Hey, good afternoon.

Uh this is the June 2nd Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission meeting.

That we'd like to go ahead and get started.

Uh just of note, items listed on this agenda may be taken out of the order presented.

Two or more agenda items for consideration may be combined, and any item on the agenda may be removed or related discussion may be delayed at any time.

Beck of material for this agenda may be obtained from Lou and D.

Home City Clerk at the office of City Clerk 495 South Main Street, second floor, or on the city's webpage at Las Vegas Nevada.gov.

I'd now like to uh call this meeting to order and ask for a roll call, please.

Chair Becker?

Here.

Vice Chair Niger is excused.

Commissioner Armenian.

Commissioner Gabray.

Commissioner Keller.

Present.

Commissioner Zamora.

Present.

Commissioner Burgos?

Here.

Commissioner Cornwell is excused.

Commissioner Robinson?

Present.

Commissioner Vogitz?

Present.

Commissioner Jones is excused.

Commissioner Wool.

Commissioner.

Thank you.

Commissioner Sleezer?

Present.

Commissioner Taylor?

Present.

And Commissioner McGedigan is excused.

Thank you, Chair.

You have a quorum.

Uh thank you so much.

Moving to agenda item number two is the announcement regarding compliance with the open meeting law.

Are we in compliance?

We are compliant, Chair.

Thank you.

Agenda item number three, uh, for public comment.

Comment during this portion of the agenda must be limited to matters on the agenda for action.

If you wish to be heard, come forward, give your name for the record.

The amount of discussion as well as the amount of time any single speaker is allowed may be limited.

And seeing no one here for public comment, I'd like to go ahead and move to number four.

Agenda item number four is for possible action to improve the final minutes by reference to the regular meeting May fifth, twenty twenty-six.

I know you've all seen that.

Do I have a motion to approve?

Great.

Would somebody like to second?

Mr.

Chair Commissioner's sleeve award for I second.

Thank you, guys.

And with that, uh now like to call for a vote.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed?

Aye.

Okay.

And that carries.

Agenda um item number five is a report by the Department of Public Safety regarding a review of arrest citations and calls for service at the city facilities, all parks and all wards.

Hi, Lieutenant, good to see you again.

Lieutenant Jonathan Burdett.

No.

Um for this is gonna be for the month of April.

And the top five parks uh and rec center locations year to date are gonna be Justice Levit with 98.

Lorenzi with 58, Gary Reese Freedom Park with 49, Ethel Pearson with 33, and Kellogg's air with 33.

The top charge uh year to date is gonna be remain in park after hours, and then unlawful presence in a children's park, misuse of park amenities, lodging without consent, and traffic speeding violation.

Uh year to date arrests and citations um have decreased by twelve point eight percent compared to the same time frame last year.

Uh year to date arrests and citations um have decreased by 12.8% compared to the same time frame last year, and the decrease is largely due to 41.3% and decrease in arrests and citations at Justice Levitt Park.

For ward one, year to date is going to be for arrests and citations going to be remaining park after hours.

Unlawful presence in a children's park and trespassing, and the top locations are gonna be Rotary Park with 23, Rainbow Family with 13, and Gary Dexter with 11.

Total arrests and citations at parks, uh rec centers for ward one year to date is 115, and uh citations and arrests have increased 16.2 to an increased presence in those parks.

For ward two, it's gonna be basic speeding, stop sign, uh position and method of stop and remain in park after hours, and those locations are gonna be Kellogg's air with 33, Angel Park with 32, and all American with 10.

Total year to date are 78, and arrests and citations have increased 122.9% uh due larger than increased traffic patrols conducted outside and around Kellogg's air and angel park.

Ward three is gonna be um remain in park after hours with 59, unlawful presence in a children's park with 25, and misuse of park amenities with 22, and those locations are gonna be uh Justice Levett Park with 98, Gary Reese Freedom Park with 49, and Raphael Rivera with 26.

Uh total arrests and citations year to date is gonna be 281 and arrests and citations have decreased 36.1% due to uh decrease in park violations, and that's largely due to presence and enforcement at those parks.

Ward four is gonna be remaining park after hours with four, misuse of park amenities with four and failed to comply with scooter regulations for three, and that's gonna be Durango Hills Park with six, Lamadre with four, and cliff shadows with four.

Uh total year to date for that ward are gonna be twenty-five, and um there's been a decrease of ten point seven percent due to a decrease in driving violations.

Ward five is gonna be remaining park after hours with 41, unlawful presence in a children's park with 39, and misuse of park amenities with 15, and the locations are gonna be Lorenzi Park with 58, Ethel Pearson with 33, and heritage with 29.

Total arrests and citations are gonna be 238 for that ward, and arrests and citations have decreased 4.8 percent due to a decrease in lodging issues throughout the ward.

Ward six is gonna be remaining park after hours with seven, lodging without consent uh for two, and um insurance required in vehicle for two.

Those locations are gonna be Centennial Hills with nine, Floyd Lamb with eight, and Gilcrease with one.

Total uh arrests and citations year to date are 19, and arrests and citations have increased 26.7, which can be attributed to increased traffic operations.

Uh for the month of May, we did um the physical fitness preparation for our recruitment um efforts for testing at Bill Breyer on May 5th.

We did a e-bike scooter safety and volleyball game at Centennial Hills Park.

Doolittle Senior Center had the senior golden hour on May 6th, May 20th, Police Memorial Park did Memorial Day flag planning.

May 22nd, Doolittle Community Center had a basketball tournament, and May 6th, Doolittle Senior Center had the L VMPD monthly senior golden hour.

This upcoming month of June, Dew Little Community Center will have a resource fair on June 12th, and Floyd Lamb will have fishing with a cop on June 13th.

And I believe that covers everything.

Does anybody have any questions for me?

Commissioners questions.

Go ahead, Commissioner.

Uh, through you, Mr.

Chairman.

Um, Lieutenant, just as a point of information, I was talking with the councilwoman regarding Knickerbocker Park up in Providence.

