Message from Nita and February Senior Staff Notes

Message from Nita…

Winter was late in coming this season, but once it arrived it got everyone's attention! I had scheduled a weekend at Herrington Manor State Park with family and friends, only to watch nearly 40 inches of snow from Winter Storm Jonas blanket our cabins. It was certainly a beautiful site, but it also gave me the opportunity to see our staff in snow removal action. Ranger Carrie Osborn even gave me a plowing lesson! The Senior Staff commends all of you who were involved in our storm recovery efforts.

This month, Senior Staff heard an excellent presentation from Ranger Andrew Vecchio on our Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) Assessment & Treatment plan. Over the past several months, park staff has assessed our ash tree population, which is threatened by this invasive beetle, identifying ash trees that are priority candidates for inoculation against EAB. Ranger Vecchio is our lead in coordinating a significant undertaking to work with DNR's Forest Service to use a federal grant to treat approximately 300 ash trees in our day use and campground areas. Thanks to Ranger Vecchio and everyone's efforts, we are moving forward this spring to begin treating and preserving our ash trees.

Finally, the Senior Staff reviewed our estimated visitation data for last year and confirmed that we served 12,057,174 State Park visitors in CY2015.  This is our highest visitation recorded in the past 10 years! Overall, the consensus is that this record visitation is largely due to growing demand, availability of facilities and favorable weather conditions. Total revenue for FY15 was reported at $14.2 million compared to $13.1 million in FY14. I know you all felt the demands of our growing visitation this past season and did an outstanding job.

I am looking forward to seeing all of you in the coming weeks as we meet for our annual Town Hall Meetings. I encourage you to bring your comments and questions to these meetings as we prepare for the upcoming season.

MARYLAND PARK SERVICE

SENIOR STAFF MEETING NOTES

February 10, 2016

Attendees: Nita Settina, Chris Bushman, Amanda Mock, Mary Owens, Al Preston, Mike Riley, Dave Powell, Alison Woodfield, Andrew Hangen, Guest: Andrew Vecchio (next meeting’s manager-of-the-month – Southeast Region)

REGIONAL REPORTS

• SOUTHEAST

1.     Uniform warehouse inventory will be conducted at Sandy Point (McCoy, Riley, Mock) before new orders are placed.

2.     Harriet Tubman UGRR State Park opening March 10 symposium Park building will be turned over to MPS in mid-March

3.     Discussed need to monitor agricultural leases and ensure compliance including agricultural lease cover crop requirements

4.     Assateague staff working with E&C, DGS, FEMA on dune repairs from winter storm Jonas. Current damage estimate is $2.5 million.

• CENTRAL

1.     Fair Hill – National Steeplechase Association building. Working with E&C on repairs to roof that collapsed during winter storm Jonas

2.     Workday concerns from managers – changes are currently being made to PIN assignments

3.     Vehicles sent to PHH vendors – received services / repairs that were not requested and charged far more than anticipated. Vendor completed work that was not approved by Park manager. Follow-up – If managers call PHH to schedule repairs, they are to follow up with an email to Debbie Nagel and Craig Edgar to advise of the work that was requested. If contacted by PHH, Debbie / Craig will only authorize the requested work and will contact the manager with any questions.

• WEST

1.     Kudos to managers for a great effort recovering from winter storm Jonas. Parks worked well together and aided each other in the effort.

2.     Employee Field Day 2016 will be hosted by the Western Region on September 28 - Fort Frederick State Park

3.     DNR Customer Service training to be hosted by Rocky Gap. Other units in DNR are involved. MPS staff is welcome to attend; not required.

4.     Question from Rangers at Fort Frederick: Has the job description for PSA been  changed to include supervision? No, the job specifications have not been changed because PSAs do not supervise classified employees. DBM has confirmed that supervision of seasonal employees serves as qualifying experience for promotional eligibility.

5.     NPS Centennial – Ranger Milbourne and others are working with the NPS on possible participation by MPS in several Centennial events.

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION SURVEY

• Group reviewed and discussed January results and 2014 / 2015 comparison
• Feedback from surveys is consistent, albeit slightly less positive in CY2015 vs. CY2014.
   

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT / PLANNING  (Owens)

• EAB (Emerald Ash Borer) Assessment (2015 / 2016) – Vecchio

1.     Federal grant received by Forest Service and made available to the MPS for treatment of selected Ash trees

2.     Listing of parks that need treatment (from park managers) – Handout

3.     Sandy Point is seeing large number of trees that need treatment

4.     Need DBH information to determine how much chemical is needed

5.     EAB Plan shows maps for treatment areas in Parks

6.     Grant award $32,000 – Agreement with Forest Service provides for $22,000 for chemical and $10,000 for equipment

7.     Vecchio to work with Stevens (MCC) on plan for distribution of equipment / MCC crews

8.     Will likely work from east to west as trees leaf out in the spring

9.     Photo documentation / article in Natural Resource magazine / media release

10.  New informational signs being considered / EAB Awareness Week

• Kudos to Ranger Vecchio for the extensive research and planning as we tackle the EAB infestation in our State Parks!
• EAB Bio-Control Priorities - Vecchio

1.     Vehicle access is needed

2.     Need to be able to cut down a few sample Ash trees to check for EAB larvae

3.     Possible locations – Patapsco Valley – Hollofield campground / Cunningham Falls – Houck campground / Casselman River Bridge / Big Run / Gunpowder Falls – Jerusalem / Seneca Creek / Patuxent River / South Mountain

4.     EAB must be established

• Dan Hudson completed draft document to guide development and placement of trail way findings and markers.
1. Need for consistency statewide
2. Sign approval is coming
• AIS (Aquatic Invasive Species) Workgroup
1. 51 species of concern in Maryland
2. Hydrilla major concern (Deep Creek Lake / Lake Habeeb at Rocky Gap)
3. Focus group is working on awareness for boaters
4. Workgroup recommendations are being established
5. 16 State-owned and managed lakes
6. 4 out of 16 lakes have been surveyed so far
7. MPS may be asked to assist with interpretive materials and education

DEPUTY SUPERINTENDENT UPDATE

• Attendance Reporting / Park Trends

1.     Barb Knisely is putting finishing touches on new attendance reporting Google spreadsheet

a.      Each park will have a tab on the spreadsheet, where they will input daily attendance figures.

b.     Managers will be able to record notes regarding special circumstances including: storms, power outages, broken equipment, corrections to data, etc.

