Parks & Recreation - May 2016

Technology in Parks | Mentoring and Leadership | Project Management M AY 2 0 1 6 W W W. N R PA . O R G

Zika on the Move How parks are stepping up to educate the public and curb the spread of the Zika virus Page 56

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contents may 2016

James Gathany U.S. Centers for Disease Control

volume 51 | number 5 | www.parksandrecreation.org

COVER STORY

SPECIAL TECHNOLOGY SECTION

56 Zika and Parks:

What You Need to Know

44 Making Smart Parks

The Zika virus threatens to move swiftly across the United States — parks can play a role in helping curb its spread Richard J. Dolesh

FEATURES

62 The ‘Hard Skills’ of Park and

Recreation Leadership Becoming an effective leader takes work, but the payoff is in improved service to your communities

Edward Krafcik

46 People for Parks: Tech Edition Samantha Bartram

50 The ABCs of Free Public Wi-Fi Mark Saferstein

52 Park Technology: Exploring Opportunities Karen Zgonc

55 Advertiser Index

Sara Hensley and Lawrence Allen

66 The Art of Juggling: Project Management in Parks and Recreation Balancing timelines, cost and quality as NRPA’s 2016 Parks Build Community project moves forward Paula Jacoby Garrett 2

Parks & Recreation

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Cover photo by James Gathany, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

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contents may

departments

columns

9 Letters

6 Perspectives

10 Community Center Taking Parks and Recreation to the Community 10 From the Director’s Chair 12 Faster than a Speeding Train — July Is Almost Here! 14 NRPA Connect Hot Topics 14 Notable News 16

18 By the Numbers Put Me in, Coach

20 Member to Member Mentoring 101 20 Nancy J. Gladwell, Re.D., CPRP, and Gail Elder White, CPRP Action Sports 24 Roger W. Hickey

72 NRPA Update How Much Do You Know About Your Agency’s Facilities? 72 Member Spotlight: Alex McKinney 76 Member Benefit: Are You Keeping Your Community Safe? 77 Test Your Park and Recreation Knowledge 77 Professional Development Calendar 78

80 Operations Lightning Safety and Indoor Pools: To Clear or Not to Clear

Why Isn’t There a Nature Place for Kids in Every Park?

Barbara Tulipane, CAE

8 Editor’s Letter From Leadership to Zika Gina Mullins-Cohen

26 Advocacy

Curbing the Spread of the Zika Virus Oliver Spurgeon III

28 Law Review Turf Field Cancer Risk Environmental Review James C. Kozlowski, J.D., Ph.D.

36 Future Leaders Young Professionals Can Be Great Mentors Kara Kish

38 Conservation . ecipe for an Aster: Prairie Restoration in Chicago R Becky Barak

40 Health and Wellness Keeping Food Waste Out of the Landfill Allison Colman

42 Social Equity Coach Cortney and the StarrFire Girls: Raising Awareness and Promoting Greatness in D.C. Jayni Rasmussen

82 Products 84 Marketplace 87 Reader Service and Advertiser Index 88 Park Bench Jump in Samantha Bartram

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Parks & Recreation

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Page 24

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Why Isn’t There a Nature Place for Kids in Every Park?

Not long ago, I participated in a conference at which I met a park director who was very dismissive of the idea that his parks should have nature places for kids to play. He felt that there was no need for such places since those who used his parks were really only interested in athletics and sports. I was puzzled by this mentality. To me, it’s a no-brainer that park directors and park designers should at least consider adding a nature component for kids to every new park that they bring online — even those parks that are purely designed for sports and athletics. I think we sometimes get stale in our thinking about what a park is and who it is for. Are we asking ourselves, “When kids come to our parks, is there a place for them to connect to nature?”

Just looking at the example of parks that are designed primarily for sports, very often the people who use those parks come in a family group. Parents come to watch their kids compete in league play, often with younger siblings in tow. The younger kids want something else to do besides watch the competition. Budget permitting, traditional park designers will certainly recommend adding a playground for younger kids. But why are we not also designing a nature play space to go along with the playground?

Sometimes, we put our own blinders on without even realizing we have limited our vision. NRPA was recently the recipient of a substantial grant to promote green infrastructure stormwater management in parks in underserved communities. We will re-grant these funds to three to five park and recreation agencies so they can complete green infrastructure stormwater management projects in their parks. However, these funds will only be approved if the agency demonstrates there will be co-benefits to underserved or low-income communities.

We believe parks can become spaces that not only treat and filter stormwater, but also promote health and address social equity. We have long believed that parks build community, and parks certainly build environment. But we realized that we, too, had to think outside the box. If we let ourselves get trapped in stale thinking, we won’t see the potential to change lives.

Any park can build young lives, and we should look at every opportunity we have to connect kids to nature. Let us all be open to every opportunity to design our parks — every park — for them to do so. After all, if the next generation doesn’t have a connection to nature, who will support parks in the future?

BAR BAR A T ULIPAN E, C AE President and CEO

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Parks & Recreation

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2377 Belmont Ridge Rd. | Ashburn, VA 20148 2 703.858.0784 | www.nrpa.org

NRPA’S MISSION: To advance parks, recreation and environmental conservation efforts that enhance the quality of life for all people.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Jack Kardys

Chair of the Board of Directors Susan Trautman, CPRP

Miami-Dade Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces Department Miami, Florida

Michael Kelly

Chair-Elect Stephen Eckelberry

Chicago Park District Chicago, Illinois

Bartlett Park District Bartlett, Illinois

Brian Knapp

Past Chair Detrick L. Stanford, CPRP Clayton County Parks and Recreation Jonesboro, Georgia

Treasurer Neelay Bhatt PROS Consulting Indianapolis, Indiana

Secretary Roslyn Johnson Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission Greenbelt, Maryland

President and CEO Barbara Tulipane, CAE National Recreation and Park Association Ashburn, Virginia

NOVA Parks Fairfax, Virginia

Detrick L. Stanford, CPRP Clayton County Parks and Recreation Jonesboro, Georgia

Molly Stevens Westcave Outdoor Discovery Center Austin, Texas

William “Joe” Turner Houston Parks and Recreation Houston, Texas

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Rebecca Benná, CPRP Five River Metro Parks Dayton, Ohio

Earl T. Groves

Neelay Bhatt

Charles E. Hartsoe, Ph.D.

Gastonia, North Carolina

PROS Consulting Indianapolis, Indiana

Richmond, Virginia

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Jennifer Harnish Streams and Valleys Fort Worth, Texas

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Parks & Recreation

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EDITOR’S LET TER

From Leadership to Zika In Brazil, 1.3 million people were affected by the Zika virus in 2015. Every day, scientists and doctors consider the evidence at hand and realize that this mosquito-borne virus is far more dangerous than originally thought. Now, it is known that the Zika virus can severely damage the brain of fetuses, as well as cause a lifetime of cognitive and health disorders.

