Parks & Recreation Commission

LACONIA PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES 1. CALL TO ORDER: Monday, May 21, 2012 at 7:00pm at the Community Center 2. COMMISSION MEMBERS ATTENDANCE: Jeff Pattison (chairperson), George Hawkins, Dave Plourde, Mitch Hamel, Kevin Dunleavy and Liza Kelleher. Absent-Rodney Roy. 3. INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS: Madison Cairns, John Sanborn, Martha Aucoin, Cheryl Dorfman, Nadine Salley, Beth SanSouie, Shelly Batchelder, Jack Batchelder,Candice Murray, Kermit Merrill, Nancy Merrill, Greg Schneberger, Toby Knowlton, Noah Crane, Janine Page, Jacob Downing, Councilors Brenda Baer, Armand Bolduc and Bob Hamel 4. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES: George Hawkins motioned to accept the minutes from last month. Dave Plourde seconded. All were in favor. 5. ELECTION OF COMMISSION CHAIRPERSON AND CLERK 6. OLD BUSINESS:  American Legion Post 1- Memorial Baseball Field- May 28, 2012 to July 31, 2012 for baseball games and practices. Mitch Hamel motioned to accept the request for baseball games and practices subject to submission of the roster, payment for non-resident users’ fee, storage bay fees, key deposit, lighting fees and field conditions. Dave Plourde seconded. All were in favor.  Leavitt Park Kitchen renovation- Kevin Dunleavy explained to the Leavitt Park Association representatives the park house repair policy and the maintenance responsibilities of the City vs. the responsibilities of the park associations. He stated that the City is responsible for structural repairs to the floor, and that a new floor covering is not structural, therefore the cost of any new kitchen floor would be the responsibility of the Leavitt Park Association. Kevin and George went to check the condition of the floor to determine if it is a structural issue or just a cosmetic. George Hawkins explained that the wearing of the floor is not a structural issue.  Wyatt Park Conceptual Plans - Kevin Dunleavy updated the Commissioners that we are moving forward with the final concept for Wyatt Park. Amy Lovisek is working with HEAL group as part of the grant. Kevin Dunleavy will have the final concept complete before the CIP presentation on September. The Wyatt Park forum last May 10, 2012 had a strong turnout and the majority favored keeping the basketball court. 7. FACILITY USE REQUESTS:  Faith Alive Christian Fellowship- Memorial Park Softball Field – August 10, 11 and 12, 2012 (rain date August 17, 18 and 19 Friday, Saturday and Sunday) from 8:00am to 10:00pm for a softball tournament fundraising event. Dave Plourde motioned to accept the request subject to approval from the City Council, lights fees, tournament fees and concession stand fees. George Hawkins seconded. All were in favor.  National Junior Honor Society-Cycle for Life-LMS- Wow Trail- May 30, 2012 (Wednesday) from 5:00pm to 7:00pm for Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Fundraising event. George Hawkins motioned to accept the request for the fundraising event subject to final approval from the City Council. Dave Plourde seconded. All were in favor.  Lakes Region Vineyard Church- Opechee Point- August 5, 2012(Sunday) from 1:00pm to 7:00pm for a church picnic. George Hawkins motioned to accept the request with the understanding that the park is open to the general public. Dave Plourde seconded. All were in favor.   Lakes Region Partnership for Public Health- Opechee Park & Bathhouse- August 25, 2012(Saturday) from 9:30am to 12:30pm to launch the wellness academy. Tabled due to no representation.  Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce- Leavitt Park- June 13, 2012(Wednesday) from 5:30pm to 7:30pm for dodge ball and picnic. Mitch Hamel motioned to accept the request for the picnic subject to the submission of a insurance certificate. A waiver was granted for the use of a 20lbs propane tank. George Hawkins seconded. All were in favor.  Lakes Region Girls Softball- Opechee Park- July 28 and 29, 2012(Saturday & Sunday) from 7:30am to 7:30pm, concessions stand for Nor’easter tournament. Dave Plourde motioned to accept the request subject to approval from the City Council for a fundraising event. A waiver for the use of a 20lb propane tank was granted. George Hawkins seconded. All were in favor.  Weirs Action Committee- Weirs Beach Bathhouse- September 16, 2012(Sunday) from 8am to 2pm, 5K race fundraising event. The Parks Department was notified that the request has been withdrawn.  Rick Velasquez Youth Sports Equipment Foundation & Laconia Kiwanis- Colby Field/Opechee Park- Sunday August 5, 2012(rain date August 12, 2012, Sunday) from 8am to 6pm for home run derby for youth and sponsoring adults. George Hawkins motioned to accept the request with the agreement that temporary fence be installed to protect the general public from flying balls. Mitch Hamel seconded. All were in favor.  Laconia Athletic & Swim Club- Opechee, Leavitt, Tardiff and Wyatt Park-June to August Fridays at 6am and June 30th Saturday from 7:30 to 10:30am at the Opechee Cove for meetings and athletic training. Kevin Dunleavy mentioned that no exercise elements should be attached to the trees. Dave Plourde motioned to accept the request subject to the submission of a certificate of insurance. Mitch Hamel seconded. All were in favor.  Zonta Club of the Lakes Region- Community Center Gym, Conference Room & Kitchen- October 6, 2012(Saturday) from 8:00am to 6:30pm for a fundraising Fall Craft Fair. Table charges are $85.00 per table with electrical access and $75.00 without electrical access. George Hawkins motioned to accept the request subject to the submission of a certificate of insurance, approval from the City Council for fundraising, and a $100.00 fee for the use of the concession stand. Mitch Hamel seconded. All were in favor.  Grace Capital Church- Opechee Ball fields- September 2, 2012 (alternate date Sunday July 29, 2012) from 7am to 4pm for church service/picnic (full band & full religious service in the morning). Kevin Dunleavy mentioned to the group that a loud speaker permit is needed. Also, any tents will need to be set up on the outside of the field away from irrigation, and no vehicles are permitted on the grass areas. A waiver for the use of 20lb propane tanks was granted. Dave Plourde motioned to accept the request subject to the possibility of the need for police, portable toilets and suitable weather and field conditions. George Hawkins seconded. All were in favor.  