Prcf 2014 15 annual report

parks, recreation and commercial facilities

2014/15 fiscal year

annual report

WHO WE ARE: John Giles Mayor

Dave Richins Councilmember District 1

ADMINISTRATION:

Marc Heirshberg - Director

Mike Holste – Assistant Director

Leslie Clark – Recreation Administrator

Andrea Moore – Planning and Operations Administrator

Erik Ostlund – Commercial Facilities Administrator

Tammy Davenport – Fiscal Analyst

Alex Finter

Councilmember District 2

Dennis Kavanaugh Vice Mayor District 3

Chris Glover

Councilmember District 4

David Luna

Councilmember District 5

ADVISORY GROUPS: Mayor, City Council & City Manager Mesa Operates under a charter form of government with citizen elections for the Mayor and six councilmembers who set policy for the City. The support and guidance set forth by City administrators gives the PRCF Department opportunities to grow and develop new and exciting places and programs for residents and visitors alike.

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D1 Kevin Thompson Councilmember District 6

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Chris Brady City Manager

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Parks Board The Parks Board is a citizen advisory group made up of volunteers who have a passion for parks. This bi-monthly meeting volunteer group advises the City Council on development and operations of parks, programs and issues faced by the department.

Board Members: Kent Buckley, John Duclos, Mark Yarbrough, Ron Wills (Chair), Jennifer Madsen (Vice Chair), Wayne Manske, Bert Millett, Kathleen Rahn, Josh Todd.

Foundation The Foundation for Mesa Parks and Recreation serves as a fundraising and support arm of the department. A 501c3 non-profit organization, this all volunteer support entity fosters good will and citizen engagement for park events, such as Celebrate Mesa, Mesa Sprint Triathlon, and Arbor Day activities. The Foundation works to enhance and support the parks and recreation programs in Mesa by providing scholarships and financial aid to programs to expand their reach to all citizens in Mesa.

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Delivery Performa: Number of Employees: FTE’s 209.4 (Full time 137, Part time/seasonal 463) Total Operating Budget: $34,122,920 Total Revenues Generated: $9,638,613 Total Expenses: $26,295,476 Capital Budget: $4,344,516 Capital Expenses: $1,035,580 Parks bond and general fund capital expenses: $17,024,732 Total Number of parks and open spaces: 199 Total acres: 2,389 Athletic Fields: 69 Playgrounds: 66 Aquatic Centers: 9 Community Centers: 5 Baseball Stadiums: 2 Golf Course: 1 Amphitheater and Convention Center: 1 Cemetery: 1 Grants & Donations: $68,384 Miles of trails: 4.55

Awards and Recognitions: CAPRA Accredited Agency for the 3rd year.

2015 NRPA Gold Medal Finalist Tree City USA Kaboom Playful City USA recognition Desert Trails Park – American Society of Landscape Architects’ Arizona Chapter 2015 Award for Park Design; and Arizona Parks & Recreation Association’s 2015 Award for Natural Resources.

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MISSION STATEMENT The Mesa Parks, Recreation and Commercial Facilities Department is committed to providing sustainable facilities and opportunities to enhance the quality of life and well-being of our community.

GOLD MEDAL VISION The Mesa PRCF is not just looking at what it can do today, but has a vision for the future. This vision encompasses several areas to guide and direct what we do and why we do it as we move forward. Falling under the three Pillars of Excellence developed by the National Recreation and Parks Association of Health and Wellness, Conservation and Social Equity, this Gold Medal vision guides progress in the following areas: • Provide urban forests, natural areas, and waters that endure and captivate.

• Deliver recreation that inspires personal growth, healthy lifestyles, and a sense of community.

• Create dynamic parks that shape city character and meet diverse community needs.

• Maintain safe place to play, celebrate, contemplate and recreate.

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Vision – Deliver recreation that inspires personal growth, healthy lifestyles, and a sense of community RECREATION CENTERS Jefferson and Webster Recreation Centers offer year-round recreational activities, clubs, classes and special events to the local community. These facilities partner with Jefferson and Webster Elementary Schools, and provided a safe place to play, celebrate, contemplate and recreate for more than 400 youth, resulting in over 226,000 visits to both centers this year.

