Senior Staff Meeting Notes - August 2017

MARYLAND PARK SERVICE

SENIOR STAFF MEETING NOTES

August 9, 2017

Broadneck - Annapolis

Attendees: Nita Settina, Chris Bushman, Amanda Mock, Mary Owens, Mike Riley, Christy Bright, Steve McCoy, Alison Woodfield. Guest: Lt. Diane Roschli (next meeting’s manager-of-the-month – Southeast)

REGIONAL REPORTS

• Southeast

·       Blue Heron House (Hoffman House) at Wye Island – roof is leaking, fireplace in kitchen leaking, HVAC is not working. Riley currently working with Cooper to get bids for work on house (roof, HVAC, painting, etc.). When acquired, house was in better condition than we usually see – good example of why we need to be very thoughtful about including houses when we acquire property.

·       Employee Field Day – September 27, Sandy Point State Park

·       2018 Employee Field Day to be hosted by Central Region – September 26 – Mark your calendars now and work to avoid conflicts.

·       Training Requests – all training requests routed through managers to Training Division to Nita. Regional Managers should review before being submitted to the Training Division. Managers to make Regional Managers aware before submitting training requests.

• Western

·       Es Mi Parque Events – Successful event at Cunningham Falls – last of six events across the state will be at Rocky Gap on August 19.

·       Budgets / Webfocus – some managers have noticed that their 2017 budgets have been zeroed out. Mock explained different levels of webfocus based on park PCA codes.

·       Greenbrier gazebos – will be placed on reservation system based on other parks’ smaller shelters.

• Central

·       Assateague State Park won the annual Lifeguard Competition at the Hammerman Area of Gunpowder Falls. Staff is recommending that the competition continue each year. Gunpowder staff has offered to be the default host unless others wish to host the event.

·       Bohemia River State Park – great open house hosted by Eastern Shore Land Conservancy (current owner). Well over 100 community members and stakeholders attended the event. Staff fielded a lot of questions about plans for the property. McCoy plans to hold a regional meeting on the property soon.

·       Gittings-Baldwin (Gunpowder Falls) – Successful contractor has submitted a counter offer to our latest draft lease – promising negotiations continue.

·       Bloede Dam removal project – start date pushed back to September 1. A pre-construction meeting is scheduled for August 11.

·       Continuing to have issues with undeveloped area hot spots. Black Rock Mill area of Seneca Creek has become an issue due to community complaints about trash and traffic. Area also has a historic structure.

REVIEW OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION SURVEY

·       Senior Staff reviewed July results (80 pages) of customer satisfaction survey, as well as day-use survey feedback.

·       Customers are asking for more electric sites at Assateague. Due to sustainability issues (sea level rise), the MPS is not prepared to add electric sites at the park.

REVIEW OF VISITATION / ATTENDANCE REPORTING

·       Visitation update YTD was presented by Woodfield. Regional Managers following up on several places with notable variances from 2016.

ADMINISTRATION (Mock)

• Ranger (PSA) Interviews – Interview panel met with HRS representative, Mock and Knisely for interview training in Tawes and interviews are underway, to be completed on August 16.
• Bilingual Pay Differential – Mock has followed up with HRS, on behalf of the MPS workforce, and we expect guidance soon.
• Seasonal Employee Hourly Pay Rates – Many thanks to staff for pulling together information for review. Mock hopes this will be a good resource for managers to evaluate seasonal pay rates across the State. Minimum wage requirements are going up and will have a financial impact on MPS.
• Long-term contractual MCC crew leader hiring in process.
• HRS had prioritized Ranger Recruitment and is now catching up on other recruitments.
• Proposed new lifeguard hiring process – Senior Staff recognizes that lifeguard hiring and retention is challenging each year at various parks. Mock emailed Senior Staff a proposal that includes earlier hiring (fall / winter) and training / certification.
• Mock provided budget update.
• Some changes coming on Recreation Trail Grant management. Dan Hudson and Lauren Buckmaster are working together on new guidelines.
• Fiscal officers are continuing to work with park staff on procurement issues. Mock asked that field staff reach out in advance to their regional procurement officer if they are in a time crunch for purchasing large / costly items, rather than risking errors.
• Close Quarters Defense (CQD) training – Pilot training anticipated this fall. CQD team met with owner to discuss training.
• Mock presented a report (handout) developed by CAMIS that covers occupancy from Memorial Day weekend to present. Senior staff reviewed document and noted high occupancy in campgrounds around the State.
• Complimentary Passes – Managers were receptive to giving out coupons to visitors to help deal with customer service issues.
• Vehicle replacement list for FY19 to be developed soon. Mock will need assistance from regional managers to prioritize vehicle replacements and will work with managers to gather information about high mileage vehicles.
• Employee viewpoint survey – 4^th Annual Survey will go out in October.

PLANNING AND CONSERVATION PROGRAMS (Owens)

• Project reviews – 224 projects to-date. Reminder that the form must be filled out and put into Tracker to become an approved project. Please avoid submitting proposals for small  buildings.
• Major Projects – at 30% for New Germany day-use and beach / at 100% for Sandy Point plaza – going to procurement / Chapel Point lease was sent back to Charles County for approval – MPS hopes for no additional changes.
• CJC – high numbers of members / crews causing concerns for staff, e.g. safety and quality of the program. Trying to balance that with maximizing number of youth served.
• State Park Inspection form developed by Wayne Suydam. Regional managers will review proposed form with managers.

SUPERINTENDENT UPDATE (Settina)

• Review May Senior Staff Meeting notes

1.     Narcan / Naloxone training – staff has begun training around the state. Melton expediting drafting of protocols to complement health department training so MPS staff can begin carrying.

2.     Park Quest – Senior staff strategizing on ways to refresh the program for 2018.

3.     Speed Limit 20 – Parks are to implement the new standard speed limit wherever applicable (e.g. not all campgrounds) as time and funds allow.

• Fall managers meeting – November 14-16. Currently proposed for New Germany State Park, but will be exploring possibility of the North Bay facility at Elk Neck (McCoy to follow up). Senior Staff working on  DRAFT agenda.
• Seasonal Employee feedback form – Seasonal employees will be given the opportunity to provide feedback to PSS at parks about their employment experience. Mock and Woodfield to explore various formats.

DEPUTY SUPERINTENDENT UPDATE (Bushman)

• Policy Issues
• One complaint about (not) providing veteran’s discount. Veteran produced discharge papers. Reminder that there is not a single acceptable form of identification for veterans and all staff should err on the side of providing the discount if the person identifies themselves as a veteran (including verbal).
• Regional Managers compiling list of operational houses and will submit one combined list to Bushman.
• Annual Hunting Heritage Act Report – Being updated by Bushman and Regional Managers, to be provided to WHS.
• Water Contact Advisory Protocols – Protocols will be included in Aquatic Resource Management Plans starting with next year’s plans. Every park that has water tested by the local health department is to include this in their plan. Melton to develop draft template and provide to Bushman. To include on-site actions (signs), internal and public notifications strategy (OC, HQ Customer Service Team, social media, website post).
• NRP Lt. Diane Roschli joined senior staff meeting to discuss procedures for requesting resources for emergencies (police / fire / EMS). Bushman is looking for consistent approach by all DNR staff. Broadcast capability of radio communication is best when calling DNR for an emergency. Regional Managers to discuss further with managers and provide feedback.
• DNR Communications Center staff to meet with Central and Southeastern regions to discuss electronic schedules, in an effort to complete the submission of schedules for all parks. Western Region and a couple of other parks are currently submitting electronic schedules, but we need to get all parks in the system.