Because of the growing body of evidence on the dangers of the Zika virus, the World Health Organization declared a public health emergency on February 1, 2016.

This virus has been spreading throughout the Western Hemisphere at a rapid rate and, recently, the National Center for Atmospheric Research published a map of the 50 U.S. cities most likely to be affected by Zika virus outbreaks. The list weighs heaviest with urban centers in the southeast, such as Miami, Houston, Atlanta and Washington, D.C., but the diagram also includes several cities one might not consider, like Albuquerque, Salt Lake City, Denver and Nashville. The must-read “Zika and Parks” feature by Rich Dolesh, NRPA’s vice president of conservation and parks, on page 56 of this month’s Parks & Recreation magazine, confronts the issues surrounding Zika that need to be examined and shares some precautions various park and recreation agencies throughout the country are taking to protect the public from contracting the virus in urban or rural parks.

Dolesh speaks to experts in the field and provides the facts you need to answer tough questions, as well as tips so people can enjoy the summer.

Author Paula Jacoby-Garrett tackles the subject of project management starting on page 66.

Her conversations with park and recreation professionals from Miami-Dade, the city of Henderson and Great Rivers Greenway in St. Louis reveal the critical need for this position.

“The Hard Skills of Parks and Recreation Leadership,” by Sara Hensley and Lawrence Allen, on page 62, brings up the unavoidable topic all park and recreation professionals need to consider — leadership skills. Hensley and Allen point out the crucial difference between management and true leadership in this not-to-be-missed feature story.

Whether being proactive in providing a community with crucial information to keep it healthy, helping to develop and then deliver on a community’s master plan, or sharing years of experiences with those who are new to or just entering the profession, park and recreation professionals are called on every day to be leaders in countless ways. And, NRPA is here to provide you with the tools and resources necessary to fill that role.

GINA MULLINS-COHEN Vice President of Marketing, Communications and Publishing Editorial Director 8

Parks & Recreation

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PRESIDENT AND CEO Barbara Tulipane, CAE VICE PRESIDENT OF MARKETING, COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLISHING, AND EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Gina Mullins-Cohen gcohen@nrpa.org EXECUTIVE EDITOR Samantha Bartram sbartram@nrpa.org MANAGING EDITOR Sonia Myrick smyrick@nrpa.org EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTOR Catrina Belt cbelt@nrpa.org PUBLICATION DESIGN Creative By Design www.creativebydesign.net SENIOR SALES MANAGER EASTERN REGION AND EUROPE Dana Storm 703.858.2174 dstorm@nrpa.org SALES MANAGER WESTERN REGION AND ASIA Michelle Dellner 949.248.1057 mdellner@nrpa.org MAGAZINE ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS Mike Abbaté Keith Anderson Gerald Brown Ernest Burkeen Gwendolyn Chambers Brendan Daley Ryan Eaker Mariela Fernandez Robert García Kathleen Gibi Paul Gilbert Sandra Gonzalez Greg Harrison Tim Herd Mareya Ibrahim Edward Krafcik Todd Lehman Sam Mendelsohn Maria Nardi Gil Peñalosa Dr. Kevin Riley Paula Sliefert Anne-Marie Spencer Stephen Springs Randy Wiger

Letters We hope the articles you read in Parks & Recreation are thought-provoking and engaging, and we want to hear your opinions on what you read in these pages. Through social media posts, website comments, emails to staff or posts on NRPA Connect, let us know how the magazine’s articles apply to your job and your agency. To submit feedback for this section, email Executive Editor Samantha Bartram at sbartram@nrpa.org.

Comment from Darrin Buck, Jr., on Samantha Bartram’s March 2016 article, “Parks, Recreation and Water in Flint, Michigan,” (www.parksandrecreation.org/2016/March/Parks-Recreation-and-Water-in-Flint-Michigan): It is hard to fully comprehend the abject poverty, desperation, destruction and just overall dire situation of Flint, Michigan, without seeing it first-hand. For those who watched [director Michael Moore’s 1989 film] “Roger & Me,” you have an idea — but that was filmed 30 years ago. The situation is a magnitude of 5x worse now, in 2016. To be 100 percent honest, lead in the water is probably the very least of the community’s worries. Block after block of semi-erect standing homes, some burned, some boarded up, all broken into, and all in deplorable condition.

You might think “the blue tarp” is the official shingle in the Flint roofing business. Drive through the community in August — [perhaps] two

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in 10 homes even mow their yards.

It seems in some sections one out of every two businesses is closed, forever, for miles at a time — Pierson Road, Dort Highway, Saginaw Street — and none of the current businesses are reinvesting in the buildings or parking. The strangest occurrence I have ever seen in any city — Flint, a concrete forest. What is a concrete forest? It is a multiple-acre, sometimes hundreds of acres, site of bushes, some grass and several-story-high trees growing in a long flattened industrial area with a concrete floor. The old AC Spark Plug plant (thousands worked here 1920-2000) is a great example. It is acre upon acre of rusted fence surrounding 10- to 20-foot trees growing in cracks in the concrete where parking and buildings used to be. It is just surreal. If you have seen the History Channel show, “Life After Humans,” this is an exact match to the “20-year timeline after humans,” except humans are not extinct here.

I don’t even want to delve into the public schools or local government situation — it deserves a CBS miniseries of coverage. People outside of Genesee County would be awestruck that conditions and an overall climate of just utter despair exist like this in the United States of America.

It was a world-class city just 40 years ago — today, OUCH.

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Community Center Taking Parks and Recreation to the Community

By Jane Peterson

I

f residents can’t get to a park, then the park can go to them. That’s the philosophy behind the popular Oakland County Parks Mobile Recreation Program. Using a fleet of moveable units, Mobile Recreation addresses many challenges, such as transportation, that may prevent people from enjoying the parks system. It also opens up opportunities to those who live in urban communities where there may not be a physical park location.

“Everyone deserves high-quality recreational experiences,” says Terry Fields, chief of recreation, programs and services for Oakland County Parks (OCP). “We take these recreational experiences on the road.”

Many miles are logged each summer as OCP’s moveable units are a welcomed sight at local festivals, concert series, libraries, schools, daycare centers and other gathering places within Oakland County’s 62 cities, villages and townships.

10 Parks & Recreation

Mobile Recreation Units In operation since 1974, the Mobile Recreation Program has evolved over time. The first units were innovative for the 1970s: two skate mobiles, two puppet mobiles, a fashion mobile with sewing machines and makeup stands, a movie mobile and two swim mobiles, which were big aluminum tubs on wheels that were filled with hydrant water. Today, OCP mobile units include a variety of equipment that reflect current active lifestyles:

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inflatable bouncers, two climbing towers that simulate rock climbing, a zip line, stages, bleachers and retro games like sack races, tug-o-war ropes, kickball, egg-and-spoon relays and parachute games.

