Parks & Recreation Commission

LACONIA PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING August 15, 2016 Laconia Community Center- Parks & Recreation Office 7:00 P.M. CALL TO ORDER: Commissioner 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: Commissioner Chair Mitch Hamel called the roll with the following Commissioners in attendance: Tony Pederzani, Deanna Guyer and Arthur Kirk. Absent: Rodney Roy. Parks & Recreation staff in attendance: Recreation & Facilities Director Kevin Dunleavy and Parks & Recreation Secretary Liza Kelleher. ADOPTION OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS: 1. Regular meeting minutes of July 18, 2016 Commissioner Tony Pederzani moved to adopt the minutes from the July 18, 2016. Seconded by Commissioner Deanna Guyer. The motion passed unanimously. I. OLD BUSINESS: A. Banner Policy – Kevin Dunleavy presented the final draft of a banner policy to the Commissioners. Commissioner Guyer motioned to accept the banner proposal policy and suggested to add a banner category into the facility use request form. Seconded by Commissioner Pederzani. All were in favor. B. Weirs Action Committee (WAC) – Weirs Beach and Endicott Rock Park Parking Lot – June 10th, 2017 to June 18th, 2017, from 7am to 8pm for fundraiser for Weirs Beach beautification. Commissioner Pederzani motioned to table the request until the next Commission meeting. Seconded by Commissioner Kirk. All were in favor. C. Laconia Motorcycle Week Association – Weirs Beach parking lot – June 9th, 2017 to June 17th, 2017, from 8am to 10pm for Laconia Motorcycle Week Association fundraising. Commissioner Pederzani motioned to table the request until the next Commission meeting. Seconded by Commissioner Kirk. All were in favor. D. Laconia Police Department – Sanborn Park – August 2nd, 2016 from 5pm to 7pm for National Night Out event. Commissioner Kirk motioned to withdraw the request from the table since the date has already passed. Seconded by Commissioner Guyer. All were in favor. E. Holy Trinity School – Sanborn Park Field or any other available soccer field – September 1, 2016 to October 22, 2016 from 3:30pm to 6:00pm Monday thru Friday for soccer practice and games. Commissioner Guyer motioned to accept the request for a soccer practice and games. Seconded by Commissioner Kirk. All were in favor. Kevin Dunleavy said that other fields used by Laconia Youth Soccer may be available at certain times if they wanted to coordinate with Laconia Youth Soccer.  F. Review of rule against use of Coast Guard approved life jackets. Commissioner Hamel explained the latest letter that we received from Primex and explained the liability incurred by the City and potential challenges by letting swimmers use floatation devices and life jackets and the impact it will have on staffing and lifeguards at our beaches. Commissioner Hamel asked Danielle Millen to submit any information she may have on how other towns are dealing with the use of life jackets. Commissioner Hamel suggested that since the beach season was coming to an end, the Commission could look at the rule later in the year after more information is gathered. Commissioner Pederzani motioned to table the request for future discussion on the use of coast guard approved life jackets. Seconded by Commissioner Guyer. All were in favor. II. FACILITY USE REQUESTS: A. Weirs Community Park Assoc. - Weirs Community Center/ front and rear Weirs Park lot – June 10 to June 18, Saturday thru Sunday from 8am to midnight for a parking fundraiser. Commissioner Guyer motioned to accept the request upon submission of the certificate of insurance and City Council approval for a fundraising. Seconded by Commissioner Kirk. All were in favor. B. Laconia Tennis Tournament- Memorial Park- August 28 through September 2, 2016 from 9:00am to 12:00pm and 4:00pm to 7:00pm Tuesday, Thursday Friday and Sunday (maybe only 3 days depending on turnout). Commissioner Pederzani motioned to accept the request for a Tennis tournament waving all the fees upon submission of the certificate of insurance. Seconded by Commissioner Kirk. All were in favor. III. ADMINISTRATIVE APPROVALS-ROTARY PARK, BEACHES, WEIRS AMPHITHEATER & PAVILION The following wedding requests for Rotary Park have been approved administratively: a) Daniel Peper- Weirs Community Park Pavilion- August 27, 2016 from 2:00pm to5:00pm for a Birthday Party b) Lauren Baron- Weirs Community Park Pavilion- September 11, 2016 from 11:00am to 3:00pm for a Bridal shower c) Shawn Collins & Sabrina Patterson- Rotary Gazebo- September 3, 2016, Saturday from 3:00pm to 5:00pm for a wedding ceremony. d) Skye Krejchant- Weirs Beach- August 27, 2016, Saturday from 5:30 for a wedding ceremony. e) Alice Holmes- Rotary Gazebo- June 24, 2017, Saturday from 2:00pm to 3:00pm for a wedding ceremony. f) Lisa Fogarty- Rotary Gazebo- September 30, 2016, Friday from 5:00pm for a wedding ceremony. g) Maria Englert- Rotary Gazebo- August 27, 2016, Saturday from 12pm to 4pm for a wedding ceremony.  