Parks & Recreation Commission

LACONIA PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING April 16, 2018 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: Director Kevin Dunleavy recorded this meeting. ROLL CALL: Commission Chair Mitch Hamel called the roll with the following Commissioners in attendance: Deanna Guyer, Arthur Kirk, Rodney Roy and Tony Pederzani. PARKS AND RECREATION STAFF PRESENT: Recreation & Facilities Director Kevin Dunleavy. Secretary Liza Kelleher absent. ADOPTION OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS: 1. Regular meeting minutes of March 19, 2018 Commissioner Rod Roy moved to adopt the minutes from March 19, 2018. Seconded by Commissioner Arthur Kirk. The motion passed unanimously. I. OLD BUSINESS: A. Laconia Motorcycle Week Assoc. - Weirs Beach- Wednesday, June 13, 2018, 6pm-11pm (rain dates June 14, 15 or 16, 2018) for Laconia Motorcycle Week Fireworks. Commissioner Kirk motioned to accept the request. Seconded by Commissioner Roy. All were in favor. B. Laconia Motorcycle Week Assoc. - Opechee Park-North Parking Lot and west edge of Opechee Field- Friday, June 15, 2018 from 7am -3pm for City of Laconia Bike show and swap meet. Director Kevin Dunleavy asked Charlie St. Clair to let him know about any banners they wish to put up due to the banner policy. Commissioner Pederzani motioned to accept the request. Seconded by Commissioner Guyer. All were in favor. C. American Foundation for Suicide Prevention- Opechee Park and WOW Trail- Sunday, October 14, 2018 from 7am to 1pm for the Out of the Darkness Walk. Director Dunleavy asked if they were planning to use the WOW Trail as part of their route. Holly Ruggieri said yes. Commissioner Hamel said that they would add the WOW Trail in the request. Commissioner Roy motioned to accept the request conditioned upon a certificate of insurance and City Council approval. Seconded by Commissioner Guyer. All were in favor. II. FACILITY USE REQUESTS: A. Weirs Action Committee- Weirs Beach (Endicott Rock Park) – Fireworks Shows Tuesday, July 3, 2018 at 11:59pm (5pm setup time) Sunday July 10, 2018 at 10:00pm (7pm setup time) Fridays July 13, 20, 27, August 3, 10, 17, 24, 2018 at 10:00pm (7pm setup time) Sunday, September 2, 2018 at 10:00pm (7pm setup time) Director Dunleavy explained that setup for the fireworks will need to start after 5pm on July 3rd so the beach can stay open until then. Charlie St. Clair mentioned that 10pm fireworks shows start their setup around 7pm. Commissioner Pederzani motioned to accept the request conditioned upon submission of a certificate of insurance. Seconded by Commissioner Kirk. All were in favor. B. Laconia Slow Pitch Softball League- Memorial Softball Field- April 17, 2018 through November 30, 2018 Mondays through Friday from 6:00pm – 11:00pm, Saturday and Sunday from 8:00am to 11:00pm for Laconia Slow Pitch Softball. Director Dunleavy said that the softball league works around the Nor Easters Tournament. Commissioner Guyer motioned to accept the request subject to field conditions, storage fee, non-resident user fee, light fee, key deposit and certificate of insurance. Seconded by Commissioner Roy. All were in favor. C. Laconia Lacrosse Club- Bobotas & Leavitt Park Fields- April through June 10, 2018 Monday to Friday from 5:30pm -8:00pm, Saturday from 9:00am to 4:00pm (Bobotas only) for lacrosse games and practices. Commissioner Kirk motioned to accept the request subject to field conditions, non-resident user fee, key deposit and submission of certificate of insurance. Seconded by Commissioner Guyer. All were in favor. Commissioner Roy abstained. D. Laconia Little League- Colby Field, Opechee A, B & C, Pleasant St. School and Elm St. School Sunday to Saturday, 2018 April 17 through August 31, 2018 for LLL Baseball Season 2018. Director Dunleavy explained that he had reached out to the Commission via email to allow administrative approval for this request because the request was late. The majority of the Commission were in favor. Commissioner Roy motioned to table the request due to no representation. Commissioner Kirk seconded. All were in favor. The Commission expressed that they still want Little League to come to the Commission to discuss the request at the next meeting. III. ADMINISTRATIVE APPROVALS-ROTARY PARK, BEACHES, WEIRS AMPHITHEATER & PAVILION The following wedding requests for Rotary Park have been approved administratively: A. Katharine