Parks & Recreation Commission

LACONIA PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING March 18, 2019 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: Assistant Recreation & Facilities Director/Interim Director Amy Lovisek recorded this meeting. ROLL CALL: Commissioner Chair Mitch Hamel called the roll with the following Commissioners in attendance: Tony Pederzani, and Arthur Kirk. Absent Rodney Roy and Deanna Guyer. PARKS AND RECREATION STAFF PRESENT: Assistant Recreation & Facilities Director/Interim Director Amy Lovisek ADOPTION OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS: 1. Regular meeting minutes of February 18, 2019 Commissioner Tony Pederzani moved to adopt the minutes from February 18, 2019. Seconded by Arthur Kirk. The motion passed unanimously. I. OLD BUSINESS: A. Native American Statue-Repair Discussion Asst. Director Lovisek stated that no RFP has been developed at this time. Dennis Wright from Reliable Crane Services was in attendance and asking about the next steps in the process. Asst. Director Lovisek explained about Former Director Kevin Dunleavy’s conversation with Kristof of Cape and Island Track. It was stated that depending on the material under the track we may be able to get across the track with minimal damage. Kristof suggested staggering layers of plywood along with the crane mats on top and on the sides of the track to protect as much of it as possible. Kristof also suggested we do this job during the frost season. If we still have frost under the track that would help. Asst. Director Lovisek then expressed the time constraint at this time of year. Asst. Director Lovisek explained the city’s process of the RFP’s. It was requested by Commissioner Chair Hamel that Mr. Wright and Asst. Director Lovisek be in touch soon to discuss the scope of work for the RFP. Mr. Wright explained that his company already has all the materials needed for the job. Mr. Wright stated that the job would take no longer than 1 or 2 days maximum. Mr. Wright asked about a truck for rigging the statue. This will have to be coordinated with DPW. Asst. Director Lovisek said the department will open a section of fencing just into the southern parking lot as a more direct line to the statue.  Once the crane has the statue in the air, they will then place it on a bed of tires in the parking lot. At that point the potential hazard is eliminated, and the city will then put out another RFP and accept the best proposal as to the statue’s next step. B. Weirs Action Committee- Weirs Beach Parking Lot- July 3 from 9pm to 1am, July 20, 27; August 3, 10, 17, September 1 from 7pm to 11pm; and September 14, 2019 from 8pm to 12am for 2019 parking fundraiser. Commissioner Kirk motioned to table this request due to no representation. Commissioner Pederzani seconded. All were in favor. II. FACILITY USE REQUESTS: A. Rock Steady Boxing Lakes Region- WOW Trail- May 4, 2019, Saturday from 9:00am to noon for Rock Steady Boxing 5K Run & Walk. Commissioner Pederzani motioned to accept the request conditioned upon submission of a certificate of insurance and the special events user fee of $100. The Special Events Application has been completed and approved. Seconded by Commissioner Kirk. All were in favor. B. Belknap Mill- Rotary Park- May 24 through September 6, 2019 every other Friday from 4:00pm to 8:30pm for Arts in the Park, and July 1 through July 31, 2019 Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 10:00am to 12:00pm for Arts in the Park Kids Edition. Commissioner Kirk motioned to accept the request with the additional date of Saturday, July 27, 2019 from 4:00 – 8:30. There is a possibility of one or two food trucks. Insurance has been received. The request is conditioned upon any license needed to proceed with vendors up to 2 trucks. The city will have a blanket loudspeaker license for this event. Seconded by Commissioner Pederzani. All were in favor. C. Advantage Kids- Memorial Tennis Court- Tuesdays, May 7 through June 11, 2019 from 3:30 to 6:00pm for Middle School Spring Tennis lessons & matches. Commissioner Pederzani motioned to accept the request conditioned upon submission of a certificate of insurance and a user fee of youth non-residents. Seconded by Commissioner Kirk. All were in favor. D. Lakes Region United- Leavitt Park Field- April 1, 2019 through June 30, 2019, Monday through Friday from 5:00pm to 7:30pm and Saturday & Sunday from 8:00am to 6:00pm for New Hampshire Soccer League Spring 2019. Commissioner Kirk motioned to accept the request conditioned upon submission of a certificate of insurance and nonresident user fees. The LRU will line their own fields and will provide the P&R department with the product they will use for approval. LRU will provide their schedule to the office and will not use the 29th of June due to conflict. They will also provide their own goals and nets and will store the goals in a safe manner. Seconded by Commissioner Pederzani. All were in favor. E. Laconia Muskrats Organization- Robbie Mills- April 14 through July 28, 2019, Sundays, specifically 4/14, 4/28, 5/5, 6/2, 6/9, 6/16, 7/14 and 7/28 from 10:00am to 1:00pm for Senior Muskrats Baseball Games. Commissioner Pederzani motioned to accept the request conditioned upon submission of a certificate of insurance and adult non-resident user fees. The team will rake and