Consent Item 4e
STAFF REPORT
City Council Consent Item
DATE: January 17, 2023
TO: Honorable Mayor and Council Members
FROM: Cameron Mull, Director of Parks & Recreation
THROUGH: Merritt Perry, City Manager
SUBJECT: Parks & Recreation Monthly Report for December 2022 STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
Receive report as an informational item.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Director’s Report
The 6.4 earthquake on 12/20 took its toll on a number of City-owned facilities and infrastructure. A majority of the damages were cosmetic (cracked walls, broken glass, debris, etc.) and required much clean up, however the Monday Club suffered a failed and unsafe/ hazardous chimney, deeming it to be red tagged. The chimney/ masonry removal began on 12/27 by Wendt Const. to eliminate the hazard in order to re-open the facility to the public for use as soon as possible. The Firemen’s Pavilion was made available to the American Red Cross, with assistance from the County’s Dept. of Health and Human Services (DHHS), to provide an overnight shelter to those citizens who were displaced due to damage. The Parks Dept. will likely be investing much time in labor and costs in the next few months to repair damages in order to bring back facilities to their previous state. The regularly scheduled Rohner Community Recreation and Park District (RCRPD) monthly meeting occurred on 12/7. Multiple pool designs with associated costs were discussed as the Board continues to identify ideal pool options best suited for public use.
Once the Board and City staff agree on the ideal pool option, the construction costs, annual operation and maintenance costs, and projected revenues will be calculated to provide the public with an annual per parcel cost through an engineer’s report (provided by LACO & Assoc.) for a future ballot/ Benefit Assessment. This calculation would also factor in a TBD donor contribution to offset a potential 30-year loan. Once this annual per parcel fee is determined, public outreach will be critical before taking the vote to the taxpayers within the RCRPD boundary for a successful (mail-in) ballot.
Parks & Facility Maintenance
The Depot Museum holiday decorations were installed for the season Wooden bleacher repairs were completed at Newburg Park The Rohner Park stage received wood/ carpentry repairs Consent Item 4e
The Depot Museum old growth redwood gutters (200 ft. each, donated by Rodeo Assoc.) and fascia boards were primed and painted
The Rohner Park men’s bathroom received an interior repaint due to previous arson damage
All park facility rain gutters were cleared of debris Eight new PVC downspouts at the Rohner Park cookshack & covered picnic area were painted to match
Hazardous tree limb removal was performed on the seven ash trees on the Fortuna Blvd. median at Redwood Way
Multiple park facility locations required pest/ ant control measures Another repaint had to be completed in the Rohner Park men’s bathroom due to graffiti The hedges along the Rodeo grounds in Rohner Park were trimmed The Rodeo grounds food booth breaker panel was labelled All park facility skylights were cleaned
Plumbing repairs were completed on the Rohner Park men’s bathroom urinals Redwood tree suckers around the Parks & Rec office and deep pit BBQ’s were removed The blackberry hedges along Park St. were trimmed back to the fence line Deteriorated window panes at the Monday Club we re-glazed The back patio, sidewalks, and ADA ramp at the Monday Club was power-washed The scissor-lift was used inside the Firemen’s Pavilion to replace bad light ballasts and fixtures
Redwood Empire Roofing replaced the z-flashing at the Firemen’s Pavilion exterior roof apex due to leaks
Leaf debris was cleared at all Main St. garden beds
Plumbing repairs were completed at the Newburg Park cooks shack sink basin City facility inspections were performed following the earthquake for damages A broken water line between the Rec Hall and Parks & Rec Office needed immediate repairs after the earthquake
The Firemen’s was prepped for the American Red Cross as a Disaster Relief Site Wendt Construction started the removal of the chimney at the Monday Club due to it being a major safety hazard; the building was red tagged until full removal can be completed A urinal at the City Hall men’s bathroom was repaired after leaking Leaks in the Firemen’s Pavilion shipping container in Rohner Park were patched A leak in the fire suppression system at the River Lodge was identified and scheduled for an inspection on 1/11/23
A trash & debris cleanup was performed along Rohner Creek in Rohner Park Sand and sand bags were acquired for citizens to prep for incoming storms/ inclement weather
Depot Museum
December’s visitation total at the Fortuna Depot Museum was 137 people. This is at the low end of our standard range for pre-COVID era December visitation totals. December totals in recent previous years were 2021: 95, 2020: 3 (museum open only on December 31), 2019: 146, 2018:
147, 2017: 233, 2016: 184, 2015: 98, 2014: 230, 2013: 165, 2012: 306. Our December 2022 visitors included a school trip of seven people from Fortuna Junior Academy. In December 2022, we welcomed California visitors from Arcata, Concord, Eureka, Ferndale, Fortuna, Rio Dell, Consent Item 4e
Rohnert Park, Sacramento and South Lake Tahoe. We also welcomed out-of-state visitors from Idaho, Nevada, Virginia and Washington, as well as a visitor from Manitoba, Canada.