Come Out and Play, an OCP-sponsored community event last June, attracted hundreds of families and showcased these mobile recreation units. Held at Catalpa Oaks, a 24acre park located in a busy urban area, the event allowed adults and children to enjoy water inflatables, a zip line, retro games, climbing tower, face painting, a concert and treats free of charge.

Complementing these units is Get Outdoors! adventure trips and clinics like GO! Fish, GO! Golf, GO! Bike and GO! Cache, hands-on events that immerse participants in a recreational activity. With the GO! Fish adventure for example, indoor play includes poles rigged with plugs and plastic fish to teach the basics and safety of fishing. The outdoor component, a Hooked on Fishing Trip, takes participants to any lake in Oakland County or an Oakland County Park to experience fishing.

Another option is OC Express, a service that often combines transportation with programming, although the school bus, transit bus and coach bus can be rented separately as well.

Past OC Express programming has included fall color tours and senior trips to view holiday lights.

“There’s no doubt that mobile recre-

ation is a substantial financial responsibility, but thanks to stage, bleacher and other rentals, the Mobile Recreation Program does generate revenue and boasts an impressive 98 percent cost recovery rate,” says John Haney, recreation program supervisor.

Although mobile recreation is a big commitment for a county-wide parks system, it has great rewards. “Some children, for example, have never been fishing,” Fields shared, “and seeing the look on their faces as they experience this for the first time is priceless.

Being a part of that is a privilege.”

A Cool Teaching Tool Another fan favorite is StarLab, an inflatable planetarium that is among the most requested indoor mobile recreation offerings.

“People have a real fascination with the sky,” Lynn Conover, recreation program supervisor, says. “As nature teachers, we teach about all of nature from the sky above our head to the soil beneath our feet and all the plants and animals in between.”

Patrons enter StarLab through an inflatable tunnel and then settle on the floor inside the inflatable dome, which has enough seating space for up to 30 people, including a wheelchair. With the lights on, naturalists, or “star captains,” provide basic information about the nighttime sky and constellations that are visible during the current season. Then, they turn the lights down and the constellations come to life on the dome ceiling. Participants also learn about the Greek legends that are connected to the constellations.

The presentation is tailored to the audience, which often consists of people of all ages. It is popular among teachers who request the StarLab presentation to supplement classroom

learning and scout leaders, as it fulfills many requirements of a merit badge.

Two staff members travel to StarLab presentations. The inflatable dome takes approximately 30 minutes to set up and one staff member stays outside to monitor the inflatable while the other staff member makes the presentation. Staff members are chosen for training based on their interest in the nighttime sky and their ability to present in a unique environment with the lights dimmed most of the time. “StarLab is a cool toy, but it is the quality of the presentation and the passion of the naturalist that make it special,” Conover says.

Almost 25 years ago, Oakland County Parks became one of the first park systems in Michigan to purchase an inflatable planetarium. The program has proven to be so popular

that the park system recently spent $15,000 to purchase its third StarLab to replace two older models after replacement parts became hard to find.

The Oakland County Parks Board of Commission continues to support the Mobile Recreation Program, providing the necessary funding for staffing and equipment. In addition, last year the commission approved $150,000 for the Recreation Assistance Partnership Program (RAPP), which offers grants for outreach programming to communities, school groups and nonprofit organizations.

Implemented in 1982, the program makes recreation opportunities and bus transportation available from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Jane Peterson is a Technical Assistant, Communications and Marketing, for Oakland County Parks (petersonjm@oakgov.com).

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Community Center

From the Director’s Chair

P

art of being a leader is mastering the ability to meet challenges and conceptualize solutions. This is never done in a vacuum — collaborators, supporters, partners, advisers and even outside municipal departments or nearby agencies often lend insight and experience to meet an outstretched hand. Directors at some of our largest urban agencies have more than a passing familiarity with seeking support for their initiatives. In this month’s column, we reached out to Sara Hensley, director of the Austin, Texas, Parks and Recreation Department; Brian Zimmerman, CEO of Cleveland Metroparks; and Amy Phuong, commissioner of the city of Atlanta Department of Parks and Recreation to ask the following question: Who or what has been your biggest champion for increased support of your agency, whether through planning, programming, financing or otherwise? Following are their insights:

Sara Hensley Austin Parks and Recreation Department’s biggest champion(s) is, by far, the partners/partnerships we have nurtured with the community, community groups, conservancies and foundations. We are so fortunate to work with citizen coalitions that not only support us through volunteerism, but also speak up and show up to voice what the community needs are and how it ultimately relates to the Austin Parks and Recreation Department.

The many conservancies that have been formed over the past three years indicate that there is more interest to assist us — not just advocating for more money, but putting their money where it can best serve the community. We work with the various groups to define the parameters that are needed and that they could support. Each effort is different and we mutually 12 Parks & Recreation

develop a formal agreement, defining our specific job functions and responsibilities.

The future for Austin Parks and Recreation is wrapped in the success of these partnerships. There will never be enough resources to serve Austin’s growing needs. However, due to the hard work in developing better and ongoing relationships with our citizens through community coalitions, associations, foundations and conservancies, we have more focused voices and support. This in turn allows us to be more successful in serving areas that may have been underserved due to lack of adequate resources. We like to refer to this as the Trifecta: the department wins, the city wins and, most importantly, the community wins.

Brian Zimmerman Our biggest champion has been the community at-large. On November 5, 2013, voters gave a 70 percent approval rating to a

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tax levy that provides the lion’s share of Cleveland Metroparks’ budget each year. The 10-year measure will financially carry us through to 2024 and is a direct reflection of the public’s support for our mission of conservation, education and recreation. That support has resulted in our ability to continue to reclaim Cleveland’s lakefront, to the benefit of all residents of Northeast Ohio.

Our efforts began in earnest in 2013. Cleveland Metroparks’ Lakefront Reservation now includes Edgewater Park on the city’s West Side, Edgewater Marina, Edgewater Yacht Club, the portion of Gordon Park north of Interstate 90, the East 55th Street Marina, a former state maintenance facility on East 72nd Street, the Forest City Yacht Club, the Inter-City Yacht Club and the Lakeside Yacht Club.

Cleveland Metroparks is also spearheading the total renovation of Cleveland’s historic lakefront Coast Guard Station — along with several community partners — which is an icon on the ever-changing landscape of Lake Erie.

