Parks & Recreation Commission

LACONIA PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES 1. CALL TO ORDER: Monday, August 18, 2014 at 7:00pm at the Community Center 2. COMMISSION MEMBERS ATTENDANCE: Jeff Pattison (Chair), Mitch Hamel (Clerk), George Hawkins, Kevin Dunleavy and Liza Kelleher. Absent- Rodney Roy and Dave Plourde. 3. INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS: City Councilor Armand Bolduc, Andrew Hosmer, Chet Cilley, Erin Conley, Lorraine, Lynn and Jeff Daigle. 4. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES: • Minutes of June 16th Meeting- Kevin Dunleavy explained that the Commission voted to table the approval of the June minutes at the July meeting so that Kevin could confirm that proper procedures were followed when approving the American Legion baseball request and that the minutes reflect the procedure. Kevin confirmed that at the June meeting, George motioned to table the request, Dave Plourde seconded. The motion to table passed. Rod Roy motioned to take it off the table and Dave seconded. All were in favor. After some discussion, Dave Plourde motioned to accept the request and Rodney Roy seconded the motion. All were in favor. George Hawkins motioned to accept the June 16th meeting minutes subject to the changes and clarification of the American Legion baseball approval Mitch Hamel seconded. All were in favor. • Minutes of July 21st Meeting- George Hawkins motioned to accept the meeting minutes from last month. Mitch Hamel seconded. All were in favor. 5. OLD BUSINESS: • Making Strides Against Breast Cancer- Opechee Bath house and Field – October 15, 16, 17 and 19, 2014 for a American Cancer Society fundraising event. Mitch Hamel motioned to accept the request and waive the users’ fee conditioned upon approval from the City Council for the fundraising event. George Hawkins seconded. All were in favor. • Belknap Mill Society- Rotary Park- Saturdays, May 23, 30, June 6, 13, 20, 20, 27, July 4, 11, 18, 25, August 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 Sept. 12, 19, 16, Oct. 3, 10, 17, 24, 31, 2015 for fundraising and community building. George Hawkins tabled the request due to no representation. Mitch Hamel seconded. All were in favor. • Parks and Recreation CIP- Kevin Dunleavy presented the CIP funding draft and explained the priorities in order for the request. George Hawkins mentioned that the Opechee Park Club could use the Opechee Bath House as a place to rent out to keep them up and running since this building is only used in the summer time for the Opechee Day Camp. He also mentioned that the design of the building can allow it to be renovated if needed and it will give an opportunity for people to rent as a meeting space and a place for the Opechee Park Club Assoc. to have their  meetings. Mitch Hamel suggested the Association come to a meeting if they are interested to utilizing the place. Mitch Hamel motioned to accept the proposed CIP Plan as presented. George Hawkins seconded. All were in favor. 6. FACILITY USE REQUESTS: • Holy Trinity School- Any available soccer field- August 20 – October 30, 2014 for a school soccer team practice from 3:30pm to 5:00pm. George Hawkins motioned to accept the request conditioned upon submission of the certificate of insurance and working out the scheduling with the Laconia Youth Soccer and Kevin Dunleavy. Mitch Hamel seconded. All were in favor. • Oriana Filiault- Rotary Gazebo- Saturday, October 11, 2014 from 11:00~4:00pm for a wedding. Mitch Hamel motioned to table the request due to no represent. George Hawkins seconded. All were in favor. • Erin Conley & James Murray- Rotary Gazebo- Saturday October 18, 2014 from 2:30~3:30pm for a wedding. Mitch Hamel motioned to accept the request conditioned upon submission of a certificate of insurance, $100.00 users’ fee and licensing permit if using a loudspeaker in the ceremony. George Hawkins seconded. All were in favor. 7. OTHER REQUESTS REQUIRING COMMISSION ACTION: Mitch Hamel proposed the idea of giving the Opechee Cove bath house the official name of “Opechee Park House” and suggested a sign be placed on the building as soon as possible. George Hawkins motioned to name the Opechee Cove bath house to Opechee Park House. Kevin Dunleavy will provide a new signage for the park house. Mitch Hamel seconded. All were in favor. 8. NEW BUSINESS: • Preliminary Discussion of Frisbee Golf Course- Discussion in regards to a frisbee golf course was presented by Lorraine Daigle. They are looking for a place to start this new activity in Laconia and would like to offer it to the public for free. The game was described as being like a golf game that you use a Frisbee instead. The Daigle family is willing to do some fundraising and all they need is land for the activity. Kevin Dunleavy mentioned that he has starting researching potential sites for the activity, including the Spruce St. parcel which is undeveloped right now. Ahern Park was also mentioned as a potential site, although Kevin stated it is control by the State of NH. The Commission expressed their support for the project and Kevin Dunleavy will gather more information on potential sites and will keep in touch with the family. 