Parks & Recreation Commission

LACONIA PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING July 15, 2019 Laconia Community Center- Parks & Recreation Office 7:00 P.M. CALL TO ORDER: Commissioner 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, Tony Pederzani, Arthur Kirk and Rodney Roy. PARKS AND RECREATION STAFF PRESENT: Director of Recreation and Facilities Amy Lovisek, Asst. Director of Recreation and Facilities Matthew Mansur and Secretary Liza Kelleher. ADOPTION OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS: 1. Regular meeting minutes of June 17, 2019 Commissioner Rodney Roy moved to adopt the minutes from June 17, 2019. Seconded by Commissioner Deanna Guyer. The motioned passed unanimously. I. OLD BUSINESS: A. Native American Statue- Department of Public works took down the statue on July 1st without incident and the wood was completely rotted as was suspected. It’s not salvageable at all, Muskrats asked for a piece to make a memorabilia bat, but the wood was completely weak. The Winnipesaukee Muskrats are getting quotes for the printing of the new 3D statue and will take about 7 weeks to complete and install once a company is selected. 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 Commissioner 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 Pederzani. All were in favor. D. Lakes Region Vineyard Church- Opechee Point- August 11, 2019 (rain date Aug. 18, 2019) Sunday from 12:00pm to 6:00pm for Annual Church Picnic & Water Baptism. Commissioner Pederzani motioned to accept the request for the annual picnic and water baptism pending upon payment of $100.00 special event fee, key deposit of $25.00 per key if needed and submission of the certificate of insurance. Seconded by Commissioner Guyer. All were in favor. E. Downtown Holiday Tree Location- Director Lovisek had not heard of any opposition for moving the Holiday tree to Stewart Park from Vet Square. The idea is to use the existing tree at Stewart Park, which will be pruned and more lights will be added. Celebrate Laconia is in  charge for the parade. Commissioner Roy motioned to approve the move of the holiday tree to Stewart Park. Seconded by Commissioner Pederzani. All were in favor. F. Muskrats Contract- Commissioners discuss the old contract and have some questions. Commissioners mentioned to have the Facility Use Request be part of the contract and would want them to come to the Commission meeting to discuss some issues. Commissioners notice also that the Muskrats are selling liquors in the trunk of a car. Looking at pictures that were posted, the Commission was concerned that the vendor originally specified wasn’t actually the vendor. Commissioner Hamel mentioned that they have no legal right to sell liquor in the back of the trunk at all. The wall banners signs are now fixed, however, new banners hanged outside the fence near the road are not taken down after the games. Commissioners also questioning the live band in the parks without permission. Commissioners suggested to expand or cover all the parks to use the amplified sound. Commissioners suggested the Muskrats General Manager should come to the next Commission meeting to discuss some issues and want to know what their intentions are. Commissioners asked Director Lovisek to email the GM to discuss these issues and get back to them. G. Checklist for facility Use Request- Director Lovisek will work on the additional information to be presented in our next Commission meeting. II. FACILITY USE REQUESTS: A. Evangelical Baptist Church- Opechee Point beach and restroom- Sunday, September 8, 2019 from 11:00am to 3:00pm for church picnic and baptism. Commissioner Guyer motioned to table the request due to no representation. Seconded by Commissioner Kirk. All were in favor. B. Navigating Recovery of the Lakes Region- Bartlett Beach picnic area- Saturday, August 31, 2019 from 6:00pm to 7:30pm for International Overdose Awareness Vigil. Commissioner Roy motioned to accept the request and waived the user fees pending upon the submission of the certificate of insurance. Amplified sound will be needed. Seconded by Commissioner Pederzani. All were in favor. C. South Baptist Church- Opechee Point Beach and bathrooms- Saturday, August 10, 2019 from 10:00am to 4:00pm for the church picnic. Steve was asking if they can move the picnic tables together and will put it back after the event, he is requesting extra trash cans also. Commissioner Pederzani motioned to approve the request pending upon payment of $100 special event fee, key deposit if needed, to return the tables to their original locations and submission of the certificate of insurance. Seconded by Commissioner Kirk. All were in favor. D. Sarah Jenna- Wyatt Park basketball court & picnic area- Saturday, August 10, 2019 (rain date August 17, 2019) from 10:00am to 3:00pm from Lance Reason Basketball Scholarship Fund. Commissioner Kirk motioned to accept the request for the tournament and waived the special event fee pending upon the submission of the certificate of insurance and approval from the City Council for raising money in the City property. Seconded by Commissioner Guyer. All were in favor. E. Weirs Action Committee- Endicott Rock Parking Lot- June 13 through 21, 2020 from 8:00am to 9:00pm for Laconia Motorcycle Week parking. Commissioner Roy motioned to accept the request pending upon submission of the certificate of insurance and final approval  from the City Council for raising money in the City property. Seconded by Commissioner Kirk. All were in favor. F. Laconia Middle School- Smith Field, Smith track, Opechee and Memorial Field- September 3 through October 25, 2019 from 2:30pm to 6:00pm Monday to Friday for Smith and Opechee field. Opechee Field and Memorial Field from April 1, 2020 through May 29, 2020 from 2:30pm to 6:00pm Monday to Friday. Commissioner Guyer motioned