Amy Phuong Without question, Mayor Kasim Reed has been the city of Atlanta Department of Parks and Recreation’s biggest champion. When his administration began in 2010, Atlanta was in the midst of the

worst financial crisis in more than 80 years. Despite this reality, under Mayor Reed’s leadership, the Department of Parks and Recreation invested an additional $1 million in parks that year. We also reopened all previously shuttered recreation centers and formed public-private partnerships to invest $5 million in helping Atlanta’s youth realize their full potential. Now, more than 3,500 young people annually receive leadership development training, participate in modern technology courses such as coding, and experience true mentorship in our Centers of Hope.

Mayor Reed’s support didn’t stop there. Our agency received an additional $3.5 million dollars in this fiscal year and $23.5 million dollars (from the 2015 Renew Atlanta infrastructure bond program) to rebuild the Martin Luther King, Jr. Natatorium in the Historic King District. In the coming months, our agency has been tasked to expand our system and services to ensure every resident has access to green space and recreational opportunities, especially in our most underserved neighborhoods. One example of this is the Bellwood Quarry, which the city purchased to convert for water storage. We will invest $250 million to develop the 300 acres surrounding the reservoir and transform it into the largest park in Atlanta. The park will feature hiking and biking trails, innovative green infrastructure, baseball fields, open meadows and an amphitheater.

With Mayor Reed as our champion, we will continue to create exceptional spaces and enrich the lives of residents who utilize our amenities.

— Samantha Bartram, Executive Editor of Parks & Recreation magazine

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Community Center

Hot Topics

W

ant access to more than 40,000 of your professional park and recreation colleagues? NRPA Connect is the only networking platform designed exclusively for your field that allows you to ask questions and share ideas.

Archery grants: Archery is increasing in popularity across the country and your fellow park and recreation agencies want to make sure everyone has access to this sport. Whether you’re looking for equipment vendors or archery foundations, there are many great places to find the resources you seek.

New registration systems: Always a hot topic among park and rec professionals, this post provides examples of different registration systems and the features they offer, including handling online sales, facility rentals and camp registrations.

Concession menus for outdoor pools: It’s almost pool season and that means it’s time to stock the concession stand — what items are the most popular at your outdoor pool? Your colleagues share their most popular snacks, including some healthy alternatives!

Criminal background screenings for juveniles: Many of the volunteers you will have during the summer are under age 18. This thread discusses best practices in handling volunteers who work with children and keeping your community safe.

Don’t be left out — visit www.nrpaconnect.org to join the conversation.

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Faster than a Speeding Train — July Is Almost Here!

J

uly is less than two months away and we are gearing up for an action-packed Park and Recreation Month. In this issue, you will not only find the annual Park and Recreation Month poster, but also a comic book featuring our favorite superheroes — The Park and Rec Brigade!

Hang the poster in your facilities, take pictures with it and post on social media using #SuperJuly. Share the comic book with your community members and summer camp kids!

Need more copies? Download the materials at www.nrpa.org/july, personalize them and get them printed

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3

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— Hayley Herzing, NRPA’s Membership Programs Manager

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by a local vendor.

We’ve got a host of events lined up for July, including recognition of our superheroes of parks and recreation, contests and more! Next on our super agenda? Public voting for our Park and Recreation Month Cover Contest. Head to our Facebook page May 23-27 to vote for your favorite finalists.

Get all the information, graphics and media materials you need for your own Super July at www.nrpa. org/july.

— Roxanne Sutton, NRPA’s Senior Marketing and Communications Specialist

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16 Parks & Recreation

n Nevada received roughly $400,000 in grants from the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) to improve park and recreation areas throughout the state.

Nevada Sen. Harry Reid (D) fought to reinstate the LWCF, which, last October, congressional Republicans allowed to expire for the first time in 50 years. In most cases, the money will help to upgrade facilities in several local and state parks, as well as to develop a new park for the Paiute-Shoshone Tribe of the Fallon Reservation and Colony. n American Rivers recently published its annual America’s Most Endangered Rivers report, which “identifies the 10 most threatened waterways in the country.” Topping the list is the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin, which is threatened by outdated water management practices and wasteful water use. Outdated water management practices also pose a threat to California’s San Joaquin River.

Threats to the other river systems include a proposal to build new dams on tributaries that feed into the Pascagoula River that flows through Mississippi and Alabama; harmful dam operations on New York’s St. Lawrence River, the Susquehanna River that flows through Pennsylvania and Maryland, and North Carolina’s Pee Dee River; mountaintop removal mining on the Russell Fork River that flows through Kentucky and Virginia; and others. n Almost five years ago, Oklahoma City garnered two unflattering rankings: the “worst U.S. walking

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city” from Prevention magazine and the American Podiatric Medical Association, and the “No. 2 fattest city” from Men’s Fitness magazine.

Since then, as part of the city’s focus on active living and healthy eating, its infrastructure has seen the addition of hundreds of miles of new sidewalks, 8 miles of bike lanes on streets (no bike lanes existed in 2008), 100 additional miles of recreational trail and new gyms built at many public schools. These and a number of other steps being taken have already resulted in a significant decline in the city’s obesity rate, which has fallen from 6 percent annually to 1 percent. n Much of the research about public parks and green spaces focuses on the physical, psychological and social benefits to urban residents.

A recent study, “Public Parks and Wellbeing in Urban Areas of the United States,” published on PLOS ONE (http://tinyurl.com/hephfzj) is one of a few that focuses on the influence of parks on comprehensive measures of subjective wellbeing at the city level. Using 2014 data from 44 U.S. cities, the relationship between urban park quantity, quality and accessibility was evaluated and results suggest that expansive park networks are linked to multiple aspects of health and wellbeing in cities and positively impact urban quality of life.

For more news from around the industry, visit www.parksandrecreation.org/2016/May/Notable-News.

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By the Numbers

Put Me in, Coach Each year the Sports and Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) puts out its Sports, Fitness and Leisure Activities Topline Participation Report, giving detailed insight into the recreational activities of United States residents. The data have a lot to tell us about Americans’ activity levels, what sports most interest them, sport participation by generation and trends.

Unfortunately, the 2015 results show our country becoming more, not less, sedentary, with sharp increases in inactivity seen in older adults and notable upticks for the younger set. Meanwhile, members of Generation Z are dominating the active set with very high levels of team sport participation reported. Below, check out some other key findings from SFIA’s most recent report.

48.4:

Percentage of respondents who reported participation in outdoor sports.

61:

Percentage of respondents who reported participation in fitness sports.

110,882:

112,583:

Number of respondents who reported participation in walking for fitness in 2009.

9.6:

Number of respondents who reported participation in walking for fitness in 2014.

7,531:

Percentage increase in the number of respondents reporting white water kayaking as a favored outdoor activity 2013-2014.

Number of respondents who reported participation in trail running in 2014.

