The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About2017 10.04 PRC MinutesCity of Apache Junction Parks and Recreation Commission 300 East Superstition Blvd. Apache Junction, Az. 85119 A regular meeting of the City of Apache Junction Parks and Recreation Commission was held October 4, 2017 at the Apache Junction City Hall pursuant to notice as prescribed by law. Present Theresa A. Nesser, Chairman Wayne Standage, Vice -Chairman Jesse Gage Frank Schoenbeck Absent Heather Moeller (Excused) Nancy Burgess Marit Runyon Staff Present: Liz Langenbach, Parks & Recreation Director Kelly Martin, Park Ranger Supervisor Mary March, Administrative Assistant CALL TO ORDER: Chairman Nesser called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. and led the Commission in the Pledge of Allegiance. ACCEPTANCE OF AGENDA: Vice Chairman Standage motioned to accept the agenda as presented. Frank Schoenbeck seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES: Vice -Chairman Standage motioned to accept the minutes of August 2, 2017 meeting as presented.Frank Schoenbeck seconded the motion, which motion passed unanimously. DIRECTOR'S REPORT: Liz Langenbach, updated the Commission on department activity as follows: Fit Families Mad Scientist Lab night was held September 22, 2017 from 6:30-8:30pm at the MGC. An estimated 200-250 individuals enjoyed over 80 different activities/experiments or displays. Our Youth Advisory Council also hosted a room.Program is well received by public and continues to grow and improve every year. Our annual Family Mud Run which is another popular event for the entire family to participate in, will be held Saturday, October 21, 2017. Families can come out and have a great time at a very reasonable registration fee of $10.00 per family member. Movies in the Park at Flatiron Community Park this summer regularly had 150-200 participants, evenings were still kind of hot. October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, CAAFA partners with our City every year to raise awareness in regards to all areas of abuse whether it be domestic, child, animal, ethnic etc_ Kickoff will be held at the City Hall Complex Park October 5, from 10am-5pm. Parks Division is very busy we are currently in the process of over seeding our parks. Starting with Flatiron Community Park so we will be ready for the Halloween Carnival's first year at this location. Facility over seeding is done on a rotating schedule as to make sure we have facilities available at all times and for the establishment of grass during a 6-8 week window of opportunity, weather wise. So when you see watering going at a park in the middle of the day, just be aware that we are establishing new grass at that facility. We have budgeted $177,000.00 for replacement of kooldecking at our community pool.This has not been done since the pool was renovated 15 years ago.We have some drainage issues that need to be addressed that we did not originally consider. So, we may have to consider doing as much as we can this year and budget for what remains the following budget year or hopefully not.We will advise accordingly. Vice Chairman Standage inquired on the life of the new product? Director Langenbach advised 20-25 years and this product has a better warranty and is more resilient.Also has options for minor maintenance to be scheduled every 3 years to keep decking like new. Royal Palm Road median has been a project for many years. The developer only partially improved the median. The homeowners inherited a partially irrigated median and approached the City to help.Parks Superintendent/Landscape Architect Nick Blake created a plan with real nice, low maintenance desert trees, which does not include palm trees. Friends of Apache Junction will be accepting donations and we will assist with improvements as funds become available. We will also be lighting trees at Flatiron Community Park as funds become available. Parks will be working on procuring shade structure for complex park playground this month. Our goal is to cover the majority of the play structures. The equipment at the park is fairly new and ADA accessible, with the installation of the shade structure this park will be done. Silver & Fit and Optimum Health are new third party providers of fitness plans. Each is contracted differently through different insurance providers. What we do know is we get paid, there is no out of pocket and it is more than if they have a membership. We will know more once we have had the chance to look over all the information.We will be presenting at the October 16th City Council meeting. OLD BUSINESS: None NEW BUSINESS: Department safety and security presentation. Liz Langenbach, advised the Commission that Park Ranger Supervisor/Department Safety Officer Kelly Martin will be presenting, leading discussion and answering any questions related to the city and more specifically our department safety and security program. Kelly Martin provided information related to full (36) and parttime (65)staff and statistics related to work related incidents and how they are managed. Of the 16 departmental work related injuries last year 3 resulted in restricted duty and 6 resulted in medical treatment. Southwest Risk really encourages opportunities to be provided to/for individuals. Our Safety Program/Binder has 41 sections dealing with safety and security, in three major categories: employees, facilities and patrons.We just recently created a respirator mask program, we are ahead of the game, not only with employees but also with our patrons. Employee safety programs include new employee orientation when hired, at MGC and Aquatics Center orientation is more specific to individualized operations. Aquatics staff have weekly trainings every Friday.Our pool maintenance staff are Certified Pool Operators, insuring safe chemical levels at our pool.All full time parks staff are certified herbicide applicators, Park Maintenance & Park Ranger Supervisors are certified playground safety inspectors.Online training for all office staff is assigned every year. Parks maintenance staff has monthly safety trainings with Public Works employees and utilize check lists for all equipment they operate.Park Rangers have PPE training on pepper spray, baton, etc_Monthly safety inspections are performed on park facilities addressing safety and maintenance issues, MGC has also been performing these for year with monthly follow up meetings. We have just completed installation of security cameras, which allows us up to 30 days of review, this is a vital safety tool in protecting all patrons. Walk through inspections are performed multiple times by staff, at all our special events.Every February, Southwest Risk conducts walk through inspections of all facilities, they are the experts.They provide us a list and we do the repairs. We have a budget just for safety issues, we take this very seriously. Our facilities are designed with safety in mind. We are intermeshed in the community as part of the City's Operation Plan & Emergency Action & Response Plan, the MGC would be a distribution center in case of severe emergency which also involves staff and emergency response training. Facility commercial use fees. Liz Langenbach advised the commission she would like to consider the opportunity to have commercial use fees, allowing for a big community event at one of our parks for example Flatiron Community Park, which was specifically design to enhance and invigorate the downtown area. Jesse Gage felt research from other communities would be very interesting. Liz Langenbach suggested maybe gear towards times when we have no programming at the facility? Call to Public: None Request by the Commission for placement of items on future agenda. Facility Commercial Use Fees; Dog Parks Adjournment: There being no further business Chairman Nesser adjourned the meeting at 7:15 p.m. op- Vice-Chaiffman