Yes.

We just recently had some issues with um some of the utility boxes being broken into.

And so I just want to bring that up as a point of information.

Um, I do know that the one utility box that we saw that was open belonged to CenturyLink.

And so they were sent out, and I believe they're putting locks on it now.

Okay.

But I just wanted to bring it up as a point of information.

Thank you.

I'll uh I could send out some officers to do some increased patrols of the of the park and see if they notice anything out of the ordinary.

Thank you.

Uh Commissioner Robinson.

Yes, uh Bob Robinson, Ward 1.

Uh thank you, Mr.

Chairman.

Uh Lieutenant Burdette, I just wanted to make a really quick observation is I noticed the increased presence of of patrols in ward one, and I want to thank you for the excellent work you and your officers are doing.

And just to let you know that that's obviously very welcomed in our ward.

So thank you.

Thank you.

Great.

Commissioner Sleezer.

Commissioner Sleezer Ward 4.

Um, Lieutenant, quick question.

What typically comprises failure to comply with scooter regulations?

What what violation is that?

Um it's probably within the riding within the park.

Um you know you're not allowed to ride them within the the confines of the the trails and the walking paths and things like that.

But I would have to I would have to dive into and I could get it for you next meeting, but I'd have to dive into the specific reports to determine what the actual violations were.

Go ahead.

Yeah, they they also have the e-bike motorcycle.

Yeah.

So not necessarily in the parking lots, but in the the park proper.

Yeah, I would say it's in the confines of the park.

Thank you.

Uh Deputy, could I could we have your name for the record since you contributed?

Okay.

Thank you.

Uh Commissioner Jones?

Commissioner Jones, Ward Five.

Good afternoon.

Sorry for being late.

Uh we had a fire up at Lorenzi over the weekend, right?

Uh last weekend, I believe.

Yes.

At the playground.

Yes.

Yes.

So what can we do to because as I'm looking at all these wards, it's like our numbers are going up instead of going down.

I know it's a big homeless problem.

I know it's that's a big issue.

But what do you think that we can try to do with it being the summertime to make it more feasible for the kids to try to bring our numbers down?

And I know I'm asking the question that we all trying to figure out what can we do to get rid of the homeless problem in all the parks.

But we got the biggest problem over in Ward 5.

Um, I you know, to be honest with you, I I I'd have to look at the numbers to see if a lot of these arrests and citations are contributed to homeless.

Um they they probably are, but I wouldn't say all of them are.

Um I know that um I believe the suspects that they're looking for in that fire are juvenile.

Um so I think that that can contributes to possibly some of these numbers is this juvenile behaviors and crimes associated with juveniles.

Um, one thing I know that we could do on our end is in one thing that we've been doing is is uh doolittle or Kiyangai So key park is a is one of our hotspot locations where we do um random automated um automatic dispatches to those parks to make sure that we're patrolling them and make sure that we're hitting them at different times and for different lengths of time and stuff like that.

So we have a presence in the park.

Um we're we're we're using um a lot of our tools of of evidence evidence-based policing to kind of patrol those parks and curb some of that behavior.

Um that's what we're doing as far as the parks commission, um, maybe installing more cameras and things like that to help us deter some of that crime, or if there is crime, we have maybe have it on videos.

We could have better leads in arresting those uh subjects.

Um but I'm well we're open to suggestions, obviously, on anything that you think we could do better.

I know we we go to do little in Kyangasoki pretty regularly um on patrol and for calls for service, so we're we're there all the time.

Um and that might actually be contributing to some of these as well because we're seeing more when we're there.

Correctionally wasn't Lorenzo, it was doolittle.

No, did I say Lorenzi?

I say Lorenzi.

I'm sorry, it was do little.

It was do little, it was the play.

It was the play ground ground, yeah.

Yes.

Yeah.

Mr.

Chair.

Yes, right here.

Uh for the record deputy director, Patrick O'Mara.

Um so we've been working with the Department of Public Safety uh pretty uh obviously we work with them very closely all the time.

Um in the last year or so, we've actually from funds from uh our department, we've actually purchased one of the trailer mounted cameras, uh camera systems that they place we can request certain certain locations and things, but they they manage it uh for the most part.

Um and so that is one of the things that that we'll start working on is getting one of those um over at doolittle uh and the complex over there to um to to try and bolster our efforts um in identification and and you know nefarious activities, of course.

So and for the record, I believe there is one there right now.

I think we did move one over there after the fire, but I might be wrong on that.

I'd have to look into it, but I do believe we did.

So I think one of the biggest issues we have is at Lorenzi too.

So do we have a camera up at Lorenzi?

