Parks & Recreation Commission

LACONIA PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING April 21, 2020 Zoom Platform 7:00 P.M. CALL TO ORDER: Commissioner Mitch Hamel called the meeting to order at the above date and time and read the introduction about the electronic meeting. RECORDING SECRETARY: Secretary Liza Kelleher recorded this meeting. ROLL CALL: Commissioner Chair Mitch Hamel called the roll with the following Commissioners in attendance: Rodney Roy, Tony Pederzani, Deanna Guyer and Arthur Kirk. 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 February 18, 2020 Commissioner Roy moved to adopt the minutes from February 18, 2020. Seconded by Commissioner Guyer. The motioned pass unanimously. March Commission meeting was cancelled due to Coronavirus. I. FACILITY USE REQUEST FORM: A. Celebrate Laconia- Stewart Park, Gateway Park and Opechee Park- Sunday, November 28 and 29, 2020 from 1:00pm to 6:00pm for Light up Laconia Holiday Festival and Parade from 3:30pm to 5:00pm. Vendors will be available (food trucks). Commissioner Roy motioned to accept the request for the event pending upon the approval from Licensing board, special event board, loudspeaker permit, vendor permit and submission of the certificate of insurance. Fire chief approval will be needed for the use of portable fire pit. Special event fee has been waived. Seconded by Commissioner Pederzani. All were in favor. B. Evangelical Baptist Church- Leavitt Park Field- June 22 ~27, 2020 Monday through Saturday from 8:00am to 4:00pm for On Goal Soccer Camp. Commissioner Pederzani motioned to accept the request subject to field condition, payment of non-resident users fee, submission of the certificate of insurance and final approval from the City Council for raising funds on City Property. Administrative approval will be given if the date will need to be changed. A security deposit of $25.00 per key is required for any keys issued and a propane tank waver is granted. Seconded by Commissioner Kirk. All were in favor. C. Laconia Chiefs Football Spirit & Cheer- Memorial Field- July 27 through October 31, 2020, Mondays through Fridays from 5:00pm to 8:00pm and Saturdays from 8:00am to 11:00am for Laconia Chiefs Football Season. Commissioner Pederzani motioned to approve the request upon submission of the storage fee, non-resident users fee, lighting fee, certificate of insurance and contingent upon the return of the keys from last year. A security deposit of  $25.00 per key is required for any keys issued. Seconded by Commissioner Kirk. All were in favor. Commissioner Roy abstained. D. Recoverydia- Weirs Community Park Amphitheater and Pavilion- Saturday, August 29, 2020 from 6:00pm to 9:00pm for 10,000 candles for New Hampshire. Commissioner Roy motioned to table the request due to no representation. Seconded by Commissioner Kirk. All were in favor. II. OLD BUSINESS: A. Holbrook Insurance & JG Realty- Opechee Park Field – September 19, 2020, Saturday from 9:00am to 5:00pm for the first annual Boggin N Braggin Cornhole Championship. Commissioner Roy motioned to table the request due to no representation. Seconded by Commissioner Kirk. All were in favor. B. Laconia High School- Rotary Park- Saturday, May 9, 2020 from 4:00 to 6:30pm for Junior Class Prom Walk. Commissioner Roy motioned to remove the request from Laconia High School due to the cancellation of school for the remainder of the year. Seconded by Commissioner Guyer. All were in favor. C. Acton Academy NH/NH Children’s Business Fair- Opechee Park Smith Field- Saturday August 8, 2020 from 8:30am to 2:00pm for NH Children’s Business Fair. Commissioner Kirk motioned to table the request due to no representation. Seconded by Commissioner Roy. All were in favor. D. Muskrats Contract- The Muskrats asked to extend the building of the deck and the netting purchase until next year on the contract. The reason for this request was due to the potential for no season this year. Commissioner Guyer motioned to accept this request. Seconded by Commissioner Pederzani. All were in favor. E. Expectations for clean up after events- to be discuss in our next Commission meeting. F. Prepayment of fees The Department is asking if it’s possible to ask the Leagues to give the prepayment for the non-resident fees before anybody can use the field. Commissioners concern that the Leagues will not know how many non-residents kids until well after the 1st week of practice. The light fees will be charge when the Eversource bill comes which usually monthly. Commissioner Pederzani motioned that non-resident fee must be paid before the 1st game of the season. There was no second. The motion did not carry. G. Laconia Parks & Recreation Rules and Regulations Commissioner Hamel suggested to laminate the new Parks & Rec. Rules & Regulations and post at all City Facilities. Commissioner Roy motioned to accept the request for Parks & Recreation Rules & Regulations changes. Seconded by Commissioner Guyer. All were in favor. III. ADMINISTRATIVE APPROVALS-ROTARY PARK, BEACHES, WEIRS AMPHITHEATER & PAVILION The following request have been approved administratively: A. Celebrate Laconia- Laconia Community Center- Thursday, February 27, 2020 from 3:30pm to 7:00pm for Laconia Talks.  