Parks & Recreation Commission

LACONIA PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES 1. CALL TO ORDER: Monday, April 20, 2015 at 7:00pm at the Community Center. 2. COMMISSION MEMBERS ATTENDANCE: Jeff Pattison (Chair), Mitch Hamel, (Clerk), Rodney Roy, Deanna Guyer, Tony Pederzani, Kevin Dunleavy and Liza Kelleher. Jeff Pattisson introduced and welcomed Deanna Guyer and Tony Pederzani as our new Parks and Recreation Commissioners. 3. INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS: City Councilor Armand Bolduc, Tony Felch, Jim Corkum, Carolee Sliker, Shannon Allain, Shelley Mandrigo, Tylaine Guarriello, Melissa Tilton, John Beland, Lori Gardiner and Andy Emmons. 4. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES: Rodney Roy motioned to accept the minutes from the March 16, 2015 meeting. Mitch Hamel seconded. All were in favor. 5. OLD BUSINESS: • Laconia Skatepark grant opportunity- Kevin explained that an employee of the Tilton Hampton Inn was looking at applying for a community grant through her employer to raise funds for the skate park. Kevin said he had not heard from her but would try to contact her to find out the status of her initiative. Tabled due to no representation. 6. FACILITY USE REQUESTS: • Lakes Region Christian School- Memorial Tennis Court- April through May 2015 Monday through Friday from 3pm to 5pm for tennis practice for the school tennis team. Mitch Hamel motioned to accept the request subject to the submission of a certificate of insurance and a $25.00 key deposit for the restrooms if needed. Rodney Roy seconded. All were in favor. ● Making Strides against Breast Cancer- Opechee Park Parkhouse and Field- October 21, 22, 23 and 25, 2015 Wednesday through Friday from 5pm to 8pm and Sunday from 6am to 2pm for their annual fundraising walk. Mitch Hamel made a motion to table the item due to no representation. Rodney Roy seconded. All were in favor. ● Lakes Region Community Services – Opechee Park – June 6, 2015 from 11am to 2pm for a father and father figure fishing day. Rodney Roy motioned to accept the request including the waiver for the use of a 20lbs. propane gas tank. Mitch Hamel seconded. All were in favor. • Belknap Mill Society- Rotary Park- Friday, June 12, 2015 from 2pm to 10pm for a member celebration. Kevin said he was notified by the Belknap Mill and that they wished to withdraw the request. Mitch Hamel motioned to withdrawn the request. Rodney Roy seconded. All were in favor. • Winnipesaukee Warriors/Special Olympics- Smith Track- Sundays, April 19, 2015 through May 31, 2015 from 9:45am to 12pm for track and field practice. Rodney Roy motioned to accept the request for track and field practice. Mitch Hamel seconded. All were in favor.  • WOW Trail – Wow Trail (Elm to Messer St.)– Saturday, May 9, 2015 from 7am to 12:00pm for a dog parade. Mitch Hamel motioned to accept the request conditioned upon City Council approval for a fundraising event for area K9 units. Rodney Roy seconded. All were in favor. • Lakes Region Mutual Fire Aid-Weirs Beach- June 2, 2015 from 6pm to 9pm for a cook out. Rodney Roy motioned to accept the request and waived the 20lb propane tank use for the cook out. Deanna Guyer seconded. All were in favor. • Laconia Slow Pitch Softball- Memorial Park softball field, concession stand and storage bay- May 1st to Dec. 1st, Monday to Friday 6~11pm, Saturday and Sunday 8am to 11pm for softball games. Mitch Hamel motioned to accept the request conditioned upon submission of a certificate of insurance, payment of non-resident users’ fee, concession stand fee, storage bay fee, key deposit and prepayment of lights. Tony Pederzani seconded. All were in favor. • Laconia Middle School Athletics Football- Pleasant St. School- Monday to Friday, August 15 through October 5, 2015 from 2:30pm to 6:30pm. Cross Country- Opechee Park- Monday to Friday, August 15 through October 31, 2015 from 2:30 to 6:30pm. Field Hockey- Smith Field- Monday to Friday, August 15 through October 31, 2015 from 2:30 to 6:30pm. Soccer- Opechee Park- Monday to Friday, August 15 through October 31, 2015 from 2:30 to 6:30pm. Softball- Opechee Field D- Monday to Friday, March 15 through May 30, 2016 from 2:30 to 6:30pm. Track- Smith Track- Monday to Friday, March 15 through May 30, 2016 from 2:30 to 7:30pm. Baseball- Memorial Park- Monday to Friday, March 15 through May 30, 2016 from 2:30 to 6:30pm. Mitch Hamel motioned to accept the request with the understanding that time scheduling be mutually agreed upon with other leagues and key deposits of $25.00 per key if needed. Rodney Roy seconded. All were in favor. 