PERIOD REPORT
DATE: May 23, 2018 Report No. P&R-18-007
TO: Laurie Hurst, Chief Administrative Officer
FROM: Scott Hartman, Director of Parks and Recreation Services
SUBJECT:TITLEParks and Recreation Services - 2018 First Period Report
Body
The following is a report on the activities pertaining to the Parks and Recreation Services Department from January 1, 2018 to April 30, 2018.
I. DIVISION ACHIEVEMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
1. Parks Services
• There were 27 tree removal and 7 tree pruning permit applications submitted. 33 permits were approved and one tree removal permit was denied.
• Park Bookings:
o Saxe Point Park - 1 picnic
o Esquimalt Gorge Park - 1 wedding, 1 event, 1 picnic
o Bullen Park - 58 bookings
o L’Ecole Brodeur - 70 bookings
o Highrock Park - 1 event
• Pruned 70 municipal trees
• Removed 16 municipal trees
• Planted 44 municipal trees
• A new wood chip trail was installed in the meadow at Highrock Park
• Interpretive signage was installed at Highrock Park
• 2 new benches and 1 new picnic table were installed at Highrock Park
• Flower bed renovations were completed on the eastside of Saxe Point Park
• New grass was established in the ‘Wedding Area’ of Saxe Point Park
2. Recreation Services
Fitness and Sports
• Personal Training sales are up with 86 packages sold.
• Registered Fitness classes were similar to 2017 numbers with 725 registrations.
• In January, Fitness Programming hosted “Try-It” week with over 300 participants.
• The 2018 Esquimalt 5K was held on April 7th with 401 registered in the 5K and 117 Kids registered in the 1K Kids Run.
• Esquimalt’s 10K Clinic had 50 participants this year.
Aquatics
• The Aquatic Interval Fitness class registration increased from 15 in 2017 to 28 in 2018 and Aquatic Water Running increased from 11 in 2017 to 25 in 2018.
• Registered Private lesson numbers increased from 64 in 2017 to 100 in 2018.
• Community swimming lesson numbers increased from 552 in 2017 to 590 in 2018.
Maintenance
• An Exposure Control Plan for the ammonia plant at the Sports Centre was written and reviewed by staff, meeting new WorkSafeBC requirements.
• On going painting of doors and frames continues at the Recreation Centre.
• A new motor was installed in the exhaust fan for the pool change rooms.
• Replacement of the Sports Centre Refrigeration Equipment is underway.
• Curling ice was removed March 19th and the hockey ice was removed March 29th.
Marketing & Registration
• 5,943 Course registrations were processed during this period.
• 3,273 Membership products were processed. These include: passes and drop in punch cards sold and renewed.
• 948 Products were sold through the Recreation Centre Shop. These include: googles, swim caps, ear buds, swim diapers, water bottles and umbrellas.
• There were 30,534 single admission drop-ins and 74,565 memberships were scanned - a total of 105,099 admissions - during this period.
• Online registration continues to be well received with 2,684 registrations and drop-in class reservations completed by clients online compared to 1,087 last period.
• Esquimalt Parks & Recreation social media platforms continue to engage more followers with 4,311 followers on Twitter, 4,251 on Facebook and 1,112 on Instagram.
• Parks & Recreation e-Newsletters were delivered January, February, March and April with a consistent open rate of 42.70%, 39.73%, 39.23% and 37.02% respectively.
• Online registration is now open and functioning for all recreation programs.
Preschool, Children and Youth Services
• Registration for Out of School Care, for the 2018/19 school year, opened on April 10th, and it was full (58 spots) within the hour of opening. A waitlist has been started.
• This Spring Break we offered 2 Spring Break Playground Camps, 1 OSC Licensed Camp and 2 Specialty Camps. 169 children attended our camps. This is an increase from the 92 children last year.
• Youth Services programs are seeing an average of 20 youth participating in After School “Ravens Club” for Grades 6-8 (at Rockheights School). Our Teen Night programs running Thursday to Saturday nights at the Recreation Centre have seen grown from an average of 38 youth last year up to 60 or more.
