SENIOR STAFF MEETING NOTES
JULY 8, 2015
ATTENDEES: Nita Settina, Chris Bushman , Amanda Mock, Gary Burnett, Daryl Anthony, Mike Riley, Peyton Taylor , Robin Melton, Diane Feheley (next meeting’s manager-of-the-month – Central Region)
REGIONAL REPORTS / ISSUES
- SOUTHEAST
- Maryland National Guard / Active Duty Military day-use fee waiver
- Current waiver is by authority of the Secretary, granted first to members of the Maryland National Guard and then later to active duty military
- Settina / Bushman to follow up with the Office of the Secretary / Integrated Policy and Review Unit regarding a policy to formalize and clarify the current waivers and/or any other potential related waivers (e.g. veterans / family members of active duty military)
- Rosaryville – Large groups advertising events and far exceeding the capacity of the shelters
- Working with the Rosaryville Conservancy, NRP, Prince George’s County PD on strategies to address the situation (e.g. no alcohol permits)
- Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad
- Working on staffing plan for the new State Park
- WESTERN
- Donna Paugh continuing to do a great job in dual capacity at
- CENTRAL
- Opening of North Point State Battlefield / media release
- Metal Detector Policy clarification
- Park Manager retains discretion regarding the various exceptions to the general prohibition
- Concession at North Point to provide ice and charcoal to address issues related to visitors needing those items when the park is full / closed
- Discussion regarding concession budget / hours at Elk Neck and
SUPERINTENDENT UPDATE
- Thank you to all for an amazingly successful Fourth of July weekend
- Full campgrounds / very busy day-use areas
- Significant NRP presence at major parks was noted / appreciated
- Please congratulate your staff
- Interpretive / environmental education programs on Google shared drive
- Over 36,000 people attended programs in the month of June
- Review your park’s programs
- New “grow not mow” signs needed
- To include program information (e.g. pollinator habitat)
- Burnett to follow-up
- Continually review / assess areas currently being mowed / not being mowed to adjust as necessary, in either direction, to achieve the proper balance of management and operational outcomes
- Succession Planning
- Ongoing process to plan for upcoming retirements and associated opportunities for advancement
- Working with HRS on parameters / timeline for recruitments
- Electronic devices / data service plans
- Mock continues to work with staff and IT on process / accuracy
- Service Charge Reductions (handouts)
- Seeking recommendations for reductions in service charges. For example:
- Half-priced Wednesdays
- Reduced camping fees on weekdays
- Reduced camping fees in “off season”
- Remove honor boxes in “off season”
- Roll back previous increases
- Across-the-board reduction in per-person or per-vehicle charge
- Regional Managers to provide feedback from Park Managers / park staff to Mock by Friday, July 17
- Bus / Youth Group Reservation / Entrance Fees (handout)
- Regional Managers to review with Park Managers
- MPS Youth Group Policy provides waiver of all day-use charges for youth groups (with a
- No additional fees are to be charged
- Bus reservations may be required (park is contacted directly), but there should be no charges associated with the reservation
- Need to review / improve consistency in how we define a bus and charge for non-youth group buses
- State Park Foundation funding
- Key initiatives – CJC, historic preservation, interpretation, Children in Nature
- Park Managers to follow MPS chain of command for funding proposals, as the project itself must be approved (i.e. funding is not the only issue)
- Solicit project ideas from Park Managers
DEPUTY SUPERINTENDENT UPDATE
- Recording of MPS Staff Interactions with the Public
- Members of the public can record video / audio in State Parks, including actions of MPS staff, as parks are public places
- There is no expectation of privacy in public settings and the actions of public employees, in performing their official duties, are public by their very nature
- As a matter of professional conduct, MPS employees should refrain from recording members of the public when interacting with them
- This does not preclude the recording of people / places / objects / incidents for legitimate purposes of memorializing events (e.g. programs or special events) or documenting certain conditions (e.g. vandalism).
- Alarm Call Response Reminder
- Response to alarm calls is a law enforcement function
- MPS civilian staff may be notified to respond, once the area has been checked by law enforcement personnel and determined to be safe, to check for damage / missing property and to secure the facility
- If MPS civilian staff are dispatched / requested to respond by the
- Smoke-Free Areas
- We are not currently pursuing a prohibition on smoking in Maryland State Parks
- In the case of special events, the event organizer is not precluded from designating certain outdoor areas as smoke-free (e.g. the grandstand area at the Fair Hill races)
- Deer Management
- WHS Deer Program Manager provided historical deer harvest information for all State Parks with deer hunting programs
- Regional Managers to share that data with Park Managers, to review for trends, etc. and make recommendations for possible adjustments
- Recommendations / proposals to be discussed with the WHS Regional Manager and/or WHS Deer Program Managers
- Include presentation by WHS Deer Program Manager at the 2015 Fall Managers Meeting?
- Hunting in State Parks Chart
- In order to provide useful information to both hunters / non-hunters, a chart is being developed (similar to MPS Pet Policy chart) to consolidate / organize the parameters of the various hunting programs
- Information will then be used to create a Hunting in State Parks website page on the MPS website
- Park Signs
- The DNR Office of Citizen Services (OCS) is working with the MPS and other land management units (Forest Service and WHS) to evaluate signs on public lands
- Effective immediately, the OCS will be visiting State Parks,
- Take a close look at all signs, with particular attention to bulletin boards, park offices, etc.
