Consent Calendar Item 4e
STAFF REPORT
City Council Consent Item
DATE: August 1, 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 June 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 6/1, due to no quorum, however LACO & Associates are continuing their effort on the Benefit Assessment for RCRPD. The second annual Pastels in the Park event was held at Newburg Park on Saturday, June 11 th
. There were 15 plots reserved and an estimated 60 people in attendance. The top-3 most creative plots were selected, where local prizes were gifted. The City would like to thank First 5 Humboldt for sponsoring the event again by purchasing the 24-color pastel kits for each participant, and the Fortuna Chamber of Commerce for donating funds to assist with the purchase of various prizes from local businesses for the winners. The Parks Dept. received 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 2022 for the potential development of a newly constructed park on a 7+ acre parcel located along the Eel River on Riverwalk Drive. A representative from California State Parks met with the Parks & Rec Director, City Manager, and consultants from LACO & Assoc., and asked various questions about the vision, logistics, and positive impacts that the new park would have on the community. Staff were informed that grant awards would be announced in August of 2022.
Parks & Facility Maintenance
Removed yellow jacket nest from behind Rohner Park cookshack Repaired water leak in rodeo men’s restrooms
Irrigation work was completed on the Main St. flower beds: proof check/adjust heads, repair blow-outs, and program system
Repaired plugged sink at Monday Club
Built a raised garden bed for Kiddie Kamp program
A large hazardous Monterey Pine tree was removed in the Rohner Park forest Consent Calendar Item 4e
Infield work was performed on both Newburg Park’s softball fields for adult league Prep for Pastels in the Park by edging soccer field swale and chalking out 25 10x10 plots Installed bike hooks in garage for camp bike fleet storage Hazardous branch removal performed in Rohner Park
Mesh sun screen installed on Softball #1 at Newburg Park Weed whipping under & around bleachers at Conroy Field including bleacher repairs Bleacher repair was completed on Softball #2
Weed abatement measures were performed at projects: Newburg bike park, the POD, River Lodge landscaped areas (except for the river side garden), N street parking lot, Fortuna Boulevard edges, trees, and valve boxes
45 bags of wood chips were delivered for Fortuna Garden Club Installed fencing panels around the Rec Hall to protect, contain the Kiddie Kampers Prepped and cleaned up Conroy Field grounds for Little League all-stars tournament Rodeo grounds prep work was completed for Gymkhana event Lift work with Fire Dept. was performed to replace 2 rodeo arena lights Cleaned up graffiti in Rohner restroom ladies
Plumbing repairs completed in rodeo men’s restroom
Boulevard irrigation repairs and programming was completed from Kenmar triangle to Burger King median
Removed hazardous Cypress tree branch by Pavilion
A multitude of items were completed to prepare for the 3rd of July Fireworks event Weed pulling completed at River Lodge and LID basins at City Hall Repaired plumbing issues in the women’s restroom in rodeo grounds. Many hours of staff time were again spent to clean up graffiti in the parks throughout the month of June
Depot Museum
June’s visitation total at the Depot Museum was 271 people. Monthly visitor numbers remain lower than in pre-COVID years, with visitation also being impacted by factors such as the current high gasoline prices. In addition, this year (as in 2021) we are again opening Wednesday through Sunday for the summer months, rather than being open 7 days a week in June, July and August.
Recent years’ June visitation totals were: 2021: 178, 2020: closed, 2019: 447, 2018: 527, 2017:
532, 2016: 575, 2015: 649, 2014: 711, 2013: 646, 2012: 503, 2011: 629.
In June 2022, we welcomed California visitors from Anderson, Bakersfield, Buellton, Discovery Bay, Eureka, Garberville, Georgetown, Ferndale, Fortuna, Foster City, Loleta, McKinleyville, Orangevale, Orland, Rio Dell, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Barbara and Ukiah. We also welcomed out-of-state visitors from Colorado, Hawaii, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington, as well as overseas visitors from Kiel in Germany. In early June we installed an exhibit on the Fortuna Union High School graduating class of 1922 (100 years ago), featuring scans from the 1922 Megaphone yearbook, an alumna’s scrapbook including tickets and student body dance programs from 1922, and an early 20th-century Fortuna High School athletic pennant.
A local history video in the “Humboldt Outdoors” series titled “Jack London in Humboldt,” featuring a visit to Rohner Park and the Depot Museum and an interview with Depot Museum curator Alex Service, began playing on Access Humboldt in June, and is also viewable here:
https://youtu.be/j4yZwg0OV_0
Consent Calendar Item 4e
Fortuna Transit
Passengers on the Fortuna Transit Bus totaled 607 trips during the month of June 2022. The lift was used for non-wheelchair riders 45 times and 57 times for wheelchair trips. The Fortuna Transit had nine new riders during the month of June. The Eureka medical trips on Tuesdays have been going well averaging around 3-5 riders.
Sports, Classes and Facility Rentals
Adult league softball started on June 13th, we have sixteen teams playing Monday – Thursday nights at Newburg Park. Results Fit Camp continues holding classes in the Pavilion, Little league continues with games in Rohner Park. Rohner Rec Hall was used nine times during the month of June and the picnic area was used six times.
Skating Rink
The Fortuna Skating Rink operated Public Skate Friday & Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons for the first two weekends in June, and only on Saturdays & Sundays for the latter half of the month. The theme-day in June was Tacky-Tourist & took place on Friday the 10th. Friday the 10th was also the last Friday Public Skate until our summer camp programs end in August, due to facility use overlap and staff availability. Adult Night continued as an ongoing event the last Saturday of the month. Over the course of the month the skating rink hosted 15 private parties with 383 attendees, and in addition to the 612 skaters that attended public skate, hosted an overall total of 995 skaters in the month of June.
Recreation Programs
Drop-in volleyball on Sunday evenings continued throughout June, with attendance averaging around eight players per night. Drop-in basketball will resume in the fall.
Much of the first two weeks of June were spent preparing for the start of our summer youth day camp programs, Kiddie Kamp and Summer Fun, including three full days of leadership & safety trainings for camp staff. Camps opened for the summer on Monday June 13th with a total of 63 children registered for Kiddie Kamp and 91 children registered for Summer Fun. We have three participants in our Leaders In Training (L.I.T.) program this summer, ranging in age from 13 – 15, who are assisting Camp Leaders with activities while learning and developing their own leadership skills. We also have a volunteer working with both camps through the Reaching For Independence program who assists leaders with facilitating crafts and activities. Our Summer Fun program had June 2021 June 2022 YTD ~ July 2020 – June
2021
YTD ~ July 2021 – June
2022
# of passengers 794 607 7444 6545
Total Miles 2462 2003 22481 21100
Service Miles 2280 1844 20834 19199
Hours Worked 309.75 266.25 2608.75 2680.00
Service Hours
Worked 269 227.75 2220.25 2255.25
Consent Calendar Item 4e
a local forester volunteer as a special guest in June to lead an activity with our campers and teach them about his work in forestry. Over the course of the month, we had a cumulative total of 206.5 volunteer hours with our camps.
A playgroup facilitator was hired in June for our new First 5 Humboldt new playgroup for kids ages 0-5 and their caregivers. Opening is planned for the first week of August.
Community Service
The Parks & Recreation Department had 5 people signed up to perform Community Service, and workers completed 62.75 hours in the month of June. 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 52,855.25 service hours completed in the throughout the City of Fortuna.
RECOMMENDED COUNCIL ACTION:
Receive Parks & Recreation Department Monthly Report. Consent Agenda vote.