April 2017 Senior Staff Notes

MARYLAND PARK SERVICE

SENIOR STAFF MEETING NOTES

April 19, 2017

Jefferson Patterson Park

Attendees: Nita Settina, Chris Bushman, Amanda Mock, Mary Owens, Mike Riley, Christy Bright, Steve McCoy, Alison Woodfield, Rob Dyke

(next meeting’s manager-of-the-month – Southeast)

REGIONAL REPORTS

• Southeastern

1.     Smallwood – Charles County has applied for a grant for the Grinder House – not yet approved. Preservation Maryland grant has been approved for $10K. Friends group is waiting for approval of plan by DNR.

2.     Langford Creek property – Potential property acquisition in Kent County. Riley will be visiting the property soon with LAP.

3.     Traumatic Incident Clean-up – Bloodborne Pathogens Procedures will be amended to include direction to contact vendor to perform clean-up of scenes involving trauma / human pathogens. Training Division will also include module in EMS in-service training and information on website.

4.     Sandy Point – Traffic Management Plan – Latest draft plan, with changes from senior staff, has been forwarded to Park Manager for review / revision. Meeting with allied LE agencies has been scheduled.

5.     Trash-Free Parks bags have been ordered. Signs are being developed.

• Central

1.     Bayard Property – Cecil County – MPS staff visited the property, which is expected to be acquired in the near future. Property has a house and several historic structures, and will be managed by Fair Hill.

2.     Patapsco Valley – G&M Restaurant expansion – Owners approached DNR about expanding existing parking lot onto park property, which borders the lot on two sides. McCoy to draft letter respectfully denying the request.

3.     Fair Hill – Bond bill for Fair Hill improvements did not pass, but $100,000 was included in the budget. Temby, Anthony and Belton attended meeting regarding potential 4-star event. Fair Hill is still in the running.

4.     Elk Neck – Staff exploring potential solutions to over-capacity issues at the Turkey Point parking area.

5.     Fires in Non-Designated Areas – Patapsco Valley Manager Dyke outlined plan to manage over-use in areas along the river that are not designated picnic areas. All signage will be in English and Spanish. Staff will educate visitors about the importance of using designated parking areas / picnic areas and having fires in park-provided grills only. The Daniels Area has limited parking available for visitors. NRP has done a great job of being on location every weekend and issuing citations. Temporary signs will be made for this upcoming season that will eventually evolve into more permanent signs.

• Western

1.     Staff Swap – Western Region has staff interested in swapping. Requests from all regions to go to Bushman for consideration. All requests / proposals will be considered in the context of the best interest of the MPS.

2.     Junior Rangers – Spurrier continues to work on plan for new program.

3.     Greenbrier – Traffic management / direction – NRP working on traffic plan for summer operations. Senior Staff continues to discuss possibility of day-use reservations with Office of the Secretary.

REVIEW OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION SURVEY

• Please make sure Parks are posting Day-Use Survey information and sharing it with special event participants, etc. Only 89 comments received thus far.

REVIEW OF VISITATION / ATTENDANCE REPORTING

• Reviewed visitation comparisons for State Parks including day-use, camping and cabins. Day-use visitation increased from 2015-16, while camping and cabins decreased.

PLANNING AND CONSERVATION PROGRAMS (Owens)

• Project reviews ongoing – Park Managers to copy Regional Managers when submitting all projects / items for internal review.
• Planning projects – New Germany, Sandy Point Plaza and Point Lookout.
• Trail Wayfinding Guidelines – close to completion.
• Strategic Management Plans – Internal review completed for New Germany, Smallwood and Fort Frederick – Owens will be sending memo to OOS for approval. Susquehanna and Tuckahoe still in progress. Owens will be checking status of upcoming plans for Fall Managers Meeting.
• HWA / EAB Treatment – In process of getting treatments scheduled in Parks. Ranger Burditt asked Owens to remind staff that part of the grant requirement is to inspect treated trees as leaf-out occurs (or doesn’t).
• Mosquito Spraying in State Parks – Owens is working with staff from Dept. of Agriculture. Current spraying methodology is safe.

TOUR MAC LAB/WORKING LUNCH WITH STAFF

• MHT and Jefferson Patterson Park staff and senior staff discussed further partnership opportunities and possibility of formal MOU between MHT and DNR. Jefferson Patterson Park has staff that can provide expertise in historical interpretation and conservation, as well as archaeology. MPS staff can assist Jefferson Patterson Park with operating / park management needs and expertise.

ADMINISTRATION (Mock)

• Recruitment – Targeting Ranger recruitment for middle two weeks in May.
• MRPA Leadership Institute – Looking for candidate(s) to attend.
• Budget – MPS needs to provide FAS with overall MPS projections. Managers need to complete by early Thursday, April 20. Revenues are in line with last year.
• Vehicles have arrived! Heavy equipment on its way.
• MPS CFO Lauren Plocharczyk has started…hooray!
• Inventory – Knisely sent out information / procedures. Due date coming up soon.
• CAMIS reservation system transition – MPS is working through some issues but, overall, the transition is going very smoothly.

DEPUTY SUPERINTENDENT UPDATE (Bushman)

• Policy Issues
• New black raincoats / rain jacket with MPS logo can be worn with all MPS uniform types.
• Emergency Response Plans – All Park Managers are to review / revise their park’s ERPs on the P:/ drive, and report completion to their Regional Manager by May 1. Regional Manager to report to Bushman when region is complete.
• Firearms training for managers – Any park staff issued a firearm, and all managers of parks with issued firearms, are to have the basic home firearms safety training.
• Electronic Park Schedules – Regional Managers have followed up with Park Managers regarding the submission of electronic schedules to the DNR Communications Center.

SUPERINTENDENT UPDATE (Settina)

• Reviewed minutes from March senior staff meeting.
• May Managers Meeting agenda – Settina presented draft for review.
• Branding of forms – New Germany staff presented Settina with ideas for branding of forms, pocket guides, inspection documents etc.
• Settina reviewed big goals for 2017. Senior staff will discuss further at June retreat.

§  One area of emphasis will be on Trash-Free Parks.

·       Parks to identify how many Trash-Free Parks bags they need.

·       Construction of bag dispensers will be a CJC project.

• “Secret shoppers” will be in the parks this summer. One of the things they are going to be looking for is trash in the park.