CSD Annual Report: July 1, 2020- June 30, 2021

Community Services ANNUAL REPORT JULY - JUNE 2020 - 2021

OUR MISSION We are dedicated to enriching the quality of life and creating memorable experiences for all generations.

OUR CULTURE We are empowered, passionate employees who love what we do and have fun doing it.

OUR VISION We are vital to Buckeye being a desired community.

FAST FACTS 137 Acres of Land Maintained

by Parks 8 Public Facilities 8,675 Number of Conservation / Open Space Acres 42 Full-time Employees 10 Part-time Employees 98 Seasonal Employees 422,150 Visitors at Skyline 7,426 Volunteer Hours

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• The Department formally received reaccreditation through 2025 by the Commission for Accreditation of Parks and Recreation Agencies administered by the National Recreation and Parks Association after a rigorous process that involved showing compliance with 151 standards.

• Completed the design and began construction of Sundance Park Phase II, including a 3.2 acre fishing lake in coordination with the Construction and Contracting Division.

• Completed several CIP projects, including the Skyline Regional Park Phase II Feasibility Study, the North Zone Community Park Feasibility Study, the El Rio Trail Assessment Study, and the design of the downtown pool expansion.

SENIOR CENTER • 43,052 meals served - 13,188 more than the previous year • Home Delivered Meals served: 24,245 • Congregate Meals /Curbside pickup served: 18,807 Partnered with The Salvation Army and provided Utility Billing Assistance to community members in need: • 1,580 individuals received utility billing assistance • 397 households and $155,197.59 dispersed: January–June • Older Adults provided with transportation services: 1,395 • 49,896 miles driven for medical, home delivered meals and transportation

New Unique Programs to continue senior engagement and promote safe socialization: • Virtual Eat, Paint, Repeat classes • Virtual & Drive-in Bingo • Silver Sneakers Videos and Live Streams on social media • Arts & Crafts Tutorials • Interactive Game Show style contests

• Daily Tips for Health and Wellness • .Virtual Concerts • Drive-Thru Root Beer Float Socials • Anonymous Secret Santa deliveries to seniors in need

SENIOR SERVICES ACCOMPLISHMENTS • Received $600,000 in CDBG funds for the Buckeye Senior Center Kitchen Expansion and Remodel. This grant will augment City funds to expand the kitchen by 1,500 square feet and remodel the existing 560 square feet. The expansion will result in efficiencies to better enable staff to prepare the growing number of meals needed to serve Buckeye’s elderly populations who rely on this important meal program.

• Secured an additional $53,400 of CARES and CDBG funding to support the congregate and home delivered meal programs.

• In conjunction with the Water Department and Salvation Army, the Senior Center staff implemented a Water Utility Billing Assistance Program for Buckeye families. The utility assistance program helps residents pay for water, sewer, and trash services using CARES funds.

PROGRAM TESTIMONIALS • “All the meal delivery people are so nice - enjoy the meals!”

• “Receiving home delivered meals have greatly increased my quality of life.”

• “I enjoy attending because I receive a full body workout that is fun and enjoy the friendships made and socializing and I always leave smiling! My circulation and muscle tone are better while improving my mood.”

• “After moving here from Florida and knowing no one, attending class has allowed me to form close friendships while exercising and I love it!”

• “I love attending the exercises as I do better in a group setting. The Parks and Rec programs keep me motivated!”

• “Attending class helps maintain my health by keeping me active, getting out of the house, opportunity to meet new people and helps keep me positive and it’s also fun!”

LIBRARY DIVISION Overall Library Programs

- 291 Virtual Programs - 42 In-person Programs • Curbside Pick-up: 4,158 • Book Bundles/Kits: 109 • Bookmobile Miles Traveled: 2,173 • Total Circulation: 194,859 • Library Visits: 32,383 • Cardholders: 32,675 • Items Circulated: 148,869 • Digital Checkouts and Downloads: 45,900 • WiFi Usage (sessions): 33,416 • Computer Usage (sessions): 4,424 • LLCs formed: 5 • Volunteer Hours Served: 157.5 hours • Total Library App Installs: 2,798

Be Inspired. Be Engaged.

Be Connected.

Providing Innovative Kid’s Books  The Library launched a new type of material called VOX Books. VOX books are audio books that live in print books - they have a permanently attached VOX Reader that transforms a print book into an all-in-one read-along. These materials have circulated over 4,000 times!

