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In This Issue...
Welcome New Members
Best Practices Forum
Member News
Research and Resources
In the News
Job Announcements
About NACPRO
The National Association of County Park and Recreation Officials is a non-profit professional organization that advances official policies that promote county and regional park and recreation issues while providing members with opportunities to network, exchange ideas and best practices, and enhance professional development.
Learn more about us at: www.nacpro.org
DEADLINE FOR NEXT ISSUE
The next issue of NACPRO News will be delivered on December 22, 2020.
If you have news or an article to share, please send it to the editor by December 21.
EDITOR
Brenda Adams-Weyant
(814) 927-8212
[email protected]
NACPRO's Sponsors
Job Announcements
Parks Superintendent
Los Alamos County
Los Alamos, New Mexico
Salary: $67,562 - $99,594 /yr
Closing Date: Dec 23, 2020
Special Districts Manager
City of Oxnard, California
Oxnard, California
Salary: $89,128 - $147,284 /yr
Closing Date: Dec 23, 2020
General Manager
East Bay Regional Park District
Oakland, California
Salary: $262,891 - $335,670 /yr
Closing Date: Dec 18, 2020
Director of Washington State Parks
Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission
Tumwater, Washington
Salary: $146,000 - $161,000 /yr
Closing Date: Open until filled
Got a vacancy to fill? NACPRO will post your vacancy on our website and email a copy to our mailing list of over 1100 parks and recreation professionals for a fee of $100 for NACPRO members and $200 for non-members.
For more information:
https://nacpro.mcjobboard.net/jobs
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Welcome New Members
Mr. Craig White, General Manager
Marshall County Park & Recreation Board
Moundsville, West Virginia
Mr. Glen Poole, Operations Manager
Arapahoe County Open Spaces
Centennial, Colorado
Best Practices Forum
Got an issue you need advice on? Or a best practice you want to share? Send us the details and we will publish it in the next NACPRO News.
Member News
FCPA Director Kirk Kincannon Announces Retirement after 40 Years of Public Service
Courtesy of Fairfax County
VIRGINIA - Fairfax County Park Authority (FCPA) Executive Director Kirk Kincannon announced his retirement this week, ending his tenure with the award-winning agency effective Feb. 12, 2021. Kincannon, a seasoned parks and recreation professional with four decades of national experience, including an additional 10 years with FCPA earlier in his career, cited his desire to spend more time with his family as the reason for his departure.
Read more:
https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/park-news/2020/z-ir189
Research and Resources
Save A Full-Time Position and More Without Pinching Pennies
Courtesy of Parks and Recreation Business
By Susan Newhof
MICHIGAN - As executive director of the Genesee County Parks and Recreation Commission, headquartered in Flint, Mich., Amy McMillan has watched property values plummet and the millage income that supports the parks decline as a result.
She has also watched use of the 11,000 acres of county parks increase. At a time when city budgets are also strained and city pools and parks are being closed, the county parks have become a “first choice” and often an “only choice” for residents.
As unemployment looms large across the state, McMillan says proudly that the economic impact of the parks commission’s payroll in 2009 was just under $7 million, and that local spending by her employees supported an additional 113 local full-time jobs.
McMillan asked staff members to think of ideas they could implement that would each save the commission $10. That figure seemed a good benchmark because it is the average cost per hour of a seasonal employee, and it seemed achievable. She hoped the ideas would generate between $25,000 and $40,000 in savings.
Read more:
https://www.parksandrecbusiness.com/articles/2011/02/01/ave-a-full-time-position-and-more
COVID-19 INDUSTRY GUIDANCE: Campgrounds, RV Parks, Ski Operators, and Other Outdoor Recreation
Courtesy of the state of California
This guidance is designed to address sectors and activities opening statewide. However, local health officers may implement more stringent rules tailored to local epidemiological conditions, so employers should also confirm relevant local opening policies.
For more information:
https://files.covid19.ca.gov/pdf/guidance-campgrounds-outdoor-recreation--en.pdf
National Recreational Boating Safety Survey
Courtesy of the River Management Society
The National Recreational Boating Safety Survey (NRBSS) – The NRBSS Information collection project enables the USCG to better identify safety priorities, coordinate and focus research efforts, and encourage consistency in the information that is collected as well as the applied analysis Methods.