9. PUBLIC COMMENT: 10. COMMUNICATIONS: 11. PARK ASSOCIATION REPORTS: Leavitt Park Association –No report Opechee Park Association- Income and Expense report Weirs Community Park Association- No report Wyatt Park Association- No report 12. DEPARTMENT REPORTS: Assistant Recreation & Facilities Director report submitted by Amy Lovisek The summer season is coming to a close. As of August 15th the Opechee Day Camp is over for the year. We had a great turnout this year for attendance and all seemed to enjoy the camp. We have asked parents and campers to do a short survey to see what they thought of the camp this year. I will let you know what they actually think of the camp!! We had our end of the year talent show, awards ceremony and parent luncheon for the camp. All went well for that event. Some of these kids have real talent! Bond Beach and Weirs Beach are still manned, but Opechee Point has no lifeguards as of today. The guards are starting to go back to school and things are getting tight. There will be no lifeguards at all during the week of August 25 – 29 and then they will come back for Labor Day Weekend at the Weirs Beach only. The Football Camp had about 40 kids attend which is a good turnout. The Tennis Program was wonderful with approximately 20 (6 – 10 year olds), 10-15 (11 – 15 year olds) and 10 – 15 (adults) taking the lessons. Again, this was free for all and they are having a party for all that participated on August 28th at Memorial with games, prizes and a cookout. Everyone I have spoken with was extremely pleased with the lessons and the instructor. I am taking the lessons myself and am thrilled with them. Happy to see things starting to wind down to fall and I will be working on the fall/winter brochure now. Enjoy the rest of your summer! Director of Recreation & Facilities Report submitted by Kevin Dunleavy Department Updates: • Recent maintenance projects and activities include: Athletic field preparation Mowing and trimming Various work orders at City Hall, Library, park houses, LFD and LPD Beach raking Event support (Lakefest, Triathalon, National Night Out) Trash removal Pet waste bag restocking Bath House cleaning Fertilizing, aeration Picnic Table Repairs Planting bed weeding, pruning Pavilion repair at Wyatt Park Ceiling painting at Library Robbie Mills breakdown after Muskrats season Memorial Park bleacher repair  • The summer season is for our maintenance staff continues to be a busy time. With the wet weather this summer, the mowing has not slowed significantly. Staff are doing their best to keep up, but we have not been able to get to some late summer projects yet. • Muskrat season has come to a close. No major problems with this arrangement again this year. Parks staff has done another commendable job making Robbie Mills Field one of the nicest playing venues in the NECBL. •Weirs Community Park – With the exception of the playground structure, most work associated with the Weirs Park construction is now complete. Lighting, benches, plantings, fencing, water bubbler, electrical, finish grading, paving, pedestrian bridge, gate and hydroseeding have all been completed. Remaining work includes trail cleanup, signage, banners and a potential flag pole. Before the facility is opened to the public for use, the grass needs to be established, which should take a few weeks. We will be working with the Weir Community Park Association on these extra items. With the delay in the playground funding, our window of opportunity to have the project 100% complete this fall is closing fast. A grand opening event will either happen this late fall or next spring, depending on the timing of the playground installation. Please take a walk through the project and see what a first class facility this is. Broadview Construction has done a commendable job as the general contractor. • Wyatt Park – The Wyatt Park improvement has finally reached its final stages. The drinking water bubbler has been installed and the contractor has now fulfilled all of its items. Parks staff will be installing a new park sign and bicycle rack in the near future to complete the project. Parks staff also recently replaced the rotted fascia board on the pavilion and painted the metal pavilion frame black to match the new light poles. An opening ceremony is now being planned for the end of August or beginning of September. • Bobotas Field has been sodded to help establish a usable turf for the users of this facility. We have been working with the School Department in getting this field ready for use as soon as possible by mowing, monitoring the irrigation and starting a fertilizer program. Parks staff is also working with the School Department on establishing healthy turf in areas around their new field, including the lower field. • The Fall sports season is now upon us, with most interscholastic activities starting on August 18th. Youth soccer has started and is now in full operation. Parks staff will be busy with support of the fall sports through October. •Meetings that I have attended the last month include City Staff meetings, Special Events Committee, Downtown TIF Advisory Board, Safety Board, Weirs Community Park construction meetings, Master Plan Committee and water quality grant meetings. •Fertilizing of the fields continues as we keep on top of the turf maintenance program. The athletic fields are in decent shape and are improving more and more each year. • Our parks hosted several large events the past month. The Nor’Easters Softball Classic brought many to Opechee Park, Memorial Park and Woodland Heights field. We received many positive comments about our facilities. The Lakefest event at Weirs Beach proved to be a popular event with hordes of kayaks and canoes descending on Weirs Beach. These events are great for the City as we try to promote Laconia as a great place to visit. 13. DATE OF NEXT MEETING AND ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 8:10pm and the meeting is scheduled for Monday, September 15, 2014 at 7:00pm at the Community Center.