Parks & Recreation Commission

LACONIA PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING June 17, 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: Secretary Liza Kelleher recorded this meeting. ROLL CALL: Commissioner Chair Mitch Hamel called the roll with the following Commissioners in attendance: Deanna Guyer, Arthur Kirk and Rodney Roy. Absent- Tony Pederzani. PARKS AND RECREATION STAFF PRESENT: Director of Recreation and Facilities Amy Lovisek and Secretary Liza Kelleher. ADOPTION OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS: 1. Regular meeting minutes of May 20, 2019 Commissioner Rod Roy moved to adopt the minutes from May 20, 2019. Seconded by Commissioner Arthur Kirk. The motioned passed unanimously. I. OLD BUSINESS: A. Native American Statue-Repair Discussion – Director Lovisek mentioned that no forward progress has been made due to the fact that DPW is waiting for 5 dry days before getting on the field. We asked them to be mindful of the field and that is what they are doing. B. Lakes Region Chamber- Opechee Park, Rotary Park & Gateway Park- October 18 and 19, 2019, Friday and Saturday for NH Pumpkin Festival. Commissioner Roy motioned to table the request due to no representation. Seconded by Commission Kirk. All were in favor. C. New Horizons Musical Organization of the Lakes Region- Rotary Park- August 20, 2019, Tuesday from 7:00-9:00pm for a band concert. Commissioner Kirk motioned to table the request due to no representation. Seconded by Commissioner Guyer. All were in favor. D. Laconia Middle School- Opechee Park Field- Tuesday, June 18, 2019 from 8:00am to 2:00pm for Agricultural and Environmental Education Fair. Commissioner Roy motioned to withdraw the request. Seconded by Commissioner Guyer. All were in favor. II. FACILITY USE REQUESTS: A. Laconia Little League- Opechee field A, B, C- June 24 through 30, 2019 Monday through Sunday for Colby Classic. This request was approved at the March 2019 meeting with the condition of receiving the form and tournament fees. The department has now received both. Commissioner Roy motioned to approved request from the March Commission meeting upon receiving the request form and tournament fee. Seconded by Commissioner Guyer. All were in favor.  B. Lakes Region Vineyard Church- Opechee Point- August 11, 2019 (rain date Aug. 18, 2019) Sunday from 12noon to 6:00pm for annual church picnic & water baptism. Commissioner Roy motioned to table the request due to no representation. Seconded by Commissioner Kirk. All were in favor. C. Hands across the table- Opechee Cove- Wednesday, June 26, 2019 from 4:00pm to 7:00pm for outdoor picnic. Commissioner Kirk motioned to table the request due to no representation. Seconded by Commissioner Guyer. All were in favor. D. Belknap County Democrats- Leavitt park- Sunday, August 25, 2019 from 2:00pm to 7:00pm for Belknap County Democrats Summer Picnic. The group requested an extra time from 11:00am to 10:00pm for set up and clean up time. The picnic is free and open to the public and expected between 400 to 600 attendees. Belknap County Democrats also rented the Leavitt Parkhouse. Canopy tent will be set up and they will coordinate with the office to avoid irrigation damages. Commissioner Roy motioned to accept the request pending upon submission of the special event fee, concession stand fee if needed and the waiver for the use of propane tank is granted. A special event application is required and licensing approval is needed for the use of amplified sound. Lynn Thomas will keep in touch with the Parks Department if any changes in plan will occur. A key deposit of $25.00 per key is required. Seconded by Commissioner Kirk. All were in favor. III. ADMINISTRATIVE APPROVALS-ROTARY PARK, BEACHES, WEIRS AMPHITHEATER & PAVILION IV. NEW BUSINESS: A. Charlie Sinclair’s request for smoking policy waiver for the Bluesfest at Weirs Beach. This event was approved at the 2019 April Commission meeting. Charlie Sinclair proposed to have a designated area for smokers but the City Council explained that this is a Park-wide ordinance. Commissioners explained that other big venues (Meadowbrook or Fenway Park) were able to have an event with NO Smoking at all. Commissioners recommended to post more NO SMOKING sign at Weirs beach. Commissioner Kirk motioned that the NO SMOKING sign will be reinforced and the event has been extended for set-up for Friday evening, event on Saturday and clean up after until Sunday noontime. Seconded by Commissioner Roy. All were in favor. B. Downtown holiday tree location. Director Lovisek proposed to use the Stewart Park Tree for the holiday season as the official holiday tree. Every year we spend between $500 to $1,000 for the holiday tree. The City can save thousand by just using the existing tree at Stewart Park. The parade could be re-routed and would be coming from Opechee Park to Stewart Park. Celebrate Laconia would be using Stewart and Rotary Park for the celebration. The Commissioner Hamel suggested that Amy consult the downtown group before finalizing the plan and report back to them with their thoughts. C. Key reimbursement from Users Fees account. Director Lovisek requested permission to use the users fee account if needed to rekey or replace some missing keys for the fields. The deposit money for the key is currently posted under users’ fee account. Commissioners agree to reimburse Parks and Recreation for the key replacement if needed. They also suggested the department be stricter with the keys and let the Commission know if a user is abusing this policy.  