Parks & Recreation Commission

LACONIA PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING December 21, 2015 Laconia Community Center- Parks & Recreation Office 7:00 P.M. CALL TO ORDER: Clerk Rodney Roy called the meeting to order at the above date and time. RECORDING SECRETARY: Secretary Liza Kelleher will be recording this meeting. ROLL CALL Rodney Roy introduced and welcomed Arthur Kirk as our new Parks & Recreation Commissioner and called the roll with the following Commissioners in attendance: Deanna Guyer and Tony Pederzani. Absent- Chair Mitch Hamel. 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 November 16, 2015 Commissioner Tony Pederzani moved to adopt the minutes from November 16, 2015. Seconded by Commissioner Deanna Guyer. The motion passed unanimously. I. OLD BUSINESS: A. Facility Use Request Form - proposed changes. Tony Pederzani motioned to adopt the revised Facility Use Request Form. Seconded by Deanna Guyer. All were in favor. B. Parks & Recreation Rules and Regulations- Proposed rule changes regarding use of hammocks, tents and drones – No update C. Facility use requests for Weirs Community Park Pavilion-No update D. Laconia Muskrats- No update E. 2016-2017 FY Parks and Recreation Budget- Kevin stated that most of the items in the proposed budget for Department remain the same. Kevin said that the major item he is recommending is the funding for an additional full time year round maintenance employee to help the Department effectively maintain the new facilities that are now operating like the Weirs Community Park, the new Bobotas Field, the WOW Trail, Riverwalk and other small areas like the Gateway. Kevin also said that the Department could have some additional maintenance responsibilities if the City acquires the Lakes Region Facility from the State of NH. Kevin also mentioned a few recommended increases in items including: ● Printing increase of $1500 to cover replacement of park signage ● Overtime increase of $1000 based on recent costs. ● Outside Contracts increase of $1000 to account for contractual increases. ● Lights/Power decrease of $6000 based on historic costs and efficiency upgrades. ● Temporary Salaries decrease of $7000 if a new full time year round employee is hired. Tony Pederzani motioned to accept the proposed budget for 2016-2017. Seconded by Deanna Guyer. All were in favor.  F. National MS Society, Greater New England Chapter- Opechee Park and Parking Lot- Saturday, September 17, 2016 from 7:30~2:00pm for the annual NMS Laconia 2016 fundraising walk. Deana Guyer motioned to take it off the table. Seconded by Arthur Kirk. All were in favor. Kim Blanchard of the MS Society said the only change in the event is the move to a September date. Deanna Guyer motioned to accept the request conditioned upon final approval from the City Council for a fundraising event, submission of the special event fee and submission of a certificate of insurance. Seconded by Tony Pederzani. All were in favor. II. FACILITY USE REQUESTS: A. Lou Athanas Youth Basketball-Community Center Gym- Thursday through Sunday, February 18 through 21, 2016 for a basketball tournament. Kevin stated that the request for Wednesday, February 17 could not happen due to the dog obedience program using the gym. Tony Pederzani motioned to accept the request conditioned upon City Council approval for fundraising on City property and payment of the $100 tournament fee. Seconded by Deanna Guyer. All were in favor. B. Cystic Fibrosis Foundation-Opechee Park- Sunday May 22, 2016 from 8am to 1pm for walkathon fundraiser for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Deanna Guyer motioned to table the request due to no representation. Seconded by Arthur Kirk. All were in favor. C. NH Interscholastic Athletic Assoc.-Robbie Mills –Wednesday and Thursday, June 8 & 9, 2016 for NHIAA Division 4 Baseball Semi-finals games from 3:00 to 10:00pm. Deanna Guyer motioned to accept the request conditioned upon submission of the special event fee, light fee and certificate of insurance. Seconded by Tony Pederzani. All were in favor. D. Christmas Village-Laconia Community Center- November 11 through December 11, 2016. Arthur Kirk motioned to accept the request. Seconded by Deanna Guyer. All were in favor. III. ADMINISTRATIVE APPROVALS-ROTARY PARK None IV. NEW BUSINESS: 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 This month is a fun one for us here at Parks & Rec. We have a number of Christmas programs to offer the families and especially the kids. The first is always the fabulous Christmas Village. This brings in thousands of families from all around and is amazing. Then we have our annual Santa’s Calling. Santa called kids from the area to talk to them and make sure they are behaving and having a wonderful season! It is a huge hit and the kids he speaks with are always star struck! We went Caroling this month at the Taylor Community to brighten some senior’s holidays. The Hurray for the Holidays program didn’t do so well this year. This program is an ornament making, family time. We will no longer be running this program in the future. The Family Cookie Decorating was a nice evening for some families. This is always a lot of fun and the kids are a riot to watch! I am always looking for new programs to offer our beautiful community, so if you have anything you can think of that is not offered now, please let me know. Coming up with new ideas is sometimes more difficult, so any help you can give would be greatly appreciated. The gym has been closed all month and as of today the 21st we are open again. We were closed for an additional week as we put another 2 coats on our new gym floor. We are doing all we can to keep our floor in great condition. This will be an annual maintenance that we do. B. Directors Report submitted by Kevin Dunleavy Department Updates: • Recent maintenance projects and activities include: Christmas decorations/lighting install Pet waste bag restocking Christmas Village preparation/breakdown support Irrigation shutdowns Fall cleanups Various work orders at City Hall, Library, park houses, LFD and LPD Trash and litter cleanup Brush cutting Install steel tables at Weirs Community Park Winter shutdown of equipment Infield work at Memorial Baseball field and Colby Field Playground element repair at Leavitt Park Setup/Breakdown for City Christmas Party Refinishing of Community Center gym floor  • The weather has allowed our outdoor maintenance activities to continue. We have not had to perform any snow removal, but we are prepared for it when the time arrives. Leaf and debris cleanup have been ongoing along with various outdoor projects like tree pruning, ball field renovation, playground repairs and brush clearing. We will continue to address various outdoor projects as the weather permits. • Christmas Village – The 40th Christmas Village program was once again a well-attended event. Many thanks to Armand, Ernie and Bob and their horde of volunteers who continue to create this transformation of the Community Center gym year after year. Parks and Recreation maintenance staff was able to lend a helping hand with some of the setup and breakdown of the event. • Additional project plans continue on various park related amenities. WOW Trail Phase 2 is due to go out to bid anytime now. The City has selected HEB Engineers out of North Conway to start the engineering phase of several Riverwalk phases being partially funded by TAP Grants being offered by the State of NH DOT. These projects will be important alternative transportation routes in the community. • Winter projects by Parks and Recreation staff will include equipment maintenance, painting, building repairs, continued work on our Parks and Recreation Operation Manual, Adopt-A-Spot outreach and conversion to electronic document storage. • Ice rink preparation will commence once the conditions permit. We are planning on rinks at Leavitt Park, Memorial Park and on Opechee Cove. The sledding hill we also be opened once conditions permit. • I would like to welcome our newest Parks and Recreation Commissioner Arthur Kirk. Artie has long been involved in various youth sports in Laconia and we look forward to working with him in the future. Welcome aboard Artie! • Meetings that I have attended the last month include City Staff meetings, Downtown TIF Advisory Board, Master Plan Advisory Committee, TAP Grant Projects, Safety Board, Happy Tails Dog Park and Huot Center Advisory Board. Respectfully submitted, Kevin Dunleavy, Director of Recreation and Facilities XI. PRESENTATIONS XII. ADJOURNMENT: Tony Pederzani motioned to adjourn at 7:45pm. Seconded by Deanna Guyer. All were in favor. Respectfully Submitted, Liza Kelleher Secretary