Parks & Recreation Commission

LACONIA PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES 1. CALL TO ORDER: Monday, May 18, 2015 at 7:00pm at the Community Center. 2. COMMISSION MEMBERS ATTENDANCE: Mitch Hamel (Clerk), Rodney Roy, Deanna Guyer, Tony Pederzani, Kevin Dunlevy and Liza Kelleher. Absent-Jeff Pattison. 3. INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS: Daniel Moore, Beth San Soucie, Alice Contardo, Rev. Dick Aucoin, Walt Flinn, Patrick McKenna, Chester Cilly, Tony Felch and Thomas. 4. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES: Rodney Roy motioned to accept the minutes from last month’s meeting. Deanna Guyer seconded. All were in favor. 5. OLD BUSINESS: • Laconia Skatepark Fundraising- Rodney Roy tabled due to no representation. Tony Pederzani seconded. All were in favor. (representative arrive later in the meeting) Rodney Roy motioned take it out the table. Tony Pederzani seconded. All were in favor. A representative of the Laconia skate park fundraising group mentioned they would like to have a BBQ party as a fundraiser on June 21, 2015 from 11am to 5pm. Thomas also mentioned that they hope to place collection boxes throughout the City. They have designed a new logo and are using social media to get the word out. Kevin mentioned that there is an existing fund to setup for the skate park funds that could be utilized for any fundraising revenue. Rodney Roy motioned to accept the request with the understanding that they will work with Kevin or Amy subject to clarification for the need for permits for music. Tony Pederzani seconded. All were in favor. • Leavitt Park Community Volunteers –Kevin stated 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. Kevin stated that the Trustees of the Trusts can make a decision in approving the request for the installation of the air conditioning prior to their next quarterly meeting. Kevin said that Tony Felch submitted some proposals from companies that will need to go out to bid. Mitch mentioned that there was a broad range of prices. Kevin said that some of the contractors recommended two units and some recommended three units. Tony Felch some of the proposals included electrical work and some did not. .Rodney Roy motioned to approve the request subject to the City’s purchasing requirements. Tony Pederzani seconded. All were in favor. • Tardiff Park Association - New volunteers & officers and upgrades request. Kevin Dunleavy presented the list of new volunteers and officers of the Tardiff Park Community Volunteers. Kevin also said there was a list of improvements that group would like to perform at the park house. • Making Strides against Breast Cancer- Opechee Park House, parking lot 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. Rodney Roy motioned to  accept the request conditioned upon submission of a certificate of insurance, waiver of the special event fee and a loudspeaker permit. Deanna Guyer seconded. All were in favor. 6. FACILITY USE REQUESTS: • Concord Cannons Baseball- Robbie Mills Baseball Field- Saturday and Sunday 2015 from 8am to 8pm for the baseball showcase tournament. Tabled due to no representation. ● Belknap Mill Society- Rotary Park- Thursdays, June 18, July 16 and August 13, 2015 from 4pm to 9pm for a summer concert series. Rodney Roy motioned to accept the request. Tony Pederzani seconded. All were in favor. • Belknap Mill Society- Rotary Park- Friday, July 10, 2015 from 11am to 10pm for Music in the park and associated indoor festivities. Rodney Roy motioned to accept the request conditioned upon a waiver of the special event fee and approval from the City Council for the fundraising event. Deanna Guyer seconded. Kevin said he would clarify the need for a certificate of insurance. All were in favor. • Belknap Co. Democrats – Leavitt Park– Sunday, July 19, 2015 from 12pm to 6:00pm for a picnic. Tony Pederzani motioned to accept the request upon submission of the certificate of insurance. Rodney Roy seconded. All were in favor. • Lakes Region Vineyard Church-Opechee Point- Sunday, August 9, 2015 from 12pm to 7pm for a church picnic. Rodney Roy motioned to accept the request with the understanding that the beach is open to the public and a key deposit is required for any keys issued. Deanna Guyer seconded. All were in favor. • NH Food Bank & Boys & Girls Club of the Lakes Region- Opechee Parking Lot- Thursday, May 21, 2015 from 2pm to 6pm for a mobile food pantry which will distribute food for the families & residents of Laconia. Tony Pederzani motioned to accept the request conditioned upon submission of a certificate of insurance. Rodney Roy seconded. All were in favor. • NH Lakes Region Italian Cultural Club- Leavitt Park Field- Sunday, July 11, 2015 from 2pm to 6pm for a bocce tournament and picnic. Deanna Guyer motioned to accept the request conditioned upon submission of a certificate of insurance and a $100.00 special event fee. Rodney Roy seconded. All were in favor. • AJL Babe Ruth Baseball League – Memorial Park Baseball Field – Wednesday, May 20th thru July 15th, 2015 for a youth baseball league. Rodney Roy motioned to accept the request conditioned upon submission of a certificate of insurance and waiver of the concession stand fee, non-resident users’ fee and storage bay fee. Tony Pederzani seconded. All were in favor. 7. ADMINISTRATIVE APPROVALS-ROTARY PARK The following wedding requests for Rotary Park have been approved administratively: • Tami Edgerly Wedding- Rotary Gazebo-Saturday, June 25, 2016 from 3pm to 6pm for a wedding ceremony. 