7. ADMINISTRATIVE APPROVALS-ROTARY PARK Kevin said the following wedding requests for Rotary Park have been approved administratively. • Gilpatric/Gentile Wedding- Rotary Gazebo-Sunday, June 21, 2015 from 3pm to 7pm. • Holmes/Behan Wedding- Rotary Gazebo- Saturday, May 9, 2015 from 2pm to 5pm. • Nelson/Desmarais Wedding – Rotary Gazebo-Sunday, May 10, 2015 from 2pm to 4pm. 8. OTHER REQUESTS REQUIRING COMMISSION ACTION: ● Opechee Park- Construction Trailer for Central Fire Station Project. Kevin said the City’s contractor for the Laconia Fire Station project is requesting to use the former Opechee Park House area for the placement of construction trailers due to the limited space they have on the current site. Mitch Hamel motioned to accept the request to allow use of the former Opechee Club house area for construction trailers with the conditions  that the area be kept orderly and clean and the contractor is to restore the area with appropriate loam and grass seed in the entire area. The question of insurance was mentioned. Kevin said he would make sure appropriate insurance requirements are in place. Tony Pederzani seconded. All were in favor. ● Leavitt Park Community Volunteers –The Leavitt Park group is requesting the use of Leavitt Park Trust funds for the installation of air conditioning units in the park house which does not currently have air conditioning. Tony Felch said the cost is around $10,000 and the goal is to get more rentals in the summer time. Kevin said the Purchasing Department will require at least 3 bids if the project cost is over $5000.00. The Commissioners ask who would be responsible for the maintenance cost of the equipment. Kevin said the Parkhouse repair policy does not specifically address air conditioning systems, but the City is responsible for the maintenance of the heating system. It was suggested that the City Council Policy regarding park house repairs should be reviewed since this was adopted in 1996. Mitch Hamel motioned to table the request and asked that the Commission have the opportunity to review the bids or proposals when they are received. Tony Pederzani seconded. All were in favor. 9. NEW BUSINESS: ● Tardif Park House – Re-establishment of Tardif Park Community Volunteers. Shannon Allain and Carolee Sliker explained that they have a group of people interested in managing the Tardif Park House. Ms. Allain mentioned that several members of the neighborhood have an interest in the park and said they are looking to make improvements to the park house. Kevin said that the Parks and Recreation Department has been managing the park house since the membership declined. Kevin Dunleavy ask them to submit a formal letter listing the officers and their intentions relating to the Tardif Park house use and potential improvements. Kevin Dunleavy also suggested representatives of the group meet with the Parks and Recreation Department to discuss the transition. 10. ANNOUNCEMENTS: 11. PUBLIC COMMENT: 12. COMMUNICATIONS: ● Opechee Park Club Donation Letter- Kevin explained that a letter from Attorney Phil Mclaughlin representing the Opechee Park Club was received and the Club is evaluating its future and is interested in using their remaining funds for a project at Opechee Park. Kevin said he has met with representatives of the Club and he suggested either an improvement like a sitting park where the old park house was located or a covered picnic shelter in the Opechee Cove area. Kevin said that they liked the idea of a the picnic shelter. Kevin said he is working on getting some costs estimates for the structure and will have more information at the next meeting. 13. PARK ASSOCIATION REPORTS: Leavitt Park Association –Minutes Opechee Park Association- Income and Expense report Weirs Community Park Association- No report Wyatt Park Association- No report 14. DEPARTMENT REPORTS:  Asst. Directors Report submitted by Amy Lovisek This month has seen a lot of action. We have been very busy planning for the summer. The Spring/Summer Program Brochure is in your packets and has been sent out to almost 300 families! We have a new program this year and that is the Mad Science Camp. It will be a ½ day session for a week and will be for kid through 7th grade. Should be very cool! The camp is fully staffed and mostly planned. We are having the front bathroom area at the camp that is used by most sports leagues re-tiled. The area is currently in poor condition and needs an update. We have