Parks & Recreation Commission

LACONIA PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING January 19, 2016 Laconia Community Center- Parks & Recreation Office 7:00 P.M. CALL TO ORDER: Commission Chair Mitch Hamel called the meeting to order at the above date and time. RECORDING SECRETARY: Secretary Liza Kelleher will be recording this meeting. ROLL CALL: Commission Chair Mitch Hamel called the roll with the following Commissioners in attendance: Rodney Roy, Deanna Guyer, Tony Pederzani and Arthur Kirk. 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 December 21, 2015 Commissioner Rodney Roy moved to adopt the minutes from December 21, 2015. Seconded by Commissioner Deanna Guyer. The motion passed unanimously. I. OLD BUSINESS: A. Parks & Recreation Rules and Regulations- Proposed rule changes regarding use of hammocks, tents and drones – no update B. Facility use requests for Weirs Community Park Pavilion – no update C. Laconia Muskrats request – no update D. User Fee Revolving Fund – no update E. Cystic Fibrosis Foundation-Opechee Park- Sunday May 22, 2016 from 8am to 1pm for walkathon fundraiser for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Rodney Roy motioned to accept the request conditioned upon submission of a certificate of insurance, payment of event fee and City Council approval for fundraising on City property. Seconded by Arthur Kirk. All were in favor. II. FACILITY USE REQUESTS: A. Lakes Region Sled Dog Club-Pump Station Field (Old N. Main St. & Rt. 106) - Friday through Sunday, February 12, 13 and 14, 2016 for parking for Sled Dog Derby spectators. Rodney Roy motioned to accept the request conditioned upon submission of a certificate of insurance. Seconded by Tony Pederzani. All were in favor. B. Laconia Lacrosse Club- Bobotas Field and Leavitt Park Field –Monday through Saturday, when fields are cleared in the spring until June 10, 2016 for boys and girls youth lacrosse practice. Deanna Guyer motioned to accept the request conditioned upon submission of a certificate of insurance, rosters, payment of non-resident users’ fee, and key deposit of $25.00 per key if needed. Seconded by Arthur Kirk. All were in favor.  C. Laconia Little League- Opechee Fields A, B & C, Pleasant St. School field, Elm St. School field and Sanborn Park field- March through July 15, 2016 Monday through Friday 5:30pm-9:00pm, Saturday & Sunday 8:00am-9:00pm. Tony Pederzani motioned to accept the request conditioned upon submission of rosters, payment of non-resident user fees, concession stand fee, storage bay fee and final approval from the City Council for fundraising on City property. Seconded by Rodney Roy. All were in favor. D. Laconia Little League- Colby Field - March 1 through August 15, 2016, Monday through Friday from 3:00pm-9:00pm, Saturday and Sunday from 8:00am-9:00pm. Rodney Roy motioned to accept the request conditioned upon payment of the tournament fee and submission of a certificate of insurance. Seconded by Arthur Kirk. All were in favor. E. Making Strides against Breast Cancer- Opechee Park Bathhouse and Field- Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 5:00pm-8:00pm and Sunday from 6:00am to 2:00pm, October 12, 13, 14 and 16, 2016 for American Cancer Society Fundraising event. Rodney Roy tabled the request due to no representation. Seconded by Tony Pederzani. All were in favor. F. Stinson Dowling Scholarship Fund- Opechee Park, Smith Track and Opechee Cove- Sunday, June 26, 2016 from 6:00am-12:00pm for a Run and Swim fundraising event. Tony Pederzani motioned to accept the request conditioned upon submission of a certificate of insurance and approval from the City Council for fundraising on City property. Seconded by Deanna Guyer. All were in favor. G. Laconia Youth Soccer- Opechee, Robbie Mills, Elm St. School field, Pleasant St. School field, Woodland Heights School field - August 1 through October 22, 2016, Monday through Friday from 5:30-8:00pm and Saturday from 8:00am to 4:00pm for 2016 soccer season. Also Bobotas Field for the end of the season league tournament held on a Saturday with date to be determined. Rodney Roy motioned to accept the request conditioned upon submission of rosters, payment of non-resident users’ fee, tournament fee, field lighting and a certificate of insurance. Seconded by Tony Pederzani. All were in favor. III. ADMINISTRATIVE APPROVALS-ROTARY PARK The following wedding requests for Rotary Park have been approved administratively: a) Marden/York Wedding- Saturday, May 14, 2016 from 12:00pm-6:00pm for a wedding ceremony. b) Timothy Gee Wedding- Saturday, April 30, 2016 from 4:00pm-7:00pm for a wedding ceremony. 