Consent Calendar Item 4e
STAFF REPORT
City Council Consent Calendar Agenda Item
DATE: February 22, 2022
TO: Honorable Mayor and Council Members
FROM: Cameron Mull, Director of Parks & Recreation
THROUGH: Merritt Perry, City Manager
SUBJECT: Parks & Recreation Monthly Report for January 2022 STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
Receive report as an informational item.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Director’s Report
Planning is underway for the development of the newly acquired 8.4-acre parcel for a Newburg Park expansion. A new conceptual design will be generated by a landscape architect that may include phase 1 plans for grading of open fields, proper drainage & runoff, possible parking area, and trails (with assistance from the California Conservation Corps). This process will give the City an updated Master Plan for Newburg Park to include recreational features that Fortuna citizens requested from public outreach that was performed in 2019. Consultants are also reviewing the topographic layout of the new acreage for optimizing the future planning of the open space so it can be utilized by the public as soon as possible.
Two grants were submitted on January 20th to California State Parks for the same project, which would be the development of a possible 7+ acre river front park situated between Riverwalk Drive and the Eel River. One grant was submitted by the City for the Proposition 68 Rural Recreation and Tourism (RRT) grant, and another on behalf of the Rohner Community Recreation and Park District (RCRPD) for the Regional Park Program (RPP).
If awarded the $2.8 million requested (each grant), the project would include a plaza/event area, playground, art & interpretive area, fenced dog park, paved ADA accessible trails, bathrooms, and river overlooks.
The regularly scheduled RCRPD monthly meeting was held on 1/5, in which a proposal and scope of work was reviewed by a consultant for a Benefit Assessment District (BAD) process, which will be funded by Measure E. The desire is to complete the BAD in conjunction with identifying a funding source to construct an aquatic facility in Fortuna, in which the BAD could fund the operation and maintenance of said facility, once constructed & if passed by voters/ parcel owners within the RCRPD boundary. Further grant opportunities were discussed for construction of the aquatic facility, since the RCRPD was not awarded a Prop 68 Statewide Park Program (SPP) grant for an $8.3 million facility project.
Consent Calendar Item 4e
Parks & Facility Maintenance
All holiday decorations at the Depot Museum and River Lodge were removed and placed back into storage
Broken soap dispensers were replaced and others re-installed after multiple vandalism incidences in all public bathrooms
The projector screen in the Steelhead Room at the River Lodge was repaired after malfunctioning
Prep work was completed at the Rohner Park cookshack, horseshoe/bocce court restrooms, and Newburg Park restrooms for a new application of a floor epoxy Priming and painting of the new floor epoxy was completed at the Rohner Park cookshack, horseshoe/bocce court restrooms, and Newburg Park restrooms New spindles on the Monday Club front porch were replaced due to damage, as well as replacement of all burned-out entry stairwell bulbs
Herbicide was applied at the Newburg Park Bike Park to inhibit growth, damage to the blacktop surfacing
Herbicide was applied on the Fortuna Blvd medians around all valve boxes, sign posts, trees, curb edges, and curb and gutter seams
With dry weather, infield work was performed at both of Newburg Park’s softball fields Prep work was completed for the start of the Hot Shots basketball program. This included safety inspections on the feet on 100 chairs for the Firemen’s Pavilion floor, and proofchecking the moveable and drop down hoops hardware and straps Depot Museum
January’s visitation total at the Fortuna Depot Museum was 128 people. By comparison, recent years’ January visitation totals (pre-COVID) were: 2020: 159, 2019: 194, 2018: 153, 2017: 150, 2016: 184, 2015: 251, 2014: 198, 2013: 194, 2012: 213, 2011: 230, 2010: 160. In January 2021, we welcomed California visitors from Eureka, Ferndale, Fortuna, McKinleyville, Oakhurst and Rio Dell, as well as out-of-state visitors from Nevada, Oregon and Wisconsin.
Fortuna Transit
Passengers on the Fortuna Transit Bus totaled 613 trips during the month of January 2022. The lift was used for non-wheelchair riders 61 times and 50 times for wheelchair trips. The Fortuna Transit had 6 new riders during the month of January. The Eureka medical trips on Tuesdays have been going well averaging around 3-5 riders.
January 2021 January 2022 YTD ~ July 2020 – June
2021
YTD ~ July 2021 –
January 2022
# of passengers 525 613 7444 4693
Total Miles 1452 1757 22481 15507
Service Miles 1357 1638 20834 14004
Hours Worked 165 209.5 2608.75 2009.5
Service Hours
Worked 140.75 179 2220.25 1672.25
Consent Calendar Item 4e
Sports, Classes and Facility Rentals
Results Fit Camp continues holding classes in the Pavilion, the cook shack/picnic area was rented 2 times and the Rohner Rec Hall was used 10 times during the month of December. Redwood Prep School continues basketball practices in the Pavilion.
Hot Shots Youth Basketball sign-ups ended Dec 30th with 362 youth signed up and 42 volunteer coaches. There are 16 Kindergarten – 2
nd grade boy’s teams, 8 Kindergarten – 2nd grade girl’s teams, 8 3rd/4th grade girl’s teams and 10 3rd/4th boy’s teams. This count is the largest registration enrollment in the program’s history.
Skating Rink
The Fortuna Skating Rink continues to operate Public Skate Friday & Saturday nights, as well as Sunday afternoons. Private parties had limited availability in January, as the Pavilion was used for Hot Shots Skills & Drills Clinics on Saturday mornings. The rink was closed for skating on the last Saturday of the month (1/29) as the Hot Shots youth basketball program had games scheduled in the facility all day. This will continue to be the case for Saturdays through March 5th. Over the course of the month, the skating rink hosted 13 private parties with 267 attendees, and in addition to the 967 skaters that attended public skate, hosted an overall total of 1,234 skaters in the month of January.
Recreation Programs
The Recreation Department spent much of January planning for the Hot Shots Youth Basketball program for youth in Kindergarten through 4th grade. Registration was open until the end of December, and by the time registration closed had a total of 362 children signed up. Skills & Drills Clinics for registered players were also planned and implemented for the first three Saturdays in January, to provide practice and skill development before games started on January 29th. There was a high turnout for all of the Skills & Drills Clinics, with approximately 40-80 kids per session.
Game play for the Hot Shots season began on the last Saturday of the month (1/29).
Drop-in volleyball on Sunday evenings continued throughout the month. Attendance ranged from 6 - 13 players per night. Our drop-in basketball program also continued throughout the month on Thursday evenings. Attendance ranged from 7 - 20 players per night.
January was also spent planning and developing the Presidents Week Break Camp, which will take place the third week of February, with registration to open up at the beginning of February.
Community Service
The Parks & Recreation Department had 4 people signed up to perform Community Service, and workers completed 10.5 hours in the month of December. The Community Service Work Program is a big part of the parks’ success. The workers help with trash pickup and various basic maintenance projects in Rohner and Newburg Parks, the River Lodge, and other Parks-maintained spaces throughout the City. Since the program started in 1997, there have been 52,548 service hours completed in the throughout the City of Fortuna.
RECOMMENDED COUNCIL ACTION:
Consent Calendar Item 4e
Receive Parks & Recreation Department Monthly Report. Consent Agenda vote.