City of Mesa Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities Annual Report 2020/2021

Annual Report

Work hard in silence.

Let your success be your noise.

Annual Report FY 20 / 201

www.mesaparks.com

You manage things; you lead people.

Grace Murray Hopper

Andrea Moore, CPRE Director Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities

Message from the Director In a year marked by constant changes and shifting priorities, I am proud to present the Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities Department FY 20/21 Annual Report. As I took the reins of this department, I worked to make sure the department builds on the solid foundation from those who preceded me by providing resources and facilities for our community to support health, recreation, and a safety net of services. Our staff embraced their roles in providing safe places to recreate and work, provide emergency food distributions, and be a pillar in our community for health and wellness.

By the end of the fiscal year, we were able to shift back to operations closer to normal and our staff continued to shine as they navigated resource limitations impacting many aspects of our operations. We saw our outdoor facilities serve as critical recreation diversions from daily stresses, especially with increases in golf rounds, sports field reservations, and pool attendance. Our indoor centers and facilities functioned in multiple ways and pivoted back to be recreational destinations with full utilization of camps, classes, and lessons. With the accomplishments outlined in this report, we appreciate the trust our community gives to us to be stewards of our City’s facilities and programs.

1

Annual Report FY 2020 / 2021

www.mesaparks.com

Mayor and Council Mesa operates under a charter form of government with citizens electing a mayor and six councilmembers to set policy for the City.

Mesa’s councilmembers serve terms of four-years, with three members elected every two years. The mayor is elected at-large every four years. The mayor and council are elected on a non-partisan basis. The vice mayor is selected by the City Council.

The Mesa City Council believes that its people, not leaders, are what makes a City great and actively works to encourage citizen participation in the decision-making process. Whether it is through neighborhood meetings, advisory boards and committees, telephone calls and letters, or email, the Mesa City Council sets policies based on the input and needs of its citizens.

FRONT ROW left to right: Mayor John Giles, Vice Mayor Jen Duff, (District 4) BACK ROW: Councilmember Mark Freeman (District 1), Councilmember Fransisco Herdia (District 3), Councilmember Julie Spilsbury (District 2), Councilmember Kevin Thompson (District 6), Councilmember David Luna (District 5).

Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Matt Erickson, Chair | Orchidia Peterson, Vice Chair | Claud Cluff | Kimberly Forest | Rob Giles | Jaime Glasser | Cindy Hayton | Nycole Leyba | Brent Maldonado | Jo Martin | Jacob Martinez

2

Annual Report FY 2020 / 2021

www.mesaparks.com

Who We are:

Planning and Operations

We are the stewards of 4 community recreation centers, 9 aquatic facilities, 3 dog parks, 2 professional baseball stadiums, as well as the convention center, amphitheatre, tennis center, and cemetery. We also maintain over 2,529 acres of parks and open space that include 225 city parks and retention basins.

The backbone of PRCF, Planning and Operations division is responsible for laying the framework and executing projects and maintenance within the City facilities. Landscape; aquatics; field and parks maintenance; facilities maintenance and project managers work within this group.

Department Work Groups Recreation The Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities (PRCF) Department is comprised of three divisions as well as the administrative team. These work teams provide comprehensive year-round support and programming for all ages at a number of facilities throughout the City of Mesa.

Our recreation division offers year-round recreation opportunities that include aquatic, tennis and pickleball, fitness and outdoor programs, inclusion services, community events, adult and youth sports programs, day camps when school is out of session, volunteer opportunities, and park rangers.

Administration

Commercial Facilities

The administrative team oversees finance, information technology, marketing, board support, and human resources for the department.

Our commercial facilities division manages our convention center, amphitheatre, City cemetery and oversees the management contract for the Dobson Ranch Golf Course.

3

One day you will tell your story of how you overcame what you went through, and it will be someone else’s survival guide.

Brené Brown

Annual Report FY 2020 / 2021

www.mesaparks.com

Rising Above the Challenges

We did not simply survive - we THRIVED! In a year of continuous uncertainty, the Mesa Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities Department provided continued needed services and programs for citizens of and visitors to the community.

City of Mesa staff partnered with the United Food Bank to create the Feeding Mesa program, which was a drive-thru weekly food distribution program.

Through this program, we distributed 3,158,388 pounds of food from July 2020 through March 2021.

Over 70% of those receiving those food boxes were Mesa residents. Our staff was very committed to ensuring those who needed assistance received it.

Although several businesses and services were still closed through the spring of 2021, our staff continued to provide exceptional service by installing safety features in City facilities that would be opening back up to internal and external customers. These safety features allowed both the customer and the employee to feel safe while providing exceptional care.