D. Muskrats Contract- Muskrats contract will be up in September 2019. Commissioner Hamel suggested that the Muskrats should come and fill out the Facility Use request every year. Director Lovisek suggested that they can change and add some items if needed especially the maintenance of Robbie Mills. The peeling sign issue that was discuss with the Muskrats for them to fix is not done up to now. Commissioner suggested to bring Mike Smith in the next Commission meeting. Commissioner Hamel also wanted the copy of the old contract to be reviewed by the Commissioners and will be discuss in the next Commission meeting. E. Checklist for Facility Use Request- Commissioner Hamel suggested to add an outstanding key and explanation of added services box in our Facility use request form. They will also look to change the structure of the User Fees as this was always meant to be a moving guideline. To be reviewed and discuss in our next Commission meeting. V. ANNOUNCEMENTS: A. Argee Whittier is retiring end of this month after 30+ years working for the City of Laconia. We wish Argee good luck in his new endeavor. VI. NOMINATIONS, APPOINTMENTS & ELECTIONS: VII. PUBLIC COMMENT: VIII. COMMUNICATIONS: IX. OTHER REQUESTS REQUIRING COMMISSION ACTION: A. Tardif Park Basketball Court- Commissioner Hamel received some complain that the basketball rims are missing at Tardif Park. Director Lovisek explained that we do have a half court only right now at Tardif Park due to the net that was put up for anybody who wants to use the court for Tennis or Pickleball. Director Lovisek did not realized that the rims were missing. Commissioner Hamel requested that rims at the basketball should be put back. B. Commissioner Guyer asked about Babe Ruth to be sure we had everything that was required of them. Liza Kelleher mentioned that they had not submitted their Certificate of Insurance or schedule. Commissioner Hamel asked Director Lovisek to send an email to the league with a cease and desist order until all requirements are met. 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. Directors Report submitted by Amy Lovisek This month has been very busy as I was away on vacation for 2 weeks. The catch-up was tough, but I am through that process! I would like to thank Commissioner Guyer and Commissioner Roy for attending our department’s budget presentation to the city council. I feel the presentation went well and I am confident that they will allocate all fund suggested by the City Manager. It was nice to have the support of the Commissioners! Thank you again. I have placed another ad in the paper for maintenance and enforcement workers. I have increased the hourly wage for these positions as well. We are still down on those positions. We do not have any lifeguards at all. At this point, we are writing them off and need to prepare ourselves for questions from the public. I have officially been nominated to be on the WOW Trail Board. I look forward to working with them. My first meeting with them was on June 12th. • Bond Beach Drainage Improvement: Raymond’s Landscaping LLC is who won the contract. We have made significant changes to cut costs, but the changes do not affect the point of the project which is to fix the erosion of the beach. This work will be starting after the beach season for the most part. There may be some things they can do without disturbing the beach goers. • Native American Statue: We are at a bit of a stand still due to weather. DPW is in charge of taking the statue down. They are waiting for 5 days of dry weather before going over the field with their trucks. They will take the statue down as soon as they can. There are no new updates from the Muskrats at this time. I may be able to get an update before the meeting. • Memorial Park and Wyatt Park Irrigation: Gilford Well has begun work at Memorial park as of Tuesday, June 11th. They will be working on this for a bit over a week. They will then move straight over to the Wyatt Park to start that project. I am hopeful that both will be complete as of the end of June. • Perley Pond: LP&R department is working with the NH Forest and Lands to find an Arborist appropriate to trim the oak of the dead branches. They will need to follow the state arborist’s recommendations for trimming. City Manager Myers met with Councilor Cheney, Mr. Gauthier, P&R Foreman Tim Ford and Rist Frost Shumway’s Landscape Architect Joanne Coppinger at the site. They discussed the details of what is wanted. Foreman Ford has been asked to remove the bittersweet from the property near the road. Ms. Coppinger is planning to put a case together to present to NH DES for a wetland permit to dredge and remove the plant life along the water’s edge. Once this process is complete we will know what our next steps we can take. • Opechee Pavilion: There are no new updates.  • Riverwalk: The fencing in one area is the last bit to be completed. Krista from DPW is planning to look into the Landmark Inn side to see if work can start even though the hotel hasn’t completed their outside work. There may be things we can do in the meantime. • Gale Avenue Park: There are no new updates. This item will not get funded in this year’s budget. B. Foreman’s Report submitted by Tim Ford Maintenance Activities Drag, line, etc. baseball and softball fields for practices and games Paint lines on fields Irrigation systems put together for season Mow Risley field weekly Weekly mow, parks, fields, city buildings, and cemeteries Set up for bike week events at Weirs Community Park and Opechee Repair basketball nets at Leavitt. Remove basketball rims from Tardif Lower / raise American Flag Assemble portable batting cage at Robbie Mills York rake beaches Equipment maintenance Repair door knob at Robbie Mills Water leak at City Hall Install swim lines at beaches Install eagle and swans at Opechee Cove Repair sink at LFD Install air conditioners at LCC and Tardif Replace light bulbs and ballasts in various buildings XII. PRESENTATIONS XIII. ADJOURNMENT: Commissioner Roy motioned to adjourn at 9:15pm. Seconded by Guyer Commissioner. 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.