May Senior Staff Notes and Message from Nita

Message from Nita

It's hard to believe that April is already a memory and the Memorial Day holiday is only weeks away.  One April highlight for me was the successful efforts of our staff at Assateague State Park to host a special visit on April 22 by Governor Larry Hogan and the First Lady.

The Governor wanted to experience the Island on his inaugural visit, and so Park Manager Angela Baldwin and her team organized a special tour on gators over the dunes and along the Atlantic Ocean. A threatening thunderstorm held off long enough for the Governor to also announce that Maryland State Parks would honor the NPS Centennial initiative to allow every 4^th grader in a park for free this summer. The value of the MPS mission and staff truly showed brightly that day.

Other recent notable events included the re-opening of the Washington Monument after a nearly year-long closure from a lightening strike. Fort Frederick State Park had record-breaking attendance at their annual Market Fair. Approximately 7,500 visitors and 1,000 campers experienced life in the 18^th century on Maryland's western frontier at the largest living history event on the East Coast. Congratulations to our staff and volunteers!

Maybe you saw the positive press for the MPS and MCC who planted approximately 500 hemlock seedlings at Patapsco Valley and Cunningham Falls State Parks. MCCers are also mobilized in Garrett County this week to treat thousands of Eastern hemlocks from the HWA scourge. In addition, May will kick-off of our Emerald Ash Borer treatments to save specimen ash trees from certain death. The crusade to preserve our natural resources from invasive species is a constant battle. To paraphrase a quote by Louis Pasteur, our strength in reaching our goals will lie solely in our tenacity.

Finally, the Senior Staff expresses its sincere thanks for a strong start to the early spring camping season despite a challenging budget and weather. Already, the Customer Satisfaction survey is chock full of "happy camper" comments extolling your exceptional customer service. Camping in the spring is not for everyone, of course. The nights are chilly and our park operations are still getting up-to-speed. One Patapsco Valley SP visitor's comments seemed to capture the early season, "Your rangers were very polite and friendly…they were all great and smiling…the sites are good and great nature for the kids. Rangers came by to warn us of expected weather…that was nice!"

Happy spring!

MARYLAND PARK SERVICE

SENIOR STAFF MEETING NOTES

May 4, 2016

Attendees: Nita Settina, Chris Bushman, Amanda Mock, Mary Owens, Mike Riley, Rachel Temby, Mary Ironside, Alison Woodfield [next meeting’s (July) manager-of-the-month – Western Region]

REGIONAL REPORTS

• SOUTHEAST

-        Gary Adelhardt is officially retired. Congratulations on a wonderful career!

-        Acting managers at Pocomoke River (Brent Sullivan) and the Tuckahoe Complex (Debbie Cooper) until manager positions are filled.

-        National Trails Day– June 4

·       Parks to submit NTD event information to Dan Hudson.

·       Settina would like to consider having a ribbon cutting on new trail at Tuckahoe. 

• CENTRAL

-        Can capital projects master list be shared with Park Managers?

·       Owens brought list to meeting and distributed. We have asked E & C to post CIP schedule on a share drive.

-        Concerns discussed about missed seasonal payroll due to DBM error. Issue brought to DNR leadership attention.

-        Fair Hill – Nature Center has been pursuing new grants to assist with maintenance of facility. Good news!

• WEST

-        Herrington Manor dam restoration project – concrete poured / weather has not been cooperating and staff is concerned that lake will not be re-filled by Memorial Day weekend. Per senior staff, park staff to continue to work on public notification / communication effort.

-        “No Hunting” signs – A couple of parks made orders from MCE and received non-standard signs. Most of region and rest of state is still stocked with the correct signs.

-        Dans Mountain Pool – Will likely have a delayed opening due to warranty repairs to a newly installed boiler and issues with peeling paint.

-        Washington Monument repairs are complete and it is open to the public!!

-        Natural Playgrounds – started site work at Greenbrier, all playground projects should move forward soon.

ATTENDANCE REPORTING

• Senior staff will discuss each month’s attendance at monthly meetings.
• Deadline for Attendance Reporting: Parks are required to populate the Google spreadsheet with to-date attendance numbers by May 11. Thank you!

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION SURVEY

• Reviewed and discussed April results
• Senior staff noted the high number of positive customer comments. Great work by park staff!