to um to to try and bolster our efforts um in identification and and you know the various activities of course so and for the record i believe there is one there right now i think we did move one over there after the fire but i might be wrong on that i'd have to look into it but i do believe we did so but i think one of the biggest issues we have is at laurency too so do we have a camera up at Lorenzi last I checked we did I know a couple weeks ago we did but that one might have been moved to to do little so I'm not sure if we have one there um the thing with LaRandy those too is it's such a big park um there's we could put one right in the middle but you're still not gonna see everything and there's multiple parking lots so that's Lorenzi's one of the harder ones for us to utilize those trailer cams because or those mobile cams because it is such a big property commissioners any other questions great lieutenant I want to thank you go ahead yeah go ahead commissioner uh some good afternoon I'll uh call Gord5 uh good afternoon Lieutenant I do have question uh I know a lot of traffic uh speed well issues been uh given to uh you know the people they're skating but I questioned that before did park have speed limit is that required to have a speed limit or did we have it just want to know about that unless posted I believe parks are 10 miles an hour um I'm pretty sure unless otherwise posted po inside inside the park is 10 miles an hour the post fit inside I just didn't notice that if it's if it's not posted it's 10 miles an hour if it is posted it's whatever the posted um speed limit would be but I I'm pretty sure they're all 10 miles an hour I'd have to double check on that but any other questions commissioners thank you thank you great uh Lieutenant thank you again for an excellent report we had a lot of questions for you today so that's okay I wasn't here last time so I hope uh Lieutenant Chipone uh was able to help you guys thank you and Sergeant thank you for for participating as well thank you go nights all right uh we now have agenda item number six report by Steve Glamp Parks and Grounds maintenance manager regarding parks maintenance updates all words good afternoon Steve Glemp uh manager of production grounds maintenance um I just got a quick update on some projects we've been working on in each each ward ward one we just um completed the outfield fencing for the little league um fields and new fabric on one and two and then on deck we'll be working on playground shades and Bill Briar uh ward two at Wallapai Canyon Trailhead we did some ADA improvements um from the parking lot to the to the trail and then um we'll be moving on to all America and to slurry seal and uh stripe the south parking lot um ward three Rafael Rivera we um just replaced um soccer netting on the street side and then we'll be moving to Doug Silby to fix a playground shade from that last windstorm and then at ward four we just did a police memorial volunteer flag day uh you can see all the flags got placed out there and we're we're still working on the middle playground there at Wayne bunker board five just um resurface test courts at children's and we'll be moving on to Labertha Johnson to do swing set and um rubber pour and play surfacing and then ward six a stale neal we pulled all the sand out of that playground and put rubber back in um just to provide better ADA access and inclusive play and then um on deck we'll be moving to Floyd Lamb installing electrical lines compressors and aerators new air additional aerators in the lakes to kind of keep the water quality up if you have any questions I'd be happy to commissioners do I have questions today no I think once we got the tonight's reminder everybody's a little quiet all right I'd like to move to agenda number seven uh which is report by Lisa Tover recreation manager regarding recreation and center updates all wards good afternoon my name is Lisa Tover I'm the recreation manager summer camp started for us last week and I wanted to share with you we took over a hundred additional participants from week one of the summer of 2025 so we're really proud of of being able to accommodate more kids veterans turned their staff break room into another camp room so we're really trying to accommodate as many kids as we can and even with those extra spots that we put on um we actually filled more of them this summer so we were 93% full our first week our seasonal pools also opened up and I just wanted to share some of the programming that we have out there of course our learn to swim classes um are at all of our seasonal pools um and then we've got some fun ones to water ballet a sports sampler so kids can try all the different water polo diving um and see what's what swim sports they're interested in and of course our recreational swim teams and dive teams synchronized swimming water polo so really something for everyone

So we were 93% full our first week.

Our seasonal pools also opened up, and I just wanted to share some of the programming that we have out there.

Of course, our learn to swim classes are at all of our seasonal pools.

Um, and then we've got some fun ones too, water ballet, a sports sampler so kids can try all the different water polo diving and see what's what swim sports they're interested in.

And of course, our recreational swim teams and dive teams, synchronized swimming, water polo, so really something for everyone.

So summer is up and running for us.

Speaking of aquatics, we have our ribbon cutting on June 25th for the new outdoor Olympic size swimming pool at Pavilion.

So we'd love to have you guys attend.

Um we can send this flyer out to you.

So the um starts at 9 a.m.

And then we'll have tours starting at 10 a.m.

And then the pool will actually open to the public on Monday, June 29th.

And then I'm gonna invite up Dylan Ackerman.

He is our acting coordinator at Becker Technology Center.

He's gonna give you an update on uh Becker Tech.

So, as many of you know, last year or perhaps the year uh prior, the positions there were frozen as a part of the city's um financial situation.

So we had our sports unit running um some minimal programming at that facility because we were short staffed.

Near the end of 2025, we brought Dylan in uh from the sports unit to be an acting coordinator to revitalize and get some more programming going on at Becker.

So he's gonna provide that update to you guys.

Very welcome.

Hello, everybody, Dylan Ackerman, acting coordinator at Becker.

Thank you, Lisa.

Um, to kind of pick up where she left off.

We uh really wanted to revitalize our offerings, what the uh community center provided to the neighborhood as well.

So a little bit of paid registration and some community access was our goal.

Um, a little bit about Becker, obviously designed as a digital equity project, and that access is a big part of that for us.

Um we were looking at redoing a little bit of the branding of the classes and getting some more focused registration.

We landed on uh Steam being a really sought-after topic from parents from homeschools all the way into the Clark County School District.

So we are really expanding on a lot of our robotics, our 3D printing.

Um, we've added some multi-filament printers in the facility over the last year.

So what they can do and what they can actually produce is pretty high grade.

Oftentimes, it's the same things you guys are seeing at the craft shows being sold, articulated dragons, things like that.

That's the stuff that we can make or so the kids can make in our classes and in our programs.

Um we're leaning also into coding and engineering with a little bit of game design and development and some virtual reality purchases we purchased, getting away from so much video games, but a little bit more into the creation of those worlds and what storyboarding and scripting and a lot of that uh drafting, a lot of those elements that they might not see on a day-to-day or even in school.

There also is still the esports and the gaming access for those who don't have that at home.

We have one-to-one every bit of technology is a one-to-one ratio in our facility.

So from the MacBooks that they use in class to their gaming station, it is individualized, it's private, it's their own.

They can play their own games, log into their own accounts, play with their friends, obviously, all supervised and monitored by us.

They're not in their rooms alone, they're with us at a community center.

So it's still a little bit of social um and still there for the kids who really want to lock in and focus on on their technology and their games.

We've opened up also to our youth sports team parties.

We're offering team parties to everyone who participates, and more so for our volunteer coaches who coach our youth sports leagues.

Um, I think it's less common for coaches to host parties and things like that at their their homes.

That's why I grew up was in everyone's backyard for team parties.

It's just a little bit less um common nowadays.

So we let them come here and they come to our community center.

We purchase some pizza for them and they game and have fun and hang out.

And it's kind of a really nice way to send off the season instead of that happening on the field at your last game with a couple of high fives.

