Parks & Recreation Commission

LACONIA PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES 1. CALL TO ORDER: Monday, March 17, 2014 at 7:00pm at the Community Center 2. COMMISSION MEMBERS ATTENDANCE: Jeff Pattison (Chair), Mitch Hamel (Clerk), Dave Plourde, Kevin Dunleavy and Liza Kelleher. Absent- Commissioners Rodney Roy and George Hawkins. 3. INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS: City Councilors Armand Bolduc and Bob Hamel, Sheila Woodward, Lindsey Gonyer, Tylaire Guarriello, Dan Perkins, Jeff Tenley, Debra Davis, Heather Smith, Tony Felch, Andrea Sullivan, Todd Brisendine, Dan Greenwood, Aime Thayer, James Lilley, James Roy, Craig Kozens, Daniel Clane and Craig McKeon. 4. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES: Mitch Hamel motioned to accept last month’s meeting minutes. Dave Plourde seconded. All were in favor. 5. OLD BUSINESS:  Greater Lakes Child Advocacy Center- Opechee Park/Opechee Point-August 2, 2014 Saturday from 5am to 1pm for a Sprint Triathlon. Kevin Dunleavy asked the group to give us more details on what part of the Opechee Park they plan to use for the event. They explained that they would like to use Opechee Point as part of the swim portion, and maybe a field for children’s events. Kevin explained that we would need to keep the Opechee Point beach open to the public. Mitch Hamel motioned to accept the request with the understanding that we need the planned route for review, and conditioned upon a special events permit, waiver of the special events user fee, use of parking in the Middle School parking lot, submission of a certificate of insurance and approval from City Council for the fundraising event. Dave seconded. All were in favor.  Autism Center of Central NH- WOW Trail- Sunday, May 18, 2014 from 9am to 1pm for a fundraising walk event. Kevin explained that coordination with any other walks on the WOW Trail is recommended to avoid conflicts with event times. Dave Plourde motioned to accept the request conditioned upon submission of the certificate of insurance and final approval from the City Council for the fundraising event. Mitch Hamel seconded. All were in favor.  Evangelical Baptist Church- Leavitt Park- June 23~28, 2014 from 8:00am to 4:00pm for a soccer camp. Mitch Hamel motioned to accept the request subject to field conditions, payment for non-resident users’ fees of $10 per child, a certificate of insurance and final approval from the City Council for fundraising activities on City grounds. Dave seconded. All were in favor.  Patricia Woolsey- Rotary Gazebo- August 9, 2014 from 4pm to 10pm for a gathering and wedding pictures. Mitch Hamel motioned to table the request due to no representation. Dave Plourde seconded. All were in favor.  Lindsey Gonyer- Rotary Gazebo- September 13, 2014 from 2:00pm to 3:00pm for a wedding ceremony. Mitch Hamel motioned to accept the request conditioned upon submission of a certificate of insurance and loud speaker permit if required. Dave Plourde seconded. All were in favor.  Sheila Woodward- Rotary Gazebo- April 19, 2014, Saturday from 1:00pm to 8:00pm for photos and a family gathering. Dave Plourde motioned to accept the request  conditioned upon submission of a certificate of insurance. Mitch Hamel seconded. All were in favor.  Laconia Little League request for field improvements- withdrawn from the agenda. 6. FACILITY USE REQUESTS:  Knapp and Tibbetts Wedding- Rotary Park Gazebo- May 10, 2014 Saturday from 4pm to 5pm for a wedding ceremony. Tabled due to no representation.  Faith Alive Christian Fellowship- Memorial Baseball Field- May 10, 2014, Saturday from 7:30am to 5:30pm (rain date May 24, 2014) for a children’s carnival event. Dave Plourde motioned to accept the request conditioned upon the submission of a certificate of insurance. Mitch Hamel seconded. All were in favor.  James Lilley Wedding- Rotary Park- Saturday, April 26, 2014 from 12:00pm to 3:00pm for a wedding ceremony. Dave Plourde motioned to accept the request conditioned upon submission of a certificate of insurance. Mitch Hamel seconded. All were in favor.  Laconia Youth Football & Cheer- Memorial Park- August , Monday through Friday from 5:30pm ~ 8:00pm, September & October Tuesday through Thursday from 5:30~8:00pm. Mitch Hamel motioned to accept the request conditioned upon submission of a certificate of insurance, submission of the rosters and payment of non-resident users’ fees, if applicable. Dave Plourde seconded. All were in favor.  