Webster Recreation Center joined the Alliance for a Healthier Generation in the “Commit2Ten” Campaign. Staff and youth participants have committed to “Creating a Healthier America” by spending a minimum of 10 minutes in every program doing some type of physical activity.

Webster’s “Sports Zone” program used pedometers to track participant steps this summer, and overall they recorded a combined total of 3,373,400 steps, equating to walking a total of 1,175 miles.

Webster Recreation Center constructed a Butterfly Weigh Station, which is maintained by staff and youth participants. The project was a collaboration between Mesa Public Schools and Mesa Parks and Recreation, and teaches youth about the importance of nature and conservation.

Jefferson Recreation Center started a Penny Collecting Club, to teach youth about the history and value of coins, their values, and where they are minted. This is an innovative way to introduce youth to the art of collecting coins.

The Red Mountain Center offers group fitness and wellness classes, walking track, climbing wall, youth activity center, kids club, fitness center, gymnasium and special interest classes. The 65,000 sq. ft. facility opened in 1999, offers year-round activities and facility rentals for the community.

Red Mountain Center also houses two tenant partners: East Valley Adult Resources and Oakwood Creative Care. The Center provided a safe place to play, celebrate, contemplate and recreate for more than 4,000 membership pass holders. The total utilization of the center was 216,623 visits.

Red Mountain Center delivered recreation that inspired healthy lifestyles by offering 98 group fitness classes per week (5096 classes per year).

375 special interest classes were taught at the center this year with over 15,000 participant visits. Classes offered include: music, tumbling, literacy, language, preschool learning, communication, creativity, Lego building, movie making, code writing, cake decorating, film, photography, dance, hula, belly dance, soccer, baseball, karate, aikido, tai chi, hapkido and capoeira. Customers rating the center as Extremely Satisfied were: 96% in Customer Service, 92% in Cleanliness and 94% in Overall Satisfaction.

HEALTH & WELLNESS

HEALTH AND WELLNESS

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HEALTH & WELLNESS

ATHLETICS

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In 2014/2015 the department supported 21 Community Youth Group organizations that provided quality youth sports programming in Mesa.

The department provided 75 well maintained fields at 26 locations throughout the city serving over 6,000 youth.

City sponsored Youth Sports offered a new golf program in partnership with Dobson Ranch Golf Course; added a highly requested spring soccer league at Red Mountain Soccer complex; and served approximately 2,000 participants this year. Through the department’s Positive Play Project, City staff recruited and trained approximately 125 volunteer coaches for 106 soccer, flag football and basketball teams.

PRCF sports fields are a highly utilized commodity. This year Mesa played host to 98 tournaments serving 129,791 participants and 152,208 spectators. These tournaments and field rentals gained revenue of $500,881.

Athletic activities are not just for the young but also the young at heart, Adult Sports is a valuable part of the overall active participant picture. Over 830 adult teams participated in softball, senior softball, flag football, kickball and volleyball this year. These teams played 6,700 games, resulting in over 112,000 participant visits and 69,500 spectators at Mesa’s excellent sports field this year.

AQUATICS Mesa is a national leader in hosting competitive aquatic events at world class facilities. Skyline Aquatic Center was host, for the third year in a row, of the national and international Arena Pro Series Swimming competition. The four day meet was attended by US National team members, such as Katie Lidecki and Michael Phelps. An estimated 2,000-4,000 on-site spectators enjoyed the competition each day and was seen by millions both through internet streaming and NBC Universal Sports Network. Other notable events hosted at Mesa pools include: Speedo Arizona Invitational, Mesa Public Schools Craig Cummins Invitational, AIA State Swimming and Diving Championship Meet, and IM Xtreme Challenge Games.

Mesa’s Aquatic Centers also play host to the Citrus Classic collegiate winter training camp where teams from all over the US and Canada come for Mesa’s mild winter days to train in great outdoor facilities. This year Mesa hosted 17 collegiate teams over a 3 month span.