So it's really gotten our name out there with the sports, the kids who are already participants in the city of Love Las Vegas.

They would recognize our staff, recognize our programming and the branding and everything, and it's been uh it's been really successful, I would say.

Some of those successes, uh, specifically in that sports world is our Kidcaster Studios program.

So we had a podcast studio in the back room that is now a full broadcast studio, kind of like a kid ESPN.

So the kids sign up for the program.

It's at the league model, so they pay the same rate that the players play.

They get a quote uniform, which is a media shirt and credentials.

They practice, I would say and quote as well at Becker Technology Center during the week.

They do their editing, their learning of the software, they're learning of the technology, and then Saturday they're out there at the fields at the games, recording film, interviewing coaches, interviewing their fellow players.

And a lot of these kids in this program are players themselves.

So oftentimes they are the subjects of their own creation, I would say.

So they're editing their own highlights, their own bloopers, things like that during the week.

And that's really been a big hit talking the kids really through their roles and what's available out there to them.

From a work workforce perspective has been really nice as well.

The 12 and 13-year-olds who are interested in this don't really know the difference between director, producer, writer, actor, host, things like that.

So to be able to provide that access has been great.

So our budget is obviously focused for Steam and technology, so we're making those purchases yearly.

And the one-year-old technology, instead of us throwing it out or finding some other use for it in the facility, we're trickling that down to other community centers so that they can actually have their own organic steam programs.

Um we're at Mirabelli.

We are, I say we, our technology has been passed to Mirabelli Cimarron Rose Veterans Community Uh Center and Doolittle right now.

So we're trying to make that citywide and kind of hit all those access points where those where the interest lies.

Um and that's been really successful for us too, and kind of spreading the word of the community center and being a department resource as well.

Um the demand for STEAM and the science um basis is really kind of built a um a foundation for us to grow off of.

And we are currently hosting our homeschool STEAM Academy through the summer.

That was not originally the plan, but the interest has been great enough to where we're going to continue providing that class that they get a science credit uh for their homeschool programs by coming to us and doing science with us instead of at home with their parents and their parents have to buy all the uh you know the volcanoes and the the glue and things like that.

So they're able to come and do things with like robotics and and STEM with us, and they still get that credit, and that's really done really well.

It actually won the NRPS Award Program of Excellence in the education field, so we're actually really proud of that.

And I think that that's it.

Thank you guys for having me.

Thank you.

Do you have any questions for either of us?

Great commissioners, yeah.

Commissioner Keller.

Hi, Ward 3 Commissioner Keller here.

I just applaud this.

This looks so fantastic.

I have a seven-year-old and a six-year-old at home.

So keeping them busy during the summer and and in the community is really important too, personally myself.

Um, so it just applaud this.

I can't wait to share this with them and so many neighbors.

But what is the best way to find out what classes are being offered, like the scheduling of it all?

What's the best way to go around?

Um, coming in, obviously, number one touring the facility and kind of seeing what it is.

It's non-traditional from a community center, um, six thousand square feet.

So it is really classroom space.

So when people think of community and rec center, it's a little bit different when they first see us, but they see it's dedicated classroom time.

Obviously, the online catalog is a great place for it, and then we have uh some printouts that especially we're in the summer, the times are a little bit different.

Specifically, access for the neighborhood is different.

They're used to after school times that changes when we have summer camp.

We have four of our own summer camps um this summer as well.

We've brought those back, and those are about all full at the moment, so that we're really excited for that.

We start next week.

But because of some of those changes, a lot of it is posting flyers ahead of time and updating the web page.

So our website is fully updated with all of that, and then the catalog should have all of that as well.

And we try and keep it predictable.

So what happens in the spring this year will in theory happen in the spring next year, and parents can plan year to year that way.

So excellent.

Uh Commissioner Jones.

Commissioner Jones War 5.

I see us a lot of things with technology, but I know a lot of the parks have we ever thought about doing things to teach kids how to do things outside with gardens at some of the parks, teach them how to irrigation plants, grow.

Right.

Stuff like that, vegetables, how to eat right.

Right, yeah.

I only have knowledge that one of my counterparts at East Las Vegas, Josh, who was just moved into the sports unit.

They have a uh humongous garden that they worked on in East Las Vegas Community Center.

So I believe that a lot of that is in the works, and I think it's just where the interest lies.

I believe at Dula there's a community garden as well at Doula Community Center.

So I think within the community centers access, I think there's a lot of interest for that, and a lot of our staff are really bright and talented in that area.

So I have seen I have seen that, just not at my center specifically, but obviously, if there is interest, we are uh we are in it.

Right now it's drones and production, so we bought some drones, and the kids will be able to put the goggles on and fly around outside, but that's kind of our getting them outside, and we call it touching grass for the for the young kids.

So we try and get them out and to see nature and have other interests other than sit and add more screen time to what they already get.

But I think it's a great idea.

Okay, and that's really excellent.

Uh, Chair Becker, I just wanted to add that I I really appreciate the cross-pollination that you're doing between tech and the media programs.

That's something that uh I always listed as sort of a best practice to that we'd see in the future, and to know that we're doing it here in Las Vegas is just amazing.

Thank you.

I would agree.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Any other questions, Commissioners?

No, thank you for the excellent uh update and report, guys.

Thank you guys and go nights.

Yeah, keep it going.

I don't want to be the bad guy.

Great.

We now have a presentation from Christy uh Sakamoto, uh, executive director of Get Outdoors Nevada, regardian and update on their programs and initiatives over the past year all awards.

Good afternoon, commissioners.

I'm Christy Sakamoto.

I just started as executive director for Get Outdoors Nevada in April.

So I am reporting on numbers that are new to me, even.

But I'm really pleased to say that across the board our year over year numbers have increased.

Um and so we appreciate this continued partnership in support of you all and making our wards beautiful.

So if you're unfamiliar with us, it's our 25th year.

We're eventually gonna throw a real fun birthday party for ourselves and hope you can all be a part of that.

