Parks & Recreation Commission

LACONIA PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING March 15, 2021 Zoom Platform 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: Director of Parks and Recreation Amy Lovisek called the roll with the following Commissioners in attendance: Mitch Hamel, Rodney Roy, Arthur Kirk and Deanna Guyer. Introduction of our potential new Commissioner Laura Ringer. 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 16, 2021 Commissioner Deanna Guyer moved to adopt the minutes from February 16, 2021. Seconded by Commissioner Arthur Kirk. All were in favor. I. FACILITY USE REQUEST FORM: A. Belknap Mill Society- Rotary Park- Play reading in the Park May 29 and 30 th, Saturday and Sunday from 9:00am to 9:00pm Event. Commissioner Kirk motioned to accept the request pending upon submission of the certificate of insurance. The special event fee has been waived. Seconded by Commissioner Guyer. All were in favor. B. New England Bassin- Bartlett Beach- May 8, 2021, Saturday from 3:00pm to 5:00pm for Winnisquam Tournament. Commissioner Kirk table the request due to no representation. Seconded by Commissioner Guyer. All were in favor. C. Winnipesaukee Muskrats- Robbie Mills- Sundays, May 2 & 23, June 6, July 11 & 18, August 1, 15 & 22, 2021from 10:00am to 2:00pm for GSBL Muskrats. Commissioner Kirk motioned to accept the request pending upon submission of the rosters, payment of non-resident users fee and submission of the certificate of insurance. Key deposit of $25 per keys is required if needed. Seconded by Commissioner Guyer. All were in favor. D. Laconia Lacrosse Club- Community Center, Leavitt Park, Bobotas and Sanborn Park- Community Center Monday and Wednesday from 6pm to 7:30pm, Tuesday and Thursday from 5pm to 8pm, Bobotas Field, Leavitt, and Sanborn Park Field March 15 through June 20, 2021 Monday to Friday from 5:00pm to 8:00pm for Lacrosse Practices. Commissioner Roy motioned to accept the request pending upon the payment of $105.00  for the use of Community Center and payment for non-resident users’ fee. Key deposit of $25 per key is required if needed. Director Lovisek stated she would notify the league when the fields are ready. Seconded by Commissioner Kirk. All were in favor. E. Cure SMA- Opechee Park, Middle School parking lot, Wow Trail- Saturday, August 27, 2021 from 7:00am to 2:00pm for Cure SMA Hike/Walk for a Cure. Commissioner Kirk motioned to accept the request pending upon the payment of special event fee, loudspeaker permit from licensing office, submission of the certificate of insurance and City Council approval for making money on City property. Key deposit of $25.00 per key is required if needed. Seconded by Commissioner Guyer. All are in favor. II. OLD BUSINESS: A. Lakes Region Girls Softball Fall into Chaos- Memorial Field- October 8 through October 10th- Friday from 4:00pom to 9:00pm, Saturday & Sunday from 8:00am to 8:00pm for fall into chaos softball tournament. Commissioner Roy motioned to accept the request pending upon the payment of Tournament fee, key deposit of $25.00 per key if needed and submission of the certificate of insurance. Commissioner also approve the use of 20lbs propane tank and cooking for this event. Seconded by Commissioner Guyer. All were in favor. B. Holy Trinity Catholic School- Opechee track and Smith Field- Tuesday, June 8, 2021 (Thursday, June 10th rain date) from 8:00am to 2:30pm for School Field Day. Commissioner Kirk motioned to accept the request upon submission of the certificate of insurance. Commissioners also approve the use of 20lbs propane tank and cooking for this event. Key deposit of $25.00 per key is required if needed. Seconded by Commissioner Guyer. All were in favor. C. Administrative Approvals with regards to Coronavirus- no update D. Coronavirus updates- no update for the Gym and waiting for the new guidelines. E. Weirs Beach capacity- Last year we had a 1000 capacity, but Director Lovisek wanted to change the number for the capacity this year, will discuss in our next Commission meeting. F. Summer staffing- Asst. Director Mansur mentioned that beach caretaker schedules will be finalized soon. Matt will try to hire Bond beach attendant/lifeguard position this year. G. Laconia Little League-lights at Colby- Kris Fernandez of Laconia Little league ask Director Lovisek if they can install lighting to Colby field. Director Lovisek mentioned that we need to notify the neighborhood with the plan and Mr. Fernandez told Director Lovisek that it is still premature to go in details now. Director Lovisek will be happy to have a meeting with the neighborhood regarding the installation of the lights when it is appropriate. III. ADMINISTRATIVE APPROVALS-ROTARY PARK, BEACHES, WEIRS AMPHITHEATER & PAVILION IV. NEW BUSINESS: 1. Dog Park Request for signage- Ginny Martin who is the president of Happy Tails Dog Park was asking if they can put a license plate sign size in the dog park from their business sponsors. The Parks & Recreation Department does have a sign ordinance to be followed.  