Parks & Recreation Commission

LACONIA PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING September 21, 2015 Laconia Community Center- Parks & Recreation Office 7:00 P.M. CALL TO ORDER: Jeff Pattison called the meeting to order at the above date and time. RECORDING SECRETARY: Secretary Liza Kelleher will be recording this meeting. ROLL CALL: Commissioner Jeff Pattison called the roll with the following Commissioners in attendance: Mitch Hamel, Tony Pederzani, Deanna Guyer and Rodney Roy. Parks & Recreation Staff in attendance: Recreation and Facilities Director Kevin Dunleavy, Parks & Recreation Secretary Liza Kelleher. ADOPTION OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS: 1. Regular meeting minutes of August 17, 2015 Commissioner Rodney Roy moved to adopt the minutes from August 17, 2015. Seconded by Commissioner Dianna Guyer. The motion passed unanimously. I. OLD BUSINESS: A. Facility Use Request Form proposed changes- Commissioners asked Kevin Dunleavy to finalize the proposed Facility Use Request Form. The Commissioners suggested some changes and Kevin will present a new draft at the next Commission meeting. B. Parks & Recreation Rules and Regulations- Kevin Dunleavy said he is still researching and drafting proposed rule changes regarding the use of hammocks, tents and drones in City parks. Kevin Dunleavy will work on a final draft and will discuss at the next Commission meeting. II. FACILITY USE REQUESTS: A. Lily’s Angels- Opechee Park- Sunday, October 18, 2015 from 8:30 to 2:00pm for 5Krun fundraising event for the children’s auction. Rodney Roy motioned to accept the request conditioned upon approval from the City Council, waiver of the special event fee and submission of a Certificate of Insurance. Seconded by Mitch Hamel. All were in favor. B. Wow Trail- WOW Trail- Saturday, October 24, 2015 from 9am to noon for a Runaway Pumpkin 10k & 5K Run/Walk fundraiser for the Wow Trail & the children’s auction. Mitch Hamel motioned to accept the request conditioned upon approval from the City Council, submission of a Certificate of Insurance and waiver of the special event fee. Seconded by Rodney Roy. All were in favor. C. Weirs Community Park Assoc. – Weirs Community Park Parking Lots- Saturday thru Sunday, June 11 ~19th from 8am to 12am for a fundraiser for the Weirs Community Park Association. Rodney Roy motioned to accept the request conditioned upon approval from the City Council and submission of a Certificate of Insurance. Seconded by Tony Pederzani. All were in favor.  D. Elm Street School & VISTESS- Robbie Mills Field and concession stand- Sunday, September 27, 2015 (rain date October 4, 2015) from 9am-3pm for a school fundraising event. Tony Pederzani motioned to accept the request conditioned upon approval from the City Council and waiver of the special event fee. Seconded by Mitch Hamel. All were in favor. III. ADMINISTRATIVE APPROVALS-ROTARY PARK None IV. NEW BUSINESS: A. Memorial Park House-New Covenant Church Lease- Mitch Hamel motioned to extend lease for 5 years conditioned upon final approval from the City Council, with the monthly rent to be determined by City Administration and the City Council.. Seconded by Rodney Roy. All were in favor. B. Proposed Parks and Recreation Capital Improvement Request- Kevin presented his recommendations for the Parks and Recreation CIP. Kevin Dunleavy said he will be presenting the request to the CIP Committee on September 29 at 6:30pm. V. ANNOUNCEMENTS: VI. PUBLIC COMMENT: VII. COMMUNICATIONS: VIII. OTHER REQUESTS REQUIRING COMMISSION ACTION: IX. PARK ASSOCIATION REPORTS: A. Leavitt Park Association –No report B. Weirs Community Park Association- No report C. Tardif Park Association- No Report X. DEPARTMENT REPORTS: A. Asst. Directors Report submitted by Amy Lovisek During this month I have been working mostly on the 2015/2016 Fall/Winter Program Brochure. That is now complete and in your packet this month. Please look through it and let me know what you think. I would as always welcome new ideas you may have for programming. I am constantly on the lookout for the next best program! I have also been very busy with the NH Coffee Festival that is Saturday, September 19th. This event has been greatly anticipated and I can’t wait to see it all come to fruition. The fall season has begun. The open gym basketball started on September 14th. For the first week we are getting a good amount of people.  