Parks & Recreation Commission

LACONIA PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING July 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: Secretary Liza Kelleher recorded this meeting. ROLL CALL: Commission Chair Mitch Hamel called the roll with the following Commissioners in attendance: Deanna Guyer and Rodney Roy. Absent- Tony Pederzani and Arthur Kirk. PARKS AND RECREATION STAFF PRESENT: Recreation & Facilities Director Kevin Dunleavy and Secretary Liza Kelleher. ADOPTION OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS: 1. Regular meeting minutes of June 18, 2018 Commissioner Rod Roy moved to adopt the minutes from June 18, 2018. Seconded by Commissioner Deanna Guyer. The motion passed unanimously. I. OLD BUSINESS: II. FACILITY USE REQUESTS: A. Evangelical Baptist Church– Opechee Cove Beach & Bathrooms- Sunday, September 9, 2018 (rain date Sept. 16, 2018) for a church picnic from 10:00am to 3:00pm. Commissioner Roy motioned to accept the request for the annual picnic and waive tank 20lbs propane tank restriction. Seconded by Commissioner Guyer. All were in favor. B. The Winnipesauke Muskrats- Robbie Mills- Friday to Monday, October 5th thru 8th, 2018 for the Muskrats Fall Classic Senior Baseball Tournament. Commissioner Roy tabled the request due to no representation. Seconded by Commissioner Guyer. All were in favor. C. Laconia Middle School- Interscholastic Sports at Smith Field, Opechee Field, Bobotas & Memorial Park Baseball Field •Field Hockey – Smith Field, July 17th, 2018 to August 21st, 2018, Tuesdays 8:00am- 10:00am for Field Hockey for summer workouts •Soccer – Opechee Field, August 27 to October 26, 2018 from 2:30-6:00pm, Monday through Friday for games & practices. •Field Hockey – Smith Field, August 27 to October 26, 2018 from 2:30-6:00pm, Monday to Friday for games & practices.  •Softball – Opechee Field B, March 25 to May 31, 2019 from 2:30-6:00pm for games and practices. •Baseball – Memorial Park Baseball Field, March 25 to May 31, 2019, Monday to Friday from 2:30-6:00pm for games and practices. • Football- Bobotas- August 6, 2018 to October 26, 2018 from 5:30-8:30pm Commissioner Roy motioned to accept the request for interscholastic sports games and practices. Seconded by Commissioner Guyer. All were in favor. III. ADMINISTRATIVE APPROVALS-ROTARY PARK, BEACHES, WEIRS AMPHITHEATER & PAVILION Commissioner Hamel stated the following birthday and wedding requests have been approved administratively: A. Natasha Guyotte- Bartlett Beach- Monday, July 23, 2018 from 9:00am to 7:00pm for a wedding ceremony. B. Casey McNutt- Rotary Park Gazebo- Saturday, October 20, 2018 from 3:00pm to 6:00pm for a wedding ceremony. C. Andrea White- Rotary Park Gazebo- Saturday, May 11, 2019 from 3:00pm for a wedding ceremony. D. Emily Bolduc- Rotary Park Gazebo- Friday, May 17, 2019 from 1:00pm to 9:00pm for a wedding ceremony. E. Emily Buckner- Weirs Beach- Saturday, August 18, 2018 from 10:00am for a wedding ceremony. F. Alena Lussier- Weirs Community Park Pavilion & Playground- Sunday, July 29, 2018 from 10:00am to 2:00pm for a birthday party. G. Heather Abbott- Rotary Park Gazebo- Saturday, July 28, 2018 from 4:00pm to 5:00pm for a wedding ceremony. H. The Winnipesaukee Playhouse- Weirs Beach- Thursday, July 12, 2018 from 2:00pm to 3:00pm for promotional photo shoot. IV. NEW BUSINESS: A. Parks and Recreation Capital Improvement Program Request FY 2019-2020 – Preliminary Discussion- Director Kevin Dunleavy said that he will be sending out last year’s CIP request for the Commission to review for discussion and feedback at the August meeting with intentions to have approval from the Commission at the September meeting. Commissioner will review and discuss the CIP for the next meeting. V. ANNOUNCEMENTS: VI. NOMINATIONS, APPOINTMENTS & ELECTIONS: VII. PUBLIC COMMENT: VIII. COMMUNICATIONS: IX. OTHER REQUESTS REQUIRING COMMISSION ACTION: A. Lance Reason Basketball Scholarship Fund- Wyatt Park Basketball Court- Sunday, August 12, 2018 (rain date August 19, 2018) from 10am to 6pm for a basketball tournament. Commissioner Roy motioned to accept the request and waive the users’ fee. Seconded by Commissioner Guyer. All were in favor. B. Laconia High School- Interscholastic Sports at Robbie Mills, Leavitt Park, Smith Field, Opechee Field and Bobotas field. Fall 2018- August 13- October 26, 2018 1. Boys/Girls Soccer – Robbie Mills/Leavitt Park, Monday to Friday from 2:00pm to 6:00pm (3pm to 8pm game days) 2. Field Hockey- Smith Field- Monday to Friday from 3:00pm to 6pm practice only. 3. Football- Bobotas Field, occasionally when turf is not available (2-4 days a week) 4. Cross Country – one home meet departing from Robbie Mills Sports Complex. Spring 2019- March 2019 to June 10, 2019 (no lights) 1. Baseball- Robbie Mills Baseball Field- Monday to Friday (2:30pm to 6:00pm practice days) (2:30pm-7:30pm game days) (8am-noon Saturdays) 2. Softball- Opechee Park- Monday to Friday (2:30pm to 6:00pm practice days) (2:30pm-7:30pm game days) (8am-noon Saturdays) 3. Track & Field- Smith Track- (3:00pm-6:00pm practices) (3:00pm-dark for meets) 4. Boys/Girls Lacrosse- Bobotas Field when turf is occupied (1-2 times per week maximum) Commissioner Guyer motioned to accept the request for interscholastic sports events. Seconded by Commissioner Roy. All were in favor. Commissioner Roy suggested the Commission look into automatic renewals for some of the field use requests, particularly those that occur year after year like youth sports and interscholastic sports. Director Dunleavy said he would compile a list groups that meet this criteria and will present it at the next Commission meeting. C. PARK ASSOCIATION