held regarding City revenue related to permits and events. Rachel Faunce advised Life’s a Beach is coming up this weekend. The organizer comes up from Florida every year. He does fun family event at Buckore. He will be here all weekend. Just had sand soccer and Crawling Crab will be coming up in October. Sunny Deming stated that Special Events is seen in many ways as an economic development support function; able to bring attention to different areas in the City. Slides were shown of different departments they work with and sponsors. Most sponsors are looking for booth space or outreach opportunities. Special Events would like to recruit larger sponsors. Director Dave McCauley suggested looking at what level events we are aiming for local, regional, state, national. We are helping the local level events, like Slapnation and still getting the local level deal with the regional even state level pull. Dave has received an increased number of emails with request to play at Buckroe. Dr. Norman Merrifield stated Virginia plates do not identify where people are from (City or County). He discussed economic development and the need to charge for events. Talked about areas that are affected by the events; the cost of free activities; traffic issues, etc. He mentioned solutions such as parking meters, a traffic study, stop cruising by the beach, building a stadium for events. Parks, Recreation & Leisure Services 22 Lincoln Street | Hampton, Virginia 23669 www.hampton.gov | P: (757) 727-6348 The Memorial Day attendance was unusual and not expected to occur again. The entire region was flooded with people. Director Dave McCauley acknowledged Dr. Merrifield’s concerns. He stated things are being done and discussed to address several of the issues he mentioned. Dave also reiterated that moving Labor Day weekend, Slapnation to Mill Point will facilitate parking and provide more police control. Dr. Norman Merrifield stated there is a traffic issue at Buckroe. He stated Fort Monroe would be the logical place; this City’s regional park. Tape ended Adjourn – there being no further business the meeting was adjourned at 8:00 p.m. Next Meeting: July 3, 2019 @ 6:30 p.m. 5th floor City Hall, Canty Conference Room Parks, Recreation & Leisure Services 22 Lincoln Street | Hampton, Virginia 23669 www.hampton.gov | P: (757) 727-6348