B. Laconia Youth Lacrosse- Bobotas Field and Robbie Mills- March 16 through June 12, 2020, Bobotas Field, Mondays through Fridays from 5:00pm to 8:00pm and Robbie Mills, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:00pm to 7:00pm for Lacrosse practice. C. Laconia Youth Lacrosse- Bobotas Field- May 23, 2020. Saturday from 7:00am to 5:00pm (rain date May 24, 2020) for NHYLA North/South All Star Game. D. Laconia Baseball Foundation Inc. (dba Winnipesaukee Muskrats)- Robbie Mills Sports Complex- June 29 through July 17, 2020, Monday through Friday (4days/week, fifth day as rain date) from 9:00am to 12:00pm for Winnipesaukee Muskrats Baseball Summer Camp. E. Mellane Angel & Ryan Dennis Wedding- Rotary Park Gazebo- Sunday, September 6, 2020 from 2:00pm to 6:00pm for a wedding ceremony. IV. NEW BUSINESS: 1. Endicott Rock Park Playground removal The playground equipment at Weirs beach was put in the early 90’s and not to standard. Commissioner Kirk motioned to remove the playground equipment at Weirs beach. Seconded by Commissioner Pederzani. All were in favor. 2. Logo Acceptance Commissioner Roy motioned to accept the Logo change for Parks & Recreation Department. Seconded by Commissioner Guyer. All were in favor. 3. Election of Officials Commissioner Kirk motioned to table the request until the next Commission meeting. Seconded by Commissioner Guyer. All were in favor. 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 for March and April Recreation & Facilities Director’s Report March 16, 2020 (Written on 3/12/20) The month of March has surprisingly shown signs of spring and we are acting accordingly. Maintenance has been doing some light cleanups at the parks and many RFP’s have gone out for our department. The RFP’s (Request for Proposal) that went out are Weirs Beach Bath House Renovation, Bartlett Beach Erosion Renovation, Laconia Community Center Roof and finally the Robbie Mills Netting. These ensure I will be busy this spring and that progress is happening and soon. The ADA self-evaluation has begun at our parks. Laconia did a self-evaluation in the early 90’s as they were required by law, but that is severely outdated and needs to be redone. The first location we evaluated was Tardif Park House. We found some ADA issues there and are in the process of fixing this. The building should be ADA compliant this spring. We then have to step outside and do the rest of the facility and move on from there. This is going to be a long process, but when complete we will have a transition plan that will have a schedule as to when each project needs to be done by. Wes Anderson, Director of DPW and I have been discussing the ADA Coordinator position as well. The City is required to have someone in that role and we will be going to the City Manager to discuss this. We spent a week interviewing for the full time Grounds/Maintenance position we have available. We had some good candidates. The City Manager and I met this month to discuss the budget. He asked me to raise our wages to attract more candidates for our open seasonal positions. This is great news and we have spread it. We may very well have a full staff this summer. It looks like he plans to fund the budget as proposed by us. He also plans to fund the design for Bond Beach Bath house and sewer system and the truck we requested. While at the meeting with the City Manager he stated that he may have funds this year for the skate park! He wants to make sure the park is done well. He even mentioned enlarging the current park. The police mentioned the idea of using the green space at Sanborn Park as a possible site for the skate park. We could add 4 parking spaces and still have a large area of open green space even if we added a 100’x100’ skate park at the location. With this information, I am hosting a Laconia Skate Park Revitalization Meeting on March 18th to discuss elements, materials and locations with the people that would actually use the park. The Laconia Community Center hosted the Laconia Talks event at the end of February and had a great turnout. I attended a conference regarding beaches and pools on March 12th. It was in regards to beach testing for bacteria. The Laconia Parks & Recreation logo will be available at the Commission meeting Monday night and we can take a look to see what we like and don’t like. Bartlett Beach and Bond Beach Erosion/Dainage Projects: The Bond Beach project has the change orders in place and work will commence as soon as the area is clear and will have substantial completion no later than June 1, 2020. The engineers are preparing the bid sheet for the Bartlett Beach project. Once received we will put this out for RFP.  