In the words of the National Recreation and Park Association:

We are Strong. We are Confident. We are Selfless.

We are Passionate. We are Driven. We are Essential.

We are committed to: Being responsible stewards of parklands, facilities and finances, and transparent in how we manage these resources.

Providing safe spaces and places for people to enjoy and recreate.

Working together to focus on services that meet the ever-changing needs of our Community.

5

Annual Report FY 2020 / 2021

www.mesaparks.com

FY 20 /21 by the Numbers This year taught us the value of human connection and how to interact with each other in a new way. Whether it was keeping people motivated and active with virtual fitness and adaptive classes or keeping kids engaged in our programs with Take and Make Activity Bags filled with fun camp activities to complete in the safety of their homes, we persevered as we restructured, reorganized and reinvented new ways to bring Mesa together.

28,798 Fitness Visits (Oct-June)

1,976

Summer Camp Participants

6

weeks

2,064

Park Ramada Reservations

56

IT Requests

51,590 Total Tennis Participants

8,649

Parks Maintenance Field Preps

731 12,529 Volunteers

16,786

Park Ranger Visits to Parks

5,554

Swim Lessons Taught

Hours

6,067

Work Orders Completed

by Facilities / Parks Maintenance

1,621

Students in Fall After School Programs

6

8,410

Field / Court Reservations

16

Adult Sports Leagues Volleyball

92

Athletic Tournaments Hosted

89,541

Rounds of Golf Dobson Ranch Golf Course

Annual Report FY 2020 / 2021

www.mesaparks.com

PARKS Get Outdoors, Mesa!

In FY 20/21, the Parks Division continued the tradition of providing safe, high-quality park shade structures, restrooms, pool improvements and new playground equipment for the citizens of Mesa. Key accomplishments included: PARK IMPROVEMENTS On June 2, 2021, Niagara Bottling Company hosted a Niagara Cares Build Day at Palo Verde Park. A voter approved bond and a park improvement grant from the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) with support from Niagara Cares, the philanthropic arm of Niagara Bottling LLC made possible this brand-new children’s play area.

Palo Verde Park has new play equipment, two shade structures, playground lighting and additional accessibility amenities including a friendship swing, cozy dome, transfer stations and surfacing. The surrounding area also received ramps and new accessible playground benches and tables.

AQUATICS IMPROVEMENTS Both Shepherd and Stapley Aquatic Centers had pool improvements which were completed prior to the start of the summer swim season.

Shepherd pool received a new slide, and the main pool and dive pool were replastered.

The Division also completed maintenance work in the pump room.

Stapley pool had the main deck resurfaced and deck gutters replaced. The main pool and recreational pool were replastered, a new water playground was installed, and the slide was repainted.

7

Annual Report FY 2020 / 2021

www.mesaparks.com

RECREATION Connecting the Community Our Recreation Team worked hard to continue their relationships with the community and ensure there were safe places to recreate and stay active. Although limited resources and required cleaning and disinfecting protocols presented some challenges, staff worked hard to follow these protocols and find ways to make interactions with our community fun.

CHANGE, PIVOT AND REIMAGINE The Red Mountain Center was closed to the public for several months. During that time the City of Mesa Police and Fire Departments were able to use the facility for trainings by welcoming police officers and fire fighters from across the country. Mesa Police used the facility for their academy graduation, and Mesa Fire used the rock wall for tactical training for their rescue teams.

On October 12, 2020, following a long closure, the Red Mountain Recreation Center was able to reopen with capacity limitations and new COVID-19 related safety measures and protocols in place. Several changes were made to create a safe ingress and egress for entry into the building and special interest classes. This was a major undertaking with minimal staff working 6 days a week, opening and closing shifts all with a smile.

Webster and Jefferson Recreation Centers hosted the Summer Escape camp. The program maintained an 80% fill rate, serving a total of 288 children with safety protocols in place. Both recreation centers also had Halloween Drive-Thru Events. Together they were able to hand out 300 treat bags to over 100 cars. Several Mesa Public Schools teachers and staff came out to volunteer their time, making this event possible.

8

Annual Report FY 2020 / 2021

www.mesaparks.com

AQA U TICS Take Me to the Water In 2020, the aquatics team worked to improve operations of facilities and offer a superior and safe guest experience. Although only two pools were open for June lessons and four pools were open for July lessons and limited public swim, staff adapted to new cleaning routines and over 1,000 swim lessons were taught and over 7,000 participants enjoyed public swim.

