Parks & Recreation Commission

LACONIA PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING January 17, 2017 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, Tony Pederzani, Arthur Kirk and Deanna Guyer. 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 November 21, 2016 Commissioner Rodney Roy moved to adopt the minutes from November 21, 2016. Seconded by Commissioner Arthur Kirk. The motion passed unanimously. It was noted that there were no minutes for a December meeting because the December 2016 meeting was canceled due to lack of a quorum. I. OLD BUSINESS: A. Review of rule against use of Coast Guard approved life jackets. No discussion occurred. B. Proposed Parks & Recreation 2017-2018 Budget. Kevin Dunleavy explained that due to anticipated funding limitations, the proposed budget had minimal changes and many items were level funded. Kevin said that there was an increase in the office supplies items to account for work order software and a new computer. Kevin said the park house maintenance budget was reduced because this year’s budget had a one time increase for repair of the Weirs Community Center back entrance walkway. Commissioner Roy motioned to accept the proposed budget as presented. Seconded by Commissioner Guyer. All were in favor. C. Laconia Kiwanis- Rotary Park- Sunday, August 27, 2017 from 8:00am to 3:00pm for Rogers Ride. Commissioner Roy motioned to table the request due to no representation. Seconded by Commissioner Kirk. All were in favor. D. National MS Society- Opechee Park & north parking lot- September 16, 2017, Saturday from 7:30am to 2pm for Walk MS Laconia. Commissioner Pederzani motioned to table the request due to no representation. Seconded by Commissioner Guyer. All were in favor. II. FACILITY USE REQUESTS:  A. NHIAA – Robbie Mills Baseball Field – June 7, 2017 from 4pm to 7pm (June 8th rain date), for NHIAA Division 4 Baseball semi-finals. Commissioner Kirk motioned to table the request due to no representation. Seconded by Commissioner Roy. All were in favor. B. Laconia Little League- Colby Field, March 1st through August 15, 2017 Monday thru Friday from 3pm to 9pm, Saturday & Sunday from 8am to 9pm. Opechee Fields A, B &C, Pleasant Street School Field, Elm Street School Field and Sanborn Park Field, March 1st through July 15, 2017 Monday thru Friday from 5:30 to 9pm, Saturday and Sunday from 8am to 9pm. Kevin Dunleavy mentioned that Lakes Region Girls Softball has requested use of Woodland Heights School Field and Elm Street School Field and coordination between both groups would need to occur to avoid scheduling conflicts. Commissioner Roy motioned to accept the request conditioned upon submission of a certificate of insurance, payment of non- resident users’ fee, concession stand fee, storage fee and final approval from the City Council for fundraising on City property. Seconded by Commissioner Guyer. All were in favor. C. Christmas Village- Community Center- November 10, 2017 through December 10, 2017 for the magic of the annual Christmas Village. Commissioner Roy motioned to accept the request. Seconded by Commissioner Kirk. All were in favor. D. Lakes Region Sled Dog Club- Field at the corner Old North Main and North Main Street for parking – Friday, Saturday & Sunday February 10, 11 &12, 2017 from 9:00am to 4:00pm for 88th World Championship Sled Dog Derby. Commissioner Guyer motioned to accept the request to use the field for parking. Seconded by Commissioner Roy. All were in favor. E. Laconia Youth Soccer- Rotary Field @ Robbie Mills Complex, Leavitt Park, Elm St. School Field, Opechee Park, Woodland Heights Field, Sanborn Park and Bobotas Field for the end of season tournament- July 28 through October 28, 2017 Mondays to Friday from 5:30 to 8pm and Saturday 8am to 4pm for games and tournament. Kevin Dunleavy asked to have confirmation that the start date included the preseason clinic that youth soccer usually has. Deanna Guyer said she would look into this and confirm. Commissioner Kirk motioned to accept the request conditioned upon the submission of a certificate of insurance, key deposit, non-resident users’ fee, storage fee and lighting fees. Seconded by Commissioner Roy. All were in favor. III. ADMINISTRATIVE APPROVALS-ROTARY PARK, BEACHES, WEIRS AMPHITHEATER & PAVILION The following birthday party and wedding requests have been approved administratively: A. Carly and CJ Best Wedding - Rotary Gazebo- Friday, September 22, 2017 at 2:30pm IV. NEW BUSINESS: A. Winnipesaukee Muskrats Update- Kristian Svinland, General Manager of the Muskrats updated the Commissioners about the status of the Muskrats operation and the feedback that he received from people using the Robbie Mills field. Kristian said that he was not aware of any issues associated with the serving of alcohol and felt the operation was setup well. Kristian explained that due to the lack of revenue and the expense of finishing the wall, the Muskrats were not in a position at this time to finish  the monster wall deck. Kristian said the Muskrats would be looking to use the tent area for the upcoming year with the same setup. Kristian also explained that the hill area in front of the