Los Alamos County Parks and Recreation Board Meeting Summary – March 12, 2026
Los Alamos County Parks and Recreation Board Meeting – March 12, 2026
The Los Alamos County Parks and Recreation Board met Thursday, March 12, 2026, at 1000 Central Avenue, with remote participation available. The board approved the February 12, 2026 minutes, reviewed the new CivicRec recreation management software, discussed coordination of Community Services Department projects, and voted to recommend the North Mesa Bike Park as a budget priority to County Council. No public comments were made during the public comment period.
Consent Calendar
- Minutes from the February 12, 2026 meeting were approved unanimously by voice vote, including a remote vote by Paula Knepper after an audio check.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No comments were offered on items not included on the agenda. One remote attendee indicated they were only listening in and did not provide public comment.
Discussion Items
- CivicRec Parks and Recreation Management Software: Katherine Hudspeth presented the new CivicRec platform, which replaced RecTrack and launched March 2, 2026. The demonstration showed online browsing and registration for activities, memberships, events, and facility rentals; digital waivers and policy signatures; special event permit requirements for events with 100 or more attendees; optional electricity-use fees; and credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay payment options. Staff noted that pavilions can often be booked same-day, larger facilities such as the rodeo arena have a 14-day online window, baseball fields are currently fully booked and coordinated with field-user groups, banner permits remain with Customer Care, and Fuller Lodge/Betty Ehart rentals stay with the Facilities division rather than CivicRec.
- Coordination of CSD Projects: Staff explained how the Parks, Recreation, and Community Programs Integrated Master Plan, the ADA Transition Plan, the CSD Strategic Roadmap, divisional plans, and County Council objectives drive project prioritization. Projects discussed included the 37th Street and Pinyon Park playground replacements, Guaje Pines Cemetery Phase 1 (with a new ossuary and memorial wall, expected late 2026 or early 2027), North Mesa Recreation Master Plan, Bio Canyon Trailhead, Grand Canyon Playlot, and North Mesa Picnic Grounds. The 37th Street and Pinyon Park playgrounds are on or ahead of their April 30 contract completion, with ribbon cuttings scheduled May 5 at 10:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Board members raised community questions about coordination between the Bio Canyon and North Mesa Picnic Grounds planning efforts and about equestrian trail access to Bio Canyon. Staff responded that the two consultant teams, Groundwork Studios and Site Southwest, are in direct communication and that project comment summaries and survey results are posted to project web pages.
- Bike Park Budget Recommendation: The board discussed that the Bike Park is in Phase 1 of the council-approved North Mesa Recreation Master Plan. Board members described the recommendation as a formal follow-through on earlier Bike Park working group presentations that had been overtaken by the larger master planning process. Concerns were noted about Phase 2 open-space/trail connections, but members cautioned against revisiting public-approved master plan decisions. The board then moved and seconded the recommendation.
Board/Staff Communications
- Chairman’s Report: Chair Brian Watkins had no formal report; he reminded members of upcoming public listening sessions and the summer concert series, and cautioned board members to avoid accidental quorums at community events.
- Staff Report: Staff announced upcoming public meetings: Grand Canyon Playlot virtual meeting March 16 at 5:30 p.m.; North Mesa Picnic Grounds at Fuller Lodge March 19 at 5:30 p.m.; and Bio Canyon Trailhead at Fuller Lodge and online March 24 at 5:30 p.m. They also reported that the Pinyon Park rocket was removed for sandblasting and repainting in a survey-selected color scheme, Ashley Pond’s waterfall pump system had been replaced and turned back on, irrigation water was being restored to selected sports fields to protect turf, and the Community Services Department has an average of $4 million annually for ADA and level-of-service improvements.
Key Outcomes
- Approved the February 12, 2026 minutes unanimously.
- Passed by a 6-0 roll-call vote a motion recommending that County Council consider the Bike Park proposal as a priority item during budget hearings.
- CivicRec was presented for information only; no action was taken on the software.
- Staff will continue consultant coordination and public outreach on active projects.
- The next regular board meeting is scheduled for April 9, 2026.
Meeting Transcript
All right, good afternoon. We'll call this meeting to order. Before we get started, any public comment on items not currently on the agenda. No one's online. Does it look like just Paul's online? All right. This is gonna be a quick one. Every time I say that that we're here until 8 30. That's true. Like angry hockey people who like horses will come in. All right, uh, let's get on to uh the business section. Uh first item we've got is approval of minutes from the February 12th 26th meeting. Hope everybody had a chance to look. Thank you for getting those post and sent out. Um any discussion before uh we move forward on that. All right, would anybody uh make a motion uh to approve those meetings? Minutes. I'll move that we approve the minutes from the last meeting. I'll second. All right, vote. All in favor. All in favor. Thank you. Yeah, I think we need Paula to vote. And I think she just messaged that that maybe we're muted. Paula, can you hear us now? Uh yes, thank you. I can hear you. Sorry. I didn't have any any sound until now. Okay, great. Thank you. Uh we uh we just uh had a motion and a second to approve the minutes from the February 12th, 26th meeting. Um, all here in the in uh council chambers voted yes. Uh would you please vote? Yes. All right, thank you. Um next item we've got uh on the agenda is the Civic Right Parks and Recreation Management Software Presentation. All righty. So oops, sorry. What are you doing to me? I'm answering questions. Oh, okay. Okay. So before I dive into this, um, on March 2nd, we switched from our old recreation management software platform, RecTrack, to Civic Rec. So before I get too far, was anybody a registered user of the previous old software? So if you used it anywhere between in the last five years to register for anything. You were. No, it wouldn't have been through Rec Truck. Did you find it useful or helpful or hard to navigate when you used it?
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