Skyline Aquatic Center is the preferred location for several triathlon races which welcome children and adults alike to participate in this

challenging multi discipline sport. This year Catching Cupid Sprint Triathlon, The Foundation for Mesa Parks and Recreation Sprint Triathlon and Tri Family Racings spring and fall races were all attended by thousands of racers and spectators.

All nine City of Mesa public pools offer learn to swim lessons during the spring, summer and fall months. Teaching water safety and aquatic fitness is an important part of the overall aquatics program. This year the summer swim team reached 93% capacity followed by 63% for dive, 73% for water polo and 54% for synchronized swimming. Overall lesson registration attained 91% capacity. Total registered for summer swim lessons was 9,700 individuals.

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Pools opened to the public Memorial Day weekend. Pass sales totaled 1,049 family passes and 736 individual passes. Total revenue generated was $142,568. Opening weekend discounts included 50% off family passes and 25 percent off individual passes. Overall pass sales increased approximately 20 percent. Individual pass sales increased approximately 25%. Overall revenue for passes and tickets combined increased 20%.

The new Mesa Aquatic Center located at Mesa High opened Memorial Day weekend and reached capacity of 450 patrons within the first two hours of operation. These admission levels were maintained the entire weekend. Mesa Aquatic Center replaced Taylor and Mesa Junior Pools and was strategically built at Mesa High School to service these two areas.

The 4th Annual Pumpkin Splash event was hosted at Brimhall Pool, and was the largest to date with 550 participants. Sponsors for this event included Amazing Kids Pediatric Dentistry and Robison Orthodontics.

Popular activities included pumpkin decorating, glitter tattoos, foam pit, and swimming with the pumpkins.

GOLF Dobson Ranch Golf Course continues to be a leading example of top notch municipal course offerings in the United States. Visitors and residents enjoy the challenge and beauty of a well maintained and accessible course. This year Dobson Ranch Golf Course had 68,255 total golf rounds and the highest annual revenue in its history exceeding the prior year by $260,000.

Another addition to Dobson Ranch Golf Course offerings included new youth golf camps to introduce novice students to the game of golf as well as those that have the desire to improve on their current skills.

These golf camps will be held throughout the year. At the end of camp, Family Day is a day when parents can join their kids and enjoy playing golf together.

HEALTH & WELLNESS

Fall swim team programs are offered for the growing number of homeschool children in Mesa. The homeschool league at Kino and Skyline Aquatic Centers increased 28 percent from 33 enrollments last year to 46 this year reaching 95% capacity. The afterschool fall league at Stapley, Brimhall, and Fremont pools increased 21% from 143 enrollments to 182 reaching 100% capacity. Fall swimming lessons at Kino Aquatic Center totaled 64 enrollments (88% capacity), and at Skyline totaled 72 enrollments (100% capacity), an overall enrollment increase of 24%. Staff continue to see growth and demand for swim lessons outside of summer months.

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SOCIAL EQUITY Vision – Create dynamic parks that shape city character and meet diverse community needs CITYWIDE SPECIAL EVENTS Over 100,000 attendees enjoyed a multitude of special events that utilized Mesa’s park facilities. Some event highlights included the Ragnar Del Sol Relay, Phoenix Marathon, Celebrate Mesa Fall Festival, Day at the Diamond Spring Training Festival and the Arizona Celebration of Freedom July 4th event.

ADAPTIVE The Team Mesa Adaptive programs served 1,102 youth and adults with intellectual disabilities with 30 different sports and recreation opportunities provided over three seasons. A total of 1,514 registrants participated in at least one of the 23 social program opportunities offered throughout the year including 65 adults in the California Adventure program, 60 registrants for the Camp Carley trip, and 220 attendees at the Mistletoe Magic Dance.

Mesa hosted the annual Four Peaks Area Swim Meet at Kino Aquatic Center in Mesa with over 400 Special Olympic athletes from the East Valley which included 84 athletes representing the Team Mesa Bulldogs.

The inaugural Quad City Golf Invitational hosted a total of 180 golfers with intellectual disabilities which included 73 athletes representing the Team Mesa Bulldogs.