Director of Recreation & Facilities Report April 21, 2020 (Written on 4/16/2020) This previous month has been one of the most unique in history! Due to the COVID19 pandemic we have had to lock our doors at the Community Center, the park houses and all other city buildings. Luckily, our department is still functioning quite well, all things considered. With the schools closed until May 4th and the youth sports under orders of no more than 10 people gathered, there have been no fields to prepare for the sports seasons yet. This is providing the maintenance crew the opportunity to get ahead in the spring cleanups and our restroom and irrigation plumbing. We have awarded the projects of the Community Center roof and the Tardif Park ADA door replacement, we are just waiting for scheduling. The bids have come in for the Bartlett Beach Erosion Renovation, Weirs Beach Bath House Renovations and the plumbing contract. We are in the process of selecting the best candidate for those projects. We had the Robbie Mills Netting RFP come back with no bids. We are having this go back out for proposal. The city officially has ADA Coordinators. Wes Anderson, DPW Director is the Coordinator who will receive any complaints we receive, Cheryl Hebert, the City Clerk is the ADA Meeting Coordinator and I am the Self-Assessment/Transition Plan Coordinator. The Tardif Park House interior is completely ADA accessible other than the door which is just getting awarded now. The exterior still has some areas that need attention as well. We have self-evaluated the Community Center almost completely and have found some areas that need attention. Our restrooms were not accessible. We have since reconfigured the women’s room and that is now compliant. The men’s room will be more involved. We have decided to make both rooms gender neutral. In the men’s room we will remove the patricians, put a lock on the door and make that a family restroom that will be ADA compliant as well. Once we complete the men’s room and add some signs we would be accessible. We have had to put the skate park meeting on hold until we are allowed to have public gatherings again. We are hoping for a good showing for the park and the possibility of moving it to another location to give more space. With this pandemic happening to our beautiful city, I thought it would be nice for people to see our parks even if they can’t be there. The idea was to take videos of them and give some history. That is unfortunately, not what happened. I have downloaded software to edit and make a video. The video is going to be of pictures and the first park will be Opechee. I will narrate the video and then post it on the city’s Youtube channel and hopefully on channel 26 for our “stay at home” residents to see and feel a connection with the park. Hopefully, this will bring them some joy. Bartlett Beach Erosion Renovation: The Bartlett Beach project went to RFP and was due on April 10th. We received 8 proposals. We have not chosen a company yet to complete the job. The project is to be completed before the beginning of beach season this year. Bond Beach Erosion Renovation: This project will begin in a couple of weeks and will be completed by the beginning of the beach season as well. Native American Statue: The Winnipesaukee Muskrats have ordered the statue and we should be in a good position for having a grand opening on July 3rd. This is contingent upon some variables such as shipping and installation. The plan is to have a party that day to commemorate the occasion. Laconia Community Center Roof: This project will be scheduled hopefully this week and we can begin soon. B. Assistant Director’s Report submitted by Matt Mansur for March and April Assistant Director’s Recreation & Facilities Director’s Report March 16, 2020 Spring is here… or so I hope. All these nice days come with the excitement of spring, but the real warm days bring with them the constant reminder that summer is