06-01-2020 Park Commission Packet

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO PARK COMMISSION Monday, March 2nd, 2020 6:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 7 of 20 asked Mr. Burrell to reconcile the matter and asked for more detail such as when they would be there, what does it look like when they are there, are the boats on the lawn, is the equipment on the dock, etc. Mr. Burrell said the boats would be in the boathouse and people would gather a little early to practice. During the summer, they have two morning practices for the boys’ and girls’ youth program, and in the afternoon, there is one combined practice for the more experienced rowers. There are three early-morning practices for the adult program: one is Saturday morning; the other two are during the week. There are also two nights a week where adults are rowing, Mondays and Wednesdays. At practice, most of the activity is going on inside the building. Rowers get their oars and set them down by a spot by the launch dock along with possibly a water bottle, etc. If it is a four-person boat, four people would go back up and get their boat off the rack, walk it down, drop it in the water next to the dock, grab their oars, get in the boat, and they are off the dock and gone. It takes 15-20 minutes to get everybody off during a practice because multiple boats would be launched at one time. In an entire week, it is a short period of time that boats are being taken to the dock and launched. On the way back the same process happens: they get to the dock, come out, take off their oars, put them on the lawn, the boat goes back in, they go back and get their oars and put them away. After that, the activity would be going on inside the building. Roath asked how he would be impacted if he had his kids at the beach. Mr. Burrell said he would not be impacted because they would not be accessing the beach because they would be using a different route. Carter asked what they would do if they were not able to use Summit Beach Park. Mr. Burrell said he did not know at this point. They would have to continue to row out of Birch’s and explore other opportunities. They do not have solid Plan B’s at this point. He reminded everyone it is a volunteer club; they all work jobs and it is off-hours for them, so they only have so many hours to explore other options. This option presented itself, so this is the path they are going down right now. Carter asked if they would be interested in Summit Park if there wasn't a building. Mr. Burrell said that at this point he did not see why they would move if there was not a building. Ruegemer noted kids are not just at the beach, it is a park and they are everywhere in the park. She expressed concern about safety for others at the park when they walk their boats to and from the dock. Mr. Burrell said there are people around the fire pit, throwing bags, and other stuff at Birch’s when they launch. They are very careful about telling people that they are coming and to watch out for them. If people are out on the dock, they respectfully ask them to move. They do not get too crazy if people want to be on their dock. They are used to activity around them while getting off and on the water because they deal with it on a weekly basis. It’s basically all hands on deck in terms of keeping people safe. Berg asked if there are any thoughts on increasing hours if they get the building. Mr. Burrell said there are no plans to increase hours on the lake. The growth could come in the off-season by getting more people involved in winter training on rowing machines. Another potential growth area would be offering more community education classes during the week in the summer just to give people a taste of it. Just like any other club, they lose and gain members continually.