building was a safety concern as he witnessed some people nearly falling down the hill. Kevin Dunleavy said he was aware of the issues with the hill behind the backstop and has some ideas to address the issue using some fencing material that are in stock which would minimize the cost. Kevin also recited the language in the current agreement with the Muskrats regarding the completion of the monster wall project along with minutes from previous Parks and Recreation Commission meetings that granted an extension to the deadline for the completion of the project to November 30, 2016. Commissioner motioned to accept the request for serving alcohol in the tent area at Robbie Mills and to extend the deadline of the deck project until September 30th, 2019. Seconded by Commissioner Pederzani. All were in favor. V. ANNOUNCEMENTS: VI. NOMINATIONS, APPOINTMENTS & ELECTIONS: VII. PUBLIC COMMENT: Mr. Jan Buitendag with Tritanium Sports explained to the Parks and Recreation Commission that he is interested in holding a triathlon event in Laconia at Opechee Park. Opechee Park is the place he wanted to try this event that will be held in August of this year. Mr. Buitendag explained that the area lost a significant event that is good for the economy when the Timberman Triathlon cancelled their event. Mr. Buitendag said because of limitations on the bike course, he will try to do an Olympic distance triathlon. Mr. Buitendag thought Opechee Park is a suitable location that can handle the event. The Commissioners like the idea of having the triathlon event in Laconia and encourage to finalized the request and come back in our next Commission meeting. Kevin Dunleavy said that further approvals would be needed including the Special Events Committee. Commissioner Pederzani motioned to approve the concept of the triathlon event at Opechee Park subject to submission of a formal facility use request outlining further details of the event and final approval from the Commission. Commissioner Kirk seconded. All were in favor. VIII. COMMUNICATIONS: IX. OTHER REQUESTS REQUIRING COMMISSION ACTION: X. PARK ASSOCIATION REPORTS: A. Leavitt Park Association –Minutes of the meeting (November 2016) B. Weirs Community Park Association- No Report C. Tardif Park Association- Minutes of the meeting (December 2016) XI. DEPARTMENT REPORTS: A. Asst. Directors Report submitted by Amy Lovisek  December 18, 2016 Report December is always a month of fun for our department. We offer different programs and we have the city’s Christmas luncheon. The only down side of the month is the smell of the floor being resurfaced! Wow is that bad!!! Christmas Village was a huge success according to the elves and Santa. They had long lines and kids excited to see Santa and Mrs. Claus. The line is always tolerable thanks to the crew downstairs giving the kids activities that take up their time. Fun was had by all. We also had the program of Santa’s Calling. This is an amazing program where kids get a call from Santa at their homes. They love this one. The Christmas Caroling and Hurray for the Holidays were both canceled due to lack of participation. The Family Cookie Decorating program went well. We had some very cute faces that were quite colorful (you have to love frosting). The gym floor was resurfaced and smells terrible, but will look great. We have been doing this every year since we replaced the hardwood floor. We are trying to build up a few layers of protection for the floor, so we can get back to how we were with the old floor. I have been working on the Maintenance Manual still. This is a manual that will never be totally finished, but we need to get all aspects of our department in there. We are also applying again for the Tree City USA award through Arbor Day Foundation. We are just waiting for Eversource to give us their amount spent in Laconia on trees. We shouldn’t have any issues. This will make 27 years for us receiving this award. I want to wish everyone happiness during the holidays and for the next year. January 17, 2017 Report This month has been business as usual. We have all of our regular programming going on as of this month. Jazzercise is back in the building now that Christmas Village is done and the floors have been finished and the smell is less! They stay at Tardif Park during this time. Saturdays will see Jazzercise still at Tardif Park through March as we now have Lou Athanas Youth Basketball League using the facility on the weekends. Our pickleball program has been doing so well we have added another day for them to play. So now we have pickleball on Monday evenings as well as Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings. We have had a great turnout for this program and it seems to keep growing. All other programs are running as normal and are well attended. The after school basketball times are doing really well. Even though basketball season had arrived we are still packed with kids! Great! I just attended the Northern New England Recreation & Parks Conference. There was quite a bit that I learned and I will be putting some of the things into practice here in our department. It was a great conference. B. Directors Reports