around the corner and we still have a way to go to be prepared. The next two months will be very busy with preparation while the following 4 months will be slammed with all that summer brings. It will be here and gone before we know it! Beaches Update Hiring Out of our ten “interested” Lifeguard candidates, I have received applications from four and have interviewed three. We have pushed very hard for people to apply to guard for us this year and we have recently received approval to raise our rates to $13/hr – more than anyone in the area. I will be checking references of the three interviewees and then offering them positions sometime this week. We have handed out a lot more applications and I am expecting more of a push of applications over the next month or so. Feel free to keep your fingers crossed until we are staffed out though. Jennifer Bennert will be returning as a Beach Supervisor, but she is requesting a different schedule than what we need so I am looking for additional Beach Supervisors. These positions will be crucial and I am hoping to find some responsible school teachers or paraprofessionals who are looking for a summer “side hustle”. I have reached out to High School AD Craig Kozens and District Superintendent Steve Tucker for help connecting with these professionals who have some time during the summer. If you know of anyone, please let me know. Beach Workshop Earlier today I went to the NHRPA Beaches and Pools Workshop. It was very informative. I was also able to catch NHDES Beach Program Coordinator Amanda McQuaid for an hour and a half after the workshop. We spoke about the bacterial issues that have been prevalent at our beaches – particularly the Weirs. Believe it or not, it is more complicated than you would initially imagine. We have numerous possible chances as to how we will tackle this. Opechee Day Camp Update Hiring Both Kathleen and Alex have accepted their offers. We have interviewed Alyssa and, once I check her references I will offer her a position. Victoria from last year is interested in returning. Finally, Jacob and/or Drew might finish the season. Registration I am anticipating a large push on April 1st for summer camp. Our prices are lower than most of our competitors in the area. We will also develop some language concerning the Coronavirus for registration as it approaches. Add’l Programs Easter Egg Hunt Leavitt Park and Weirs Community Park is preparing the Easter Egg Hunt to take place on Sunday April 5th at 2:00 at Weirs Community Park. We will be reaching out to our attorney concerning Coronavirus and this event. Facilities Hiring We are still looking for our seasonal maintenance positions. We had a good number of applicants for the full- time positions and are hoping we can turn some of them into seasonal positions. Assistant Recreation & Facilities Director’s Report April 21, 2020 Hello! I am going through my March Report to update and it feels like a lifetime ago. The last report was filled with such hope of roaring recruitment for lifeguards and Easter Egg Hunts. Unfortunately, like the rest of the world, Covid-19 has drastically affected Laconia’s Parks & Rec Department. Beaches Update Hiring - I am happy to report that we have four future lifeguards have accepted positions with us. I am very impressed with Taylor, Joshua, Lauren, and Maddie and I am hoping we can begin building a culture amongst our lifeguards that will help us recruit guards in the future. I have two more interviews this month that are promising, but hiring is always unpredictable especially with our current circumstances. We are looking for a total of 9 lifeguards for this summer. Jennifer and Bob will be returning to Laconia Parks & Rec this summer. Jen will be returning as our Beach Supervisor and Bob will be joining her. Bob will be our Beach Supervisor on Saturdays and Jen on Sundays – I am thankful to be able to set it up so no one person must give up their weekends for the summer and hopeful that it will actually work out like that. Both Jen and Bob will join our Seasonal Maintenance team throughout the week as well. We are currently looking for 5 more guards, and 4-5 Beach Parking Enforcement and Evening Enforcement positions. Covid-19 Impacts – The Covid-19 shutdown has slowed our recruitment process because so many of our avenues for reaching out to potential applicants have slowed themselves. Our only way to reach potential applicants now is through social media and the Laconia Daily Sun. The question of when beaches open is also on everyone’s mind. If and when schools are officially moved to remote learning for the remainder