Parks & Recreation Commission

LACONIA PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING Tuesday, February 22, 2022 Laconia Community Center 6:00 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 Hamel called the roll with the following Commissioners in attendance: Rodney Roy, Laura Ringer, Arthur Kirk and Deanna Guyer. PARKS AND RECREATION STAFF PRESENT: Secretary Liza Kelleher and Director of Recreation and Facilities Amy Lovisek. Absent- Asst. Director of Recreation and Facilities Matthew Mansur. ADOPTION OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS: 1. Regular meeting minutes of January 18, 2022 Commissioner Rodney Roy moved to adopt the minutes from the January 18, 2022. Seconded by Commissioner Laura Ringer. All were in favor. I. FACILITY USE REQUEST FORM: A. Holy Trinity Catholic School- Opechee Smith Track and Field- May 31 st and June 2nd, 2022 (rain date) Tuesday and Thursday from 8:00am to 2:00pm for the School Field Day. Commissioner Ringer motioned to approve the request for the school field day pending upon the submission of the certificate of insurance. A key deposit of $25.00 per key is required if needed and special event fee has been waived. Seconded by Commissioner Guyer. All were in favor. B. Real Life Church- Opechee point- Sunday, July 17, 2022 from 7:30-3:30pm for a church picnic. Commissioner Kirk motioned to table the request due to no representation. Seconded by Commissioner Roy. All were in favor. C. Real Life Church- Rotary Park- Sundays, August 14 and September 11, 2022 from 11:00am to 12:00pm for the water baptism. Commissioner Kirk motioned to table the request due to no representation. Seconded by Commissioner Roy. All were in favor. D. Laconia Little League- Opechee A, B and C & Colby Field- April 1st through June 15, 2022 for the 2022 Monday through Friday from 5:30pm to 8:00pm, Saturdays from 8:00am to 5:00pm for the 2022 Laconia Little League season. Commissioner Roy motioned to table due to no representation. Seconded by Commissioner Ringer. All were in favor. E. Laconia Little League- Opechee A, B and C & Colby Field- June 15 through August 1, 2022, Monday through Friday from 5:30pm to 8:00pm, Saturdays from 8:00am to 5:00pm for the 2022 Laconia Little League-All Star Season and Tournament. Commissioner Roy  motioned to table due to no representation. Seconded by Commissioner Ringer. All were in favor. F. Laconia Little League- Opechee Colby Field- August 4th through October 30, 2022, Monday through Friday from 5:30pm to 8:00pm, Saturdays for the games from 8:00am to 5:00pm for the 2022 Laconia Little League Fall season. Commissioner Roy motioned to table due to no representation. Seconded by Commissioner Ringer. All were in favor. G. Laconia High School/Laconia Middle School- Bobotas, Robbie Mills and Risley Field, Opechee Park,Track and Smith Field- March 21, 2022-June 15, 2022 for spring interscholastic event. Commissioner Guyer motioned to accept the request pending upon the submission of the certificate of insurance and subject to field condition for spring interscholastic event. Seconded by Commissioner Kirk. Commissioner Roy abstained. All others were in favor. H. Winnipesaukee Muskrats- Robbie Mills Baseball Field- May 1 through August 28, 2022, Sundays from 9:00am to 5:30pm for Senior Muskrats Baseball games. Commissioner Roy motioned to table the request due to no representation. Seconded by Commissioner Guyer. All were in favor. II. OLD BUSINESS: A. Belknap Mill-Rotary Park and bandstand- Fridays, May 20, June 3 and 17 th, July 1, 15 and 29th, and August 12 and 26th and September 9, 2022, from 4:00pm to 8:00pm for Arts in the Park summer concert series. Commissioner Roy motioned to accept the request upon submission of the certificate of insurance and vending permit for vending. The special event fee has been waived. Seconded by Commissioner Guyer. All were in favor. B. Belknap Mill Society- Rotary Park, Bandstand and Peter Karagianis Way- May 20, 2022, from 9am to 3:00pm and May 21, 2022, from 9:00am to 5:00pm for Coffee Fest Art Walk & Musical Entertainment. Commissioner Roy motioned to accept the request upon submission of the certificate of insurance and vending permit for vending. The special event fee has been waived. Seconded by Commissioner Kirk. All were in favor. C. Belknap Mill Society- Rotary Park and Bandstand- Saturday, June 25, 2022, from 12:00pm to 4:00pm for Historic Laconia Scavenger Hunt. Commissioner Kirk motioned to accept the request upon submission of the certificate of insurance and vending permit for vending requested for Scavenger hunt. The special event fee has been waived. Seconded by Commissioner Guyer. All were in favor. D. Belknap Mill Society- Rotary Park and Bandstand- Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, July 1,4,6,8,11,13,15,18,20,22,25,27,29, 2022 from 9:30am to 12:30pm for Kids in the Park. Commissioner Ringer motioned to accept the request upon submission of the certificate of insurance for Kids in the Park event. The special event fee has been waived. Seconded by Commissioner Roy. All were in favor. E. Belknap Mill Society- Rotary Park and Peter Karagianis Way- September 24 and 25, 2022 from 9:00am to 5:00pm for Belknap Mill Quilters Guild Quilt Show and Journey. Commissioner Guyer motioned to accept the request upon submission of the certificate of insurance. Special events permit required for use of Peter Karagianis Way. The special event fee has been waived. Seconded by Commissioner Ringer. All were in favor.  