PLANNING AND CONSERVATION CORPS PROGRAMS (Owens)

• HWA – Project to start next week with MCC and park staff. Great work by PVSP staging event on 5/3.
• EAB – Project moving forward. Great job by Mike Burditt. Two teams (Western and Central) will coordinate treatments. Chemical has been ordered and is due to be delivered this week.
• CJC program working in partnership with City Parks and Recreation to expand CJC to 85 more Baltimore youth who will work in Baltimore City Parks.
• “Five-Year Strategic Plans”
1. To avoid confusion with Master Plans or Land Unit Plans, these will be renamed without using “Plan” in the title.
• Soliciting ideas for name from managers. Will be discussed May 11.
2. Pilot parks are completing their plans for presentation at May 11 Managers Meeting at North Point.
• Draft to Senior Staff this week for review prior to presentation.
3. Discussed process before posting (e.g. internal review, stakeholder / public involvement).
• Signs – Please review with Owens before ordering.

1.     Dan Hudson continuing to work on sign standard documents – to include all park signs and located on the “P” drive.

a.     To be presented at the Fall Managers meeting.

2.     Our branding is reflected in our park signs.

3.     Please check signs and “spruce them up” (paint, staining, repairing)…could be CJC project, etc.

4.     Group discussed going back to wooden routed signs as much as possible. Wood signs are unique to parks, less vandalism, more respected. Need to inventory equipment and staff skills.

5.     Check entrance signs and be careful about redundant signs (e.g. Please minimize reminders to visitors multiple times about the service charge).

• ADA inspection visits by John Purgason – Any improvements will need to be reviewed by Owens. Direction for any improvements will come only from MPS leadership.
• SHA is going into next round of water quality project planning (stream restoration projects, storm water management projects - 2 separate projects that will be eventually unified). SHA will be visiting next group of parks soon.
• Underground utility maps needed for project planning!

DEPUTY SUPERINTENDENT UPDATE (Bushman)

• Review Minutes from April Senior Staff Meeting

1.     Follow up on calendar of events being posted on MPS homepage

2.     Uniform Policy change was made

3.     Maria Reusing / Mary Owens working to schedule Dark Skies presentation for E&C staff

• MPS / NRP Shared Vision Statement

1.     Regional Managers will share Statement with managers.

2.     Document describes our collaboration with the NRP to provide for the safety and security of Maryland State Park visitors.

• Communication at all levels is key to a productive and effective partnership with the NRP.
1. MPS managers to invite officers to park meetings and expect to be invited to NRP district / area / regional meetings.
• Reserve Officers – NRP hired two new Reserve Officer Coordinators, who will be contacting park liaisons to arrange assignments for Reserve Officers.
• Handling of Drug Paraphernalia – MPS staff will contact the NRP to take custody of, and properly dispose of, any drug paraphernalia found in the park.
• Guide to Hunting and Trapping review meeting – Bushman and Burditt attended review meeting. Regional contacts to further review information for their parks.
• MPS Logos / Patches – Broadcast email sent by unknown person to DNR unit directors / park managers, requesting that patches be sent to a P.O. Box in Georgia. MPS staff is not to provide patches or other official MPS items to person(s) not known to them.
1. On a related topic, reminder that previous approval to use the MPS logo on items for sale to the public does not include any item of clothing (e.g. hats, t-shirts, polo shirts), as these items could be misused by someone to misrepresent themselves as MPS staff.

ADMINISTRATION (Mock)

• Attended DNR budget meeting discussing FY16 budget close-out (joined by Mike Conaway) – will be sending email to highlight discussions, including submission of all expenses (e.g. Corporate Card logs) before close-out of the FY.
• Mock working with Settina on several requests for information from Office of the Secretary. She appreciates all the help from the field when staff is asked for last-minute information.
• Governor’s Office of Performance Improvement (GOPI) has requested feedback from all state agencies about customer service procedures and all public services provided.
• Hiring – Continuing to move forward with recruitments / hiring for Regional Managers, Park Managers, Park Technicians, and Rangers.
• Cash Handling Procedures – All parks are providing cash handling formats for review.
• MPS Uniform Team: New team identified – will work on uniform contracts.
• Social Media Team: Regional representatives will coordinate social media efforts.