Cicter’s Café Coffee Highlight  During the past year, the Entrepreneurship Outreach Network (EON) program provided support and resources to many small business owners like Aida Villegas, owner of Cicter’s Café. Aida pursued her dream despite the pandemic, and now has both a mobile coffee truck and a brick and mortar shop. On June 19th, Aida celebrated one year in business in Buckeye!

Surging Demand in Kid’s Materials Checkouts for children’s and teen’s materials surged during June 2021, well exceeding the demand during June 2019.

June 2021’s circulation was 131% of the circulation the library saw in June 2019, the last summer before the pandemic.

LIBRARY ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN FY21 Staying Connected: 110 Home Delivery Services 2,351 Newsletter Subscribers 5,796 Phone Calls 3,135 New Cards 4,158 Curbside Pick-up 850 Summer Reading Program Activity Kits Distributed 1,615 Virtual Programs - Minutes Created

Museum Façade Construction  The front of the Buckeye Valley Museum will be getting a facelift thanks to the efforts of the Buckeye Valley Historical Society. The Society donated $46,722 to have construction plans drawn up to build a façade on the front of the museum, a lobby and public restroom. During the past year a lot of activity has happened behind the scenes working with the architect to prepare for construction which begins in January 2022.

TESTIMONIALS ABOUT STAFF • “Quiet, clean, very polite and flexible staff. This is a great place to study if you need to be out of the home. They have study rooms that can be reserved for 2 hour blocks. You can reserve via their website and mobile application.

• “Great front desk folks.”

• “Very efficient and very friendly service” • “The library staff is awesome” • “The Buckeye Public Library System is above amazing!”

PROGRAM TESTIMONIALS • “I love our book club.”

• “Thank you all for making this happen in such a difficult time.”

• “I simply want to say thank you for allowing my family and I to feed our love of reading.”

• “You guys did a wonderful job! I love how you added the videos so we were able to see how to do some of the crafts and watch some of the library time.”

• “It gave us an outlet and a creative escape with adventures and stories that were on pages. It was great to have another option to enjoy from the comfort of our home.”

PARKS AND TRAIL MAINTENANCE 11 City Parks /Over 137 Acres Park & Trail Operations: 364 days a year 2 Sports Complexes 5 Playgrounds Miles of City Trails Maintained: 22 Miles Hiked: 316 Acres Mowed: 2,308 Water Delivered: 155,000 Gallons COVID-19 Inspections: 1,140 COVID-19 Sanitization: 573 Gallons of cleaning solution Playground Inspections: 210 Hiking Inspections: 97 Staff Training: 53 Classes and Licenses Field Preps: 877 Fields, Campsite and Ramada Rentals: 750 Visitors to Skyline: 422,150 Vehicles at Skyline: 136,200

PARKS AND TRAILS ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• As part of a CIP project, the concession building at Earl Edgar Recreational Facility was renovated.

• A new scoreboard was installed at the southwest • One new mower with a field at Earl Edgar wider deck was purchased Recreational Facility at no that will enable staff to mow cost to the City through a larger turf areas resulting partnership with the Arizona in efficiencies to focus on Diamondbacks Foundation. other maintenance-related tasks. A second mower with • New LED park lighting bagger was purchased to was installed at Earl Edgar allow parks staff to maintain Recreational Facility, Town smaller turf areas and Park, and Kell Park to capture grass clippings. replace existing light poles that served their useful lifespan. The new lights are more energy-efficient and provide improved coverage.

RECREATION DIVISION • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

24,008 visitors at the Dr. Saide Recreation Center 1,272 youth sports participants (for 2 seasons) 320 coaches/assistant coaches 6,436 total volunteer coaching hours 92,428 visitors at the Buckeye Aquatic Center 2,097 swim lesson participants (5 sessions) • 311 total classes offered, 23% of those classed reached capacity Participants to Skyline Programs: • 20,000 virtually (17 programs) • 762 in-person Special interest class participants: 874 Fitness program participants: 520 B.A.S.E. visits: 6,650 (March-May) Teen visits:1,900+ (March-June 2021) Summer Camp visits: 5,152 $125,390 DES program funding provided for 58 participants 14,500 Free Meals & Snacks Served 30 Outdoor orienteering participants 141 Summer Camp in a Bag activities distributed Virtual Coaches/ Parent Meetings: 250 attendees 23 how-to videos made for residents (how to register for programs, process payment, reserve ramadas and more)

SUCCESSFUL PROGRAMS Lil’ Squirts • Successful implementation of Virtual Lil’ Squirts preschool program that offered 3 daily sessions M-F, averaging 20 kids.

