Department of Parks Director s Report Thursday, November 8, 2012

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1 HIGHLIGHTS Hurricane Sandy Montgomery County Snow Summit NRPA Congress recap 2012 PROS Plan Council Briefing ADA Settlement Major events in the parks Department of Parks Director s Report Thursday, November 8, 2012 TOP TOPICS Clean-up from Hurricane Sandy is nearly complete all parks and facilities have reopened. We had a good incident management plan in place. Some of the damage sustained included: (see photos at end of report) o The South Germantown Driving Range o Flooding at Rock Creek Regional Park (Lake Frank and Lake Needwood) o Loss of a picnic shelter at Rock Creek Regional Park o Loss of power at two park activity buildings o Minor damage to the Montgomery TennisPlex Several parks staff attended the County's Snow Summit last week where we saw predictive models for the snow expected this winter (from scientific to wooly caterpillars) and how decisions are made on priority routes for pushing and dumping snow. This is a coordinated and combined plan for all county agencies. The cooperation gets better every year and the county says its equipment and salt supplies are good. NRPA Congress recap: We are beginning to apply some of what we learned at the educational sessions to our operations. Although M-NCPPC was a finalist again for the prestigious Gold Medal Award, we are a five-time winner already, and being nominated is a high accomplishment. The 2012 award went to Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation in Charlotte, NC. We presented the 2012 PROS Plan to the County Council Planning, Housing and Economic Development committee today. The plan is available on our website and was recently selected (in combination with Vision 2030) for the National Capital Area Planning Association Award for an Outstanding Regional or Comprehensive Plan. I was asked to participate on a small team in a Maryland State Parks Advisory Committee meeting and strategy session held in Annapolis earlier this week. The state parks have suffered from severe budget cuts and wish to learn more about how we do business and identify alternate funding tools. We recently completed the first phase of accessibility audits covering 137 Parks throughout the Wheaton and Cabin John Management Areas, and submitted a Phase 1 Interim Transition Plan to the Department of Justice this past August (as required by the Settlement Agreement). Improvements to four of the DOJ-audited sites have been completed and submitted, with another four sites planned for construction during FY Contracts to complete the remaining phases of the Access Audits and Transition Plans are underway and work is expected to be completed ahead of schedule as provided in the Settlement Agreement. Improvements to the Montgomery Parks website and communications systems have been initiated and employee training programs are underway. The Department is also working with the consultants on policy reviews, public outreach efforts, and program review.

2 An ICC Environmental Stewardship project is underway at the Ag History Farm Park and adjacent stream valley parks. A total of 17,160 trees are being planted on 77.9 acres. Park Police are cooperating with Montgomery County Police investigating a reported sexual assault on Oct. 21 on the Capital Crescent Trail. A composite sketch of the suspect was released by county police this week. Park Police made four arrests in a stabbing incident at Winding Creek Local Park. Suspects were charged with attempted first degree murder, and it is believed the incident is related to gang activity. OTHER NEWS The Wheaton Sports Pavilion, the former Wheaton Outdoor Ice Rink, has been repainted, rewired, and repurposed by Parks staff, and is nearly ready to host indoor games on a "Nike Grind" surface made of recycled, ground-up tennis shoes. Responses to our RFP to license the North Four Corners Park Activity Building are due November 27. The site of a former vacant park house at Good Hope Road will now become part of the Upper Paint Branch Steam Valley Park / Special Protection Area, following demolition (pictured below before and after demolition). More than 250 people participated in Montgomery Parks 16 th Annual Emancipation Day celebrations last weekend, including a sold-out night hike on the Underground Railroad Trail with costumed reenactors. Other weekend activities included a reading of the Maryland Emancipation Announcement at Oakley Cabin and tours of Josiah Henson Special Park. Montgomery Parks Director Mary Bradford (pictured right) and Maryland State Senator Karen Montgomery with members of the Massachusetts 54 th Regiment Civil War Reenactors at The Emancipation Day celebration at Oakley Cabin.