Holiday season exhibits included a display of antique Christmas cards, sheet music and Christmasthemed books in the front room of the museum, a Santa Claus-themed tree in the third room and an exhibit in the fourth room of the museum titled “A Roaring Twenties Christmas.” The museum suffered encouragingly little damage in the 12/20/2022 earthquake. Nine windowpanes were cracked and will need to be replaced. (This is significantly fewer than in the 12/20/2021 earthquake, in which around 30 windowpanes were cracked.) One framed painting suffered minor damage, and four items from the museum collection were broken and cannot be repaired: three bottles and the chimney from a hurricane lamp.
Fortuna Transit
Passengers on the Fortuna Transit Bus totaled 639 trips during the month of December 2022. The lift was used for non-wheelchair riders 69 times and 52 times for wheelchair trips. The Fortuna Transit had 13 new riders during the month of December. The Eureka medical trips on Tuesdays have been going well averaging around three-six medical appointments per week.
Sports, Classes and Facility Rentals
Results Fit Camp continued holding classes in the Firemen’s Pavilion, and the Rohner Rec Hall was rented eight times during the month of December. Other Firemen’s Pavilion rentals included indoor soccer and local middle-school basketball practices.
Recreation Programs
December was spent planning, developing, and implementing the Winter Break Camp for kids aged 5-12 years old. There were 48 children registered for the 2-week program. Camp included two Library field trips for our younger campers for story time, as well as special guest visitors with the Arcata Playhouse Wagon who led theatre-arts themed activities.
Planning and sign-ups continued for the Hot Shots Youth Basketball program for youth in Kindergarten through 4th grade, with registration closing at the end of December at 307 players registered. Development continued on new coach & referee training procedures as well as preseason Skills & Drills clinic procedures.
December
2021
December
2022 July 2021 – June 2022 YTD ~ July 2022 –June 2023
# of passengers 620 639 7713 4049
Total Miles 1928 1883 24885 12590
Service Miles 1806 1739 22710 11585
Hours Worked 216 255.5 3183.5 1560
Service Hours
Worked 187 220.25 2671 1431.5
Consent Item 4e
Drop-in volleyball on Sunday evenings & drop-in basketball on Thursday evenings continued throughout December, with attendance ranging from five to ten players per night at volleyball & five to seven players per night at basketball. Both drop-in programs went on hiatus after the Dec. 20th earthquake, as the Pavilion was used a Red Cross emergency shelter for displaced community members through the end of the month.
The playgroup for children ages newborn to five and their caregivers, in partnership with First 5 Humboldt, also continued in December, and was closed for the last two weeks of the month while the facility was used as an emergency shelter following the Dec. 20th earthquake. The playgroup is open Thursdays and Sundays from 10:30am – 12:30pm, with attendance ranging from 3 – 18 children at each session in December.
Skating
The Fortuna Skating Rink was open for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday Public Skates for the first 3 weekends in December (closed the last two weekends for the Red Cross emergency shelter use).
Over the course of the month the skating rink hosted 12 private parties with 350 attendees, and in addition to the 487 skaters that attended public skate, hosted an overall total of 837 skaters in the month of
December.
Community Service
The Parks & Recreation Department had three people signed up to perform Community Service, and workers completed 25 hours throughout the months 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 Parksmaintained spaces throughout the City. Since the program started in 1997, there have been 53,168.75 service hours completed in the throughout the City of Fortuna.
RECOMMENDED COUNCIL ACTION:
Receive Parks & Recreation Department Monthly Report. Consent agenda vote.