Teen Programming • Partnered with multiple Arizona cities to provide free live virtual teen events such as weekly teen bingo, cooking videos, and arts and crafts videos on Facebook.

Kid’s B.A.S.E. Connects • Kid’s B.A.S.E. Connects provided families with a place for their children to be while attending virtual school.

Open Swim % Increase • The pool was open to the public for a total of 720 hours for programs such as open/night swim, tot time and swim lessons.

• The Jr. lifeguards learned what it takes to be a lifeguard by volunteering a total of 760+ hours during swim lessons and open swim.

Worlds Largest Swim Lessons • The Buckeye Aquatic Center had 196 participants in the 12th annual World’s Largest Swim Lesson that was hosted in 9 countries all in one day to teach children and adults how to swim and the importance of water safety.

SUCCESSFUL PROGRAMS Summer Basketball Camp • Basketball camps were created to provide small group activities to stay active with a limited programming of 85 participants.

Elf on the Trail • The Elf on the Trail program at Skyline Regional Park had an estimated 400 people that participated in the elf hunting locating 10 hidden elves along the Red-Tailed Hawk Trail.

RECREATION ACCOMPLISHMENTS • In coordination with Construction and Contracting, the tenant improvements for Sundance Crossings Recreation Center were completed. Staff prepared plans so the facility was ready to open in September 2021.

• Youth Sports Division earned the Better Sports Kids Quality Program Provider Award by the National Alliance for Youth Sports. This award demonstrates Buckeye is a leader in ensuring a safe, quality playing environment for five categories.

• The Fall Youth Sports League was successful with 492 participants in baseball, softball and soccer utilizing COVID-19 protocols.

TESTIMONIALS ABOUT STAFF

• “My wife passed away 4 months ago and the staff were all so caring and compassionate. My daughter needed extra care and she got it especially from Miss Stephanie and staff.”

• “Miss Lyntasha Barrett is the absolute best. I know it will always be a positive experience with her creativity and nurturing style.”

PROGRAM TESTIMONIALS

• “First time my kid has participated in a sport activity. He enjoyed it and wants to come again.”

• “My son enjoyed it so much, the coaches were very patient and hands on. Overall GREAT experience.”

• “The youth sports program is a great community environment.”

• “My son liked his coach and made new friends and learned new skills.”

• “Both instructors have been great! My son really enjoys the lessons and has really advanced in swimming! Thank you!”

• “This program was run so well! Everything was on time, positive, easy to follow and predictable. The lessons were described well so I could choose the right level and sign up even. You guys are doing it all right! And for a perfect price.”

• “First time in a pool – he was reluctant, but enjoyed it so much – great introduction! Instructors were patient with him.”

• “My children LOVED the program and would definitely put them back in the upcoming school year.”

• “We had so much fun looking for these ELFS!! NOT TO MENTION THEY WERE ALL SO CUTE! HUGE THANKS.” • “Ms. Colette is a very excellent instructor. She is amazing. The method of teaching is the best method. We absolutely brag about this class. She is the best.”

• “Dance instructors were so sweet with the girls and patient!”

SPECIAL EVENTS Virtual Participants • Veterans Day Tribute: 125 submissions • Holiday Activities • Santa Craft Bag: 80 • Hometown Holiday Light Contest: 34 Entries • Santa Letter: 166 Letters • Buckeye Aviation Week (Daily videos highlighting the importance of aviation): 15,000 views • Spring Celebration Activities • Hip-Hop Basket Delivery: 100 • Digital Bunny Photos: 54 submissions

In-person participants: 5,385 • Halloween Drive-Thru: 1,190 cars / 21,000 items distributed • Dog Days of Buckeye: 170 visitors • Movie in the Park: 100 residents • Memorial Day Ceremony: 350 attendees

SPECIAL EVENTS ACCOMPLISHMENTS • Special events shifted during the pandemic while continuing to engage the community. The Buckeye Marathon had a total of 147 virtual runners including one runner who ran the race in Norway.

• The 80th Annual Halloween Carnival welcomed 1,190 vehicles for a drive thru trick or treat experience at Skyline Regional Park.

EVENT TESTIMONIALS • “Thank you for doing it! It sure made my boys’ Christmas special!! They loved the fact that it was a personalized response to their letter - not just generic!”

• “Loved the Easter basket delivery.”

• “All of the items in the bag were very useful and extremely on point with the theme.”