to accept the request for the Fall 2019 and Spring 2020 with the understanding that they will work with Laconia Youth Soccer group with the time schedule. Seconded by Commissioner Roy. All were in favor. III. ADMINISTRATIVE APPROVALS-ROTARY PARK, BEACHES, WEIRS AMPHITHEATER & PAVILION The following request have been approved administratively: A. Spencer Hermonat & Tatum Black- Rotary Park - Saturday October 5, 2019 from 2:00pm to 5:00pm for a wedding ceremony. B. Lauren Batkers & Scott Murphy- Rotary Park - Saturday, October 10, 2020 from 9am- 6:00pm for a wedding ceremony. C. Hands across the table- Opechee Cove- Wednesday, June 26, 2019 from 4:00pm to 7:00pm for outdoor picnic. D. Alena Lussier- Weirs Community Park Pavillion- July 20, 2019 (July 21rain date) from 12:00pm to 3:00pm for a Birthday Party. IV. NEW BUSINESS: Commissioner Hamel mentioned that Isiah 61 café are giving brown bag lunches at Rotary Park every Sunday according the newspaper. Commissioner wants to know what they have to say and ask them to fill out a Facility Use Request and come to the Commission meeting. V. ANNOUNCEMENTS: VI. NOMINATIONS, APPOINTMENTS & ELECTIONS: VII. PUBLIC COMMENT: VIII. COMMUNICATIONS: IX. OTHER REQUESTS REQUIRING COMMISSION ACTION: 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 The summer is in full swing. The beaches have been very busy and the camp is at capacity. Programs are running smoothly and maintenance is tough. As you may be aware, we made the state news due to the fact that we don’t have lifeguards at all this summer. It has sparked some interest in the position. However, not one interested applicant is certified. This leaves us in the same position. Enforcement has been difficult, but the police are helping as much as they can. The 4th of July was a success. Weirs Beach was packed. We were about 50 people shy of our capacity this year. If the weather is nice next year, we may have to close the beach. It is getting more and more popular as a destination. This years at Weirs Beach the patrons were quite defiant of our rules. The enforcement staff and the police had a difficult time with them. We will have to see how this can change for next year. The 4th of July Celebration at Opechee Park went off with a bang!! The band was great. We really needed more vendors and we are working on that for next year. The fireworks stole the show though. They were amazing. I am happy to announce that starting July 15th Matt Mansur is the new Assistant Recreation & Facilities Director! Matt was the senior program director at the Greenland YMCA and has quite a bit of experience. I believe he will be a great asset to our department and look forward to working with him. The maintenance department is extremely busy as usual for this time of year. We have potentially 2 new seasonal workers. This will help us significantly to accomplish the tasks we would like to get done. Without the help we are just getting to the major areas. Argee Whittier has now retired. We had a small going away party for him and we all wish him the best. We have 18 applicants to go through for the maintenance position Argee vacated. I hope to be doing interviews the July 15th week. Projects: • Bond Beach Drainage Improvement: We are still waiting for the beach season to be over to start the work. They will begin directly after Labor Day. • Native American Statue: DPW took the statue down on July 1st without incident. Unfortunately and as we suspected, the wood was completely rotted. The new statue is on hold at the moment. The Winnipesaukee Muskrats are looking at pricing for the printing. Once a company is selected, it will take about 7 weeks to complete.  • Memorial Park and Wyatt Park Irrigation: Memorial Park Softball irrigation is complete. Wyatt Park irrigation construction is currently underway. • Perley Pond Area: The state arborist cannot give us a recommendation as this is a conflict of interest for them. We have a tree service contract, however, for this project, we are getting quotes from others to ensure quality of the work. The City Manager is taking into consideration a scope of services from RFS and has received clarification in regards to wetland permitting versus shoreland permitting. We will need a wetland permit to work in or around any water. • Opechee Pavilion: There are no new updates. • Riverwalk: The fencing on both sides of the Riverwalk are being installed now. This part of the project was delayed due to the fencing contractor. This completes the City Hall side of the project and we are still awaiting the hotel to finish their projects before we can finish ours. • 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 Continuation of irrigation set up and repair Athletic field maintenance - prep for games, repair after games Daily clean bathrooms – Endicott Rock Park, Weirs Community Park, Leavitt Park, Robbie Mills, Bartlett Beach, Bond Beach, Opechee - Cove, Day Camp, Point and Memorial Baseball and softball Remove broken picnic tables, repair where able, re-secure to ground Weekly park and athletic field mowing Plant bed weeding Repair to toilets and sinks Set up and clean up for 4th of July activities – Trash barrels at Endicott Rock Park and Opechee Security fence at Opechee Clean up trash from people and debris from fireworks at both Electrical panel at Opechee Barricades and cones at Weirs Community Park, Endicott Rock Park and Opechee Close track Remove outfield fence from Opechee D and bases from all fields Install / repair swim lines Apply fertilizer to athletic fields, city buildings and parks Replace ballast and bulbs in light fixtures Irrigation installation at Wyatt and Memorial Softball Sign maintenance – removal and installation XII. PRESENTATIONS XIII. ADJOURNMENT: Commissioner Roy motioned to adjourn at 8:05pm. 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.