59.3:

20:

Percentage of Baby Boomer respondents (b.1945-1964) who report participation in fitness sports — the highest level of participation among available categories including individual, racquet, team, outdoor, water and fitness sports.

Percentage of Millennial respondents (b.1980-1999) who report participation in racquet sports — the lowest level of participation among the aforementioned available categories.

82.7 million:

Number of respondents who identify as “inactive.”

6.9:

Percentage decline in the number of respondents reporting birdwatching as a favored outdoor activity 2013-2014.

10.9:

Percentage increase in the number of respondents reporting trail running as a favored outdoor activity 2013-2014.

2,462:

Number of respondents who reported participation in pickleball in 2014, the first year interest in the sport was measured by SFIA.

Source: 2015 Sports and Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) Sports, Fitness and Leisure Activities Topline Participation Report 18 Parks & Recreation

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67170

Member to Member Mentoring 101

By Nancy J. Gladwell, Re.D., CPRP and Gail Elder White, CPRP

M

entoring can help a new employee learn about an organization’s culture, integrate them into the organization faster and help create an environment of support. It can also improve personal networks and professional development for both the mentor and the mentee through the experiences and contacts that each person brings to the process.

Mentoring, defined as “a learning partnership between employees for purposes of sharing technical information, institutional knowledge and insight with respect to a particular occupation, profession, organization or endeavor,” can either be formal or informal in nature. An example of informal mentoring is when a seasoned employee (mentor) “[takes] a new employee (mentee) under his/her wing.”

Formal mentoring is when an organization establishes a program that intentionally pairs mentors and mentees so the two employees can share their knowledge and expertise in mutually beneficial ways. The relationship between the mentor and mentee should not be unidirectional — from mentor to the mentee. Both individuals have skills, knowledge and experience that should be shared with each other.

Roles, Responsibilities and Qualifications Mentor: The role of an effective mentor is to encourage the mentee to explore ideas and take risks in the learning process. In addition, mentors should provide appropriate and timely advice, along with sharing the knowledge and skills obtained from their professional experience. The primary responsibilities of an effective mentor include being willing to invest the time and effort to provide support to the new employee, recommend professional development

20 Parks & Recreation

opportunities, confront negative behaviors and attitudes and support the mentee in critical situations.

A mentor should be an individual that has a true desire to be a mentor and should possess the following skills and abilities: Strong interpersonal skills: Enjoys working with young professionals, is patient and a good listener, and is willing to share personal experiences relevant to the needs of the mentee.

Strong supervisory skills: Helps mentees set developmental goals, create action plans and ways to efficiently use their time, and is willing to assume and demonstrate effective leadership.

Knowledge of the department/ agency: Shares knowledge of organizational “politics” and culture; provides familiarity with rules, policies and philosophies; and has knowledge of training and career opportunities.

Strong interest in someone else’s growth: Is willing to allow mentees to develop at their own pace (if it’s not detrimental to the mentees’ goals) and facilitates the mentees’ success in reaching their goals.

Mentee: The mentee has two primary roles: First, he or she must be open and willing to accept advice, feedback and suggestions from the mentor. If an organization does not have a formal mentoring program, the mentee should seek a mentor through an

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informal relationship. Mentees are responsible for their own professional development, and this may entail seeking challenging assignments that may be outside of their comfort zone.

Second, mentees must keep the commitments agreed on with their mentor.

Steps for a Formal Mentoring Program Step 1: Determine Agency Support — This is an important step for a formal program. The department head/ director and senior staff members must fully support and be involved in the program.

Step 2: Identify Mentors — The selection of mentors is a critical component of the process. Simply because someone volunteers to be a mentor doesn’t mean that individual would be a good choice to serve as a mentor. In order to be selected, individuals must have a sincere interest in assisting in the professional growth of another employee. In addition, they must possess strong leadership skills and be committed to helping mentees understand and work toward accomplishing the mentees’ and the organization’s goals and objectives. Obviously, it would not be prudent to have an employee with a poor performance history mentoring a young professional.

Member to Member Step 3: Provide Training for Mentors — Don’t assume that mentoring comes naturally. Training prospective mentors is essential and should address such issues as how to actively listen, resolve conflict and establish effective communications with the mentee. In addition, training materials should be developed that provide clear guidelines for both the mentor and the mentee.

Step 4: The Actual Mentoring — This step is the start of a nurturing and trusting relationship between the mentor and mentee through established regular meetings and by following up on recommendations/action plans.

Step 5: Evaluation — It is important to regularly obtain feedback from both the mentor and the mentee to determine if: • the mentor-mentee relationship is

“working” • both parties’ expectations are being met • both parties remain committed to the relationship and process • problems have arisen (and if so, were they resolved?)

• objectives of the program are being accomplished In other words, evaluation should determine what is working and what is not working. This information can be obtained through discussion with the mentor and mentee (individually and collectively) and through the use of surveys.

Conclusion The establishment of a formal program within an organization can benefit not only the mentee, but also

the mentor and the overall organization. If your organization doesn’t currently have a mentoring program, start one. If you are a young professional whose organization does not have a formal program, seek out a mentor within or outside of your organization. Remember, a professional’s growth and development are ultimately his or her responsibility, but working for an organization with an established mentoring program makes it a lot easier.

Nancy J. Gladwell, Re.D., CPRP, is Associate Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies, Department of Community and Therapeutic Recreation at the University of North Carolina Greensboro (nancy_gladwell@uncg.edu). Gail Elder White, CPRP, is a Retired Parks and Recreation Director in Pittsboro, N.C. (gwhitenc1117@gmail.com).

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Member to Member

Action Sports

Engaging, character-building programs for youth

By Roger W. Hickey

T

he growth and direction of youth sports has shifted, and skateboarding, BMX, mountain biking, snowboarding and scootering have become more mainstream than baseball, volleyball, tennis and football. These new-age action sports programs are not only keeping the attention of today’s youth, but also appealing to the cool factor and their current interests.

Research has shown that Monday through Friday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. are the “danger hours,” when youth are more apt to get into trouble. Kids on the streets during these times are 80 percent more susceptible to being caught up in drugs, getting hit by a car, hanging out with the wrong crowd, being accosted or forming habits that can lead to obesity.

According to the Gannett News Service, 70 percent of America’s prison inmates do not have high school diplomas. Research also shows that more than 3,400 murders and 172,000 violent assaults nationwide could be prevented if high school graduation rates were only 10 percent higher. In

addition, more than $15 billion in lost wages, healthcare, taxes and excessive incarceration costs per year would also be saved. The negative effect of that disparity jeopardizes the sanctity and quality of life for all Americans.