revamped our job description for the maintenance department’s seasonal position. We also changed the ad for the paper. We need more applicants. We had our Easter Egg Hunt last month at the Weirs Community Park. That Association helped significantly with the event and it was a huge success. We had over 80 children there and they were given eggs, prizes, balloon animals, Art Escape painting, coloring, word puzzles and goodies. Everyone there was happy with the event. I have been meeting with the Wyatt Park Association to discuss the Grand Re-Opening and they have decided to also have a 3 on 3 basketball tournament. This will bring in the people for the ceremony! I would like to invite you all to join us on May 30 at 10:00am for the celebration and the 31st as a rain date. Please let me know if you can come. We were able to get the free tennis lessons again this year for kids ages 5 all the way up to adults! What an amazing thing to be able to offer to everyone! Thank you Lakes Region Tennis Association. I participated in the Laconia Middle School’s Health Fair on the 17th. I was able to talk with every child in the school! This was a great event, in which I was able to give out our brochures! The Arbor Day Celebration will be taking place on Friday, May 1st at 11:00am at Wyatt Park. Because we just received our 25th Anniversary for Tree City USA, the State of NH is donating a tree for our celebration. Therefore, we will be planting 2 trees that day! Come join us if you can. Directors Report submitted by Kevin Dunleavy Department Updates: • Recent maintenance projects and activities include: Winter snow removal, sanding and salting Ice rink maintenance at Memorial and Leavitt Various work orders at City Hall, Library, park houses, LFD and LPD Maintenance manual formulation  Maintenance shop shelves construction/painting Trash removal Pet waste bag restocking Oil checks at various facilities Spring cleanups Winter equipment storage/mower prep. Smith Track preparation Field preparations Trash/recycle barrel placement Bathroom startups •The late winter weather has forced our maintenance staff to hit the ground running to get our facilities prepared and open for the season. Most facilities are now open for the spring sports season. •Skating Rinks – Rinks are closed for the season and the Leavitt Rink will be stored away as soon as staff gets the chance. •WOW Trail – The WOW Trail opened up on Saturday, April 11th. With assistance from DPW, we are looking at alleviating some pavement cracking due to root growth on a section of the trail between Main Street and Messer Street. The Phase 2 of the WOW Trail was presented to the Planning Board at the beginning of the month and will be presented to the City Council in the near future. •Memorial Tennis Courts – The Memorial Park Tennis Courts are now open for the season. The last court still needs the finish course on the surface, which will be installed this Spring by the contractor, Vermont Tennis Courts. New nets and new net posts will also be installed this Spring. •Wyatt Park Courts– The Wyatt Park courts have been opened for the season. We continue to work with Laconia Police on the locking and unlocking of the court each day. • Laconia Riverwalk and Main Street Bridge Gateway – Both projects are on target for the construction season. The Main Street Bridge project is on schedule and we can look to have the Gateway Park completed sometime mid-summer. •Seasonal Staffing – We are looking to start bringing in seasonal staffing next week to help the year round staff with the maintenance tasks. We are still accepting applications for all our seasonal positions. •Athletic Fields - The fields have appeared to have held up pretty well with through the winter. The recent warm weather has been helpful with getting the remaining snow and frost out of the fields. Most infields are dry enough to allow use, with the rest being ready for next week at the latest. • We all would like to welcome Deanna Guyer and Tony Pederzani as our new Parks and Recreation Commissioners. We are very pleased to have them on board and look forward to working with them in the future. •Meetings that I have attended the last month include City Staff meetings, Main Street Bridge construction, Downtown TIF Advisory Board, Safety Board, Master Plan Advisory Board and Special Events Committee. 13. DATE OF NEXT MEETING AND ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 8:30pm and the next meeting is scheduled for Monday May 18, 2015 at 7:00pm at the Community Center.