IV. NEW BUSINESS: a) 2017-2022 CIP Draft- Kevin Dunleavy presented a draft of the Parks and Recreation Capital Improvement plan for 2017-2022 to the Commission for their review and further discussion at the September meeting. V. ANNOUNCEMENTS: VI. NOMINATIONS, APPOINTMENTS & ELECTIONS: VII. PUBLIC COMMENT: VIII. COMMUNICATIONS: Letter from U.S. Congressman Frank Guinta thanking Laconia Parks and Recreation for all they do in honor of National Parks and Recreation month. IX. OTHER REQUESTS REQUIRING COMMISSION ACTION: X. PARK ASSOCIATION REPORTS: A. Leavitt Park Association –No report. B. Weirs Community Park Association- No report C. Tardif Park Association- No report. XI. DEPARTMENT REPORTS: A. Asst. Directors Report submitted by Amy Lovisek Summer is summer here at Laconia Parks & Recreation. The beaches are still in full swing. Weirs Beach was closed for 8 days last week due to high levels of bacteria. Once the news picked up on the information the status changed. This seems to be what happens every time. We also closed August 10th. With being tested almost daily we are going to be under an advisory more often. The camp ends as of the 19th of August. We had a great year. The kids were young, but were so well behaved. The counselors did really well even after having one leave half way through the summer. Feel free to join us for the end of the year party at the park house at noon on Friday. We are having pizza, cake awards and the kids put on a talent show. Always a good time. The tennis lessons ended at the beginning of this month and that went really well. The kids and adults had a great time. We did have some issues with the swim lessons this summer due to the fact that we only had one instructor and that was stationed at Opechee Point. Many Bond parents didn’t care for this, but then the geese came! They made a mess of the beach and many families wanted their money back. Not too much we can do about that. We have seen a huge increase in beach goers this summer. The weather has been on our side. The parking account is already at target. This is amazing for so early in the summer. Luckily, we already have our gym attendant hired for the fall. He worked for us over the summer and we will start our open gym times in the middle of September. I will be working on the Fall/Winter program brochure in the very near future. I will have that ready in September. B. Directors Report submitted by Kevin Dunleavy Department Updates: • Recent maintenance projects and activities include: Various work orders at City Hall, Library, park houses, bath houses, LFD and LPD Athletic field preparations including Muskrats Mowing and trimming Trash removal Pet waste bag restocking Irrigation maintenance Field lining and placement of soccer goals Bathroom cleaning Beach raking  Planting area watering  Weeding of planting beds  Aerating of fields  Fertilizing  Set up and break down of the employee luncheon • The summer season is winding down with the start of fall sports now before us. Maintenance staff has shifted gears and is focusing on field lining, turf management and routine beach maintenance tasks. The summer has been extremely dry and our planting areas are struggling. The beaches continue to see moderate use as people seek to escape the heat. Staffing levels have stabilized but we will be losing waterfront and maintenance staff in the next few weeks as many employees return to school. •WOW Trail – Construction continues with highlights being the installation of boardwalk areas, bridge abutments and drainage elements. The project is running on schedule with very few surprises. Lyman Construction is utilizing a portion of the Bartlett Beach parking lot for mobilizing materials and equipment. • Beacon Street West Riverwalk Connection – Remaining items include final landscaping and the installation of handrails. •Happy Tails Dog Park –We are still awaiting word from the National Park Service to make