Eight out of 10 kids love action sports and are either fans, participants or enthusiasts. Skateboarding has more than 11 million active members, scootering more than 20 million active members, and BMX more than 11 million, so there’s a good chance that more than half of the kids attending your rec center will also like these activities.

With a program like Freshspark Industries’ 327, which provides turn-

key skate or bike packages that include all the necessary equipment, establishing an action sport program is as easy as assigning a section of your parking lot or playground for the activity. Some noticeable benefits of this and similar programs include improved academic achievement, a reduction in disruptive behavior both in and outside of the classroom and an overall change in mindset.

Kids who don’t participate in these sports can be involved in other ways; for example, as the photographer, webmaster or director. They could also be assigned to run the program, because, more than likely, they will know more than you about action sports.

The biggest myth of action sports is the liability is too high, but keeping your 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. programming portable can limit your liability and risk from theft. Obtaining the proper Portable Action Sports Youth Program liability insurance is as easy as obtaining any other type of insurance.

In fact, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, skateboarding and scootering are ranked below football, basketball, soccer, cheerleading, handball, lacrosse and baseball on the list of injuries per 100,000 kids. The most common injuries incurred on a bike, skateboard or scooter are from being hit by a car.

This is why it’s important to provide safe places to keep kids off the streets.

Roger W. Hickey is President/Founder of Freshpark Industries LLC (worldofhickey@aol. com).

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ADVOCACY

Curbing the Spread of the Zika Virus

By Oliver Spurgeon III

A

s park and recreation agencies around the country gear up for a busy summer of outdoor fun, NRPA is working to make sure members are prepared to combat the spread of Zika virus from mosquito bites. Zika began spreading in Brazil last year, and since then the virus has migrated throughout the Americas at a rapid clip.

Anyone who has spent an afternoon at the pool or around a barbeque grill knows that summer months are high-season for mosquito bites.

And now, a recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study in the New England Journal of Medicine titled, “Zika Virus Associated with Microcephaly� (http://bit.ly/1Pmeq6Y), has finally confirmed what Americans have been talking about for months around watercoolers, dinner tables and after the nightly news: the glaringly obvious connection between mosquito bites, birth defects and Zika.

While there are no confirmed cases

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of Zika transmissions from mosquito bites in the continental U.S., there have been at least 300 instances of Americans contracting Zika abroad, according to the CDC. However, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and American Samoa already have confirmed cases of Zika transmission from mosquito bites. Our work, whether simply telling pregnant women, their partners and health professionals in our communities about the dangers of Zika, or working with local departments of public works to maintain mosquito control plans at open fields and parks, will

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be integral to prevent the spread of Zika. As some of the largest public landholders in southern and eastern states, and because of our presence in every congressional district and almost every county in America, park and recreation agencies are uniquely positioned to partner with state, county and city governments, and local boards of health, to disseminate best practices throughout the communities we serve.

In response to the looming international threat of Zika, the CDC has published a litany of best practices for public agencies and individuals to prevent mosquito bites (www.cdc.gov/ zika/prevention), protect pregnant women travelling abroad (www.cdc. gov/zika/pregnancy/protect-yourself.html) and help state and local officials improve Zika preparedness by

addressing the urgent risks that Zika poses to pregnant women (www.cdc. gov/zap). By improving our understanding of the relationship between the virus and the birth defects it causes, the CDC’s study will make park and recreation agencies’ work as local public health messengers easier. The CDC’s research has given the public health community additional information about preventative measures, including the development of a Zika vaccine and better diagnostic tools to determine whether someone is infected with the virus.

Despite the study’s ground-breaking findings and CDC’s best efforts to coordinate an international response to the virus, we’re still fighting the war against Zika with one hand tied behind our back. Dedicated and consistent funding from the federal government is needed to fight this war. Yet, despite the clear and evident threat that Zika poses and broad public support for taking action to stop the spread of Zika, Congress still continues to drag its feet when it comes to funding the Obama administration’s $1.9 billion request for Zika-related initiatives.

After running into legislative brick walls at every turn, the Obama administration recently took action and transferred $500 million that was set aside to deal with the lingering 2014 Ebola outbreak in Africa to fund a Zika response. While $500 million isn’t enough for a comprehensive response, this temporary funding will help jumpstart and expand state and local mosquito control programs, speed up the development of a Zika vaccine, educate women and health providers about the dangers of Zika and help Zika-affected countries slow the spread of the virus.

Park and recreation agencies, and

the broader public health community, need Congress to be a dependable and reliable partner— not an obstacle — in our efforts to better serve our communities. That starts with properly funding public health, giving the

CDC the tools it needs to study and eradicate Zika and making the virus a clear priority until the threat to pregnant women disappears.

Oliver Spurgeon III is NRPA’s Manager of Government Affairs (ospurgeon@nrpa.org).

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L AW R E V I E W

Turf Field Cancer Risk Environmental Review

By James C. Kozlowski, J.D., Ph.D.

A

s illustrated by the court opinion described herein, environmental review under state or federal law is generally more procedural than substantive. In other words, compliance with the law is based on providing the public with appropriate notice and opportunity to comment on a proposed governmental action, as opposed to ensuring environmental protection. In so doing, an environmental assessment document must identify potentially significant environmental impacts of a proposed project and respond to public comments. The legislative objective of the required environmental review document is to provide the public and public officials with pertinent information and data necessary to promote informed governmental decisionmaking. In so doing, the process does not require or guarantee any public health benefits or environmental protections, but may increase the likelihood of such outcomes.

Moreover, the legislative intent of the environmental review process is not designed to act as an effective veto on a proposed governmental action. On the contrary, compliance with the applicable environmental review process assumes the proposed governmental action will go

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forward as planned. Also, informed governmental decisionmaking does not guarantee that identified environmental impacts will be addressed or mitigated in a proposed governmental action. Furthermore, a public agency can generally satisfy environmental review requirements under

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state or federal law without necessarily choosing the course of action that is the most environmentally beneficial or sensitive option available.

In fact, a public agency may choose a course of action that is arguably more harmful to the environment as long as there is full public disclosure of potential environmental impacts in a proposed project.

Accordingly, in reviewing the legal adequacy of an environmental review document, state and federal courts will simply ensure that procedural requirements have been satisfied and not second-guess or question the environmental wisdom of a proposed governmental action. As described below, in this particular state environmental review document, the city had fully disclosed and examined the cancer risks associated

with recycled rubber in a proposed turf field project. Despite the identified presence of carcinogenic materials in recycled rubber, following the required environmental review, the reviewing state court found the city could reasonably conclude that environmental risks were not sufficiently significant to delay or require any modifications in the proposed project.

imately 4,738 hours of annual play. Installation of synthetic turf would allow for use of the fields in wet weather conditions and eliminate the need for rest and regrowth periods. Installation of lighting would allow for longer evening use of the fields. The proposed project would add ap-

Recycled Scrap Tires In the case of Sierra Club v. City and County of San Francisco, 2015 Cal. App. Unpub. LEXIS 6985 (9/30/2015), the Sierra Club challenged the adequacy of a state environmental review for a sports field renovation project in Golden Gate Park, “the Beach Chalet Athletic Fields Renovation Project.” The Sierra Club claimed the EIR (environmental impact review) was inadequate under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

The trial court dismissed the case.