Andrea Sullivan – Rotary Park Gazebo- Saturday, August 16, 2014 from 9:00am~3:00pm for a wedding ceremony. Mitch motioned to accept the request conditioned upon submission of a certificate of insurance. Dave Plourde seconded. All were in favor.  Drivens Nutrition and Conditioning- Weirs Beach or Opechee Beach- May through September 2014, Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 6am to 7am for Beach Boot Camp. Kevin Dunleavy explained that activities on the beach may conflict with beach cleaning, and that for safety reasons, there could not be any activity on the beach when the equipment is present. He also said that parking would not be able to occur in the beach parking lot due to the lot being closed until the parking attendants arrive. Kevin also stated that Motorcycle Week and Fourth of July would be times that the program could not use the beach. Mitch Hamel motioned to accept the request conditioned upon excluding use the weekend of July 4th and Motorcycle Week for Weirs Beach, use of Opechee beach as an alternative, submission of a certificate of insurance and final approval from the City Council for fundraising on City grounds. Dave Plourde seconded. All were in favor.  Lakes Region Girls Softball- Opechee fields A,B,C, & D- June 20, 21 & 22, 2014 from 8:00am to 8:00pm for a Senior Division Softball Tournament. Dave Plourde motioned to accept the request conditioned upon payment of a tournament fee, concession stand fee if applicable and submission of a certification of insurance. Mitch Hamel seconded. All were in favor.  Lakes Region Girls Softball-Opechee Fields A, B, C & D- July 11, 12 & 13, 2014 from 8:00am to 8:00pm for the District Tournament. Dave Plourde motioned to accept the request conditioned upon payment of a tournament fee, concession stand fee if applicable and submission of a certification of insurance. Mitch Hamel seconded. All were in favor.  Laconia High School Interscholastic Spring Sports  Varsity/JV Baseball - Robbie Mills Baseball- Monday through Friday from 2~7pm and Saturday from 8am~12pm   Varsity/JV Softball - Opechee Field D-Monday through Friday from 2~6pm and Saturday 8am~12pm  Track and Field - Smith Track- 2~6pm  Girls Tennis - Memorial Park Tennis Courts from 2~5pm and 2~7 for home matches  Varsity/JV Girls and Boys Lacrosse Practices (as needed) - Robbie Mills /Leavitt from 3pm~5pm , March, April and May 2014. Mitch Hamel motioned to accept all requests subject to field conditions. Dave Plourde seconded. All were in favor.  Daniel Greenwood Wedding- Rotary Park Gazebo- Saturday, August 23, 2014 from 3pm~6pm for a wedding ceremony. Mitch Hamel motioned to accept the request conditioned upon submission of a certificate of insurance and loud speaker permit if needed. Dave Plourde seconded. All were in favor.  Craig McKeon and Karmen Gilford- Rotary Park Gazebo- Saturday, October 4, 2014 from 8am to 2pm for a wedding ceremony. Dave motioned to accept the request conditioned upon submission of a certificate of insurance. Mitch Hamel seconded. All were in favor. 7. OTHER REQUESTS REQUIRING COMMISSION ACTION: Letter request from the Weirs Community Park Assoc. for the recognition plaque proposed to be installed on a boulder. The plaque is proposed to read: “This beautiful public space is the result of the vision and dedication of Donald C. Richards, the Weirs Community Park Association and the good people of Weirs Beach. Along with the guidance and support of the Laconia Parks and Recreation Department and the Laconia City Government, it is hoped that this park will be a source of pleasure and enjoyment for the people of Weirs Beach and Laconia for many generations to come”. Dave motioned to accept the request. Mitch Hamel seconded. All were in favor. 8. NEW BUSINESS: 9. PUBLIC COMMENT: 10. COMMUNICATIONS: 11. PARK ASSOCIATION REPORTS: Leavitt Park Association –No Report Opechee Park Association- Income & Expense Report Tardif Park Association- No Report Weirs Community Park Association- No report Wyatt Park Association- No report 12. DEPARTMENT REPORTS: Directors Report submitted by Kevin Dunleavy Department Updates: • Recent maintenance projects and activities include: Maintenance Shop cleanup and reorganization Heating Oil Checks Snow and ice removal, salting and sanding Various work orders at City Hall, Library, park houses, LFD and LPD  Election setup and breakdown Skating Rink flooding, preparation and maintenance Trash removal Pet waste bag restocking Trailer repairs Covers for gas meters at City Hall and Maintenance Garage Install shelving in maintenance