8. OTHER REQUESTS REQUIRING COMMISSION ACTION: • Letter requesting use of propane tanks for gas grills outside for a wedding at the Leavitt Park House. Tony Pederzani motioned to grant the waiver for the use of 20lb propane gas tanks. Deanna Guyer seconded. All were in favor. 9. NEW BUSINESS: ● Community Center Gym Fund- Kevin Dunleavy explained that he would like to create a fund that can be dedicated to the annual maintenance and refinishing of the new Community Center gym floor. Kevin said that the open gym basketball and pickleball revenue now goes to the general fund. Kevin also said that there is enough revenue to from these programs to cover the cost of the annual floor refinishing. Kevin said this will need to be set up by action of the City Council. Rodney Roy motioned to move forward with the creation of the gym floor fund supported by revenue from the basketball and pickle ball programs. Tony Pederzani seconded. All were in favor. 10. ANNOUNCEMENTS: 11. PUBLIC COMMENT: 12. COMMUNICATIONS: 13. PARK ASSOCIATION REPORTS: Leavitt Park Association –No report Opechee Park Association- Income and Expense report Weirs Community Park Association- No report Tardif Park Association- No report 14. DEPARTMENT REPORTS: Asst. Directors Report submitted by Amy Lovisek This month was a summer planning month. Planning for employees and programs is a huge part of this job. We are still in need of lifeguard applicants as well as maintenance. I have been working with the Coffee Festival committee. I am the person in charge of vendors for the event. Feel free to ask me any questions you may have in regards to this. The Opechee Day Camp is getting a new floor put into the front bathroom area. This area is also used by the youth sports leagues for the restrooms. We will also be getting the back room tiled and new blinds for the windows. We are continuously trying to update the camp building with the money we make from the camp. This work will be done in the next couple of weeks. We have a new program that will start next month and that is a free family yoga in the park. This will take place on Wednesday evenings through the month of June at Smith Field. She is aiming for families of kids ages 4 – 10, but will accept all. This is being provided by Growing with Yoga. The office is inundated with registrations for all the different programs we are offering this summer! Always a good thing. The Senior/Senior Prom is happening this Thursday from 4:30 – 7:30 at the Community Center. This is a really fun event and the seniors love it! Feel free to stop by and check it out. We are having a grand Re-Opening for Wyatt Park on May 30th at 10:00am. Please try to make this event to see what the park has changed into. The park has done a 180 and is now known as one of our safest parks in the city!!! Please come and show your support for the efforts. Directors Report submitted by Kevin Dunleavy Department Updates: • Recent maintenance projects and activities include: Mowing and trimming Tree and limb cleanup Various work orders at City Hall, Library, park houses, LFD and LPD Irrigation start ups Bathroom startups Trash removal Pet waste bag restocking Boiler inspections Spring cleanups Mower and equipment preparation Athletic field preparations for games Field preparations Trash/recycle barrel placement •The spring season has been a challenge due to the late winter. Maintenance crews are behind on getting our usual spring tasks accomplished. We are also having difficulty securing seasonal maintenance staff. Some seasonal staff have started, but we are still looking for to fill more positions for the season. • Wyatt Park – With the assistance of NH Bureau of Forest and Lands, Wyatt Park received some major pruning of its trees recently. Forest and Lands also provided some training for our maintenance staff. This was all arranged in conjunction with our Arbor Day celebration held at Wyatt Park. Two new trees were planted in the park. •Memorial Park Bleachers - A set of bleachers for the Memorial Park baseball field have been ordered and will be installed in the next month or two. •Athletic Fields - Field preparations for interscholastic sports has been a daily task this year. With compressed schedules due to the late winter, we are preparing fields daily. Some days we are preparing four fields for games. • Weirs Community Park – Parks staff has been working with the Weirs Community Park Association on formulating a flyer for the new Weirs Community Park. This flyer will be distributed to some of the Weirs business owners and will be posted on the City’s website. • Sand Migration Study – Phase 2 of the Weirs Beach Sand Migration Study was presented to the City Council on April 27th. The report can be found on the City’s website. The next step for the project is the Engineering Phase followed by the Construction Phase.  • Budget Presentation – I will be presenting the Parks and Recreation budget to the City Council on June 1st. • Memorial Park House Roof – A recent storm caused damage to some of the roof panels at the Memorial Park House. A contractor has been secured to perform the repair. This is the same storm that toppled a large maple on the lawn of the Library. •Meetings that I have attended the last month include City Staff meetings, Main Street Bridge construction, Downtown TIF Advisory Board, Safety Board, City Council and Special Events Committee. 13. DATE OF NEXT MEETING AND ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 8:32pm and the next meeting is scheduled for Monday July 20, 2015 at 7:00pm at the Community Center.