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HomeMy Public PortalAbout14-ParksRec Dept. Rpt. Jan 2020Monthly Department Report – Parks & Recreation Memo To: City Council From: Kurt Wolf, Parks and Recreation Director CC: Anette Spickard, City Manager Date: 1/31/2020 Re: Monthly Department Report – January 2020 1. Winter Rec Program Updates & Registrations: 2019 Photo Contest: Still accepting photos, not as many entries as in the past. Tots & Tykes- Session 1: 12 youth (ages 2-5) and their parents/guardians participated in the first session January 7-17. One parent drove up from Council twice a week for her kids to play. The program was originally scheduled to take place at the Idaho First Bank (IFB) basement; however, they had another company related engagement needing the space and cancelled our reservation. We reserved Elk Creek Church gym space (at $35/hour) to host the class. The space was absolutely perfect for the program, parents loved it; however, with the increase in price of facility rental, parents would not want to pay more for the program. The second session of Tots and Tykes scheduled for February 25 - March 6 is scheduled for the IFB basement, who did not charge a facility fee to help make up for the scheduling from the first session. Adulting 101: A series of 4 classes, taught by real-life adults, teaching valuable life skills to participates ages 15-26. These classes will be offered free of charge and will include subjects such as basic auto maintenance (fixing a flat tire, checking fluids, adding oil, correct tire pressure), financial planning (credit scores, credit card offers, monthly budgeting, online support), Insurance (renters, auto, health, etc.), healthy households (laundry basics, fixing a toilet, leaky faucets, cleaning hacks) and other topics (time management, coping with failure, setting realistic life goals). We have partnered with Bruneel Tire, Umpqua Bank, Jen Caple Licensed Clinical Social Worker, and Parks crew members. I am still waiting to hear from insurance (go figure). Classes to begin the end of February and run through April. Full Moon Series: Partnering with the Valley County Pathways (VCP) as co-sponsors for a free, evening event on the North Valley Trail on February 8 and March 7 (1-2 days before the full moon). Participants show up to ski, bike, or cross-country ski on the pathways during a full moon. Free to participate. The VCP will provide a few opportunities for a guide trip. Snowshoes and poles will be available for use. The Forest Service’s Agents of Discovery will also be hosting electronic points of interest along the trails. Monthly Department Report – Parks & Recreation 2. Special Events: Winter Carnival • Parade: Kurt Wolf, Tara Woods, and the Boy Scouts brought up the rear of the Mardi Grade Parade, picking up trash along the route. Eddie Heider, Matt Melvin, and TJ Brady saved the day and jumped in the Sharlie Dragon at the last minute. Big thanks to Devon Spickard for volunteering to drive the recreation Subaru with Bob Giles. • McCall Winter Bucket List Signs: Stefanie Bork and Tara Woods quickly designed signs to be placed on the 8-foot sign boards during Winter Carnival. The sign was titled McCall’s Winter Bucket List and included activities associated with Winter Carnival as well as random winter fun in the area. Comments from the social media included: Very Creative MP&R crew! Keep up your good work! C. Frost I love the bucket list sign! What a great idea! L. Hauder • Luminary Walk: Scheduled annually for the last Friday of Winter Carnival. Staff placed 700 reusable bags of sand with re-usable battery tea candle lights along a 1-mile loop at the golf course. The event ran from 7:00-9:00 p.m. and was free to the public. Banyans restaurant was open until 9 p.m. serving dinner and beverages. Tara and Stefanie counted 120 participants and 30 dogs and received great feedback. • McCall Old Jail: The jail was utilized by the Historic Preservation Committee as a warming hut. Parks staff helped get the building up and running and got the old wood stove working. Feedback was positive and people enjoyed seeing the old jail and warming up by the fire. It sounds like the Historic Preservation group will be planning other events around that site to promote it. 3. Parks Overview and Staffing: New staff in the Parks department continue to adjust well to their respective positions and have brought great strengths and skill sets to the department. Facility planning is on schedule for a possible relocation of the Parks department in conjunction with the proposed library project. Staff continues to meet with the Architect and meetings with the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) and the Museum Board have been productive and positive. Kurt Wolf will present the scope of work to the State Lands Board on March 17 for review and approval of the project. Staff continue to work with the Public Works streets operators and local businesses on the coordination of downtown snow removal. Winter Carnival preparations as it relates to sidewalks and snow removal went extremely well. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive as it related to the conditions. The program will continue to be analyzed and adjusted to provide the best possible results as we better understand the operation and challenges. Staff have been documenting man hours and equipment hours since January 01 to fully assess cost and time come spring. Kurt Wolf is working with staff on conceptual design work for both the playground replacement and facility improvements at Brown Park. Design work and drawings will be done in-house with engineering contracted out in February or March. Phase I (Playground Replacement) is scheduled for construction in spring of 2020. Monthly Department Report – Parks & Recreation 4. Christmas Tree Recycling Program: This program was well used by the community and required very little staff time to operate. It is estimated that over 60 trees where dropped off to be chipped/recycled and used for mulch come spring. 5. Miscellaneous: Kurt Wolf continues to work with two local landscape designers (Pavla Clouser & Gusty Laidlaw who are donating their time to the project) to develop landscape concepts for the plaza interface between the proposed Library and City Hall. Conceptual plans are complete for cost estimating and revisions will be made as building design is revised. 6. Professional Development: Idaho Nursery and Landscape Association (INLA) Annual Horticulture Expo: Four employees from the department attended the annual three-day INLA Expo in Boise last month. The expo is centered around industry training opportunities (lectures) with continuing education credits to maintain certifications such as arborist and herbicide and pesticide applicators licenses. In addition, the expo provides great networking opportunities and opportunities to connect with local equipment and product distributor reps. Kurt Wolf attended the annual City Foresters meeting to discuss national updates on management practices, growing pests’ concerns, and urban forest planning practices. National Municipal Forestry Institute (MFI) Conference and Training Course: Eddie Heider, Parks Superintendent, was awarded one of three State funded scholarships to attend the MFI Conference held in Gulf Shores, Alabama this coming February. The scholarship opportunity covers lodging, food, and course expenses. This training will have significant value to the organization in more efficiently managing our community forest as it relates to new development and the Planning and Zoning process, especially in our scenic corridors. This is something the department has looked at for the past three years but could not justify the cost until the scholarship opportunity presented itself. Arborist Certification Training: Kurt Wolf will be teaching two modules during a regional ISA Certified Arborist Training course in March. Eddie Heider will be attending the State sponsored course and then sitting for the International Society of Arboriculture Certified Arborist Exam following that training.