Consent Calendar Item 4e
STAFF REPORT
City Council Consent Item
DATE: June 21, 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 May 2022 STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
Receive report as an informational item.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Director’s Report
The regularly scheduled Rohner Community Recreation and Park District (RCRPD) monthly meeting was cancelled on 5/4, due to no quorum, however LACO & Associates are continuing their effort on the Benefit Assessment for RCRPD. Additionally, a meeting was held with the pool design consultant Counsilman-Hunsaker in May to discuss alternate aquatic facility designs with lower construction costs, with the goal of a lower additional parcel tax request when the Benefit Assessment goes to the ballot. The Parks Department removed all of the rubber tire chip surfacing material in both the Rohner Park 5-12 year-old playground, as well as the 2-5 year old/ Tot Lot playground.
The material was replaced with certified engineered playground fibers (wood chips specific to playgrounds). The 5-12 playground received a total of 400 cubic yards, with the Tot Lot receiving 200 cubic yards; giving more than adequate depth and material to prevent injury and last many years, and according to playground safety standards. Some of the rubber chip material was transferred over to Newburg Park for increased depth, which still has rubber chip surfacing, with future plans to also convert it to the playground fibers. The purpose of the replacement was to move away from a synthetic material that may get into our environment (i.e. creeks & storm drains), stains clothes and hands, and has generally broken down over time. This project was funded by Measure E’s “General Parks Improvements”.
The Parks Dept. was notified by CA State Parks of a site-visit on 6/6 related to the Prop 68 Rural Recreation and Tourism (RRT) competitive grant application/ project that the City applied for in January for the potential development of a new park on a 7+ acre parcel located along the Eel River on Riverwalk Drive.
Planning is underway for the upcoming “Pastels in the Park” event, to be held on Saturday, June 11th at Newburg Park from 10am-12pm. It will be the second year of the event, with the event again sponsored by First 5 Humboldt.
Consent Calendar Item 4e
Parks & Facility Maintenance
Two exterior LED fixture ballasts were replaced at the Fortuna Library All park garbage can lids were cleaned/ power washed
All bad sink faucet handles in Rohner and Newburg public restrooms were replaced All urinal cartridges were refilled at Newburg Park
Graffiti was painted over in the rodeo ticket booths
After cracked windows were replaced at the Depot Museum due to the recent earthquake, all window trim was repainted to match
Two new smoke alarms were installed in the Pavilion game room Multiple 14-foot picnic tables in Rohner were repaired Weed pulling was performed at the landscaped area on Rohnerville Rd. between PG&E and Senestraro
Weed pulling at was performed at City parking lot and in LID basins Weed pulling was performed at the River Lodge landscaping Deep cleaning was completed in the Pavilion behind the arcade games A new lower composite border was installed on the Rohner Park Tot Lot fencing in preparation for the installation of new playground chips, in order to keep the material in All rubber playground chips from the Rohner Park 5 to 12 playground were removed, new geotextile cloth/ weed mat was installed, then 400 cubic yds of playground fibers was reinstalled
All rubber playground chips from the Rohner Park 2 to 5 Tot Lot playground were removed, then reinstalled new geotextile cloth/ weed mat. Reinstalled 200 cubic yds of playground fibers.
Relocated 30 cubic yds of green rubber playground chip material to the Newburg Park playground to use in areas around the equipment for improved safety, depth A new bench donated by East High was installed at the Monday Club front porch Installed the high school graduating Senior signs on Fortuna Blvd. Repair Leaking plumbing on the ADA stall at Newburg ladies restroom Many hours of staff time was used to clean up graffiti in the parks throughout the month of May
Depot Museum
May’s visitation total at the Fortuna Depot Museum was 166 people. This is noticeably lower than our typical pre-COVID May visitor totals, due to the fact that since COVID, few school groups have visited the museum. Recent years’ May visitation totals were: 2021: 115, 2020: closed, 2019:
303, 2018: 288, 2017: 310, 2016: 243, 2015: 258, 2014: 281, 2013: 396, 2012: 358, 2011: 338. In May 2022, we welcomed California visitors from Arcata, Bayside, Berkeley, Eureka, Fort Bragg, Fortuna, Loleta, McKinleyville, Richmond, Rio Dell, San Jose, Santa Rosa, Scotia and Whittier, as well as out-of-state visitors from Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Ohio and Utah. On May 26, eleven members of the Native Daughters of the Golden West toured the museum with Susan Collins, NDGW district president, to view the exhibit which local parlor members installed in the front room of the Depot Museum honoring NDGW Reichling Parlor #97’s 125th anniversary.