The NRBSS data and estimates are used to (1) identify and analyze boating participation trends; (2) better understand the characteristics of at-risk boating populations; (3) more effectually design and efficiently target boating safety education and outreach campaigns; and (4) more objectively and consistently assess the performance of education, regulations, and enforcement intended to reduce boating accidents.
For more information:
https://uscgboating.org/statistics/national-recreational-boating-safety-survey.php
What makes a boating access work (or not)?
Courtesy of the River Management Society
Confluence Research and Consulting has released a report highlighting examples of 269 boat launches from a wide range of locations, geographic settings, amounts and kinds of use, and types of facilities. “The Good, the Bad and the Unusual: What Makes a Boating Access Work (or Not)?” is the first of its kind and the first iteration of a national river access database.
Read more:
https://www.river-management.org/river-access-planning-guide
Tired Of Natural Turf Taking a Timeout?
Courtesy of Parks and recreation Business
By Tammy York
What would you do with a field that does not require downtime and never needs mowed, fertilized, weeded, trimmed, watered, aerated or dethatched? How would your agency capitalize in hosting a constant string of events? Would a synthetic-turf field be your nirvana?
A recently completed study from BASF, a chemical company, reviewed the environmental and economic impact of synthetic-turf fields in comparison to natural-grass fields.
“The study found that over a 20-year time period, a synthetic field costs 15 percent less than a natural-turf field,” Britton says. “With a synthetic-turf field, you eliminate the vast majority of maintenance costs while increasing the available playing time with fields.”
Read more:
https://www.parksandrecbusiness.com/articles/2011/02/01/tired-of-natural-turf-taking-a-timeout
Micromobility Policy Atlas
Courtesy of the Shared-use Mobility Center
The Micromobility Policy Atlas classifies shared bike, e-bike, and scooter policies across a dozen areas of regulation and management, providing information on guidelines, permits, and laws from from around the world. Search and refine by mode, country, policy type, or year, or just use the map. Each policy page outlines operating rules like parking and use of bike lanes; fleet size limits, fees, and fares; equity plans and requirements; data standards, communications, and geofencing guidelines; and links to original policy documents.
Developed through a collaboration between SUMC, the New Urban Mobility alliance, and the WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities, the Atlas provides an open data cross-section of shared micromobility policy that will be continually expanded to reflect evolving regulatory approaches.
For more information:
https://learn.sharedusemobilitycenter.org/atlas/?
Speak at the 2021 NRPA Annual Conference
Courtesy of NRPA
Have you ever thought that an innovative idea you implemented at your agency could benefit other park and recreation professionals? Your ideas, experiences and knowledge could help other professionals bring a community together, gain funding, develop a new youth program and so much more. Make a difference in other communities around the country and share your ideas by submitting an education session proposal for the 2021 NRPA Annual Conference in Nashville, Tennessee. The Call for Proposals opened Dec. 1 and runs through Jan. 8, 2021. Bonus: We're giving away a FREE Full-Package Registration to one randomly selected person whose proposal is selected for the 2021 NRPA Annual Conference.
For more information:
https://www.nrpa.org/conference/program-schedule/proposals/
In the News
There’s No Room for Teens in the Pandemic City
Courtesy of City Lab
By Amy Crawford
Eight months into the pandemic, life under coronavirus restrictions has proven especially hard on teens, who, despite being at lower risk from the virus itself, have fewer opportunities to be with their peers than perhaps any other demographic. As of late November, only about 35% of K-12 students in the U.S. are attending in-person classes daily, according to Burbio, a data service that aggregates school and community calendars; the rest are doing either fully remote or attending a mix of in-person and online classes. After-school activities and sports are likewise limited, and many libraries and youth centers are closed indefinitely. For many younger people, teen life has largely migrated online, to social media platforms like Instagram and Discord.
While the pandemic may be an extreme situation, it has also thrown into relief a problem that predated the novel coronavirus: Many public spaces, which are now the only places where teens can safely meet their friends, are not designed to accommodate them. Talk of child-friendly cities has recently been on the rise, but it tends to focus on how communities can better serve families with younger children, with amenities like playgrounds, stroller-accessible transit and childcare options. Adolescents, on the other hand, are often an afterthought — or, through anti-teen policies or hostile design, they may be deliberately excluded. Simply hanging with friends outside can be fraught, as reflected by the abundance of NextDoor posts warning of teenagers occupying parks and playgrounds.
Read more:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-11-30/with-schools-shut-teens-seek-a-space-of-their-own
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