Commissioners are requesting Ms. Martin to submit a proposal with the location and the terms and conditions. Director Lovisek will get more information from the group. V. ANNOUNCEMENTS: Deanna Guyer was re-appointed for another 3 years as a Commissioner. VI. NOMINATIONS, APPOINTMENTS & ELECTIONS: VII. PUBLIC COMMENT: VIII. COMMUNICATIONS: IX. OTHER REQUESTS REQUIRING COMMISSION ACTION: X. PARK ASSOCIATION REPORTS: A. Leavitt Park Association- February income and expense report B. Weirs Community Park Association- no report C. Tardif Park Association- February income and expense report XI. DEPARTMENT REPORTS: A. Director’s Report submitted by Amy Lovisek This month has seen the department working to clear snow as well as prepping for spring and what the fields will look like. Our department has been asked to rid our athletic fields of weeds and make them stand out. Tim Ford our Foreman has been diligently working on a calendar for our fields to try to keep weeds from taking over and at the same time having the grass grow. He has written a narrative to give anyone interested in knowing our reasons for using all organic products. I have attached the “Athletic Field Turf Maintenance Plan” to this packet for your perusal. To simplify it down completely, we are working towards healthy and proficient soil. We will get that from organics in addition to the fact that we can spread them everywhere without a concern of our water bodies. None of this will hurt our lakes or our users. We are still a person down in the department. The person we offered the job to declined the position. We just got some new applications today so we will be going over them asap. I have been taking several webinars that were offered from our state organization who partnered with Florida’s organization. They have been very informative! The City had their first zoom meeting with outside sources for the ADA self-assessment plan. The plan is to get stake holders from each demographic to be represented so the City can get the best idea as to priority levels. We had our cardboard sled race a couple weeks back and that was a huge success. Planning is in the works for Easter and summer programs. I had my budget meeting with City Manager Scott Myers to discuss what things will look like next year with the budget restrictions. We have asked for more money in our Grounds Maintenance budget line to produce the type of athletic fields they want to see. Our CIP did not fare as well with the budget constraints. At this point we are looking to get a new 60” mower, a new dump truck, an SUV and phase 1 for the downtown tree replacements. The pickup truck that we ordered back in July is finally in Laconia!!! The City should be receiving it by the end of this week. This truck with replace truck #317. Leavitt Park House now has WIFI capabilities. We do not have any capital projects happening at the moment. The native American statue is still being made in Texas. That has been a long project! B. Assistant Director’s Report submitted by Matt Mansur Summer Preparations Opechee Day Camp I just finished up the American Camping Association’s annual conference on Thursday. It was held virtually and, although not the same, was nice. It seems that there is a lot of optimism throughout the industry. We are still awaiting the finalized Day Camp Guidelines which were supposed to be published on March 1st. Unfortunately they are still on the Governor’s desk. Erika Conners, the New Hampshire Camp Director’s Association liason for the Day Camp Guidelines, is very confident that cohorts will be raised to 20 people instead of 10. With this information we will begin planning on camp running with 20 campers. This of course changes our staffing significantly, however that will also affect our extended hours in the morning and evening. We will finalize the staffing schedule (planning for 20) and begin extending offers to staff by the end of this week. Finally, registration will begin April 1st. The biggest difference this year is that registration will be for Laconia residents only. We will open registration for all other communities on June 1 st. We will define “residents” as year-round Laconia residents. Beaches Similar to camp, we will be finilazing the Beach Caretaker schedules and extend offers by the end of this week. Additionally I think we can have a very successful Lifeguard program at Bond beach while we gear up for a successful lifeguard program at the Weirs next year. We can use Bond this year to get the kinks out while we get the rule enforcement locked down at Weirs. Additionally that is all we can afford anyway. I am working with Tim to create a plan for put the orange buoys out at the weirs instead of the rope swim lines. Website Redesign We have moved from “mood board” to drafts of the website: This is getting very exciting. Once we have a format, we will move our “back end” of our current website into this new one. So I have been trying to update our “back end” on our current website – the next area of focus will be the Opechee Day Camp page in preparations for registration. Community Center Programs Finally, as the seasons change our demands on the Community Center will change. Fortunately, nicer weather means people get outside! C. Foreman’s Report submitted by Tim Ford Daily walk and parking lot check for snow / ice Remove snow from walks and parking lots as needed Clear, flood rinks (3) as needed Remove trash from parks weekly Set up for sledding event Remove lights from downtown seasonal display Laconia Community Center – remove debris from basement Basement reorganization Repair weather stripping on garage door Repair emergency lighting in gym Repair emergency lighting in stairwell Repair water leak in wall of employee’s bathroom Rebuild leaking backflow LCC Garage – organize / clean cleaning supply lockers City Hall – Paint walls, install door in Finance / welfare offices Move furniture from greeter area Repair bathroom stall door locks Portico installation Move emergency exit signs Install fuse panel covers Repair men’s urinal Gale Library – assemble shelving  Lighting repair Opechee Parkhouse – Repair holes in drywall and repaint bathrooms and hallway Install electric hand dryers Make bathrooms ADA compliant Repair emergency lights and egress lights Start seasonal rebuild of toilets and sinks Tardif Parkhouse – Repair emergency lighting Repair egress lighting Holy Trinity School – Place trash barrels under roof leaks Empty barrels as needed Leavitt Parkhouse – Repair broken lights XII. PRESENTATIONS XIII. ADJOURNMENT: Commissioner Roy motioned to adjourn at 8:45pm. Seconded by Commissioner Guyer. All were in favor. Respectfully submitted, Liza Kelleher Mitch Hamel Secretary Commissioner Chair