During the spring of 2021 over 140 new lifeguards went through Lifeguard Training Certification to begin their career in the aquatic’s world. Aquatic Recreation Teams returned for the summer of 2021, in swimming, diving, synchronized swimming and water polo sports. There were over 2,800 team participants enrolled across 8 pools.

All 9 pools opened for public swimming and served over 25,000 visitors.

11,212

18,270 Drop-In Youth Public Swim

Public Swim Online Reservations

9

Annual Report

FY 2020 / 2021

.w mesaparks.com

ATHLETICS ADULT SPORTS • Adult Women’s Volleyball saw an increase of 93.75% in the number of teams registered from Fall 2020 to Fall 2021. When comparing Fall 2019 to Fall of 2021, there was a 106.6% increase in the number of teams registered.

• Adult Flag Football commenced its first season after taking 5 seasons off. A Wednesday and a Thursday league are currently running at near full capacity.

• Recess for Adults saw a 40% increase in the number of people registered from its inaugural season in Fall 2019 to Fall 2021.

• All adult sports programs now have high quality officiating and umpiring due to a contract with Spikers Officials.

YOUTH SPORTS • There were 943 registered participants in 22 programs and events.

• A track and field clinic, archery clinic, sand volleyball clinic, and day hike programs were added to the youth sports program in addition to bringing back golf clinics.

• Youth Sports shifted traditional leagues into clinics to provide a modified version of the sport to adhere to safety protocols.

MESA TENNIS & PICKLEBALL CENTER • A total of 57,162 participants used Mesa Tennis & Pickleball Center.

• There were 13,453 total courts booked.

• The Center hosted the first ever Pickleball Tournament in October of 2020 run by the National Pickleball Association.

• The Center was awarded and ran its first USTA National Level 3 Junior Tournament in February of 2021.

• The Center was awarded and ran its first National Junior College (NJCAA) Women’s National Championship in May of 2021.

ATHLETIC FIELD RENTALS • Over 8,000 total athletic field rentals occurred across 13 different sports complex sites.

• City of Mesa sports complexes welcomed 193,000 participants and 198,000 spectators.

• Staff allocated and coordinated 92 youth and adult sports tournaments.

• Coordination efforts with Visit Mesa, the Oakland A’s and the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) brought the WAC Baseball finals to Hohokam Stadium for the 10thyear.

Don’t be afraid to fail. Be afraid not to try.

10

Michael Jordan

Annual Report FY 2020 / 2021

www.mesaparks.com

YOUTH & ADAPTIVE PROGRAMS/ SPECIAL EVENTS & PARK RANGERS YOUTH PROGRAMS The youth programs and recreation center teams partnered to host safe and fun summer camps during the pandemic. Two recreation center sites hosted the Summer Escape camp. The program maintained an 80% fill rate, serving a total of 288 children ages 6-12 with safety protocols in place including small pods of campers, limited sharing of resources, face coverings, and thorough cleaning and disinfecting procedures in place.

In addition to the in-person camp opportunities, Summer Escape Take and Make Activity Bags were created so that families could take home a kit with materials for their kids to complete from the safety of their own homes. Over 800 bags were distributed during the fiscal year.

ADAPTIVE PROGRAMS The adaptive programs adjusted their programming structure to meet the needs of the community of people with disabilities which were at a higher risk during the pandemic.

The group continued to provide virtual opportunities like healthy cooking, Zumba, and social games while also implementing safe, small in-person group opportunities like water aerobics, lap swim, fitness at the track, pickleball and boccia.

The Adaptive Team served over 3,000 total participants across 70 activities.

SPECIAL EVENTS Despite a year of change and challenges, the winter months provided opportunities for the Special Events Team to shine. The annual Breakfast with Santa event offered a drivethru experience with breakfast, goodie bags, drive through “snow” and a chance to see Santa, over 190 vehicles participated. The Winter Wonderland Ice Rink opened along with the Christmas Tree Experience with over 10,000 participants.

New Holiday Play events welcomed families to select parks for safe outdoor themed activities. A total of 6 events were held with almost 400 participants, who enjoyed arts and crafts, fitness activities , obstacle courses, and more.

PARK RANGERS The Park Ranger program supported the Mesa Police Department in the implementation of Operation: Off-the-Streets which is designed to aid individuals experiencing homelessness by offering short-term housing and health and safety services to combat effect of COVID-19. The Park Rangers reported an average of over 1,000 contacts with homeless individuals each month and connected a total of 2,074 individuals to services this year.

