Consent Item 3ea
STAFF REPORT
City Council Consent Item
DATE: December 18, 2023
TO: Honorable Mayor and Council Members
FROM: Merritt Perry, City Manager
THROUGH: Merritt Perry, City Manager
SUBJECT: Parks & Recreation Monthly Report for November 2023 STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
Receive report as an informational item.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Parks & Facility Maintenance (non-routine items)
Repaired broken spindles at the Monday Club
Trimmed the Dawn Redwood Tree at the Rec Hall
Cleaned the walkways that cut through the median on Fortuna Blvd Replaced burned out lights in the Pavilion
Put up Christmas lights at the River Lodge
Cleaned the gutters at the Monday Club
Repaired the drinking fountain at the River Lodge
Trained the rec staff on skate wheel cleaning
Removed the soccer goals and benches from the Newburg Fields Turf repairs at Newburg Park
Cleaned the gutters on the Pavilion
Removed graffiti behind the dugout on Bartow Field
Replaced bad light bulbs at the Monday Club
Sprayed Fortuna Boulevard edges
Removed the picnic tables from the covered picnic area for the winter Depot Museum
November’s visitor total at the Fortuna Depot Museum was 183 people. This is in the middle range of our typical October visitation. Recent years’ October visitation totals were: 2022: 228, 2021:
133, 2020: 92, 2019: 200, 2018: 253, 2017: 206, 2016: 160, 2015: 309, 2014: 197, 2013: 227. In November 2023 we welcomed California visitors from Arcata, Chula Vista, Cottonwood, Eureka, Ferndale, Fortuna, Los Angeles, McKinleyville, Miranda, Monterey, Redding, Rio Dell, Sacramento, Santa Rosa, Shingle Springs and Windsor. We also welcomed out-of-state visitors from South Carolina.
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Fortuna Transit
Passengers on the Fortuna Transit Bus totaled 833 trips during November 2023 which is 190 more riders than November 2022. Again, job well done to my drivers and dispatch!! The lift was used for non-wheelchair riders 41 times and 30 times for wheelchair trips. The Fortuna Transit had seven new riders during November. The Eureka medical trips on Tuesdays have been going well averaging around 4-6 medical appointments per week.
Sports, Classes and Facility Rentals
Results Fit Camp continues holding classes in the Pavilion six times a week, Pickleball plays in the Pavilion on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9 am – 12 pm the cost is $3.00 and is open to anyone 18 years of age or older. Rohner Rec Hall was rented eight times during November.
Recreation Programs
The Recreation division spent much of early November planning, developing, and implementing our Thanksgiving Break Camp for kids 5-12 years old. We had 35 children registered for the 3- day program. Unfortunately, due to changes in how the Fortuna Elementary School District is applying for their ELOP grant funding, we were unable to offer that option to camp families, however, we were able to continue offering ELOP funding for Scotia’s Elementary School District families and had several new-to-us families utilizing our program during this break program.
Planning also began on our Winter Break Camp program that takes place at the end of December.
Starting with Winter Break Camp we are happy to offer ELOP grant funding to families attending a Southern Trinity Joint Unified School District school. Through their grant funding, they are also offering a school staff who will be volunteering for the Winter Break camp session as well.
Drop-in volleyball continued through the month. Both sessions are facilitated by volunteers who organize teams and gameplay while staff manage payments, waivers, and facility care. Attendance at the youth session for ages 10-14 ranged from 12-20 players each night, while attendance at the 15+ session ranged from 6-16 players. Volunteer hours for volleyball totaled 18 for the month.
Drop-in basketball opened at the end of the month, and will run through the winter & early spring on Thursday nights from 7:30 – 9:30 pm. Our first night only had one participant show up November
2022
November
2023
YTD ~ July 2022 –
June 2023
YTD ~ July 2023 –
June 2024
# of passengers 663 833 7713 3169
Total Miles 2180 2533 24885 9194
Service Miles 2013 2357 22710 8638
Hours Worked 281.25 317.5 3183.5 1164.5
Service Hours
Worked 241.75 317.5 2671 945.5
Consent Item 3ea
and the staff closed early, however, the participant was excited to bring back his friends to play the following week. We are implementing a new digital waiver system for our drop-in programs, beginning with basketball and with plans to phase it in with volleyball at the start of the new calendar year.