Consent Calendar Item 4e
Fortuna Transit
Passengers on the Fortuna Transit Bus totaled 561 trips during the month of May 2022. The lift was used for non-wheelchair riders 35 times and 34 times for wheelchair trips. The Fortuna Transit had 4 new riders during the month of May. The Eureka medical trips on Tuesdays have been going well averaging around 3-5 riders.
Sports, Classes and Facility Rentals
The managers meeting for adult league softball was held on May 24th and we have 16 teams signed up to play, the league starts June 13th. Results Fit Camp continues holding classes in the Pavilion, the Rohner Rec Hall was rented 13 times during the month of May and the picnic area was rented 6 times.
Skating Rink
The Fortuna Skating Rink operated Public Skate Friday & Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons in May. The theme-day in May was Pajama-palooza & took place on Sunday the 15th. Adult Night continued as an ongoing event the last Saturday of the month. Over the course of the month the skating rink hosted 20 private parties with 389 attendees, and in addition to the 1154 skaters that attended public skate, hosted an overall total of 1543 skaters in the month of May.
Recreation Programs
Drop-in volleyball on Sunday evenings continued throughout May, except for the last weekend (5/29) when it was closed for Memorial Day weekend. Attendance ranged from 6 - 12 players per night. Our Thursday night drop-in basketball program was open for the first 2 weeks of May, but due to low attendance (averaging less than 5 people per night) was postponed starting Thursday May 19th. With warm summer weather on the horizon, we anticipate reopening drop-in basketball in the fall, as weather cools and the community returns to more indoor-based recreation.
At the beginning of May registration opened to the public for our summer youth day camp programs – Kiddie Kamp for ages 4-6 and Summer Fun for ages 7-12. Over the course of the month, there were 151 children that registered for camp, and it was necessary to close registration and begin a waitlist on Tuesday May 31st due to facility and staffing capacity. A great deal of planning and preparation took place over the course of the month, including planning theme weeks & associated activities as well as field trips & special guest visitors. We had two waves of interviews & hiring that resulted in the hiring of 12 new Camp Leaders. We also had 5 new May 2021 May 2022 YTD ~ July 2020 – June
2021
YTD ~ July 2021 – June
2022
# of passengers 747 561 7444 6545
Total Miles 2300 1782 22481 21100
Service Miles 2108 1667 20834 19199
Hours Worked 272 237.25 2608.75 2680.00
Service Hours
Worked 235.75 188 2220.25 2255.25
Consent Calendar Item 4e
applications for our Leaders In Training (L.I.T.) Program for this summer, where young teens ages 13+ volunteer to assist Camp Leaders with camp activities while learning and developing leadership skills.
Coordination and planning continued with First 5 Humboldt on a new playgroup for kid’s ages 0- 5 and their caregivers. Planning and development of the program has progressed well and supplies have all arrived. Opening was postponed temporarily while we continued to search for qualified staff.
Events
Our sold-out Paint & Sip event took place Thursday May 12th at the Monday Club with artist Ken Nunes, who volunteered 6 hours of event and prep time.
Fortuna’s inaugural Bike Rodeo event took place Saturday May 14th at Newburg Park, with a total of 85 children and their families participating in the event. Geared toward youth ages 5-12, the event brought together community groups and cycling advocates for a youth & family focused event designed to teach fundamental bicycle safety & skills. Sponsors included Humboldt County Department of Health & Human Services, Sport & Cycle Fortuna, and our local chapter of the California Conservation Corp. Local groups that joined us included Making Headway, Fortuna Volunteer Fire Department, Fortuna Library, Changing Tides & CalFresh, and Fortuna PD who sponsored a volunteer-run booth for free bike licensing. Stations included information on proper helmet and bike fitting, bike maintenance & safety checks (Sport & Cycle volunteer mechanic), important safety information and practices, an obstacle course, and a pedal-powered smoothie bike (supplied by DHHS). A number of community members came out to volunteer at the event, and combined with the volunteers that joined in from local organizations had a total of 90 volunteer hours for the event.
A “Journey Through The Parks” booklet was introduced for this year’s National Kids to Parks day (May 21st), with fun activities for local youth & families to complete at three Parks-related locations throughout Fortuna (Rohner Park, Newburg Park, and Riverwalk Trail near the River Lodge).
Community Service
The Parks & Recreation Department had 6 people signed up to perform Community Service, and workers completed 96.25 hours in the month of May. 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 52,792.5 service hours completed in the throughout the City of Fortuna.
RECOMMENDED COUNCIL ACTION:
Receive Parks & Recreation Department Monthly Report. Consent Agenda vote.