2.     Goal for launch is end of February.

• Policy Issues

1.     Commercial Photography Permit

a.      Had previously established a standard fee for “basic” commercial photography permit. Sandy Point had developed a permit template that had been shared with other park managers

b.     Subsequently, it has been decided that the permit is still required, as per COMAR, but there is no permit fee

c.      New version of permit will be distributed soon

2.     Uniform Policy / Wearing of Jewelry

a.      Current policy permits only one earring per ear and no other visible piercings

b.     Feedback requested on retention or changes to current policy / changes

• Lease Monitoring

1.     Leases need to be monitored by Park Manager and compliance documented by photos and paperwork. Legislative auditors want this for all leases, with added focus on the more complex leases.

2.     MPS may develop a checklist for ALL leases – need to review lease requirements

3.     MPS will seek to meet with Legislative Auditors to determine their requirements / expectations / documentation required by park managers.

• Finalize Hot Spots List
1. Updated list received from Regional Managers and will share with the NRP
• 2015 MPS / NRP Officer of the Year Nominations

1.     Received 4 nominations – Sgt. Mike Friend – Garrett County Parks / Sgt. Junior Johnson – Sandy Point State Park / S/Ofc. Leary Stevens – Janes Island State Park / Ofc. Chris Warden – Cunningham Falls State Park

2.     Sgt. Junior Johnson was selected as the 2015 Officer of the Year

3.     NRP Awards Ceremony on April 28 at Chesapeake College

4.     All 4 nominees are invited to May 11 managers meeting at North Point

• Reservation Refund Policy

1.     Current policy offers NO refund for weather-related cancellations.

2.     In wake of winter storm Jonas, senior staff discussed the policy

3.     The policy will remain the same (no refunds for weather-related no-shows), but the Superintendent will communicate case-specific authority of managers to provide for exceptions in the case of major weather events such as hurricanes, blizzards, etc. when travel restrictions don’t permit those with reservations to travel to the park to use the reserved facility

SUPERINTENDENT UPDATE (Settina)

• Senior Staff applauds everyone’s efforts to prepare for, and deal with, winter storm Jonas. The storm impacted the entire state and staff response was top notch.

• Review Minutes from January Senior Staff Meeting

1.     Please make sure everyone is signed on to Workday

2.     Strategic Management Plans – Ranger Thomas revised the template based on comments from January senior staff meeting and it will be distributed to all Park Managers.

a.      Pilot parks (Fort Frederick / Susquehanna / Tuckahoe / Smallwood) will begin work on their Strategic Management Plan.

b.     Pilot Plans will be presented at May Managers Meeting.

• Event Calendar Follow Up

1.     Angie Pease has posted first calendar on Google Docs

2.     She is still waiting to hear back from some managers

• Land Acquisition Priorities
1. Settina will be meeting with Land Acquisition and Planning annually to prioritize land acquisition per Assistant Secretary Anthony. These meetings will seek to plan / prioritize land acquisitions.
• Seasonal Hiring / Diversity
1. Please make sure hiring process follows all HR requirements / problems with hiring should be communicated immediately to Barb Knisely or Amanda Mock.
2. Remind staff that our goal is that the MPS seasonal workforce reflects the diversity of our visitors
3. Amanda Mock will be sending out an email to “kick off” seasonal hiring.
4. Newly hired seasonal employees need to sign up on Workday as soon as they receive a “W” number.
• Town Hall Meetings / In-Service

1.     Starting earlier this year (first one on February 22)

2.     EEO Training in the morning / Superintendent’s Session in the afternoon

ADMINISTRATION (Mock)

• Ranger Hires / Lateral Transfers (Bushman / Mock)
1. PSA interviews wrapping up on Friday.
2. Senior Staff and Regional Managers will look at lateral transfers prior to hiring / assigning new PSAs.
3. Training Lead recruitment / selection process wrapping up
4. Herrington Manor Park Maintenance Program Supervisor interviews in progress
5. Lateral transfer opportunity was offered to all PSS employees to fill MCC Director position (Marti Woodfield vacancy)
• Tourism Contacts

1.     Asking for field staff to continue to nurture relationships with county tourism folks as Christina Holden transitions to Sandy Point

• Budget Update

1.     Proposed FY17 MPS budget includes $1.6 million increase for operations.

2.     5 new positions for Harriet Tubman UGRR State Park have been included in Governor’s budget – need to be approved by General Assembly

• Workday Timekeeping
1. Training now available on Workday Timekeeping for Managers / Supervisors.
2. Issues with timekeeping include access to desktop computer ONLY, possibility of having some employee record time on paper copy and have administrative staff input the data, etc.
3. Per Nita, Regional Managers to request that Managers meet with their staff to plan timekeeping during the busy seasonal employee season and try to identify issues in advance.

• Honor Envelopes are being revised / reviewed by Amanda
• Campaign hat ordering will be pushed down to Park Managers
• No Ranger School likely this coming fall or next winter.