But for this quarter century that we've been in Vegas, our mission has been to connect Nevadans to the outdoors.

Meeting folks are there at whether that is a stewardship program or if you're a hardcore mountain biker, we're maintaining trails for you.

So however we can get folks outdoors and connected is is our goal.

So our partnership encompasses these um requirements here.

We host at least two uh excuse me, at least two volunteer events in each ward annually, which we definitely exceed.

We host two events at the Healing Garden.

Uh we have been building native habitats in the parks.

So we currently have five.

We'd like to grow that and as well as maintain and continue to beautify the existing.

And then we host a volunteer appreciation event, and then finally completing 20 hours of informal education program.

I'm really excited about this one.

It's uh we haven't done it yet, but we're gonna take some of the rec centers rafting, which I've already signed up for, and hopefully the rec centers will also.

I think we have two of the four locked in.

So overall numbers have looked like this uh a total of 27 events.

We have planted 849 plants, many of those native habitat um species.

We've done 123 plants, which is helping the city move towards its grand plan of oh my gosh, I'm forgetting the city's uh aspirational numbers, but it's big and we have till 2030, so we're doing our part.

And we have collectively gathered 5,000 pounds of trash.

Um you I don't think I have any photos of the fun finds, but you know, sometimes it's a car bumper that's adding uh quite a few pounds to that that total there.

And what we're really proud of is we've had 3,958 volunteer hours and 1,300 volunteers.

So again, exceeding the numbers that we've seen in the past.

Uh the native habitat program is newer for us, and so if you are unfamiliar, we have those five habitats in the park.

We also work with the city of North Las Vegas to install habitats as well as businesses, and we're just focused on creating stronger, thriving native habitats that will hopefully allow us to solve issues like heat deserts and increasing our pollinator populations.

And so there's multifold solutions that we hope that these habitats will bring up bring about.

And our main focus and our particularly with the volunteers in parks program with the city is our stewardship, and I think that's really the origins of the program.

And again, we just we continue to see stronger investment from our citizens, and that's indicated by greater participant numbers and and amount of trash picked up really.

So in ward one, uh we had six events, 298 volunteers, 808 volunteer hours, 51 trees planted, 874 pounds of trash, one native habitat.

Um sorry, that was already there existing, but we did some more maintenance work on it.

Um, and then the youth number there was for a special educational program.

Ward two, four events, two hundred volunteers, five hundred and six hours, and one thousand pounds of trash picked up.

Ward three, five events, ninety nine plants, uh, 121 volunteers, 306 hours, 400 pounds of trash, and 55 youth served.

Ward four, three events, 139 volunteers, 335 volunteer hours, 179 pounds of trash, and 20 trees.

Ward five, four events, 227 volunteers, 642 volunteer hours, 788 pounds of trash, and finally ward six, five events, 473 volunteers, uh 1100 volunteer hours and 2,000 pounds of trash.

And it was really wonderful, actually.

The one I was able to attend with NV Energy at Floyd Lamb, uh, Councilwoman Bruno was able to join us as well.

And so that was just, you know, in one of our hallmark events that we're really proud of because it just brought out our businesses and our citizens' families all together and our our local council uh members.

So that was uh a highlight for us.

And so those are your numbers and aggregates.

I will point out the um I I apologize.

I made a note of not updating the date for what the value given for volunteer hours is, but it is 33, just the the notations incorrect there.

So we're looking at 118,000 dollars in value for the volunteer time given.

So we like to think we're we're a good asset and team member in helping parks and rec and our city, and we welcome you all into joining us for our next 25 years.

Um in the next year, we certainly want to be a part of doing more tree planting and certainly more native habitats.

And yeah, we welcome any suggestions on what you'd like to see us involved in and from your wards, how we can have a greater impact.

Uh Commissioners, do I have any questions?

Are you gonna get off to the question?

Yes, go ahead, Commissioner.

Uh Commissioner Gribble Ward Five.

Uh good afternoon, Christy.

Welcome.

Thank you.

And thank you for your uh presentation.

I have been uh attending uh for a long time the park and recreation cleaning and the planting uh trees.

But I never uh asked what's the informal education program you providing.

So we we have a few different ones.

Um actually I had some stickers for you all, but I didn't know if that was allowed to give it to you, but I'll give it to you at the end.

Um so we do programs like Mohave Max, and we do we administer on behalf of the county, um, but Mojave Max education, so um that takes place year-round, and then there's a special emergence program.

Uh we do native habitats, pollinator curriculum.

We have a science curriculum that is um um run uh uh we're we're part of a project wetland, so it talks about water conservation, so we do programming on behalf of them as well.

Um as far as in the parks, it's going to be focused on the pollinators and the native habitats.

Does that answer your question, Commissioner?

Uh yes, thank you.

Thank you.

I I understand you're just the start, and maybe it's saluted with you, but thanks for your presentation.

Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner.

Uh yes, I have a question.

Uh Commissioner Burgos.

Uh Commissioner Burgos, Ward Six.

I just wanted to like give kudos to your staff because I've worked on several of the programs in at Floyd Lamb and in Ward Six, and um, they are excellent.

Not only are they great community leaders, but also they're um so nice to everybody that's coming there welcoming, and I really do appreciate it.

I do you know if and I you may not know this yet, but if you have anything coming up at Floyd Lamb, I know our raised garden area needs some love.

Um I will make you know when I will definitely take back your your feedback about the staff.

Um, I also feel very fortunate to have wonderful staff that make people want to come out to events.

Um we don't have anything planned for cleanups.

Our program season ended pretty much at the end of May, just to you know, weather permitting what is really possible for us to do safely.

So we will pick back up in September.

Um, so I don't have we're tomorrow is our big planning meeting for laying out all of the ward cleanups that are gonna happen.

So we will let you know as soon as possible once we talk with our our uh council members' offices.

Um but yeah, I uh right now there's the recenter rafting trips with the kids, but no cleanups in Floyd Lamb yet.