The annual Desert Challenge Games, hosted in partnership with Arizona Disabled Sports, reached a record setting attendance of over 300 youth and adults with physical or visual disabilities competing over three days in track, field, archery and swimming. Thirty-five of the United States and 12 countries from around the World were represented at the event which served as the only International Paralympic Committee Athletics Grand Prix taking place in the U.S. In an effort to broaden the scope of service provided by the Team Mesa Adaptive programs as well as introduce a new opportunity to the community, the adaptive program implemented a new special interest program titled the “Off-Broadway Theatre Class” providing 14 individuals with intellectual disabilities the opportunity to gain selfesteem, learn stage presence, and perform in front of their peers and family members.

REGISTRATION AND RESERVATIONS

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The PRCF Reservation and Registration staff are responsible for assisting customers and answering phone calls and email inquiries for services.

The monthly average of calls received is 3000+, with a monthly high of

The fee assistance program allows low income families to prequalify to receive discounts and scholarships for identified core service programs. This year fee assistance helped 654 families and 1,920 children register for programs that would have been out of reach with out the subsidized help.

MAKING WAVES Making Waves provides opportunities for youth to participate in safe, structured learn-to-swim classes and recreation teams that their families would not normally be able to afford. To help in the battle against drowning incidents of children, all components of the Making Waves program incorporate water safety education.

Making Waves is a grant program for low-income children of diverse backgrounds for City of Mesa swimming programs. The Making Waves program provided 480 lesson scholarships and 20 competitive scholarships. Corporate/Non-Profit donations totaled $11,504. The 2015 Sponsors consisted of SRP, Mesa Hohokam Foundation, and the Foundation for Mesa Parks and Recreation.

DROWNING PREVENTION Drowning continues to be the leading cause of death in children under 4 years of age nationwide. Mesa recognizes the impact that drowning can have on the community and families that reside here.

The Aquatics section developed several programs for children and families through community wide efforts to reduce the number of incidents in our city. This year a new program raised funds to supply all City of Mesa aquatic centers with lifejackets that could be used free of charge.

The Lifejacket Ducky program generated $1,620 in sales at the pools, $1,000 from Councilmember Alex Finter, and $2,000 from a Mesa Pool Grand Opening raffle. Proceeds totaling $4,620.

Allstate Insurance provided a matching donation through their grant program. In total, over $9,000 will provide at least 50 lifejackets per pool.

SOCIAL EQUITY

4600 calls in April for summer activity registration. In addition to class registrations and facility reservations, staff also handle special event and beer permits and manage the fee assistance program for Mesa residents. Over 3,000 annual reservations for parks and picnic ramadas enhanced recreation experiences for customers who enjoy Mesa’s park facilities year round.

Drowning Prevention events were also held throughout the year and included, April Pools Day with 150 participants held at Kino Pool, and Pachanga en la Piscina the Aquatics Program’s annual free water safety event targeted towards the Hispanic community.

This event was hosted at the Carson Aquatic Complex and attended by 452 participants. Partners included SRP, Verano Sano (La Campasina radio’s water safety program), Azteca TV Station, Attorney General Safe Kids Summer, and Allstate.

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POSITIVE PLAY PROJECT This program encourages both development and wellness in youth sports participants in Mesa. It provides high quality trainings, resources and outreach services in program areas including sportsmanship, positive coaching, concussion awareness, injury prevention, equipment and safety gear access, hydration and nutrition, and financial assistance.

The Positive Play Project has been a huge success and made a significant impact on the community. Since its inception in 2013 2,000+ youth participants, their parents and community members have directly benefitted from the program’s trainings, outreach and equipment resources. This year 100+ Volunteer coaches received training from expert guest speakers, 400+ youth in need received scholarships or fee assistance helping them to gain access to a program that was out of reach in the past.

Survey results collected from parents, participants and volunteer coaches showed ratings of 85-95% satisfied or extremely satisfied. Youth Sports registration numbers have grown approximately 40% from Fall 2012 to Fall 2015.