Hopkinton Senior Class- Opechee Park- May 22, 2012(Tuesday) from 2pm to 6:30pm for Senior Class trip. George Hawkins motioned to accept the request for the use of the Opechee Cove picnic area and a waiver to use 20lb propane tanks. Dave Plourde seconded. All were in favor. 8. OTHER REQUEST REQUIRING COMMISSION ACTION: Chairperson Jeff Pattison abstained from the discussion due to his involvement with the Laconia Muskrats. Muskrats- Noah Crane requested to build a deck to sell beer last February and was approved, but the deck can’t be built in time for the season. Noah said that the wall will be built this year, and the deck will be in place for next year. Noah requested the beer concession stand be located at the parking lot behind the bleachers on the third base side where the designated bus parking is now located. Commissioners Hawkins, Plourde and Hamel all expressed their concerns with the proposed location of beer sales in the parking lot. Commissioner Hawkins stated that the Commission approved the project for the original location, and that original approval still stands. The Commission refused to allow beer to be sold at any location at the ballpark this season except for the location that was approved at last February’s meeting. 9. NEW BUSINESS:   Basketball Court hours of operation – Commissioner Hawkins discussed the need to change the operation times of the outside basketball courts in the City. George motioned to change the operating times of the outside basketball courts at City Parks to 8am to 8pm daily, with the stipulation that the courts that can be locked (Wyatt, Tardif and Sanborn courts) should be locked with assistance of the Laconia Police. Dave Plourde seconded. All were in favor.  Budget Presentation to City Council- Kevin reminded the Commissioners that the Parks and Recreation Budget Presentation will be on Tuesday, May 29, 2012 at 6pm.  Kevin stated that the Tobacco ordinance revision for the parks passed the City Council and has been implemented.  Kevin Dunleavy mentioned also that we are still working with the Park Houses and will try to boost the enrollment. We did an advertisement and reached out to the community to give them the opportunity to touch base with the Park Associations.  Kevin Dunleavy mentioned that he would like to address the inconsistencies with the approvals to use Rotary Park. Belknap Mill has traditionally approved usage of Rotary Park, which Kevin believes is a City Park. George Hawkins said that if Rotary Park falls under the Parks and Recreation Department, then they should be coming to us for a facility field use request. Kevin stated that we do the mowing and repairs of the gazebo. Parks Commissioners recommended that Kevin talk to the Belknap Mill regarding the use of Rotary Park. 10. PUBLIC COMMENT: 11. COMMUNICATIONS: 12. PARK ASSOCIATION REPORTS: Leavitt Park Association – Minutes of the meeting Opechee Park Association- Income and Expense report Tardif Park Association- No Report Weirs Community Park Association- No report Wyatt Park Association- No Report DEPARTMENT REPORTS: Directors report submitted by Kevin Dunleavy Department Updates: • Additional seasonal staff was brought in last week. This allowed us to get caught up with most of the mowing. We will have a couple new faces on our seasonal maintenance staff, along with a couple of returning veterans. •Parks and Recreation maintenance personnel have been very busy this spring with various projects including: Rebuild vandalized cobblestone overlook @ City Hall Replace lighting at Veterans Square Irrigation/bath house / fountain start ups Fertilize fields Prepare fields for interscholastic sports including track and field, softball, baseball and tennis. Prepare fitness room for City employees in basement of Community Center Paint Opechee Daycamp walls Mowing of all areas between the raindrops Picnic table repairs Skate Park repairs Various work orders for City Hall, Library, Police and Community Center.  • The skate park has been opened after several element repairs. The half pipe remains closed until the further repairs can be made. Amy is working with some volunteers who would like to perform the repairs. • The Belknap County inmate labor crew has been a big help with getting the spring cleanups completed. Almost all park areas have had the bulk of the leaves raked up. The inmate crew is now assisting with the mowing of the cemeteries and many of the smaller park areas. •The roofing project at Memorial Park House has been completed. It is unfortunate to say that the contractor for the project recently passed away. We were very saddened by the news of this sudden loss. •The athletic fields have held up well considering the persistent periods of rain that we experienced. We were often able to schedule games when other towns could not. This can be attributed to the hard work of our staff, who work hard to maintain the infield areas. •The Weirs Community Park. Two firms were selected to submit further proposals for the Weirs Community Park project. These proposals will be reviewed by the selection committee this week, and a firm will be awarded the engineering services. • A presentation of the Wyatt Park master plan concepts was held on May 10th at the Community Center. Around 75 people attended, and some the public participation was significant. Many in attendance expressed their opinion that the basketball courts were important to the park and neighborhood. Most importantly, the community recognized that they need to be part of the solution to the negative perception of Wyatt Park. A final concept will be forthcoming by the end of August. • The Parks and Recreation budget presentation will be on May 29th. Park Commissioners are welcomed to attend. 13. DATE OF NEXT MEETING AND ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 8:30pm and next meeting is scheduled for Monday, June 18, 2012 at 7:00pm at the Community Center.