3 Montgomery Park Police provided the Color Guard along with Prince George s Park Police, U.S. Park Police and Metropolitan Police Department for the Washington International Horse Show at the Verizon Center. Over 400 customers have registered for the second fall session of tennis. Over 100 people participated in golf clinics in September at South Germantown Driving Range. The Halloween skating sessions were attended by 460 people at both rinks for spooky and not-sospooky skating. The Halloween trains at Wheaton (and carousel) and Cabin John Regional Parks were also very successful with attendance of more than 11,400 people. Unfortunately the final four days were cancelled due to Hurricane Sandy. Locust Grove Nature Center was one of the drop-off sites for the Potomac Conservancy s Growing Native Program, where the public dropped off bags of native tree fruits for planting to restore streamside forests. Volunteer Services has facilitated multiple projects in recent weeks including trail maintenance projects at Cabin John Trail (Cabin John Regional Park), Fawn Trail (Blockhouse Point Conservation Park) and Seneca Creek Greenway Trail (Seneca Creek Stream Valley Unit #2). A group of 50 staff from Kaiser Permanente worked on trail maintenance and removing invasive plant projects at Meadowside Nature Center. Montgomery Parks participated in two recent successful programming partnerships: o An environmental education initiative hosted at Brookside Gardens with 30 industry leaders in the field, attended by 91 area teachers to learn about environmental literacy in the classroom. o Close Encounters with Agriculture program at the Ag. History Farm Park in which the Maryland Extension Service teach an estimated 2,500 MCPS 4 th graders about agriculture education. Recent Parks festivals / events: o Over 130 people attended the Nocturnal Festival at Locust Grove Nature Center o An estimated 430 came to Brookside Gardens for annual Fall Apple Festival o Over 100 people attended The King Barn Dairy MOOseum annual wine and cheese benefit o Over 1,000 people including 800 riders came out for the Montgomery County EPIC mountain bike event at South Germantown Rec. Park and throughout our park trails PARK PROJECTS REPORT The Seek Lane Neighborhood Park playground is open following construction projects completed at the end of October. The Go Ape course at Rock Creek Regional Park has fully reopened after recently completing repairs from the June Derecho storm, which caused the park to close for three weeks. The course has also been expanded over Beach Drive. A consultant team for the design phase of Kemp Mill Urban Park has been selected. The park redesign was approved by the Planning Board in Sept and will feature an expanded playground, renovated pond, enhanced accessibility features and public art. We are exploring short-term cleanup measures drainage and appearance are poor. Meadowbrook Stables is currently undergoing rehabilitation to replace rotten wood, repair window and doors and paint the exterior.

4 A ground source heat pump replacement has been completed at the Ag. History Farm House. Winterization efforts are underway (in some cases complete) including the winterization of the Woodstock Pond, and winterization of bathrooms and water fountains at various parks. The first phase of the Darby Store project involving the store s stabilization, relocation off the roadway, and rebuilding of the front porch is close to completion. STAFF NEWS & ACCOLADES: Montgomery Parks Foundation recently hired a new grants writer Nina Aplebaum. Montgomery Parks Forest Ecologist Carole Bergmann has been awarded the Greydon Tolson Forest Resource Conservation Award, given to an individual or organization that has demonstrated a great and significant commitment to advancing the science, education, technology, and/or practice of Forestry in Montgomery County. Park Police Detective Greg Worsey received the Non-Academy Instructor of the Year Award at the Public Safety Education and Training Center. Officers Joseph Guiffrida and Robert Labs transferred from the Prince George s County Division of the Maryland-National Capital Park Police to the Montgomery County Division. UPCOMING EVENTS: Nov. 9 & 11, MSF presents the ACC Men s Soccer Semi-Finals at South Germantown RP - SoccerPlex. Nov. 9, 1PM: Pre-proposal open house at North Four Corners Park Activity Building (RFP interest) November 10, 9:30AM-Noon: Community celebration and ribbon cutting for Darnestown Heritage Park Nov. 10, Mid-Atlantic Climbers & Access Fund Adopt-a-Crag event at Northwest Branch Stream Valley #3 Nov. 10, Morning stream clean-up at Turkey Branch Nov. 10, USTA 10-and-Under Tennis Tournament at Wheaton Tennis Nov. 11, Veteran s Day Skates at Cabin John Ice and Wheaton Ice Arena Nov. 11, 1 4:45PM: Locust Grove Cider Days at Locust Grove Nature Center Nov. 15, 8AM 5PM: Trees Matter Symposium at the Silver Spring Civic Center Nov. 15, 7:30 9:00PM: Greenbriar Local Park Community Meeting to review construction plans, Travilah Elementary School. Nov. 16, 6PM 8:30PM: Employee night at Garden of Lights at Brookside Gardens Nov am Montgomery County Thanksgiving Parade, Silver Spring (Parks supplying floats, trucks, and our Mounted Unit in support) Nov. 17, 5AM 8PM: MCRRC- Stone Mill 50 Miler at Riley s Lock through Greenway Trail Nov. 17, 10AM 1PM: Weed Warriors at Muddy Branch Greenway Trail Mary R. Bradford Director

5 Hurricane Sandy photos A Picnic shelter at Rock Creek Regional Park The Driving Range at South Germantown Recreational Park Lake Needwood Boathouse at Rock Creek Regional Park

6 Seneca Landing at Riley s Lock The Dam at Burnt Mills on Colesville Road in Silver Spring Beach Drive in Rock Creek Regional Park