The Positive Play Project received the ‘Outstanding Sports Program’ award from the Arizona Parks and Recreation Association in August 2014.

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FUN-N-FITNESS The Fun-N-Fitness Mobile Recreation Program offers free after-school activities to boys and girls K-6th grades with a goal to keep kids active, having fun and exercising outdoors. Another goal is to provide a safe and fun place to youth who would typically spend their time after school home alone. According to the American Academy for Pediatrics, today’s children spend less time playing outside than any previous generation in part because only 20% live within walking distance of a park or playground. This play deficit is having profound consequences for kids physically as well as mentally and socially, because children need a place to play every day in order to be active and healthy.

To increase access to play in the community, the Fun-N-Fitness Program has partnered with Mesa Public Schools to visit six afterschool sites.

The “drop-in” style program is successfully visiting schools across Mesa including various home communities during holiday breaks. Daily programming consists of active games and sports, nutrition information games and hands-on art projects. Soccer and football are the favorites at most schools, but double-dutch jump rope has boys and girls from all grade levels in line to sing old fashioned songs with a new hip hop beat.

To enhance the daily programming, a new activity is brought to each site to offer variety to each visit. The karaoke machine was a big hit as well as outside mobile bowling lanes. This year there were 9,823 participants in the Fun-N-Fitness program.

CEMETERY The Mesa Cemetery hosted the annual RAF Cadet Memorial Service to honor the 23 Cadets who lost their lives in flight training at the #4 British Flying Training School during World War II. This school became what is now Mesa’s Falcon Field Airfield. This event is held every year in November to honor those Cadets.

SOCIAL EQUITY

The project has a strong focus on assisting youth that are low income and underserved.Community outreach relationships developed through the Positive Play Project bring together groups such as West Mesa Community Development Corporation, Mesa Public Schools, Mesa Police and Fire, and neighborhoods including Guererro, Washington, and Sierra Vistas. Helping build stronger neighborhoods through Youth Sports the Positive Play Project is a vehicle for change.

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CONSERVATION Vision – Provide urban forests, natural areas, and waters that endure and captivate.

Opened this year, Sagebrush Park located on Mesa Drive and 10th Ave is a new one acre parcel that was transformed from an empty lot to a vibrant open space that provides a .13 mile walking loop and 4 interactive exercise stations. This new park has both desert and turf landscaping that allows for conservative water use and maintenance.

Desert Trails Park opened on in the Fall of 2014. It is a 35-acre site incorporated natural desert terrain that is focused on a variety of trail experiences for hiking, mountain biking, and flow trails, as well as a pump track and kids’ skills track. Desert Trails has been utilized heavily by mountain bikers and hikers alike. The project also received an award from the American Society of Landscape Architects’ Arizona Chapter for Park Design in March of 2015.

Desert Arroyo Park is under construction and will be opened in Fall 2015. This 58-acre site focuses on desert flora and fauna learning opportunities. It has a playground, looped sidewalk and path system, an outdoor classroom, and five non-reservable picnic ramadas. It is also Mesa’s first park to feature public WiFi access.

Irrigation improvements to shorten watering times and increase efficiencies are underway at Candlelight, Sherwood, Woodglen, Harmony, Red Mountain, Fitch, and Carriage Lane Parks. These projects are designed to improve the health of park landscaping while reducing operational costs.

Ballfield lighting improvements were completed with upgraded efficient lights at Dobson High, Mesa High, Rhodes Junior High, and Whittier Elementary Schools. Ballfield lighting demolition was completed at Franklin West and Taft Elementary Schools.

Dobson Ranch Golf Course completed a half million dollar lake and stream edge renovation to repair lake edge erosion. New concrete edging will provide an improved aesthetic appearance and maintain the longevity of the golf course water features reducing water and turf loss.

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Vision – Maintain a safe place to play, celebrate, contemplate and recreate

The Mesa Convention Center features 40,000 sq ft of meeting and event space including a 19,000 sq ft exhibit hall, and 40,000 sq ft of outdoor function space. Known for its great central location near the Phoenix Marriott Mesa and in-house catering through Personal Touch Catering the facility hosted nearly 1,000 events this year. More than 230,000 guests have passed through the doors thus increasing revenue by more than 20% over the previous fiscal year.