garage • Parks and Recreation will be in a holding pattern soon as we wait for winter conditions to subside. We anticipate a later start to the athletic field activities, and we expect the necessary preparations to come fast and furious when conditions allow the fields to be open. • Maintenance staff has been reorganizing the maintenance shop in between snow removal activities. New shelving was installed in the bathroom and paint room. The paint room inventory was thoroughly organized, with old unusable paint being discarded. The Huot Center Plumbing and Heating students installed a new electric water heater to replace a gas water heater that no longer met code requirements. An old drinking salvaged drinking water fountain was installed as well. •Weirs Community Park – Recent work on the restroom/amphitheater building includes roof installation, siding preparation and siding installation. The project remains on schedule. We are still awaiting word from the NH Parks and Recreation and National Park Service on the playground grant that we applied for as part of this project. There have been delays in the processing of this grant application. Site work has been suspended for the winter. • Wyatt Park –Work has been suspended due to winter weather conditions. • Skating Rinks/Sledding Hill – It has been a very successful year for the skating rinks and sledding hill. Parks and Recreation hosted both a sledding party and skating party during February vacation week. The rinks will continue to be maintained until conditions no longer make it feasible. • Stewart Park/Main Street Bridge project – The Main Street Bridge project will start the week of March 24th. Due to site challenges, a construction trailer will be located along the railing and sidewalk near Rotary Park. Activities within Rotary Park will not be affected, with the exception of traffic flow changes. •Meetings that I have attended the last month include City Staff meetings, water quality meetings, WOW Trail Board, Main Street Bridge construction meetings, Special Events Committee, Downtown TIF Advisory Board, WOW Trail public meeting and Safety Board.  Asst. Director’s report submitted by Amy Lovisek All programs are running well and we seem to be getting more people here for each of them. For instance the middle school open gym is getting over 25 kids each day! It’s chaos, but its fun. We are doing another Elementary School Age Dance tonight. The theme is St. Patrick’s Day and I’m hoping for a large turnout. We had a great February Vacation at the parks and in the Community Center. We had extra open gym times, Wii times, a sledding party, ice skating party and a cardboard sled race. The weather was amazing and held out well for us. The sledding hill and all 4 ice skating rinks have had good use and have been well maintained. We have ordered a swing set for Leavitt Park which will be installed this spring. The LWCF grant that we applied for last spring seems to have found a new timeline. The National Parks Service will be going through all grant applications and making a determination next month. Let’s keep our fingers crossed. Tim Ford and I have been working together to do some much needed upgrades to the Opechee Day Camp building. We are looking at new cabinets, adding a stove for crafts and healthy recipes and making cubbies to be put in the back room to keep the kids things out of sight. This will greatly add to the camp building and I will send you pictures of the before and after shots. We are also planning to install a water fountain and water bottle filling station outside of the camp building. This will be available to the public, which will be widely used. It will be the same type of water feature that is being installed at Wyatt Park. Great things happening! I am working on the summer programs and have gone to a Primex session on recreation topics. This always boosts my enthusiasm for the upcoming season! I can always use that. We are planning an Easter Egg Hunt with Leavitt Park this spring. The date of the hunt will be Sunday, April 13 at 2:00pm. Please if you can come by around 1:30 to help spread the eggs around that would be quite helpful. You would only need to be there for about an hour total. Please let me know if you can make it. Thank you in advance. Next month I will have your spring/summer program brochures. 13. DATE OF NEXT MEETING AND ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 8:10pm and the next meeting is scheduled for Monday, April 21, 2014 at 7:00pm at the Community Center.