line the field before their games, as needed. The P&R department will prepare the field after them for the Muskrat games. Asst. Director Lovisek will provide the Athletic Field Guidelines. Rain dates will be approved administratively. F. Laconia Little League- Colby Field, Opechee Field A, B & C, Pleasant Street School, Sanborn Park, Elm Street School- April 1 through July 31, 2019 Monday to Friday from  3:00pm to 9:00pm, Saturday & Sunday from 8:00am to 6:00pm for Little League Baseball. Commissioner Kirk motioned to accept the request conditioned upon submission of a certificate of insurance, non-resident user fees, storage fees and concession fees. Asst. Director Lovisek will provide the banner policy to the league. LLL is conditionally approved for the JR. All Star Tournament on June 24 through June 29, 2019. A tournament fee would be required for this request. The condition is that LLL provides a new Facility Use Request with the dates. Seconded by Commissioner Pederzani. All were in favor. G. Partnership for Public Health - Opechee Track - Saturday, May 4, 2019 from 10:00am to 12:00pm for the 4th Annual Stomp the Stigma Awareness Walk for 2019. Commissioner Pederzani motioned to accept the request. Certificate of insurance is on file. Special events user fee of $100 has been waived for the non-profit. Seconded by Commissioner Kirk. All were in favor. H. Evangelical Baptist Church- Leavitt Park- Monday through Saturday from 8:00am to 4:00pm for On Goal Soccer Camp. Commissioner Kirk motioned to accept the request conditioned upon submission of a certificate of insurance, key deposit and non-resident user fees. An open-sided tent will be put up in the park. EBC will put all goals and equipment in their trailer that may stay in the parking lot. EBC requested the P&R department mow the field first thing Monday morning. Seconded by Commissioner Pederzani. All were in favor. III. ADMINISTRATIVE APPROVALS-ROTARY PARK, BEACHES, WEIRS AMPHITHEATER & PAVILION IV. NEW BUSINESS: V. ANNOUNCEMENTS: VI. NOMINATIONS, APPOINTMENTS & ELECTIONS: • Election of Chairperson and Clerk. Commissioner Pederzani motioned to re-elect Commissioner Mitch Hamel as Chair and 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- Minutes of February 13, 2019 Meeting. LEAVITT PARK COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERS Feb. 13, 2019 PRESENT: Tony, Michelle, Don, Kerm & Nancy, Helen, Kevin, Sonny & Jerri, Marc, Shirley, Corinne and Luann Tony called the meeting to order at 7:04pm. Helen made a motion to accept the Secretary's report. Jerri seconded it. All in favor. Shirley made a motion to accept the Treasurer's report. Luann seconded it. All in favor. Luann made a motion to accept the rental report from Jan. Helen seconded it. All in favor. Free or discounted rentals need to be approved before given. Marc opposed. CARNIVAL BUSINESS: 2019 is 97th year! Aug. 17th 3-6pm. Set-up Fri, Aug 16th at 5pm. Donation letters need to be sent out. Carnival games need to be put up, they are currently just sitting on the basement floor and will get wet. Marc mentioned bringing back the gazebo before the 100th anniversary. OLD BUSINESS: Board of Directors made a motion to increase all rental rates. All rates have been approved, see attached new rental sheet. House keeping: We still need to finish putting bumpers on the chairs, fix tables, clean & organize the basement, clean and organize all kitchen cupboards and fix the entry way ramp, paint the kitchen and fix the bathrooms. April 14 - contingent on rental. Tony will ask the new Parks & Rec Director about working with the Boy Scouts for a possible Eagle Scout project to fix the front entrance. Tony got an estimate of $4000. Easter Party is set for April 13th noon - 2, arrive at 9am to set-up. Please bring 2 dozen plain sugar cookies and l tub of frosting. Helen will look for golden eggs and basket wrap, I will get the candy and jelly beans for the guess. April meeting arrive at 6pm to fill the eggs before/during the meeting. NEW BUSINESS: LPCC scholarship, to be discussed at March meeting, Kevin E mentioned getting a cheap Wi-Fi to run the heat/AC so that we could monitor it from any smart phone. Who delivers the oil? Tony asked if the Children's Auction could use the park house on Feb. 25th for the check presentations. Helen made a motion. Marc seconded it. All in favor. Luann will bring refreshments to the next meeting. Helen made a motion to adjourn the meeting at78:25pm. Marc seconded it. All in favor. Next meeting will be Mar. 13th at 7pm. Respectfully submitted, Michelle Champion, Secretary B. Weirs Community Park Association- No report. C. Tardif Park Association- No report XI. DEPARTMENT REPORTS: A. Asst. Directors Report submitted by Amy Lovisek ASSISTANT RECREATION & FACILITIES DIRECTOR’S REPORT INTERIM DIRECTOR March 18, 2019 This month has seen some major changes. Kevin has now left the department and moved on the NHDOT. We hope he enjoys this new life adventure. The Director’s job has been posted and will close as of March 20th. There is a significant process following this, but we should have a new director by May’s meeting. In the meantime, I am Acting Director and if you need anything I am here to help as much as I can. Please be patient though. I have asked Tim Ford, Maintenance Foreman, to write a report to explain what the maintenance