But that might be where our birthday party is.

I'm eyeing it.

Thank you.

Great.

Any other questions, Commissioners?

Uh executive director, I want to thank you.

Uh the presentation was really nice.

I especially like the honeycomb uh effects there.

Pollinators are I know it's the pollinators, but also a sense of community.

I think that's a really nice connection.

Um commissioners, I I strongly encourage you guys to go roll up your sleeves every now and again and help uh get outdoors Nevada.

We've had many commissioners do that over the years.

Uh, and you know, just add that to your list of things, including being park ambassadors where you get to go out and fill out all our little surveys for the parks.

You could maybe double dip and do both.

So thank you so much for the report.

Thank you, everyone.

Thank you.

Uh moving to agenda item number nine, uh, report by Patrick O'Mara, Deputy Parks Recreation and Cultural Affairs Director regarding state and national parks and recreation associations all boards.

Good afternoon, everybody.

Um for the record, Patomera, Deputy Director of Parks Recreation and Cultural Affairs.

Um at your at the request of somebody on the commission, um, we were asked to kind of talk a little bit about the state and national um associations that we belong to, and um so we'll talk a little bit about those.

We have a the Nevada Recreation and Park Society, obviously that's our that's our state society, um, and then National Recreation and Parks Association.

So I'll give you a little bit about uh information about the history and how we uh how our membership with those agencies uh benefits us.

Um so uh NRPS, the Nevada Recreation and Park Society, um kind of came together grassroots-wise back in the 50s, um, and then shortly around the time that uh NRPA, the National Parks and Recreation Association became a thing, we became an affiliate.

We've been involved uh as a state affiliate the whole time, um, trying to make sure that we're in line with goals, best practices, all those kinds of things.

Uh in the 70s, we made it official and became a 501c3.

We we're a professional networking education and advocacy agency.

Um while some of our members do go and lobby the legislature, we don't in order for our for our 501c3 uh to stay valid.

So um we are a hundred percent volunteer run, we don't pay for uh executive directors, any of that stuff, and of course, with the advent of technology and the way that it's gone, we don't even pay for a storage unit anymore.

Um it's it's all um you know digital and and all that kind of stuff.

Um there are of course benefits, but then also drawbacks to that uh arrangement.

Right now uh we have 474, excuse me, 475 members of that number, approximately 65 to 70 of them are city of Las Vegas staff.

So where we get a benefit of belonging to the society is through the education and uh through uh belonging to and and becoming part of the leadership and and driving um the society forward.

So uh there are two arms to the education uh benefit.

We we run a state conference um each spring, and so we're bringing together uh not only professionals within the state that want to share their information, but also bring in people from across the country who uh are notable in parks and recreation or um HR finance or motivation or a variety of things that would be beneficial to us as professionals.

We bring them all together and and um host the conference.

Uh approximately 10 years ago, we started what's called the LEED program.

The lead program is actually a professional development uh mentoring program where the first year you are the mentee, and you go through a variety of activities to develop your leadership.

Um, of course, now that I'm gonna say it, I'm gonna miss them.

Um you remember what these are?

Okay, so lead is an is an acronym.

Um I think it's leadership excellence, um, alliance, and um something else.

Anyways, uh I haven't gone through the program in a long time, and so it's hard for me to keep all these things in the top of my head.

But the idea is to build up the four pillars of who you can be as a professional.

And um, and so you work with a mentor from another agency within the state.

You build your network, you um you work on all those all those characteristics to try and build yourself to be a better professional.

The second year, you actually become the mentor, and so you're guiding the new group through.

And then the third year, if you stay on, you actually become the group that spearheads, it's called the mentor advisory committee.

So you're you're helping the mentors do a good job, but then also leading that program to appropriate changes to continue building and providing the best benefit that it can to the society.

So those are the two uh avenues that we do through education.

Uh there is actually a third now that I'm thinking about it, and the third is uh through the LEED program, we do lunch and learns.

So one of your activities in the first year is to actually find somebody to come in and provide a professional development session.

So I've seen people bring in groups talking, American Cancer Society will come in and talk about sun safety and things of that nature, and it's a 45-minute to an hour session, similar to you your other CEUs and things, and then it's an opportunity for us for our part-timers uh to get some professional development.

Uh the other avenue that we get some benefit on is belonging to and and through the leadership team of the society.

As I mentioned, it is a hundred percent volunteer-led, so we rely heavily on the progression of leadership through the society.

So we have a three-year cycle for the presidential term.

In the first year, you're learning and you're preparing uh to take over the society as the president elect, then you become the president, you're guiding and you're leading from that perspective, and then you kind of serve as the mentor uh and and provide continuity of leadership as the past president during your third year.

Um each district, if you want to call it that.

We we basically run north and south in Nevada.

Uh each district has uh vice president that essentially runs that area, helps coordinate the lunch and learns and and helps provide uh support to the presidents.

Um, and then we have one secretary, one treasurer, and one lead coordinator for the entire state.

And then each district has four members at large from the variety of agencies in that area that essentially do a lot of the grunt work.

So they put out the newsletter every quarter, they help with uh with uh putting on conference and getting socials uh squared away and getting vendors and getting fundraising and all of that type of stuff.

This year, City of Las Vegas has three members on that leadership committee.

Jordan Duncan is one of our members at large.

She's brand new, so she's in the first of her two years.

Uh, I'm serving a one-year stint as the vice president of the South.

Uh, and then Lisa was just elected uh to the presidential term, so she's in the president-elect capacity now.

The other agency that we're working with is the National Recreation and Parks Association.

So we have a an agency membership uh which provides those of us who take advantage of that the opportunity for um virtual uh learning opportunities every month.

This the association uh puts together uh 12 virtual trainings, one every single month, um, four premier members of which we are uh and so we take advantage of that.

Um let me talk a little bit about the history.

So early in the 1900s, people started understanding that park advice advocacy and um and best practices and designs was was really important to how uh communities could flourish from that a variety of agencies uh and associations formed, and five of them merged in 1965.