sure they have no concerns in relation to the original acquisition of this property through the LWCF program. City staff is reviewing a draft agreement from the City Attorney. • Meetings that I have attended the last month include City Staff meetings, City Council meetings, Planning Board, Special Events Committee, WOW Trail Board, Downtown TIF Advisory Board, Weirs TIF Advisory Board, and Weirs Beach watershed improvements. • Winnipesaukee Muskrats – The Muskrats season has concluded with a tough end to their season when they lost the battle for the last playoff spot in their division. • Rivers Edge Riverwalk Segment – Grand opening of the Rivers Edge project is scheduled for August 19th. •Rotary Park continues to be a busy place. We have close to 30 events scheduled for the park this season (May to November) with 18 of these events being wedding ceremonies. • Weirs Community Park – The amphitheater has held three performance so far this summer with the next event being on Saturday, August 27th featuring Stan Jr., who seems to have an uncanny resemblance to Elvis. Maybe Elvis is still alive after all! The Squam Lakes Science Center is also holding an educations presentation at the amphitheater on September 10th. • NorEasters Classic – The City played host to many softball teams as the annual NorEasters Softball Classic brought large crowds to the area. This event is a great boost to the economy of the area and it is an opportunity to showcase our facilities to visitors from far away. Feedback from the organizers and teams was positive as many were pleased with our facilities. • Weirs Beach water quality – Weirs Beach has experienced several beach advisories this summer primarily due to the significant increase in water testing we are currently performing in conjunction with the NHDES. The City of Laconia is working closely with the NH Department of Environmental Services (NHDES) with projects relating to water quality monitoring and the implementation of storm water treatment elements. Laconia is testing/sampling the water several times a week at Weirs Beach in conjunction with an experimental program with the United States Geological Survey (USGS). USGS has placed a buoy outside the swim lines that monitors environmental conditions and how these conditions correlate to water quality. This effort is an attempt to more accurately determine suitable swimming conditions in the area without having to rely on conventional water sampling, which takes as much as 24 hours to determine the results. For more information on this effort, refer to the following link: https://www.usgs.gov/news/buoy-popular-new-england-lake-helps-determine-when-stay-out- water-0 Additionally, Laconia received a Watershed Assistance Grant from the NHDES and we are currently working on implementing storm water treatment elements in the vicinity of Weirs Beach. Storm water can be a major contributing factor to high bacteria levels and there are several storm water outlets in the immediate vicinity of the beach. Additional water sampling of storm water outfalls is occurring as part of this project. Preliminary designs of these storm  water treatment elements are complete and it is expected that these elements will be installed in the fall of 2016 or spring of 2017. Laconia is also moving forward with the reconstruction of Lakeside Avenue after Labor Day of this year. This project will include water line, sewer line and drainage line improvements that will address potential problems with illicit discharges and illegal storm water connections which may be contributing to the problem. Determining the cause of high bacteria levels in lake water can be time consuming and complex. The sources of bacteria in the water may include storm water runoff, compromised sewer lines, waterfowl, bather loads, illegal dumping of sewage holding tanks from boats, failing septic systems, illegal sewer pipe connections, etc.... Finding these sources is challenging. Many communities on Lake Winnipesaukee are struggling with water quality issues as evidenced by recent beach advisories at Ellacoya, Gilford Town Beach and Long Island Beach in Moultonborough. Laconia has made a commitment to address this difficult problem with the available resources it has. XII. PRESENTATIONS XIII. ADJOURNMENT: Commissioner Pederzani motioned to adjourn at 8:28. Seconded by Commissioner Guyer. All were in favor. Respectfully submitted, Liza Kelleher Mitch Hamel Secretary Commission Chair