Our playgroup for kids ages 0-5 and their caregivers, in partnership with First 5 Humboldt, took place on Thursdays from 10:30 am – 12:30 pm. Attendance ranged from 4-29 children at each session, with a special visit on the 16th of the month from the Fortuna Volunteer Fire Department. Firefighters gave a presentation to the families about their job and fire safety, and children got to meet & high-five a fully-suited firefighter (if they were comfortable). They also had the opportunity to check out the fire engine outside before departing the session. We appreciate the Fire Department’s efforts to connect with our playgroup families and share fire safety information with our littles. Families were extremely appreciative and children were excited for the visit, leading to our largest playgroup turn-out of 29 children. Playgroup was closed on Thursday, November 23rd for the Thanksgiving holiday.
Also in November coordination and planning began on the Kids Free Movie event taking place in December, an FBID event that is supported by our Recreation division. The event will take place on Saturday, December 9th, and provide local families an opportunity to drop their children ages 5 – 12 off in a safe and fun environment while spending a couple of hours shopping in Fortuna for the holidays. Recreation’s camp staff and community volunteers will be providing the child care.
Roller Skating
The Fortuna Skating Rink was open on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for public skating in addition to private parties. Starting in November Sunday party times were offered once again, with the transition to a single Playgroup session on Thursdays, except for the third Sunday of the month. With the winter high season upcoming and the plan to refinish our Pavilion floors in December, the decision was made to provide a dedicated skate maintenance and wheel cleaning session each month to ensure the equipment and facility are kept clean and in good condition, and so skate maintenance can better follow the manufacturer’s recommended maintenance schedule for longevity. This session includes 5 staff for 3.5 hours working on two-wheel cleaners simultaneously while the other staff works through safety checks on skate pairs. Staff are monitoring usage impacts closely to determine the efficacy of this schedule. This will significantly impact overall budgeted staff hours, and a plan is being worked on for how to manage the change to necessary increase in hours going forward.
The rink was closed for all skating on Friday, November 24th in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday. Through November, the skating rink hosted 15 private parties with 441 attendees, and in addition to the 474 skaters that attended public skating, hosted an overall total of 915 skaters over the month. Staff continue to use any time available during sessions with lower attendance to chip away at skate maintenance and repair rather than leaving early, to chip away at necessary safety checks and repairs before our winter increase in attendance numbers.
Part-Time Recreation Staff Hours YTD
Recreation utilized a total of 522.25 staff hours for the month of November.
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Projected vs. Actual Part-Time Rec Hours Notes
Running
Total
Running
Total
23-Jul 2250 2250 Jul-23 2,036.25 2036.25
23-
Aug 1210 3460 Aug23 1445.25 3481.5
23-
Sep 300 3760 Sep23 425.75 3907.25
TPAR Cashiering implementation (~75 hr
prep training materials, coor training, staff
training); all skate staff mtg (15 hr);
program training (sk – summer staff,
~20hr)
23-
Oct 550 4310 Oct23 523.25 4430.5 Added youth Vball session; +15-18hr prep/infrastructure; +9hr/mo 23-
Nov 530 4840 Nov23 522.25 4952.75
Starting monthly skate maint/clean
(+17.5hr/mo) & Drop-in Basketball; TPAR
struggles with credit card machine and
camp registration - required extensive
troubleshooting; New Dec event planning
(Kids Free Movie)
23-
Dec 520 5360 Dec23 -
24-
Jan 550 5910 Jan24 -
24-
Feb 460 6370 Feb24 -
24-
Mar 750 7120 Mar24 -
24-
Apr 560 7680 Apr24 -
24-
May 340 8020 May24 -
24-
Jun 1980 10000 Jun24
Total: 10,000 Total: 4952.75
Community Service
The Parks & Recreation Department had five people signed up to perform Community Service, and workers completed 52 hours throughout November. 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 53,594 service hours completed throughout the City of Fortuna.
RECOMMENDED COUNCIL ACTION:
Receive Monthly Parks & Recreation Department Report. Consent Agenda Vote.