Paiva & Trevor Gatcomb- Rotary Gazebo- Sunday, October 7, 2018 from 1:30pm to 4:30pm for a wedding ceremony. IV. NEW BUSINESS: A. Request by Leavitt Park Community Volunteers to utilize funds from the Leavitt Park Trust for the installation of air conditioning/heating improvements at the Leavitt Park House. Commissioner Hamel said that the Leavitt Park Community Volunteers is requesting funds from the Leavitt Park Trust for AC improvements to the building. Commissioner Hamel read the letter explaining the request (see attached letter). Director Dunleavy explained that two years ago, the Commission approved $5000 for an AC improvement based on a previous estimate. Director Dunleavy further said that when bids were received, they came in much higher than estimated. The Director said that the bids indicated that the cost was around $16,000. Additionally, the electrical service to the building needs to be upgraded to handle the AC improvements at an estimated cost of $1,500. The Director said that the Leavitt Park Community Volunteers have pledged $5000 and there has been $5000 already approved, leaving an additional amount of $7000 to $10,000 needed from the Leavitt Park Trust. The Director said that the Trustees of the Trusts will need to take formal action for final approval. Commissioner Hamel asked what kind of system they are looking to install. Director Dunleavy said that heat pump split systems are what is being installed. Commissioner Roy motioned to approve request for additional funding for AC improvements from the Leavitt Park Trust in the amount not to exceed $10,000 conditioned upon approval from the Trustees of the Trusts. Seconded by Commissioner Pederzani. All were in favor. V. ANNOUNCEMENTS: VI. NOMINATIONS, APPOINTMENTS & ELECTIONS: A. Deanna Guyer and Tony Pederzani reappointment to the Parks and Recreation Commission. Commissioner Hamel announced and congratulated Commissioners Guyer and Pederzani for their recent re-appointment by the City Council. B. Election of Parks and Recreation Commission Chair and Clerk 1. Commissioner Roy motioned to appoint Commissioner Mitch Hamel as Chair. Commissioner Pederzani seconded. All were in favor. 2. Commissioner Guyer motioned to appoint Commissioner Rodney Roy as Clerk. Commissioner Kirk seconded. All were in favor. VII. PUBLIC COMMENT: VIII. COMMUNICATIONS: IX. OTHER REQUESTS REQUIRING COMMISSION ACTION: X. PARK ASSOCIATION REPORTS: A. Leavitt Park Association –March 14, 2018 minutes of the meeting. B. Weirs Community Park Association- No report C. Tardif Park Association- No report XI. DEPARTMENT REPORTS: A. Asst. Directors Report submitted by Amy Lovisek The Easter Egg Hunter at Leavitt Park was a big success. We had about 125 kids with their families. They went out and hunted for the eggs and then went inside the park house and played multiple games, decorated cookies had snacks and took pictures with the Easter Bunny! The 2018 Summer Program Brochure is finished and was emailed out to those who wished to receive it. We are no longer mailing the brochures out for many reasons, but the main reason was the environment and going paperless was the way to go. We do have some new programs to offer this season and some of the tried and true programs. All regular programs are still running without issue. I have been getting applications for our summer positions. I have started interviews and all is well for the beginning of April. What we really need are lifeguards. We are extremely low in numbers for that position. The guards need to be at least 16 years of age and trained by American Red Cross. Unfortunately, the training is quite expensive. This limits the number of people willing and able to work for us. Tim Ford and I have been working on flowers for the gardens around the city. One major thing we are adding to a lot of the parks is a Josee Reblooming Lilac bush. This bush will rebloom up to 4 times per year! It is a pink/purple color and will look really nice around town once it becomes full size! I have been planning for the day camp and registration has already begun. We already have 11 kids signed up! All field trips are taken care of. We are ready for summer to start. B. Directors Report submitted by Kevin Dunleavy Director Dunleavy said he will be inviting representatives of the various Park House groups to attend the May meeting as a way to update the Commission on their activities. Department Updates: • Recent maintenance projects and activities include: Work orders/repairs at City Hall, Library, park houses, LFD and LPD  Winter maintenance – plowing, snow blowing, salting, sanding Bathroom startups at athletic fields Trash removal and litter pickup Pet waste bag restocking Spring cleanups City Hall window trim work Athletic field preparation Put out trash/recycling containers • The winter season continues to linger and has resulted in the delay of the opening of our facilities. We are now rushing to get fields ready and bathrooms open for facility users. We are starting to bring in seasonal staff to help with spring cleanups. Interscholastic games have started as of April 13th. All outdoor courts and the track have been opened for use. • Community Center Improvements – I met with consultants MacFarlane-Johnson last week to perform a site tour of the Laconia Community Center’s heating system. The Department received funding for a study to look at the building’s heating system. The consultant is preparing a scope of work for the study which will occur in the upcoming months. • Seasonal Employees – Interest in our seasonal positions has been minimal. We will continue to advertise with hopes that we can adequately staff our beachfront facilities and maintenance division. •Lezama Family Happy Tails Dog Park – The City Council held its first reading to accept a $100K donation for construction of a dog park. The second and final reading to accept the donation will take place on April 23rd. An agreement with Happy Tails Dog Park needs to be in place prior to the opening of the dog park. Raymond’s Landscaping of Concord has been selected to construct the park. • Weirs Beach Restoration – No update. Woods Hole Group is working on conceptual mitigation approaches that will be presented to the NHDES for consideration. • Native American Sculpture –Awaiting results of boring testing. Additional fundraising is needed to complete any repairs. • Bond and Bartlett Beach drainage projects: Final engineering plans are expected to be completed in the next week. • Skating Rinks/Sledding Hill – The rinks and sledding hill are closed for the season. • Laconia Downtown Riverwalk – Bids have been received and are being reviewed by the City’s engineering consultant, HEB Engineering. It is expected that the project will be awarded to a contractor in the next week. • Meetings that I have attended the last month include City Council, Riverwalk project meetings, City Staff Meeting, meeting with Boy Scouts for Eagle projects, Special Events Committee,  beach drainage/erosion project meetings, Weirs Community Park Association, Leavitt Park Community Volunteers, DPW construction meeting, Celebrate Laconia, Downtown TIF Advisory Board. XII. PRESENTATIONS XIII. ADJOURNMENT: Commissioner Guyer motion to adjourn at 7:55pm, Seconded by Commissioner Kirk. All were in favor. Respectfully submitted, Kevin Dunleavy Mitch Hamel Director of Recreation & Facility Commissioner Chair This meeting facility is ADA accessible. Any person with a disability who wishes to attend this public meeting and needs additional accommodations, please contact Mary Reynolds, meeting ADA coordinator, at City Hall by calling (603) 527-1265 at least 72 hours in advance so that the City can make any necessary arrangements.  LEAVITT PARK COMMUNITY CLUB 334 Elm Street • Lakeport, NH 03246 April 12, 2018 To Laconia Parks and Rec. Commission Leavitt Park Community Club Volunteers would like to add A/C to the Leavitt Park Club House. After talking to several people, we believe this will be an asset to renting the hall as it is very hot in there during the summer. We have received bids with the lowest estimate being for $16,000.00. Plus we have a price of $1,000.00 to upgrade the building from a 100 amp service to a 200 amp service. The Leavitt Park Community Club will pay $5,000.00 towards this. And we would like to request the additional $12,000.00 up to $15,000.00 if needed from the Leavitt Park trust fund for the upgrade and installation of A/C. The Trust Fund currently has $42,000 available to use of which $5,000.00 has already been set aside for A/C, so at this time we would like to ask for the commission's approval for the work to be done and to ask the Leavitt Park trust fund for the additional funding of $7,000.00 to $10,000.00 for the work to be completed. Sincerely yours, Anthony Felch, President Leavitt Park Community Club Volunteers