MARKETING • Eye on Buckeye Brochure (magazine mailed to residents quarterly): Mailed 37,000 • Digital Eye on Buckeye Brochure: 1,180 views • Division Newsletters (sent twice a month): • Public Library: 2,351 subscribers • Senior Center Connection: 1,560 recipients • Parks & Recreation: 12,000 subscribers • Utilization of GIS Maps - interactive map was used to locate homes in the hometown holiday lights contest • 25,000 social media followers through Facebook & Instagram

MARKETING ACCOMPLISHMENTS Developed a digital Eye on Buckeye quarterly magazine via Issuu.com that is an interactive brochure. This platform allowed staff to quickly update program information in response to evolving changes due to the pandemic. The digital edition allows residents to download the document and click on web links to quickly navigate to programs, activities, and services. @BuckeyePublicLibrary @BuckeyeAZEvents @BuckeyeValleyMuseum @BuckeyeAzRecreation @BuckeyeCC @SkylineRegionalPark @BuckeyeAZEvents @BuckeyeAzRec @SkylineRegionalPark

BUCKEYE AVIATION WEEK: HALLOWEEN DRIVE-THRU:

SPRING BASKET DELIVERIES:

DEPARTMENT REVIEWS::

SENIOR CENTER:

LIBRARY COMMENTS:

FY 2021 Projects Sundance Park Phase II

FY 22 CAPITAL

IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS

Sundance Crossings Recreation Center Buckeye Pool Expansion Park Site Lighting Community Park in North Area of Buckeye Skyline Regional Park Phase II Earl Edgar Concession Stand El Rio Trail Along Gila River Buckeye Valley Museum Façade Renovation

FY 2022 Projects Sundance Park Phase II North Library & Community Center Town Park Parking Expansion Skyline Regional Park Phase II A-Wing Performing Arts Stabilization and Renovation BLM Lands Near Miller/Tonopah-Salome Highway 30 Acre Community Park in North Zone Buckeye Senior Center Kitchen Expansion Buckeye Valley Museum Renovation Gila River Restoration

Status Complete design of approx. 38-acres west of existing park and begin constructing high priority amenities.

COMPLETE. Construction Underway.

Complete construction of approx. 4,000 square feet recreation center at Sundance Crossings.

COMPLETE. Recreation Center opened on September 18, 2021.

Design expansion of downtown pool to accommodate swim lessons and other program needs.

COMPLETE. Replace site lighting at Earl Edgar Recreation Facility, Town Park, and Kell Park.

COMPLETE. Feasibility study to evaluate possible locations to acquire land for future community park in areas north of I-10.

COMPLETE. Feasibility study to evaluate locations to add parking and other amenities.

COMPLETE. Remodeling of the concession stand.

COMPLETE. Feasibility study for trail along north bank of Gila River.

COMPLETE. Complete design plans for façade improvements and lobby expansion at the Buckeye Valley Museum.

COMPLETE.

Plan Continue constructing improvements on 38-acres west of existing park, including a 3.2 acre fishing lake, splash pad, playground, restroom, basketball courts, picnic ramadas, and multi-use fields.

Design approx. 13,000 square feet of library and community center in the northern area of Buckeye.

Construct additional shared parking spaces at the Buckeye Aquatic Center and Dr. Saide Recreation Center in Town Park. New drive aisles will connect the parking at the two facilities.

Design plans to increase parking spaces at north trailhead and Discovery Point.

This project will repair the roof over the stage and adjoining spaces at the A-Wing Performing Arts Center.

Land planning studies required by BLM for City to lease land to develop parks.

Land purchase for a future community park north of I-10.

Remodel & expansion of the Senior Center Kitchen.

Construct the lobby expansion and renovate the facade of the Buckeye Valley Museum & upgrade landscaping.

Site restoration activities in the Gila River.

SPONSORS & PARTNERS Thank you to our sponsors and partners who helped provide quality events and programs, fundraised for our scholarship programs, and shared resources for the community’s benefit.

Sponsors

Partners • Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records • Area Agency on Aging, Region One • Buckeye Elks Lodge • Buckeye Mainstreet Coalition • Buckeye Historical Society • Buckeye Valley Chamber of Commerce • Community Services Advisory Board • Friends of Buckeye Recreation • Friends of the Buckeye Public Library • Library Advisory Board • Salvation Army • Patriotic Committee • White Tank Mountains Conservancy

Community Services Department 110 E. Irwin Ave. Buckeye, AZ 85326 623-349-6300 Buckeyeaz.gov