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 I was able to attend the Northern New England Recreation & Parks Conference at Attitash at the beginning of this month and learned a ton of new things. I am excited to put some of the things into practice. I have been asked to be on the Board of Director’s for LRTA (Lakes Region Tennis Association). They are the group that assisted our Department with the free tennis lessons for the last 2 years. This is going to be something that will continue in Laconia and is expanding to surrounding communities as well. I am happy to offer them any expertise I have to further their mission. I have been trying to find the right software for our work order system to help our maintenance crew be more efficient. We have seen a few and are impressed with what we have seen so far. This winter has not been very good for winter recreation as you have probably noticed. We have set up the ice skating rink at Leavitt, but the weather was bad to flood. We also have flooded the Memorial rink. We are hoping this cold spell keeps. The snow is another issue. The small comfortable to turn the lights on yet. Once we have more snow and colder days for ice, I will choose a date for the sledding and ice skating parties. I am hoping things are in good condition for the February Vacation. In the Laconia Links we are adding a section of Did You Know… We are trying to educate our citizens as to what our department does that maybe they didn’t realize. This should be fun!! B. Directors Report submitted by Kevin Dunleavy Department Updates: • Recent maintenance projects and activities include: Christmas decorations/lighting removal Pet waste bag restocking Ice skating rink installation/preparations Snow and ice removal Park house repairs Various work orders at City Hall, Library, park houses, LFD and LPD Trash and litter cleanup Trail clearing at Weirs Community Park  Salting and sanding of walkways Park house oil checks Community Center gym bench repairs Put away vehicles/equipment into storage Remove large stumps at Leavitt Park and Opechee Park Repair and install gates on Smith Track • Winter weather has finally set in. With the warmer than usual weather in December, maintenance staff was able to do a fair amount of outdoor grounds related work. Trail clearing, brush cutting and stump removal were all projects that were nice to get done before the snow arrived. We were also able to repair a playground element at Leavitt Park. Snow removal, sanding and salting will be routine tasks for us as we move through the winter season. • Ice rinks- The Leavitt Park and Memorial Park rinks are not ready for use yet. Maintenance staff has been flooding the rinks and we hope to have the Leavitt Rink open for next week, depending on the weather. The Memorial rink will likely be a little longer. Opechee Cove does not have sufficient ice to support skating at this time. I anticipate that we will be adjusting the lighting schedule for these rinks based on the amount of use they have seen in the recent past. • My conversations with the park house groups indicate that these facilities are seeing a fair amount of rentals. The Weirs Park Association is interested in improving the trail system at the Weirs Park. Leavitt Park continues to see strong rentals including auctions and family events. Tardif Park is seeing frequent use with Jazzercise programs and family events. These facilities offer affordable options for those seeking event space. • Several of our Recreation programs have seen an uptick in popularity. With the closing of the Laconia Athletic and Swim Club, the Jazzercise and yoga programs are seeing more people. The pickle ball programs continue to grow in popularity, particularly with the older segment of the population. If you have any recreation program ideas, feel free to mention them to Amy or me. • Meetings that I have attended the last month include City Staff meetings, Downtown TIF Advisory Board, Master Plan Advisory Committee, TAP Grant Projects, and Safety Board. XI. PRESENTATIONS XII. ADJOURNMENT: Rodney Roy motioned to adjourn at 8:02pm. Seconded by Tony Pederzani. All were in favor. Respectfully submitted, Liza Kelleher Secretary