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HomeMy Public PortalAbout14-Parks Dept. Rpt. Feb. 2019Monthly Department Report – Parks & Recreation Memo To: City Council From: Kurt Wolf, Parks and Recreation Director CC: Anette Spickard, City Manager Date: 2/28/2019 Re: Monthly Department Report – February 2019 1. Winter Rec Programs & Registrations: The Youth Basketball program ended with its final game on February 23. Overall, there was good feedback received from coaches and players. There were a few scheduling conflicts with gym space for practices and games. The boys high school basketball team were gym monitors, referees and time keepers. However due to game conflicts, staff had to reach out to parents/coaches/community volunteers to find replacements. Staff will make improvements based on feedback to restructure team registration, game schedules and practices for next year. Elementary Volleyball is slowly collecting registrations; and Tara Woods, Recreation Supervisor, is on the hunt for 3 more volunteer coaches for the short season. Musical Munchkins was a total hit with toddlers and parents. Youth ages 2-5 and their parents met 3 times to play, sing and dance to a variety of music expanding the across the world and musical genres. The favorite was playing the harmonica, which every participant received as part of their registration fees. Tara Woods continues to work on classes and programming efforts for the summer activity guide which is due to go public on April 22 with registration beginning May 1. 2. Trainings: Tara Woods attended the USA-Idaho Softball Conference in Boise on February 9th. The group was excited to see a representative from McCall present, and she was able to schedule umpires for summer tournaments, connect with tournament contractors about perhaps using McCall’s Gold Glove as a place to host more tournaments. Staff is preparing for and assisting Boise Parks and Recreation with planning for the 2019 Idaho Recreation and Parks Conference in April to be hosted by Boise Parks and Recreation. Monthly Department Report – Parks & Recreation 3. Special Events: The loaner equipment program continues to be heavily used this winter. Luminary Walk – As part of the second weekend of Winter Carnival, recreation staff Tara Woods and Stefanie Bork organized and hosted a Luminary Walk at McCall Golf Course. This event’s first year was successful with more than 100 walkers walking the 1-mile loop between 6pm-8pm. Based off feedback, the intent is to continue the event next Winter Carnival. 4. Parks Overview and Staffing: Staff and equipment weathered the storms well and like everyone else were all consumed with snow removal during the month of February. Staff will continue to work on punch list maintenance projects as weather permits and will begin preparing for spring and summer projects as weather permits. Projects include: equipment fabrication, planning and scheduling, and noxious weed and irrigation system mapping with the GIS department. Both parks and recreation are working hard to secure summer seasonal help and have already begun the recruiting process. Staff is exploring the idea of utilizing the existing seasonal salary budget to fund a full-time position (benefits package) as we have not been able to fill the majority of the seasonal positions for three years in a row now. In Summary: We would be able to hire the same number of seasonal employees as the past three years with the addition of a full-time employee, utilizing the existing and current budget. 5. Waterways Committee – Valley County Waterways Ordinance Update: Kurt Wolf, Director, has been attending Valley County Waterways Committee meetings in Cascade on the first Tuesday of each month. During the March 05 meeting, the County Prosecuting Attorney with the Sheriff’s Marine Deputies gave the committee an update on the status of the waterway’s ordinance. To date, the commissioners have addressed and decided on age limits of operation, night time no-wake regulations, and the 300’ no wake zone on Payette Lake. County Commissioners will continue to discuss and work on the ordinance during their March meetings. These meetings will be work sessions open to the public, but they will not be taking public comment at this time. They intend to finish the document and then hold public hearings. During the next few work sessions, the Commissioners will be discussing Water Skiing (start and stop), Impacts of wake generating boats, the three hundred-foot (300’) no wake zone on other lakes in the county, and boater education programs. 6. Riverfront Park Opportunities: Conversations continue with the Valley Soil and Water Conservation District as additional Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) 319 funds become available. Staff will continue to lay the ground work to capitalize on these funds as they are available to further mitigate river shoreline erosion concerns. 7. Waterfront Improvements North of the Marina & Brown Park: Staff is working on an alternative to the University of Idaho’s School of business for the feasibility study on the event center boat house concept. Preliminary discussions with Humphries Poli Architects will take place on March 07 to discuss options and or recommendations for firms to assist with the feasibility study. Monthly Department Report – Parks & Recreation The University of Idaho Landscape Architecture class is well under way with design alternatives for Brown Park, North of the Marina, and Riverfront Park. Parks staff will attend preliminary design presentations on March 18 and provide feedback for the construction drawing phase of their project. Delta James, Economic Development Planner, helped the department submit Idaho Department Parks and Recreation (IDPR) Land & Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and Waterways Improvement Fund (WIF) grants to further fund site improvements and ADA accessibility on the water front from North of the Marina and throughout Brown Park. Grant awards will be determined in March. The McCall Urban Re-Development Agency voted to fund up to $125,000 in match funds with the IDPR WIF Grant for the non-motorized use area North of the Marina. Idaho Department of Lands (IDL) encroachment permits have been submitted. 8. Central Idaho Historic Museum Site: Kurt Wolf and Nathan Stewart, Public Works Director, attended the State Lands Board to present the storm water treatment facility proposed to be located on the Museum property. The project was approved without question. Staff continues to work with the museum board regarding the future of the site and museum operations. Staff has re-introduced the potential for the department to relocate to the museum site as plans are formalized with the new Library. These conversations are purely conceptual and so far, they have been very positive. Staff will continue to work with Public works on snow storage and parking agreements with St. Luke’s as construction progresses and the future of the site is more accurately defined. 9. Wooley Boardwalk Pathway Connection: A pre-construction meeting was held on March 06 and work to begin installing the Helical Piers could take place as early as March 08. It is the goal to get the piers installed while there is a significant snow floor to minimize impacts to the wetlands. Project schedule will largely depend on material availability however conservative estimates put it on track to be completed by early June and staff is still shooting for a ribbon cutting no later than June 30. Kurt Wolf and Eddie Heider, Parks Superintendent, will give the Spring Mountain Ranch Home Owner’s Association board of directors an update during their March 14 board meeting. Staff is preparing an ask for additional financial support to help offset the additional costs associated with the project.