The Mesa Amphitheater markets it’s superb acoustics and tiered lawn as a superior outdoor event space and hosted the Arizona Celebration of Freedom, with more than 40,000 people in attendance – the largest event ever held at the venue. This year the Amp’ held seven commercial concerts including Slightly Stoopid, Bad Religion, A Day to Remember and the Avett Brothers as well as producing the 5th annual Wingstock Festival: Where Music & Chicken Meat The Mesa Convention Center completed 2 bathroom renovations in Buildings A and C in addition to a complete carpet replacement and upgrade to Building A. Building B received a major HVAC renovation to improve indoor climate control and ensure all our guests are comfortable.

AQUATICS, PARKS AND SPORTS FIELD MAINTENANCE Maintaining the diverse and expansive parks system facilities is a daunting task for the men and women who serve the community in this capacity. Every year Aquatics, Parks & Sports Fields Maintenance maintains 1,044.7 acres of developed landscape, Aquatics Maintenance maintains 5,585,458 gallons of recreational use water, Parks Maintenance maintains 66 playgrounds, and Sports Fields Maintenance maintains 69 recreational fields (baseball, softball & multi-use). This year Parks Maintenance fulfilled 1,926 work orders, Sports Fields Maintenance fulfilled 9,997 field preps for games.

The new Mesa Aquatic Complex opened this year. Amenities include a lazy river, zero-entry play area, eight lane competitive area, and a dive tank, shaded seating and sits on the south west corner of the Mesa High School campus.

CONSERVATION

CONVENTION CENTER

The Parks Maintenance staff implemented a new five year grid trim program of its urban forest inventory. This inaugural year successfully produced the trimming of 20% of 15,722 trees in Mesa’s urban forest. Aquatics, Parks and Sports Fields Maintenance reported to Tree City USA that it expended $1,064,091 towards its urban forest management program.

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PARK DEVELOPMENT Additional projects completed or in process, helping to maintain and improve the PRCF park facility inventory are:

»» City View Park was completed in January 2015 as part of the Mesa Drive improvements. It is just under 2 acres and contains grassy open space and a perimeter sidewalk. »» Mariposa Park opened on March 21, 2015. It is a nine-acre neighborhood park with a playground and play pockets, grassy open space, nonreservable picnic ramada, and outdoor fitness stations. »» Playground, sign, and shade improvements were completed at Emerald Park. »» Playground & sign improvements were completed at Pequeño and Vista Monterey Parks. »» Red Mountain Softball Improvements were completed in June 2015 to level the fields and replenish the infield mix. »» Riverview Improvements were completed with the construction of four multipurpose/soccer regulation fields and two multipurpose practice fields that can also be used for event/spring training parking. »» Sagebrush Park was completed in Summer 2014 as part of the Mesa Drive improvements. It is a one-acre park with four outdoor fitness stations, grassy open space, and a perimeter sidewalk. »» Signage Standards were revised to create an updated look for facility identification and park rules signage. »» Eastmark Great Park Phase 2 was deeded over to the City in February 2015. This phase includes a picnic ramada, event pavilion and playground featuring the Orange Monster climbing web, restroom, and exercise stations. »» Design has been finalized and construction is planned for Winter 2015 for Fiesta Sports Park on the former campus of Powell Junior High. The school grounds will be converted to a public park with youth baseball/softball complex, a multiuse lighted field, the old school track, a small playground, and additional parking. The buildings on the site will continue to function for Mesa Public Schools programs. »» Design is underway for conversion of the former Mesa Junior High site into Eagles Park. It will feature four soccer fields, a playground, grassy open space, outdoor fitness stations, a community gymnasium, and additional parking. »» Improvements are underway at Pioneer Park with creation of a food truck area, public WiFi, and design for park renovations which will include a new playground and splash pad.

CONSERVATION

»» ADA Compliance Study was completed to identify areas of focus to improve accessibility of PRCF facilities.