REPORTS: A. Leavitt Park Association –June 16, 2018 Minutes of the meeting B. Weirs Community Park Association- No report C. Tardif Park Association- No report D. DEPARTMENT REPORTS:  A. Asst. Directors Report submitted by Amy Lovisek Our summer is officially on the downhill slope. Meaning that we are past the 4th of July! Granted this year was much more manageable without the 4th of July Celebration. Our only main concern with this year’s holiday was Weirs Beach. We had about 2100 people there this year. It was on a Wednesday, but it was very hot weather and that brought more people. The number 1 issue we had at the beach was people missing. We had a number of people report that they were looking for someone. They were all solved well eventually. The LPD had an almost constant presence at the beach which was a big help. Next year and every year from now on, I think we need to sit down the week before the 4th with the actual officers that are working that shift and go over what is and is not allowed at the beach. This way they know what to expect. We were able to find enough lifeguards to staff Weirs Beach and found 2 more 2 days before the beaches opened. They work at Bond Beach on Monday through Friday because the Project Extra camp paid for them to take the course! It was a plus for our department. Project Extra wants to help us further with this effort. We will be sitting down to come up with an idea to promote the position. The Opechee Day Camp is going real well this summer. Like I mentioned before, we lowered the allowable number of campers from 50 to 40. This was a great decision as they fit in that small room better. We have been full every week and even have a waiting list for all weeks! All other summer and regular programs are all running smoothly. Tennis lessons are about halfway through. Everyone is quite happy with this program as it is free to all ages!!! B. Directors Report submitted by Kevin Dunleavy Recent maintenance projects and activities include: Work orders/repairs at City Hall, Library, park houses, bath houses LFD and LPD Mowing and trimming Bathroom cleaning Trash removal and litter pickup Pet waste bag restocking Beach raking Picnic Table repairs/painting Athletic field preparation Irrigation repairs and monitoring Aeration and fertilizing of fields Event support… Fourth of July and Opechee Event Planting bed cleanup/weeding/preparation The weather has been problematic with the area seeing little rain. Many of our grass areas that are not irrigated have dried out. Where there is irrigation, the grass is doing OK but we could really use some help from Mother Nature. Staffing for seasonal maintenance and lifeguards continues to be a challenge. We have had several maintenance staff leave us and we are looking to hire more workers if we can find any. • The Fourth of July and the Picnic in the Park events were a great success this year. Weirs Beach saw large crowds on the Fourth of July with an estimated crowd of around 1800 packing the park, water and beach. Few problems were experienced. The Picnic in the Park event at Opechee Park organized by the Celebrate Laconia group saw large crowds with lots of activities and entertainment. No major problems occurred with this event. Parks and Recreation played a support role for the event. •Lezama Family Happy Tails Dog Park – Construction work continues at the site. Clearing, leveling and rough grading have been completed. Fine grading is occurring with the fencing installation happening towards the end of the project. It is anticipated that the project will be complete sometime in August. • Weirs Beach Restoration –Woods Hole Group has submitted a revised scope of work for final design work for the project. NHDES has conceptually approved the terraced wetland concept that has been proposed as a mitigation element for the project. We are likely looking at construction for the beach restoration and related components in October/November 2019 due to the lengthy permitting process that is anticipated. • Weirs Community Center Improvements- Broadview Construction has been selected to perform the work. Work is slated to start around the end of August or beginning of September. • Weirs Bath House Door Replacement – Broadview Construction has been selected for this project as well. Work is slated for after Labor Day when beach season is over. • Native American Sculpture –Additional fundraising is needed to complete any repairs. • Leavitt Park House Air Conditioning – The Leavitt Park House air conditioning project has been completed. • Bond and Bartlett Beach drainage projects: We are awaiting final engineering plans from the consultant. • Laconia Downtown Riverwalk – Busby Construction is looking to start the Landmark Inn/Walgreens section at the end of August with the City Hall to Church Street segment being completed in October/November of this year. • Court Resurfacing – Court resurfacing is in progress at Leavitt Park and Tardif Park. A sinkhole formed in the Sanborn Park court. With help from DPW, the sinkhole has been repaired and the court resurfacing will occur later in the summer at this facility. • Meetings that I have attended the last month include City Council, DPW Project meeting, City Staff Meeting, Special Events Committee, Happy Tails Dog Park, Leavitt Park Community Volunteers, Celebrate Laconia, Downtown TIF Advisory Board. D. PRESENTATIONS E. ADJOURNMENT: Commissioner Roy motion to adjourn at 7:53pm. Seconded by Commissioner Guyer. All were in favor. Respectfully submitted, Liza Kelleher Mitch Hamel Secretary 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 Cheryl Hebert, 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.