They all became the National Park and Recreation Association.

Um and now they do a lot of professional, their their goals are professional development, park and public lands advocacy, program development, um a lot more than um than that.

So as I mentioned, they provide virtual trainings every month, they provide um the largest uh professional development conference in our industry every fall, and they and we'll actually talk about that in a little bit.

Um, and then they also partner with uh NC State, the lesser of the Wolfpacks to uh provide schools, they call them.

There's a special events school, there's a revenue development school, and so on.

We also take advantage of their certifications.

So these are best practices, these are tried and true, you know, industry standards that you have to learn, you have to commit to memory, you have to practice.

You have the aquatic facility operator for things like running our pools, certified playground inspector, uh, which makes sure that the playgrounds that we have are safe, that there's no entrapments and there's no pinch points and all sorts of things like that.

And then there are there are the two professional certifications of parks and recreation professional and parks and recreation executive.

And of those, we have eight of the 70 parks and recreation professionals in the state, and we have two of the nine executives in the state here at City of Las Vegas.

And then they the National Recreation Park Association also oversees the accreditation process for the commission for the accreditation of parks and recreation agencies, CAPRA, which we've been talking about a lot for the last couple of couple of years.

So that's how we uh work with the associations, the the societies, um, so that if we say in conversation, and we will say NRPS or NRPA because it's just that otherwise they're a mouthful.

Um, but just to give you guys a little bit of a background of of some of the resources that we are able to utilize out there, what groups that we're involved with to try and um you know show off what we can do and and get best practices back at the same time.

So I'll take any questions if there are about commissioners.

Any questions?

No, I think they're satisfied with that.

Uh I would like to mention Chair Pecker.

I would like to mention that um any of you uh um can join the NRPS.

I'm a member.

Uh you can do it as an associate member, they do have that.

It's like $25 a year, and it just helps you keep in the loop, you get the newsletter and things like that.

So you can always pursue that.

I'm not sure about uh NPR.

I haven't done that, um, but I do know that there's assets that they have that you might find interesting, just as you're learning to become an engaged commissioner.

And there are many times when at both the state and national level commissioners uh do attend and and there are sessions sometimes just for them.

Um so it if that does appeal to you, um, we can have conversations offline, but um those would be things that you could you could jump at this year.

We're in Philadelphia, so if you want to make a trip over there, um I can give you the information on where you can go and register and all the things.

So the conferences are are really great.

Uh seeing no other questions, I think we can move right to this just kind of dovetails right into it.

A report from uh Patrick Mar Mara Deputy Parks Recreation and Cultural Affairs Director regarding the commission accreditation of parks and recreation agencies, which is CAPRA, the accreditation process.

And I'm sure we're all excited to hear about this.

Yeah, so uh as you know, we've been working toward CAPRA accreditation uh since since Maggie and I uh jumped into the positions we did in in late 2023.

Um it had been talked about several times in the many years before that.

Uh, and we we decided now's a now's a great time to get in there, roll up our sleeves, and and actually um put our ducks in a row.

So uh the process started uh officially with an accreditation kickoff with all of our staff in January of 24, and through the spring and fall of uh 24 and 25, we were working on the standards.

There are 37 fundamentals and 114 non-fundamentals.

Um of those 114, we we were required at initial accreditation to meet 103 of them.

Uh that's no easy feat.

Um, it is certainly a big lift, and and we're happy that so many of our staff um jumped in and helped out.

In September of last year, we we uh officially applied for CAPRA and then started filling in the database of all of our documentation and all of our narratives of how we implement all these um policies and procedures and um and all of the uh how we fulfill these these uh standards, and then we were assigned a group of uh visitors, they call them, who review the accreditation application in early January.

In September of last year, we we uh officially applied for CAPRA and then started filling in the database of all of our documentation and all of our narratives of how we implement all these um policies and procedures and um and all of the uh how we fulfill these these uh standards and then we were assigned a group of uh visitors they call them who review the accreditation application in early January uh we finished our report middle of January and then it throughout this spring we've been working with those three individuals um to uh to show how our documents uh prove out that we are meeting these standards um last week on Tuesday and Wednesday we had the on-site review a couple of you were able to attend and um have lunch and and have some conversations with the team um and so uh you know that that was uh that was a great process for us um there was still a little bit of work uh that had to be done during that time but we loved being able to show off uh several of our facilities our parks and um a lot of uh a lot of our uh amenities that the community gets to see they they were able to enjoy those as well and it being the first week of camp they loved that because the centers that we visited were were full of kids and as a visitor you don't get to see that on the regular basis because we're kind of at the tail end of the review cycle so they will finish their report uh by the middle of this month um the recommendation uh that they have shared with us is that we will be recommended for accreditation um and of course we want to thank all of our staff uh and most particularly Lisa and um Lakeisha Dickens for their monumental work in in getting us across that finish line um the final official decision won't happen until September at the uh at the um nrpa conference uh and then once that happens we'll actually go ahead and take a little bit of time celebrate with our staff we have a an all hands we call it meeting where all of our full-time staff are invited to um to a meeting and we will do some business and we will do some trainings and things like that but we will take some time at that to celebrate all of our staff uh and then through next spring we will put together our our new team to uh identify uh who will lead each chapter and all of those things and then the the real work begins so by this time next year we hope to have everything uh set up and aligned because all of the standards are changing now that we have the accreditation so we're going from 154 down to I think it was I think I was looking at it the other day and it's something like 67 is it 90?

Yeah the numbers that I was looking at were a little bit different.

So uh anyways significantly less but just as much work.

So now we have to realign where things actually go so that'll take some time and then we'll actually be able to put in a good three or four years of reviewing and proving out and writing reports and doing all the things that we need to do to be ready for reaccreditation and that will happen in the spring of 32 excuse me 31 any questions commissioners do you have questions I'd like to interject here real quick I and and I could be wrong on the 90 so that's just what occurred to me because I actually did work on one of these and in it the new uh rules and regulations are actually they consolidated a lot of things so there's not as much redundancy but at the same time I think you have to find even more documentation information that's gonna really spill out into the rest of the city.

