The Wrangell Parks and Recreation Advisory Board held their monthly meeting last Wednesday, Feb. 13. Among various topics of discussion was the list of priorities for the department with the new year.
Parks and Recreation Director Kate Thomas lined out some of the priorities she felt needed the most attention. One is to increase the hours of the recreation coordinator position from 30 hours a week to 40. She also said she would like to hire a lifeguard to a permanent position to monitor evening swims at the community pool. This person needs to be a “competent, consistent, committed” lifeguard, she said. Along a similar line, Thomas said she would like to see a pay increase for lifeguards. She said that, compared to the rest of Alaska, Wrangell was on the low end of lifeguard wages.
“I don’t know how feasible it will be to obtain that person, and retain them, if there’s not some wage, or benefit, or award to it,” Thomas said. “It’s not an easy role, always. It does require some aquatics training and certifications, and an ability to teach swim lessons.”
Other priorities for the 2019 budget included replacing some of the department’s equipment, such as lawn mowers, expanding summer staffing positions, increasing the repair budget, and looking into painting the front of the community pool. This was only a discussion item on the board’s agenda, so no action was taken.
The advisory board also discussed the upcoming Helping Our Parks (HOP) project. The parks and rec department is seeking community support and involvement in a beautification project of Volunteer Park, located next to Evergreen Elementary School. The HOP project is still in its planning stages, but the department is hoping to hold the event in the early spring. However, the board will be looking for financial and material donations for the project, as well as volunteers to come out and help. The board reviewed a tentative list of tasks they hope to accomplish with the project. These include scraping and repainting buildings and bleachers, repairing broken sections of fencing around the baseball fields, fixing guardrails and gutters, and scraping the tennis and volleyball courts of vegetation. The board also reviewed a draft of a letter to the public they plan to send out soon, asking for support, as well as a list of preparation work that needs to be completed before the project can begin.
The board agreed to continue to workshop the list of tasks, and to have it ready by the end of the month. They also discussed hosting other events to raise support, such as a fish fry and a fun run. Again, this was only a discussion item on their agenda, so no action was taken. Other items covered in the meeting include approval of the department’s membership purchasing policy, and a discussion of how best to recognize and thank volunteers.
Reader Comments(0)