crew have been up to this past month. The report is in your packets. We have stopped flooding the ice rink as of last week. The weather is no longer conducive to making ice, which can only mean spring is coming!! The front doors are now ADA accessible, which is a great upgrade to our building to bring it up to code. We also had the gym doors replaced. They are set up to the fire alarm, which is also the code. The doors will close automatically when the fire alarm goes off. The Program Brochure for the summer will be coming out soon. The Easter Egg Hunt is coming up next month at Tardif Park. We are doing the event on April 13th at 3:00pm. If anyone can come and help out I would be greatly appreciative. • Weirs Beach Restoration Project: No update. City Manager will connect with representatives of the NHDES to clarify what next logical steps need to be taken by the City in order to move the project forward. • Laconia Downtown Riverwalk: City staff met with Busby Construction on March 8th to discuss completion of the remaining work on the Walgreens/Landmark Inn and the City Hall parking lot to Church Street segments. Work on the City Hall to Church Street segment will begin when weather conditions allow. Work on the Walgreens/Landmark Inn section will likely occur later in the spring, once the Landmark Inn finishes the renovation of their building. DPW will be taking over the construction of this project. It is mostly a road/sidewalk project, and Kevin thought it should be in DPW’s hands. • Bartlett Beach and Bond Beach Erosion/Drainage Projects: The Bond Beach project is ready for bidding. A pre-bid site meeting will occur when weather conditions allow. The wetlands permit has been received. The Bartlett Beach project design is complete and construction of the improvements will occur at this beach when funding is available. • Native American Sculpture: At the February 19th Parks and Recreation Commission meeting, Parks and Facilities Director Kevin Dunleavy recommended that the statue be taken down for safety reasons. The Commission voted to remove and set aside the statue outside the running track until a plan for its renovation is formulated. The Director recommended that if the statue is renovated a more suitable location be sought, because the location inside the running track is problematic for maintenance and accessibility. • Welcome To Laconia Signage: A revised sign design has been requested and Parks and Recreation is awaiting the new design for approval. Initially, new welcome signs are proposed at Court Street and McIntyre Circle.  • Perley Pond/Opechee Cove Brush Clearing: Parks and Recreation Director met with the Conservation Commission on February 27th to discuss next steps. No further cutting and clearing will occur until a formal plan for the area has been determined. A meeting will be scheduled with a landscape architect, Parks and Recreation, and the Perley Family in the spring of 2019 to determine an approach that is acceptable to the Perley Family. • Centralized Irrigation System Project: The department has compiled a list of equipment needed for this project and we will send out our bid soon. • Memorial Park Softball Irrigation: No updates on this project. Gilford Well will begin when the weather allows. • Opechee Park House A/C installation: I have met with 4 different contractors at the site and the RFP’s are due next week. We will award the contract soon after that. We are requiring the project be completed prior to the start of camp. B. Foreman’s Report submitted by Tim Ford February 2019 Maintenance Activities Check walks daily for ice and snow – treat ice, remove snow Check ice rink daily – scrape and make ice as needed Move snow piles weekly from parking lots – Laconia Community Center, Opechee, Tardif, Weirs Community Center, Lucerne, Memorial, Gale, and Leavitt Fill sand and salt buckets in city buildings, deliver salt to LPD and LFD as needed Boiler Inspection with insurance company Library furniture repair – 3 wooden chairs, 1 wooden table, 2 bookcases, assemble 3 new chairs Plow parking lots as needed Vehicle maintenance – wash, build new sideboards for truck Weekly empty trash barrels at downtown parks Twice weekly park house oil check Park House safety inspection - install new fire extinguishers where needed, replace lights, install emergency lights Clean light fixtures in Park Houses Fill dog bag holders in parks Library painting – Bathrooms, entrances, baseboard in teen room Library – install TV wall mount LPD – Install baseboard in evidence room, investigate non-working exterior lights and flagpole lights Library – lock / push bar repair LCC – repair scoreboard light switch, remove recycling L P&R Garage – build storage lockers for cleaning supplies, rebuild benches for Memorial Tennis Sledding Hill – check for jumps and remove if found, pick up trash Rainbird IQ system – start preparing the list of supplies needed to convert system to computer controlled. Send out RFP for fertilizer and grass seed for parks and fields. Compile and analyze results to award bid. XII. PRESENTATIONS XIII. ADJOURNMENT: Commissioner Pederzani motioned to adjourn at 8:30pm. Seconded by Commissioner Kirk. All were in favor. Respectfully submitted, Amy Lovisek Mitch Hamel Asst. Director of Parks and Facilities 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.