Sierra appealed.

On appeal, Sierra argued “the EIR violated CEQA by failing to disclose and mitigate significant health risks associated with the styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) crumb infill component of the proposed synthetic turf.”

The San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department (SFRPD), the project sponsor, had proposed to renovate the Beach Chalet Athletic Fields facility, an approximately 9.4-acre public sports field that was built 75 years ago along the western edge of Golden Gate Park. The proposed project would replace the four natural grass fields with synthetic turf.

In their current condition, the fields accommodated approx-

the court opinion

As illustrated by described herein, environmental review under state or federal law is generally more procedural than substantive. proximately 9,582 hours per year of play time, for a total of 14,320 hours of annual play, an increase of more than 200 percent over existing conditions.

The city’s planning department issued a Notice of Preparation/ Initial Study for the Beach Chalet project in February 2011, and re-

leased the draft EIR for the project on October 26, 2011. This 368page draft EIR disclosed that the Beach Chalet project would have unavoidable significant impacts on historic resources, incorporated mitigation measures to reduce impacts on biological resources and exposure to hazardous materials, and examined in detail four potential alternatives to the project (including a “no project” alternative).

Following the public comment period and a public hearing, the planning department prepared comments and responses for the draft EIR, also known as the final EIR, which addressed environmental issues raised by the public, contained additional analysis and reports, revised the text of the EIR in response to comments or based on additional information that became available during the public review period, and corrected errors in the EIR. The final EIR is more than 1,750 pages.

On May 24, 2012, the planning commission adopted findings under CEQA, including findings rejecting alternatives as infeasible, adopting mitigation measures, and adopting a statement of over-

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L AW R E V I E W

riding considerations, and certified the final EIR. On June 12, 2012, Sierra appealed the planning commission’s certification of the final EIR to the board of supervisors. After a public hearing on July 10, 2012, the board of supervisors affirmed the planning commission’s certification of the EIR. On October 12, 2012, Sierra brought a lawsuit seeking a court order to void the EIR and block the proposed project until the city complied with CEQA. On December 3, 2013, the trial court issued an order “dismissing the complaint in its entirety.” Sierra appealed.

Informed Public Decisions Similar to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) at the feder-

al level, the CEQA requires EIR by the lead public agency, in this case SFRPD. The EIR is “the public document used by the governmental agency to analyze the significant environmental effects of a proposed project, to identify alternatives, and to disclose possible ways to reduce or avoid the possible environmental damage.” The legislative purpose of an EIR is to “inform the public and its responsible officials of the environmental consequences of their decisions before they are made.” In so doing, the EIR “protects not only the environment but also informed self-government.”

In reviewing the adequacy of an EIR, the role of the courts is not to determine “the correctness of the EIR’s environmental conclusions, but only upon its sufficiency as an in-

formative document.” Accordingly, a court will set aside an EIR as inadequate only when there is “a prejudicial abuse of discretion.” In this context, the requisite “abuse of discretion” would be established “if the agency has not proceeded in a manner required by law or if the determination or decision is not supported by substantial evidence.”

In this particular instance, Sierra claimed “the EIR was legally inadequate for failing to disclose that SBR infill poses significant risks to human health.” According to the state appeal court, it was “undisputed that SBR infill contains a number of potentially toxic chemicals that pose both non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic health risks.”

As noted by the court, the EIR had

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described the proposed synthetic turf as a combination of four components: fiber, infill, backing and underlayment.

The fiber, composed of polyethylene, would be grass-like in appearance. The infill, used to provide stability, would be comprised of about 70 percent SBR and 30 percent sand. The fiber and infill would be supported by a backing of woven and unwoven polypropylene fabrics that provide strength and vertical drainage. Underlayment would consist of a drainage tile or an aggregate rock base.

The SBR used in the infill is finely ground rubber derived from recycled scrap tires, and has been demonstrated to contain a number of volatile compounds and metals. Production of SBR material from tires typically includes a step to remove 99 percent of the steel belting and bead materi-

al to lower levels of iron, manganese and chromium in the SBR material.

Cancer Risk Assessment As cited by the court, the EIR provided the following description of “the methodology used to determine whether exposure to the SBR material would pose a health risk:” A human health risk evaluation is used to assess whether exposure to chemicals would pose a health risk to humans. The evaluation includes several components, including data evaluation to characterize the chemicals present and their concentrations; an exposure assessment to evaluate what receptors could be exposed to the chemicals and through which pathways (i.e., inhalation, ingestion, dermal contact); and a risk characterization…

Cancer health risks are defined in terms

of the probability of an individual developing cancer as the result of exposure to a given chemical at a given concentration.

Further, the court noted that the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) “considers estimates of theoretical excess cancer risk of less than 1 in 1,000,000 to be de minimis [i.e. too trivial or minor to merit consideration], or acceptable.”

Moreover, according to EPA, “risks within the range of 1 in 1,000,000 to 100 in 1,000,000 may also be acceptable depending on other risk management factors.”

According to the court, the EIR had “discussed a number of research studies that assessed the potential risks of exposure to SBR materials,” including a 2007 state environmental health study titled, Evaluation of

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In this particular instance, the court found the EIR had cited, discussed and summarized studies of cancer risk associated with SBR infill in turf fields and concluded for each study “the health impacts related to SBR infill would be less than significant.”

Health Effects of Recycled Waste Tires in Playground and Track Products.

This particular study “evaluated health risks associated with children’s exposure to chemicals in the play surfaces via ingestion of loose tire shreds, ingestion as a result of hand-to-surface-to-mouth exposure, and skin sensitization as a result of dermal contact.” The study concluded “ingestion of 10 grams of loose tire shreds did not represent a serious non-cancer risk and posed a de minimis cancer risk.” Other studies cited in the EIR found the cancer risk associated with SBR infill in turf fields to be acceptable.

32 Parks & Recreation

Significant Cancer Risk?

As noted by the appeals court, the “final step of the risk evaluation” was to determine whether a particular environmental impact was “significant” within the meaning of the CEQA, specifically “the hazards associated with the use of SBR infill on the athletic fields.” In this particular instance, the court found the EIR had cited, discussed and summarized studies of cancer risk associated with SBR infill in turf fields and concluded for each study “the health impacts related to SBR infill would be less than significant.”

