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4.1. SR 03-17-2003MEMORANDUM TO: FROM: Mayor and City Council Michele McPherso irector of Planning DATE: March 17, 2003 SUBJECT: Park and Recreation Commission Update Item # 4. I. The only item of note from the Park and Recreation Commission meeting of March 12, 2003 is the volunteering by Commissioner Jackett to the Ice Arena Commission. The Ice Arena Commission includes one member of the Park and Recreation Commission as a member. Staff recommends that the City Council appoint Arthur Jackett to serve on behalf of the Park and Recreation Commission to the Ice Arena Commission. S:x, PI-SNN]NGMvlichele McPherson\CCREPRTS\3-17 P&R Update.doc TO: FROM: DATE: SUBJECT: MEMORANDUM Park and Recreation Commission Michele Bergh, Recreation Manager March 10, 2003 Recreation Department Update for March We have many programs and activities coming to an end and ones that are just beginning. Here are some updates on a few. ICE RINKS Handke Stadium · Open 12/27/02 to 2/17/03 · 4-9pm on school days · 1-gpm on weekends and non- school days · Average number of participants per shift- 50 · Total number of participants for the season - 2366 Lions Park · Open 12/27/02 to 2/2/03* · 4-9pm on school days · 1-9pm on weekends and non- school days · Average number of participants per shift- 10 · Total number of participants for the season - 733 *Many nights were very slow and with budget concerns, we closed early for the season at this site. The lights for the park were put on timers so this allowed those who wanted to skate/sled light until 9pm every night and picnic tables under the shelter were used for seating. FITNESS INSTRUCTOR TRAINING We provided a small training class for those interested in becoming a group fitness instructor in January. This opportunity also gave us additional staff for our U Pass program. We will be offering a group fitness certification program at the beginning of April with a nahonally known organization as well as a yoga certification program in May with another nationally known organization. Hosting these trainings allows us to certify our staff- some at no charge and some at a reduced fee and potentially links us to new staff people. FIRST AID AND CPR TRAINING In February, I provided first aid and CPR training and certification to approximately 24 city personnel. These trainings took place at Lions Park Center and each one lasted about 3 hours. GIRL POWER Our kickoff events in February were a success. We had 30 4~h and 5th grade girls and 40 2"d and 3rd grader girls attend each event. The girls did a variety of activities such as making their own journals, beading, yoga, helping with a meal, and small group conversations with specific topics that related to girls. We held another event in March, which had 35 girls participate between the ages of 2nd and 5th grade. This was an all day event on a non-school day. This event had three speakers who came in from the community who visited with the girls about their careers. The girls also helped with their meal, drew pictures of themselves and talked about what they liked about themselves, and more. We are looking forward to more events in the future. LIONS PARK CENTER The calendar has been full so far this year. We continue to take reservations and then fill in our programs around the public's use of the facility about two months prior to that timeframe. Recreation use accounts for approximately 70%. Other uses include the Lions Club, Downtown Rivers Edge Assoc., Cub Scouts, Girls Fastpitch Softball, the Senior Center, the Elk River Area Arts Alliance, and community residents. BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB We continue to plan activities at the Boys and Girls Club in addition to the Open Gyms we've been running since last fall. We have programs planned for spring and summer use and continue to look for staff and program ideas. They have been great to work with and we look forward to continuing to use this opportunity and parmering with the Boys and Girls Club on other things. OPEN GYMS Open Gyms will be ending this month. Attendance has been low this year and we will be looking at offering fewer opportunities next year, possibly just on Sunday afternoons. DONATIONS We want to thank the Lions Club for donating $500 towards our Entertainment in the Park this year, Crow River Rental for reducing the fees for their moonwalks for our summer family events, and the Bank of Elk River for a $100 Saving Bond to be given away at Safety Camp. SUMMER PLANNING AND BROCHURE Our brochure went to print on the 12th of this month. We have many of our traditional programs as well as some new ones. Our main summer programs in the park are expanding again this year. Last year we went from 3 half days to 3 full days and this year we will be going to 5 full days of offerings. Options are available for those needing daycare as well as those just wantng something fun and different for their children to do a couple of days a week. MEMORANDUM TO: Mayor and City Council FROM: Michele Bergh, Recreation Manager DATE: March 10, 2003 SUBJECT: Group Rates In January, we were approached by an Elk River organization interested in sending a group of teens on one of our outings. They weren't sure how to do this easily because of our residency requirements and wanted to know if we could offer a group rate. So we offered, on a trial basis, to allow them to take the registrations at the Elk River resident rate at their organization and then issue us one check for the total amount with a roster of participants prior to the event date. This helped us as it saves on administrative work, helps with the promotion of our programs, saves us on staff costs for youth programs where they are providing their own chaperones and potentially gives us more registrations. The trial run went well and, therefore, I am recommending the following policy be implemented: Policy Organizations with an Elk River address may sign up a group of participants for a program and receive the resident rate for all, regardless of where the participants live. A minimum of 10 registrations would be required to qualify and, for all youth programs, one chaperone for every 10 participants would need to be provided and paid for by the organization. Organizations would call our office and reserve the number of spots they would like in advance (based on availability). They would take their own registrations and payments. At least one week prior to the event, payment would be due in our office with a roster of participants.