Guitar Lessons have just completed their second week and the participants are thrilled with the program! On September 22nd we have yoga starting. B. Directors Report submitted by Kevin Dunleavy Department Updates: • Recent maintenance projects and activities include: Athletic field preparation for LHS, LMS and youth sports. Pet waste bag restocking Bath House cleaning Irrigation repairs and maintenance Walking path maintenance and edging Mowing and trimming Various work orders at City Hall, Library, park houses, LFD and LPD Trash and litter cleanup Athletic Field lining/striping • Parks and Recreation maintenance crews continue to work shorthanded as our attempts to bring in new seasonal staff have not been fruitful. We have already started to evaluate the pay structure for all seasonal positions with hopes that we can implement a wage scale that will appeal to potential workers. • Maintenance staff has been busy mowing and lining fields for the interscholastic sports season, which is now in full swing. The fields are seeing significant use with large numbers of youth participants. Saturdays are busy at many of our fields with Laconia Youth Soccer seeing large numbers. Memorial Park is busy on the nights that Laconia Youth Football is practicing. • The Memorial Park baseball field bleachers have been installed. • Weirs Beach was extremely busy over the Labor Day weekend. Temperatures in the 90’s drove people to the beaches, which are typically very slow over this holiday weekend. The beach season is over for our Department and the closing of these facilities will be happening in October. • The Gateway Park/ Main Street Bridge project is virtually complete. Most punch list items have been addressed and the area will be some finishing touches in time for the ribbon cutting ceremony slated for September 25th. This new park area will be a nice usable space for the public to enjoy for many years to come. It also serves as a great welcome to the many visitors that enter Laconia through this “Gateway”. • The Riverwalk stairway project is under construction. The project started just after Labor Day and will take around four weeks to complete. This stairway will allow access to the riverfront  from the higher ground at Main Street. Future Riverwalk segments will be constructed in the near future tying many parts for the Downtown area together. • The Woodland Heights dugout project is complete. Our appreciation to the Lakes Region Girls Softball for their hard work in making the Woodland ballfield that much better. • The Weirs Community Park Association sponsored and hosted a well-attended performance of Stan Jr. at the Weirs Park Amphitheater on August 29th. The performance was well attended with around 100 in attendance. The show was capped off nicely with a wedding proposal on the stage! (She said yes.) • I have been working with the Planning Department and Public Works on the creation of an enhanced public space in the area of Downtown at the junction of Main Street and Pleasant Street. This improvement will include rain gardens, landscaping, plantings, irrigation, benches/seating and new sidewalks. This project is on the fast track with plans to have the improvement complete by the Pumpkin Festival. Parks and Recreation will have some maintenance responsibilities for this area. • Meetings that I have attended the last month include City Staff meetings, Special Events Committee, Downtown TIF Advisory Board, Main Street Bridge construction meetings, and Pumpkin Festival. • I am sad to announce that Parks and Recreation Commission Chair Jeff Pattison will resign from the Commission at the end of September. Jeff has been a committed leader for our Parks and Recreation Commission for 14 years. He has represented the Commission, Department and City professionally and with pride. There have been many changes during Jeff’s tenure on the Commission including the expansion of the Robbie Mills Complex, renovation of Opechee and Leavitt Parks, renovation of Bobotas Field, implementation of user fees and the construction of the Weirs Community Park. I greatly appreciate Jeff’s support and mentoring since I started at Parks and Recreation. I will always remember and be thankful for all his time and contributions to the Laconia Parks and Recreation Department. We wish Jeff and Judy the very best in the next chapter of their life. XI. PRESENTATIONS: Kevin Dunleavy announced that Parks and Recreation Commission Chair Jeff Pattison will resign end of September after serving on the Commission for 14 years. Kevin Dunleavy expressed his appreciation for all Jeff has done in his years on the Commission and mentioned some of the major projects that Jeff was participated in while on the Commission. Kevin presented a framed picture of the Robbie Mills Field to Jeff in appreciation for all he has done for the City and the park system. City Councilors Bob Hamel and Armand Bolduc expressed their appreciation for Jeff’s time and efforts with the Parks and Recreation Commission. The Parks and Recreation Commissioners wished Jeff the best for the future and thanked him for all his contributions and support to the Laconia Parks and Recreation Department. XII. ADJOURNMENT: Mitch Hamel moved to adjourn at 8:00pm. Seconded by Rodney Roy. All were in favor. Respectfully submitted, Liza Kelleher Secretary