11

Annual Report FY 2020 / 2021

www.mesaparks.com

COMMERCIAL Convention Center Face-lift The Convention Center and Amphitheatre received an extensive face-lift, including exterior painting of all facilities and the complete renovation of the Conference Theater.

Before After

Before After 12

Annual Report FY 2020 / 2021

www.mesaparks.com

CEMETERY Cemetery is Expanding The Cemetery constructed 2 columbarium adding 160 new niche units and completed Phase I of the expansion project adding over 400 graves.

13

Annual Report FY 2020 / 2021

www.mesaparks.com

DOBSON RANCH GOLF COURSE Golf Course Improvements Continue Dobson Ranch is “Mesa’s most fun and friendly golf experience.” The driving range at Dobson Ranch is the most fun range in Arizona with great music and delicious food. People can use Toptracer technology for serious practice or fun games with friends, like playing at Pebble Beach and other famous courses!

Before The restaurant went through some changes, which included creating a new patio that can host private parties and events.

The Dobson Ranch Golf Course continues to be managed by Paradigm Golf Group.

14

Annual Report FY 2020 / 2021

www.mesaparks.com

PARKS MAINTENANCE Goal Accomplished The Parks Maintenance Team met their goal to complete all safety inspections and repairs reported during FY 20/21. The inspections consist of ensuring playground equipment meets safety standards, chemical monitoring systems function per industry standards, sports fields are safe and playable, lighting systems function as they should, environmental hazards do not occur, and concrete walkways do not present tripping hazards. Additional undertakings included successful completion of federal safety and security inspections of our aquatics facilities, and parks staff completed the transition from paper to electronic devices for all work order activities.

3,181 Work Orders Completed

by Parks Maintenance

3,138 Facility Safety Inspections Completed

15

Annual Report FY 2020 / 2021

FACILITIES MAINTENANCE Over 6,000 work orders completed by Facilities Maintenance in FY 20/21 Facilities Maintenance completed a 4-month project installing new chairs and flooring in the 3 theaters at the Mesa Art Center. This took countless hours and coordination for staff and outside contractors.

16

www.mesaparks.com

Annual Report FY 2020 / 2021

www.mesaparks.com

GRANTS Grants Help Make it Happen Grants are essential to enable us to stretch available dollars to improve parks and facilities. In 2020, $160,000 was used to improve a local neighborhood park and provide necessary equipment for Youth Sports.

• NRPA GRANT | $130,000 This grant was used to improve Palo Verde Park along with support through the National Recreation and Park Association from Niagara Cares, the philanthropic arm of Niagara Bottling, LLC. • SALT RIVER PIMA MARICOPA INDIAN COMMUNITY POSITIVE PLAY GRANT | $29,500 This grant was used for uniforms, equipment, protective gear and shoes for participants. It was also used for volunteer coach training and a trailer to haul equipment, allowing programs to be mobile across the City.

17

Annual Report FY 2020 / 2021

www.mesaparks.com

FINANCIAL OVERVIEW Financial accountability continues to be the standard Financial accountability continues to be the standard for the Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities Department. In conjunction with the City’s financial policies, we worked proactively in 2020/2021 to balance costs with consideration to reduced operations and revenue while restarting and growing the best services for our participants and the citizens of the City of Mesa.

331.45 Total budgeted FTE for FY20/21

Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities Annual Budget FY19-20 FY20-21 General Fund

37,222,400 36,890,800

Enterprise Fund

11,856,300 820,000

Restricted Fund

9,300,600 16,598,200

Capital and Bond Fund

21,497,000 22,376,500

Total

79,876,300 76,685,500

Earned Fees and Charges

10,923,300 9,411,315

Citywide Budget PRCF

1,830,000,000 1,910,000,000 79,876,300

All others

*Commercial Facilities were moved out of the Enterprise Fund and into Restricted Fund

4.4%

76,685,500

4.0%

1,750,123,700 1,833,314,500 GENERAL FUND​: CAPITAL AND BOND FUNDS​: ENTERPRISE FUNDS​: EARNED FEES AND CHARGES​: RESTRICTED FUNDS​:

Citywide Budget

$1,910,000,000

Annual Budget

Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities

4.0% |

$76,685,500

ALL OTHERS​: $1,833,314,500

18

$ 36,890,800​ $ 22,376,500 $820,000 $9,411,315 $ 16,598,200

Focus on fiscal responsibility

Mesa Parks, Recreation & Community Facilities 708 W. Baseline Rd., Bldg. 4 | PO Box 1466 – Mail Stop 7010 Mesa, AZ 85210 Monday-Thursday | 7am-6pm 480-644-PLAY | www.mesaparks.com