- The OCS has been provided with our list of “standard” signs and other information for our bulletin boards, kiosks, etc. which had previously been provided to the Regional Managers
- Name of State Park (may include location address and/or GPS coordinates if remote area)
- Emergency Contact Information (standard template)
- Park Information (and contact information for questions)
- Any appropriate trail maps, hunting area maps, etc.
- Use of State Parks Rules and Regulations poster
- Specific rules for the area (e.g. Alcohol Prohibited, Park Closes at Sunset)
- The OCS is interested in standardizing signs to the extent possible, while recognizing the unique characteristics / site-specific requirements of DNR’s diverse public land units
- The OCS is working with the OAG on a standard “Assumption of Risk” statement to be posted / provided on printed material
- Another area of interest is multi-lingual signs, with the focus on signs that provide critical warning / safety information (e.g. “No Trespassing” signs at Bloedes dam at
- The MPS mission includes the interpretation of Civil War battlefield sites and other sites associated with the Civil War, which may involve the display of the Confederate flag or other related symbols.
- The MPS will use protocols adopted by the NPS to guide our actions.
- If a representation of the Confederate Flag is found in its historical context (e.g. books, artwork, historical sites, reenactments) it should remain. If it is a stand-alone image (e.g. flags, t-shirts, mugs, stickers), it should not be offered for sale or displayed on MPS property. Items such as flags, hats and t-shirts are "souvenirs" and the sale or display of those items is not integral to the interpretation of the Civil War component of the history of certain State Parks.
- Incident Notification – Email vs. Text
- Whenever possible, use email instead of text messaging to communicate details of significant incidents being reported to the SDO / MPS leadership
- Provides clarity as to persons being copied and facilitates subsequent communication among all parties copied
- There is no prohibition on text messaging, which is appropriate for certain purposes and is to be used to facilitate communication when email is not available / practical / desired
- Maryland State Parks Facebook Page / Facebook Pages for Individual Parks
- Revisited previous discussion on this topic, as some parks are interested in setting up their own Facebook account.
- Consensus is that, for branding purposes, consistency of messages, customer service, etc. we are going to continue with the current practice of having all parks utilize the Maryland State Parks Facebook page and not set up their own accounts
- Policy Issues
- No issues were brought forth from field staff
ADMINISTRATION
- PEPs
- Reminder – Deadline is July 25 – Do not wait until the last day
- Unit managers will have to report status on a weekly basis and we want to be able to demonstrate good progress – MPS is one of the largest units
- Heritage Areas Authority
- State funds / assets cannot be used to meet 1-1 match requirement
- Work with Friends groups
- MPS Annual Report for Key Performance Measurements (handout)
- Create webpage
- List operational milestones
- List key metrics (e.g. acres, number of campsites, miles of trails)
- Affiliated Foundation Agreements
- Still waiting for information from some parks
- Latino Conservation Week
- July 11-19, 2015
- If your park has an event / area to recognize, please do so with a banner
- Branding
- Publications, maps – working toward consistency
SUPPORT SERVICES
- Uniform Orders
- Quarterly deadline pushed back to July 30
- Still waiting for MCE pricing
- Vehicle Replacements
- Regional Managers to send top 2-3 candidates from each region to Burnett
- ¾-ton or less
- Mileage is top criterion for replacement (as opposed to age, etc.)
- MCC
- Hiring 7 long-term contractual employees (PSA Trainee level)
- Looking for diverse backgrounds for candidates
- CJC
- 350 youth hired
- Graduation is on July 31 at North Point
- MPS Training / Continuing Education
- Working on Pollinator Training
- Lining up Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) entomologist through USDA (Kelly Gill)
- Short and long programs
- Modular programs
- Hands-on field component
- Resource material purchased for the park
- Mary Owens is working with Ms. Gill
- Potentially offering 2 one-day training sessions in September (possibly North Point and/or Soldiers Delight)
- 40-50 people per class
- Regional Managers to provide Melton with list of selected attendees
- Work with agricultural lessees to enhance their border areas
- Fall Training
- Requalification for wildlife management firearms and chainsaw training
- EEO Training
- Three hour session in coordination with the DNR Office of Fair Practices
- Will try to coordinate with Regional Managers to provide to all Park Managers / Assistant Park Managers (possibly at regional meetings)
- MCC training will be reduced from 3 to 2 classes (December and January)
- New
- Dean – Steve McCoy (Assistant Deans Jeff Mouton and Jen Cline)
- May have maximum of 25 students
- Aquatic Facility / Waterfront Management
- All inspections done (Melton and Kline)
- Should be consistent in requirement that non-swimmers (children) wear USCG-approved PFD
- Can be flexible, at the discretion of the manager, with regard to the use of inflatable devices in the pool
- Lifeguards have the authority to clear pool of all inflatable devices if the number / type is presenting a safety issue (applies to both pools and open water areas)
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