F. Belknap Mill Society- Rotary Park, Bandstand and Peter Karagianis Way- Saturday, October 15, 2022, from 9:00am to 5:00pm for Riverside Duck Derby. Commissioner Roy motioned to accept the request upon submission of the certificate of insurance. Special events permit required for use of Peter Karagianis Way. The special event fee has been waived. Seconded by Commissioner Kirk. All were in favor. G. Belknap Mill Society- Sunday, November 27, 2022, from 9:00am to 3:00pm for Yuletide Traditions. Commissioner Kirk motioned to accept the request upon submission of the certificate of insurance for Yuletide traditions. The special event fee has been waived. Seconded by Commissioner Ringer. All were in favor. H. Hours of operation for City owned cemeteries. The operation for the city-maintained cemeteries will run from 7:00am to 10:00pm. A sign will be put up at all the cemeteries under the City’s jurisdiction stating the hours of operation. This will provide the police department the authority to remove anyone wishing to remain there after hours. III. ADMINISTRATIVE APPROVALS-ROTARY PARK, BEACHES, WEIRS AMPHITHEATER & PAVILION A. Laconia Youth Soccer- Opechee Park, Robbie Mills and Leavitt Park- August 1 through October 22, 2022, Monday Thru Friday from 5:30pm to 8:30pm and Saturdays from 7:30am to 4:00pm for Laconia Youth Soccer Season. IV. NEW BUSINESS: A. Leavitt Park Gazebo Design- Commissioner Roy motioned to accept the updated design for the Leavitt Park Gazebo. Seconded by Commissioner Ringer. 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. Director’s Report submitted by Amy Lovisek This month has been a lot of preparation for the summer as well as interior and exterior maintenance. Matt and I met with the City Manager regarding our budget and explained what we were looking for and why we had increases. He was completely understanding of the increases. We are still uncertain if he will put it in the proposed budget, but we are confident in the Council’s desire to see our budget increased. There is some extra money in this year’s budget and the City Manager has given us some Capital Improvement tasks to accomplish this spring. 1. The City Hall Riverwalk sidewalk repairs. 2. We are looking at the possibility of a picnic pavilion again at Opechee Cove picnic area. 3. A new gazebo and lifeguard chairs at Weirs Beach. 4. ADA compliant picnic tables at Weirs Beach. 5. ADA portable mats for water access at Weirs Beach and Bond Beach. This summer we will be utilizing the assistance of the NHDOC for their inmate’s labor. We will be asking them to spread mulch at the playgrounds, trimming on the WOW trail, trimming invasive species at the parks, etc. This is free labor, and the city must only provide the materials and tools for the jobs. We will not have to provide supervision of the inmates with this program. I met with the coordinators from the Laconia Youth Alliance regarding potentially working together on different programs throughout the year. They are a grant-based program that works with kids to keep them off drugs and alcohol. The City’s IT department is working on a new phone system for all departments. This will be a VOIP system. It is basically an internet-based phone system that will include all departments in all buildings for the city. I met with Tony Felch, president of the Leavitt Park Group regarding the design of the new Leavitt Park Gazebo. I also met him and the DPW director at the park to discuss the design and how best to get this done. The Park Group is looking for the city to do the earth work and that would be a collaboration between us and DPW. The Park Group would then pay to have the gazebo built. B. Assistant Director’s Report submitted by Matt Mansur Summer Preparations Beaches We have begun advertising for our summer staff, but we haven’t received many hits. We are hoping to go with a full squad of lifeguards this year which will boost our summer staffing budget line significantly. The jury is still out on whether or not we will be able to actually FILL these positions, but it is exciting to be taking steps towards doing so. I am meeting with last year’s Beach Supervisor, Jack, during school vacation and I am hoping to convince him to come back. I haven’t even heard too much from a lot of our staff last year, so I am a little nervous at this point. We have also begun conversations with the Huot in order to make us some new Lifeguard Chairs! This is exciting news! Opechee Day Camp I have talked with Stephen and Anna again and they are both interested in jumping on. Anna is interested in getting her Lifeguard certification as well – so that is great! This means we only need to find 2-3 more counselors. Registration opens April 1st. We are still trying to work out trips. I would love to take trips this year, but the use of the bus and the trips themselves have become far more expensive. Community Center Programs Morning Activities Our pickleball crew has been coming in very heavily. So have their requests. There is always something more that we can be doing for pickleball. We have had a couple of medical situations arise in the morning pickleball sessions that our staff handled very well. Our line dancing has become defunct. We could not figure out a way to pay our new Line Dancing instructor and it looks like many of our colleagues use independent contractors for their activities. We have not been able to find too many contractors who carry with them their own insurance. We are running into issues with our shades. School Open Gyms These always seem to be precarious, but Skip has been doing a great job. He has had to ask some kids to leave and the students have been respectful when push comes to shove. Evening Activities These programs have been going well. XII. PRESENTATIONS XIII. ADJOURNMENT: Commissioner Roy motioned to adjourn at 7:07pm. Seconded by Commissioner Guyer. All were in favor. Respectfully Submitted, Liza Kelleher Mitch Hamel Secretary Commissioner Chair