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HomeMy WebLinkAboutJanuary 2020 Division ReportsJANUARY 2020 UPDATE Parks Planner and Development Manager  DEVELOPMENT REVIEW No meeting since last RPAB. Hoping to reschedule normal meeting time to 4th Thursdays  MASTER PLAN UPDATES No update  PARK IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS TOP Projects: Front Street Connector - Moving toward request for additional funding from TOP Committee and other potential funders with GVLT in January / February Application Received from Galla10 - Frontage Trail Project – Passed Step 1 “Rough Cut” review by TOP committee November 15; Step 2 review at next meeting Draft Application for Parks review/edit received from GVLT - City of Bozeman West Site Pathways and Trails Connection Project - Meeting with partners occurred on November 22nd (MSU, Western Transportation Institute, GVLT, Bozeman Public Schools, Public Works)  ENGAGEMENT, COMMUNICATION, AND PARTNERSHIPS Sports Park Foundation - Collaboration around a Cash-in-lieu of Parkland grant proposal with matching funds from the Bozeman Public Schools for sidewalks and pathways at the Sports Park. Expected as February RPAB item. MSU School of Architecture - Meeting regarding research assistant’s capacity and projects to undertake (with GVLT/COB) and projects for senior class  MISCELLANEOUS  UPCOMING Park-naming and Donor Recognition Policy - Discussion with City Commission moved to February; will come to RPAB in February Welcome to 2020 at the Swim Center! The first event for the New Year is the Dive-in movie on Sunday, January 5th. The Swim Center will be open from 9:30-11 am for lap swimming. The first showing of the Lion King is from 12-2 and the second showing is from 3-5. Tickets are available in advance at the Swim Center and at Story Mill Community Center. Tickets will also be available at the door Sunday at the Swim Center. Inner tubes will be provided! The Hawks will be hosting their annual Swim Meet on Saturday, January 11th. The Swim Center will be closed for the meet and will resume regular hours on Sundays, January 12th. Open boating begins Sunday, January 12th from 3:15-5:00 pm. Admission is $4 for adults and $3 for youth/seniors. Swimming is prohibited during open boating. Be sure to check the website at Bozeman.net/recreation to view and register for swim lessons. Thank you for being a part of our swim community. Happy New Year! Park Report January 2020  General park maintenance continues with daily duties which include: dog station maintenance, garbage collection, restrooms maintenance, keeping sidewalks, accesses and parking lots clear of snow.  We currently are working on two sheets of ice for the skaters, one is on the basketball court at Beall Park and the other is on the tennis courts up at Southside Park. It is not a coincidence that both these rinks are over an impervious surface, whereas the rinks that are made over the turf, haven’t been started yet due to lack of snow and the crazy warm temperatures!  I regret to inform the board that Tony Rich, the Sport’s Parks facility/field manager, has resigned. Tony’s commitment to the fields will be missed immensely. Many a day would see him out at the parks from dawn to dusk. His ability to rotate fields, to off-set the wear patterns were critical in the turf quality and playability. Recreation Division Update 01/6/2019 • We welcomed two new Recreation Division staff members recently! Vinny is a part time Recreation Leader who will help us plan and implement our preschool and your programs and Ashley will be teaching ice skating lessons for us this year! They are both great additions to our team. • This month we plan to move our pavilion reservations online! A lot of work from our admin team has gone into discussions with Sportsmans (our recreation software company) to make this happen. We are excited about the convenience pavilion reservations online will provide the community as well as our staff. • The Recreation Facilities were heavily used during the months of November and December (72 rentals outside of our regularly scheduled programs) for holiday parties and events. Facility reservations take a significant amount of admin and recreation staff time to manage and unfortunately, we have seen an increase in the number of groups that are not leaving the buildings clean after their events. Recreation Leaders are responsible for cleaning when groups leave a mess and we hold money from deposits when necessary. • We have been invited to have a booth at the Bozeman School District’s health fair again this year. The fair will be held January 27th and 28th at the Willison School gym and is open to district employees and their families. It is a great opportunity for us to spread the word about upcoming programs share information about our department in general. • I (Jamie Saitta) along with our Facilities Superintendent, Mike Gray met with Todd Swinehart, Director of Facilities for the Bozeman School District, to tour the new high school gymnasium and learn more about the wood floor that is currently being installed there. We gained valuable information that will help us prepare for the floor replacement at the Story Mill Community Center when the time comes. We have requested money in the Recreation CIP in FY22 for that project. • Summer program planning is underway! Our spring and summer guide is due this month and will be in the summer camp issue of Montana Parent Magazine on March 1st. • We have started working on spring and summer park user group agreements which are a crucial part of our spring and summer planning in Recreation. • January Program Updates o Preschool (ages 2-5yr)  Our Story Mill Sprouts weekly preschool program will be moved to Wednesday and Fridays starting in January. The theme for the month is “bookworms” and we currently have 13 children registered. o A “Great Mistakes in Science” full day camp on January 3rd for Kindergarten- fifth graders kicked off this month’s programs. Two more School’s Out Camps will be offered this month, “Best in Snow” on January 20th and “Disco Party” on January 27th, both camps are full with waitlists of kids wanting to participate! o Ice skating lessons were scheduled to start this week and run through the month of January but have been postponed until the rinks open. Lessons are offered to 4-6 year olds and 7-9 year olds on Tuesday and Thursday afternoon and evenings at the Southside rink, weather permitting. o The Friends of the Avalanche Center will host a Women’s Specific Awareness and Beacons course at the Story Mill Community Center on Tuesday, January 7th. Snow depths have not allowed us to install our beacon park which will be in Beall Park when we get the depth we need. o We are teaming up with A4Art (Advocates for Visual Arts Education) and the Friends of the Story Mansion to offer a free art program to children ages 5- 12 years (and an adult partner) on January 25th at the Story Mansion. The title is “Our Town: A Community Panoramic Collage” and topics will include, “what is quality visual arts education?” “What makes architecture art?” and “What’s a neighborhood?” Two sessions are available and are each are limited to 20 participants. Registration is required on the Parks and Recreation Department website. o Registration is going on now on our website for our annual (and very popular) Father Daughter Dance which will take place on February 7th at the Story Mill Community Center. o The Pickin’ in the Park community bluegrass jam happens every Wednesday night at the Story Mansion and is led by dedicated volunteers. The first Wednesday of the month is a fiddle jam at 6:30pm (prior to the open string jam which starts at 7:30pm), the second Wednesday is a beginner jam and the first, third, and fifth Wednesday is a faster paced open jam. Open to anyone who wants to participate or just stop by to enjoy the music! o The winter session of our Active Aging Fitness programs offered to people ages 55+ starts on January 15th at the Story Mill Community Center. Senior Fitness Instructor, Cheryl Bartholomew, teaches the classes which include: Fusion 4 Function, Heart and Sole, and Fall Prevention and Mobility. Senior Fitness Assessments are also offered during the winter session by appointment.