submitted by Kevin Dunleavy December 19th, 2016 Department Updates: • Recent maintenance projects and activities include: Various work orders at City Hall, Library, park houses, LFD and LPD Winter maintenance- snow removal - deicing Holiday lighting Trash removal Pet waste bag restocking Removal of trash barrels at park facilities Summer equipment winterizing and preparation of winter equipment  Ice rink setup Holiday Party setup and breakdown Christmas Village breakdown • Winter has come quickly this year which has our maintenance staff shifting gears. Winter snow and ice removal has started and tasks related to the winter season have started. •Happy Tails Dog Park – No updates. Awaiting review from the NH Division of Historical Resources. • Christmas Village – Christmas Village saw large crowds this year with the weather being favorable for the event. Our maintenance staff assisted with the breakdown and setup for the event. Many thanks to Ernie and Armand Bolduc, Bob Hamel and the many volunteers that make this tradition a great community event. •Memorial Park- The bulk of the irrigation system has been installed at Memorial Baseball Field. Remaining items include the installation of a backflow valve, water meter and the pad and enclosure for these items. Any trenches will be seeded in the spring when the system is started up. Also, bleachers for the softball field have been delivered and are scheduled for installation this week. • Community Center Gym – The gym has been resurfaced and is now available for use again. Regular programming will start again for the winter season. • Weirs Community Center – The Weirs Community Park Association recently installed two new flagpoles and some landscaping near the entrance to the Weirs Community Center. Many thanks to their efforts with sprucing up this area. • Meetings that I have attended the last month include City Staff meetings, Special Events Committee, Downtown TIF Advisory Board, WOW Trail Board. January 17th, 2017 Department Updates: • Recent maintenance projects and activities include: Work orders at City Hall, Library, park houses, LFD and LPD Winter maintenance- snow removal - deicing Holiday lighting removal Trash removal Pet waste bag restocking Tree cutting Ice Rink maintenance  Ice rink setup • Winter snow and ice removal has is a daily activity for maintenance staff. When the snow is not falling, the crew is busy with removing snow from parking lots and with the flooding of the ice rinks. •Happy Tails Dog Park – There is a lingering item relating to the required dog park review from the NH Division of Historical Resources, whose main focus relates to archeological sites. I submitted a Request for Project Review application that is required of this project because the property for the dog park is located on land acquired through a federal grant back in the 1970’s. Historical Resources recently responded to this application indicating they want a higher level review for the property due to archeological sites of interest in the area. This additional review will require the City to secure an archeologist to do a basic study of the area to determine if there is either no archeological sensitivity or another level review is needed. •Memorial Park- The bleachers at the softball field were installed before Christmas and are ready for use come spring. • Weirs Community Park Association – We would like to welcome Steve Bell as the new President of the Weirs Community Park Association. We look forward to working with Steve and the WCPA on new programs and projects at the Weirs Community Center and the Weirs Community Park. • Normandin Square Park Area – CVS Pharmacy recently donated the land of the old Busy Corner Store to the City for use as a small park. CVS also donated $20,000 towards park  construction at this site. I have been working with staff on a plan for the park and will look to begin construction in the spring. • WOW Trail – The City is looking to install kiosks and wayfinding signage on the WOW Trail in areas of Downtown. Downtown TIF funding has been allocated for this signage and the design and location of these wayfinding features are being worked on. • The City of Laconia has named current Dover resident Dean Trefethen as the new Planning Director. Dean is slated to start by the end of the month and we look forward to working with him on various projects. • Our Department was approached by a resident interesting in building and installing a “Little Free Library” in the Weirs Beach area. These libraries can be described as small weather tight enclosures that act a location for self-service book exchanges. They are often built to resemble a building and are becoming more popular. We are investigating the Weirs Community Center as a potential location. • Meetings that I have attended the last month include City Council, City Staff meetings, Special Events Committee, Downtown TIF Advisory Board and Road Status meetings with DPW XII. PRESENTATIONS XIII. ADJOURNMENT: Commissioner Roy motioned to adjourn at 8:28pm. Seconded by Commissioner Guyer. All were in favor. Respectfully submitted, Liza Kelleher Mitch Hamel Secretary Commissioner Chair