Arts, Culture, Social & Special Interest Programs
• A new creative arts pilot project called The Secret Ingredient was launched in January. The Secret Ingredient combines skill building, access to healthy food, and a supportive social environment.
• The January-March ArtLab session received 22 registrations; StitchLab received 18 registrations.
• The Creative Arts, Social & Special interest portfolio was able to maintain last year’s record high enrollment, with 150 programs running and 1035 registrations January-April 2018.
• New courses included:
o Adults: Brew your own Kombucha, Watercolour on masa paper continuing studio, make your own bamboo leggings
o Youth: The Secret Ingredient
o School-aged: Machine sewing 101, Needle felting
o Seven new volunteers were trained to assist our creative arts programs. New volunteers assisted with drawing and cooking classes for kids/youth, ArtLab, StitchLab and The Secret Ingredient.
Community Development and Events
• Family Day, Monday February 12th, was very well attended with approximately 800 people in attendance. This year’s event featured many free and family friendly options for the public, such as: swimming, skating, a family dance class, family yoga, and family pickleball. Kindergym, an Esquimalt Lion’s Club BBQ, and Donald Dunphy the magician were also included. Community Partners included the Esquimalt Lion’s Club and Country Grocer.
• The annual Esquimalt Photography Club Spring Photo Show engaged visitors in the Recreation Centre for the duration of the month of March. Voting was moved completely online for the first time with hundreds of votes cast. The club also hosted an open-house in the atrium on March 7th that saw 40 people in attendance. New picture rails that were installed in the Atrium made the set up and take down for this event much more efficient and the display looked exceptionally well presented.
• Branch Out! - Gorge Park was held on the 3rd of March. This collaboration with the Greater Victoria Green Team brought 30 people to the park and helped with invasive species removal.
• The Gigantic Garage Sale was held in the curling rink March 24th. This garage sale was the biggest to date, with all 120 tables selling out well in advance.
• The Annual Esquimalt Lions’ Easter Egg Hunt occurred on Sunday April 1st. Approximately 600 people participated in the event this year.
• Our Volunteer Appreciation event occurred on Thursday April 18th to celebrate National Volunteer Appreciation Week. Approximately 50 program and community event volunteers attended the event that took place in the Sports Centre Lounge.
• The Esquimalt Earth Day Celebration was held on April 25th. This event drew over 1500 people to Highrock Park to participate in tree planting, invasive species removal, trail building, goat feeding and learning opportunities provided by the many exhibitors at the event. This year marked the return of nature walks for younger participants and was helped greatly by the leadership class of L’Ecole Victor Brodeur. Partnerships that helped make the event a success were: Simply Pure Water, Bartlett Tree Services, Kimoff Nursery, South Island Ferns and Country Grocer.
• The Free Community Tax Clinics had 6 volunteers filing over 280 returns for local community members free of charge.
Archie Browning Sports Centre
• The Sports Centre hosted 8 adult curling bonspiels and one youth curling day.
• The Victoria Racquet Club held “Beauty and the Beast On Ice” March 23-25th.
• The first Roller Derby Game of the season was held in the Curling Rink on April 7th. There was a full crowd of 600 people in attendance.
• Victoria Esquimalt Lacrosse Association held a Bantam Tournament from April 13-15th.
• Gorge Soccer Association held their annual awards banquet in the Curling rink on April 13th with 450 soccer players and their families in attendance.
• The Greater Victoria School District brought their annual Career Fair to the Sports Centre this year and will continue here as their regular venue. This event brought in 94 Venders and all Grade 11 and 12 students from the district.
• The Military Tattoo was held in the Arena on April 22nd with 300 in attendance.
Arena Programs
• The Coast Capital Free Skate and Spring Thaw took place on Wednesday March 28th and had 95 people attend.
• Registration for our Skating Lessons were full (6 participants per class) for Preschoolers and School Age Levels 1 to 4 for January to March.
II. COMMITTEES
• The Parks & Recreation Advisory Committee met on March 28th.