»» Playground renovations are in design for Gene Autry Park and Dobson Ranch Park. The new playgrounds will be designed to energize the parks while promoting active youth and family lifestyles. Shade will be incorporated into both playgrounds. In addition, the new Dobson Ranch Park playground will focus on inclusive play opportunities for children with varying abilities and needs.

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PARK RANGERS The mission of the Park Ranger program is to reach out to park visitors to educate and assist guests to ensure their recreational experience is pleasant and safe.

Five Park Rangers work various shifts day and night to monitor park activity and well-being. Rangers conduct over 2,500 park inspections annually throughout the nearly 3,389 acres of sports fields and open spaces in Mesa.

Rangers partner with Mesa Police to ensure appropriate park use by visitors and spend a great deal of time educating guests about park rules and City Code.

Rangers take part in regular training related to law enforcement, emergency response, crowd management, and dealing with the homeless population. The Rangers respond to citizen calls and concerns, facility alarms and take part in Mesa’s Hydration Program that distributed cold water to homeless individuals during the hot summer months.

PARK AMBASSADORS The Park Ambassador program was implemented in the spring of 2012 to assist with weekend picnic ramada use, reduce user conflicts, and improve public relations with weekend rental customers.

A small team of 4 Park Ambassadors work weekends year-round, visiting park locations with high-volume rental use. The Park Ambassadors make contact with picnic ramada users, answer questions about park regulations, monitor the rental schedules, and perform minor trash management. The Ambassadors work closely with Park Maintenance and Park Ranger staff to resolve maintenance concerns or user conflicts. Since the implementation of the Park Ambassador program, customer complaints and requests for refunds for picnic ramada rentals has dropped to almost zero.

VOLUNTEERS Volunteers are the lifeblood of the community and assist the PRCF Department in so many ways. During the fiscal year a total of 38,101 volunteer hours were logged. These hours equate to $878,990 savings and increased community interaction at PRCF facilities, events and programs.

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This year volunteer assistance came through 12 Eagle Scout projects benefitting the department. A combined total of 28 Large Board Games were constructed painted and donated to use for parks programming.

Partnering with Neighborhood Services increased volunteer awareness in Mesa’s parks. Together park cleanings were conducted 2-3 times per month with community and school groups.

Junior Lifeguards are utilized as volunteers and job trainees that shadow lifeguards. They enhance safety supervision as rovers on deck watching patrons in crowded areas and assist with swimming lessons and special event programming.

Pre-season junior guard training allowed the immediate use of volunteers in critical areas of lesson and competitive practice observation. The Junior Guard Program at the city pools generated 6,759 volunteer hours with 221 junior guards participating.

The Teen Leadership Team (TLT) program is comprised of youth volunteers who support and assist staff in running summer recreation camps, classes and programs. This year the program had 103 volunteers who served over 7,000 hours to help City programs to be successful. An appreciation event was hosted to honor the TLT program and Junior Lifeguard volunteers at Brimhall Pool. These volunteers are critical to pool and program operation.

SPONSORS, GRANTORS AND PARTNERSHIPS Allstate – title sponsor of Aquatics water safety lifejacket initiative Arizona Disabled Sports / Mesa Association of Sports for the Disabled – partner for adaptive programming Arizona Game and Fish – facilitating our urban fishing program Mesa Public Schools – partner for program facilities and programs City of Mesa Electrical – partner in the Pioneer Park food court renovation City of Mesa Transportation Department – Partner in Mesa Drive muti-park installation project Gila River Indian Community – Grantor and sponsor of the Positive Play Project Mesa Ho Ho Kam Foundation – Grantor and support of multiple youth programs SRP – Title sponsor for Pachanga en La Piscina and water safety events Visit Mesa – sponsor of sports event programming

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Mesa Parks, Recreation & Commercial Facilities Department 200 S. Center St. Bld #1 PO Box 1466 – Mail Stop 7010 Mesa, AZ 85211 Monday-Thursday 7am-6pm 480-644-2352 www.mesaaz.gov/parksrec