of the school year, Beaches & Summer Camps will be next on the chopping block. Additionally, I am being mindful of the availability of indoor pools opening in time for us to train our lifeguards before they are needed at the beaches. Opechee Day Camp Update Hiring - We have hired 4 of 5 Summer Day Camp Staff for the summer. Both Camp Supervisor’s Kathleen and Alex will be returning while Victoria, our lifeguard from last year, will be returning. Our first-year staff member, Allyssa, is a former camper and we are very excited to have her with us. Registration - We have currently filled 78 out of a possible 360 camper weeks (21.6%), with another 32 camper weeks signed up, but without deposits. Covid-19 impacts - I am assuming that concerns over Covid-19 are causing hesitation for parents to register. We will continue to get word out that we will refund any payments for Camp cancellation due to Covid-19 (as is seemingly an industry practice). Nevertheless, I think parents are not making too many decisions at the moment. Recruitment for our fifth and final staff member has slowed down. Our summer trip locations have begun to get affected as well, with Gunstock being the first to cancel all of its summer programs. One of the positive impacts is that I have had time to deep dive both our parent and staff handbooks. For reference, Gov. Sununu recently said that opening up summer camps is “…going to be tough.” Add’l Programs Programs – Our programs have all come to a halt until May 4th, although it seems the shutdown will extend further. Summer Brochure - Fortunately, I am close to finishing this summer’s program brochure. Unfortunately, due to the Covid-19 shut down, our programs are very lean and vague. July 4th – Amy and I were discussing the Covid-19 impacts on the fourth of July celebrations. It is difficult to imagine that amassing together in large groups to celebrate the fourth will be a good idea – especially if we are on the “downslide of the curve”. Hopefully the curve will be wrapped up by then. C. Foreman’s Report submitted by Tim Ford for March and April March 2020 Maintenance Activities Make ice at rink - weather dependent Plow / shovel snow as needed Daily walk check Push back / remove snow bankings Work on fuse replacement on Opechee Field lights with Musco Put out trash barrels Start returning parking lot concrete bumpers to rightful spot Employee interviews Refill dog bags Daily trash pickup from the ground Lower / raise flags Start spring clean-up – raking, sweep sand, sticks Open Smith track for the season Complete fertilizer and field amendment bid Complete playground equipment repair need list Twice a week oil check LCC – replace radiator thermostat in shower room Replace toilet flange in Directors office Paint back stairwell City Hall – move furniture Build wall at welfare Water meter replacement Robbie Mills – attempt to change lock cores Replace rotten door trim Library – toilet repair Light bulb replacement Opechee – replace photo cell at the garage Replace door weather stripping at the garage Memorial Baseball – Build enclosures for water meter and backflow in bathroom Tardif Park – Building ADA renovations 2020 April Maintenance Activities Modify Tardif Parkhouse to ADA spec Modify LCC women’s restroom to ADA Specs Repair toilet LCC employee’s restroom Re-install window screens – LCC Gym Repair walls – City Hall Sprinkler inspection – City Hall. Fire Inspection – all Park houses. Replace light bulbs – City Hall Remove ½ chairs from audience section of 200A – City Hall Remove electrical from dog house – City Hall New deck and ramp installed – Leavitt Graffiti removed from walls – Bartlett Beach Clean out drain lines, remove snow fence – Endicott Rock Park Spring clean Up – Opechee, Perley Oak, Leavitt, Goss Reading Room, McGrath Square, Torrey, Stewart, Rotary, Gateway, City Hall, Gale Library, Veterans Square, and Robbie Mills Plant bed clean up – Millstone, Gateway, Busy Corner Remove “Thin Ice” signs Repair winter damage to lawns Pick up trash and woody debris from Parks Install water meters and backflows in bathrooms, put toilets and sinks back together, repair winter damage in all Parks Trash removal daily from Parks, weekly from barrels Snow removal / walk check as needed Oil checks – twice a weekly until April 6 Lock gates to courts, put up “closed” signs, remove basketball rims due to Covid-19 Put out trash cans in parks Install solar lights on flagpoles XII. PRESENTATIONS XIII. ADJOURNMENT: Commissioner Pederzani motioned to adjourned at 8:25pm. Seconded by Commissioner Roy. 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.