02-26-2024 CC Agenda Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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19 6.04 Parks and Trails 6.04.01 Park Usage • Sports Fields - The sports fields at Bederwood and Hackberry saw another busy year of use. The soccer field at Bederwood had over 180 reservations. The fields at hackberry were used heavily for t-ball and flag football. • Lurton Dog Park – The dog park continues to be one of the busiest Orono parks. 605 parking passes were purchased with more than half of the passes being sold to nonresidents. There was a slight decrease in parking passes in 2023. The parking pass rates were increased in 2023 due to high demand for the park. 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 Lurton Dog Park Passes 537 512 857 799 605 6.04.02 Parks Turf Maintenance and Improvements. 2023 was a great year for park maintenance. In addition to our full-time employees, we hired two interns to work with us this year. Our team focused on some deferred maintenance in the parks and we were thrilled with the results. • Playgrounds - Several of our playgrounds are surrounded by trees that have not been pruned and the canopy was growing into the equipment. The team raised the tree canopy which allows for more light and air flow. Many of the playgrounds were hidden by the canopy. The parks now have a much cleaner and open feel to them. All playgrounds were inspected for safety and pressure washed. This work was a great opportunity to add new mulch to the playground containers. • Continuing Education – This year, several staff members participated in training on playground equipment safety and were tested to receive their playground safety inspection certification. This certification will allow us to maintain city assets while also providing the highest level of safety for users of the equipment. The Parks Department staff are also trained and licensed as pesticide applicators. As licensed applicators, we continue to stay informed on regulations, safety, and environmental impacts. • Hackberry Park – This park saw one of the largest changes as the house that was in the center of the park was demolished for future expansion and use of the park. In addition to the removal of the house, many of the struggling Ash trees were removed due to the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB). The Parks Commission has worked hard on a new masterplan for Hackberry Park and we look forward to some exciting and beneficial changes in the future! • Crystal Bay Park – The parking lot between the post office and the playground had several large, overgrown Arborvitae trees that removed to allow for more sunlight and airflow into the park. The parks staff restored the area, seeded for grass, and planted several Dwarf Austrian Pines to create a break between the playground and the parking lot. Staff also took time to go through the landscape beds around post office building to clean up the aesthetics. 181