So it's kind of an interesting twist to it.

I'd also just want to recognize and thank all the commissioners uh commissioners uh Mick Getting uh Sleezer and Wool for attending last week's lunch uh with the CAPRA representatives uh this type of connection is so worthwhile in the effort to nurture an engaged and educated commission and I want to give kudos to the city of Las Vegas parks recreation staff for all their hard work and pursuing accreditation Ms.

Tovright was called out specifically by the representative several times for running around getting the little extra things done I and uh when I first did this is really important to me because when I first joined this commission I was told that the city of Las Vegas was not interested in accreditation and they would likely never pursue it.

Uh uh and at large, all wards, and I believe Commissioner Keller.

Uh hi, Commissioner Keller here, ward three.

Um, you all have commissioners, you all have uh this flyer with you.

Um just passing along uh Councilwoman Diaz's um request and asks that um, as you heard earlier, there are the native habitat gardens at multiple parks.

Um, but there is one at Justice Lovett and also JC Community Park.

If you get a chance to stop by, um, you have a scan code to provide a survey.

Um, so as you know, information is great and helpful.

If you get a chance to do that this summer, that would be great.

Thank you.

Great.

Uh Commissioner Sleaser.

Commissioner Sleezer Ward 4.

Um, a couple items here, Chairman.

I'll run through quickly.

Um Mr.

Glimp mentioned it earlier, but uh Councilwoman Balensky wanted to offer her thanks to the Parks Department and the many volunteers who had uh participated in placing the flags at Police Memorial Park in preparation for the Memorial Day ceremony that was held uh recently.

Um I think Mr.

Glimp actually had more flags on his uh slide than I had.

I had 6,000 flags uh that was passed along by the councilwoman's office.

Mr.

Glimp had 6800, I believe.

So I'm gonna go with Mr.

Glimp.

I think he's right.

Um, but just the councilwoman wanted to pass along her thanks again to the parks department for that partnership and uh to all the citizen volunteers who showed up.

It was a great honor of that uh of that holiday and the men and women who fallen in the line of duty.

Also, uh Councilwoman Polanski will be co-hosting blast off in the basin in partnership with Mayor Berkeley and Councilwoman Bruni at Buckskin Basin Park on the 4th of July, Saturday, July 4th at 7 o'clock p.m.

Uh, there'll be a live DJ, food trucks, and fireworks, and uh that'll be in celebration of America's semi-concentenal.

So pass up no opportunity to say semi-concentenal, that's fun.

Um, and then also a couple of upcoming uh little league uh international tournament events that are going to be hosted at city parks.

Um I had mentioned one before.

Uh Mountain Ridge is going to be hosting the District 4 60 foot.

So when I say 60 foot, that's the Tens Division, 11's division, and 12's division, the little elite team that eventually goes on to play at Williamsport.

That'll be July 8th through the 18th at Mountain Ridge Park.

And then the junior and senior division tournaments will be co-hosted between Mountain Ridge Little League and Lone Mountain Little League jointly at Mountain Ridge Park Field 7 and Children's Memorial Park Field 5, um, June 18th through the 25th.

So we wanted to thank our partners at the city for supporting those events.

The fact that the district places the faith and trust in our leagues and also those city fields to host those events is uh is a big vote of confidence in those fields and those facilities.

So appreciate it.

Thank you.

Excellent.

Uh Commissioner Burgos.

Um thank you.

Um Councilman Bruni would like to invite everybody out in partnership with Centennial Hills YMCA and Centennial Hills Active Adult Center to the Father's Day Take Me Out to the Pool.

It's Saturday, June 20th from 11 a.m.

to 1 p.m.

Again, it's gonna be at the Centennial Hills YMCA pool at 6601 North Buffalo Drive.

Join us for a fun day, Batada's pool party with a hot dog, bar games, raffle, and great memories for the whole family, and is free to the public.

So please RSVP through the city of Las Vegas.

Thank you.

Excellent.

Uh, any other commissioners?

Okay, um, I'm gonna go ahead.

I put on my other hat.

Uh, this is for Ward 2.

I did meet with the Ward II Arts Commissioner Craig Claudi this morning.

And he tells me that the first joint arts and parks uh arts effort uh will likely come to fruition this October as the City of Las Vegas will test run an art showroom at Veterans Memorial Community Center.

So when we come back, I'll definitely be telling you more about that.

Uh this is an excellent time, I think, to pursue arts and park initiatives in our valley, as there seems to be an appetite for it.

Uh, just recently, the city of Las Vegas held an exhibit of local artists over 50 years old, and from what I understand it was standing room only, like over 500 people in attendance.

Um, also in ward two, uh, councilwoman Carrie Kelly was uh honored to accept a grant on behalf of the city of Las Vegas for its parks, recreation and cultural affairs department, continuing a long-standing partnership with the fund free swim lessons for young children.

So this annual donation supports water safety programs for youth ages four and younger at multiple locations citywide, including Pavilion Center Pool.

Uh swim safety is so important to our community as it prevents unnecessary drownings.

You never want to leave children unsupervised in a pool, not even for a second.

Uh, thank you again for all your patience.

Um today, because I know a lot of us want to go to a hockey game or at least catch it on television.

Uh, as a friendly reminder, though, this commission will be going dark for the summer months of July and August.

So I look forward to seeing you all again this September.

Moving on to agenda item number 12.

I have for citizens' participation.

No subject may be acted upon by the commission unless that subject is on the agenda and is scheduled for action.

If you wish to be heard, come forward and give your name for the record.

The amount of discussion any single subject, as well as the amount of time any single speaker is allowed, may be limited.

Seeing nobody here for citizens' participation, I would like to call for adjournment.

Thank you for coming.