Based on studies and expert re-

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ports postdating the EIR, Sierra challenged the conclusion that “the cancer risks posed by SBR are less than significant.” According to Sierra, this more recent information established “the carbon black, dioxins and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) contained in the SBR infill present a significant risk of cancer.”

In reviewing Sierra’s argument that evidence of significant cancer risk existed and had been effectively ignored, the court would “determine whether the EIR discussion of these chemicals reflects a good faith effort to inform decisionmakers and the public on this issue.” As noted by the appeals court, the “CEQA requires an EIR to reflect a good faith effort at full disclosure; it does not mandate perfection, nor does it require an analysis to be exhaustive.” Further, the court acknowledged that an EIR would be considered adequate and upheld “if it reasonably sets forth sufficient information to foster informed public participation and to enable the decisionmakers to consider the environmental factors necessary to make a reasoned decision.”

Carbon Black Risk In this particular instance, Sierra claimed the public had “provided the city with extensive evidence of the cancer risk posed by carbon black” contained in SBR. Specifically, Sierra cited the fact that OEHHA (the state office of environmental health hazard assessment) “lists carbon black as a carcinogen and that it comprises approximately 20 percent of the content of SBR.” (Carbon black is an industrial chemical composed of nanoparticles that is used in the manufacturing of automobile tires and other plastic materials.)

The court noted that the EIR had

indeed disclosed “the presence of carbon black in SBR infill.” Further, the EIR had “acknowledged that laboratory research ‘indicates that there can be health risks associated with the inhalation of these particles.’” The final EIR also included “multiple examples of public comments addressing the fact that SBR infill includes carbon black and that carbon black is a known carcinogen.” The EIR further noted that studies referenced in the public comments described “laboratory research or evaluate risks in the workplace environment which would be enclosed, and would result in more intense exposure to nanoparticles.”

However, in an outdoor environment, the EIR found the wind would disperse any nanoparticles generated. As a result, the EIR concluded “exposures to nanoparticles as a result of play on synthetic turf fields that use SBR infill would be minimal, if any at all.”

In response, Sierra claimed the EIR was inadequate because the EIR’s “wind dispersion hypothesis” is a “conclusory analysis without any citation to scientific evidence.”

The court, however, found the EIR had discussed studies, which found “play on synthetic turf fields resulted in negligible generation of nanoparticles.” Moreover, the appeals court found the EIR had discussed three separate studies that noted “how air samples taken from above indoor synthetic turf fields contained higher concentrations of potentially hazardous chemicals when compared to outdoor fields.” In the opinion of the court, these studies reviewed in the EIR supported the city’s conclusion that “carbon black did not present a significant cancer risk when present in outdoor synthetic fields using SBR infill.”

On appeal, the court also considered whether the EIR had adequately addressed the existence of another carcinogenic chemical in SBR, benzo(a)pyrene (BaP), a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH). In so doing, the court cited a 2007 OEHAA study indicating that the increased cancer risk posed by ingestion of PAH in SBR through surface-tohand-to-mouth contact was 2.9 in a million. As described by the court, this particular study had concluded that the slightly increased risk posed by PAH in SBR was considered acceptable due to the small magnitude of increased cancer compared to the overall cancer rate. Moreover, the court noted that this specific finding about the cancer risk associated with PAH in SBR was also discussed in the EIR. Outdoor vs. Indoor Risk Similarly, the court found a 2009 OEHHA study had calculated the increased lifetime cancer risk posed by inhalation of air above indoor synthetic fields. This particular

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L AW R E V I E W

study found that of eight carcinogenic chemicals observed in air samples taken from above the indoor fields, five (including the PAHs benzene and naphthalene) were above the “negligible risk level” for increased incidence of cancer. The court took particular notice that “data from indoor fields were used to estimate outdoor exposures and calculate these cancer risks.” In addition, this particular study “assumed that all organized soccer play over a lifetime occurred on artificial turf fields.” As a result, the court found these assumptions in the 2009 study “tend to overestimate the cancer risks for soccer players using artificial turf fields.” Once again, the court found this particular PAH finding had been disclosed in the EIR. The appeals court went on to cite a third study from Bainbridge,

Based on a review of a number of studies...the appeals court found the EIR had indeed disclosed “the presence of known carcinogens in SBR infill.”

Washington, that discussed the presence of PAH in recycled rubber turf.

This particular study devised a “play scenario that formulated the cancer risk a teenager would face if he or she were to play on synthetic turf for three hours a day, 261 days per year, for seven years.” In this scenario, the study concluded that a teenager would be at the threshold lifetime excess cancer risk due to exposure from PAH. The court, however, noted that the analysis of chemicals, including PAH, in the study were “based on concentrations of chem-

icals found in indoor facilities rather than open-air environments.” In the opinion of the court, this indoor/ outdoor distinction was significant because data based on “indoor air value overestimates the likely risks associated with inhalation of VOCs [volatile organic compounds] in outdoor environments.”

While the studies cited demonstrated the presence of PAH’s and the associated cancer risk in SBR, the court found these risks were adequately disclosed in the EIR. Moreover, the court found a 2012 study

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cited by Sierra did not contradict the studies cited in the EIR or “shed additional light on the carcinogenic risk posed by PAHs.” Instead, as characterized by the court, this 2012 study “simply reinforces the conclusion that PAHs are carcinogenic and are found in recycled rubber materials.” As described above, the court found these facts were “already disclosed in the EIR.” No New or Conflicting Data In challenging the adequacy of the EIR, Sierra also cited letters from two scientists, written in response to the draft EIR that addressed the cancer risks of SBR infill in general. According to the appeals court, “the fact that two individuals disagree with the EIR’s conclusions regarding the cited studies does not render the EIR’s evaluation of SBR infill’s cancer risks inadequate.” Further, in the opinion of the appeals court, these letters did not disclose “new or conflicting data or opinions that cause concern that the agency may not have fully evaluated the project.” On the contrary, the court found the letters of these scientists, as well as the EIR itself, acknowledged the 2009 OEHHA study “overstated the cancer risks due to its reliance on air sampling data taken from above indoor synthetic fields.”

Based on a review of a number of studies, including those described above, the appeals court found the EIR had indeed disclosed “the presence of known carcinogens in SBR infill.”

Despite this fact, the appeals court noted the EIR had “ultimately concluded the cancer risk posed by these chemicals was not significant.” Further, the appeals court found that Sierra had not demonstrated the city had been presented with “new or conflicting data or opinions” that would indicate “the city may not have fully evaluated the cancer risks posed

by SBR infill or its constituent chemicals.”

Conclusion Accordingly, in the opinion of the appeals court, “the EIR included sufficient information to permit informed decisionmaking and public participation relating to the cancer risks of SBR infill in general and carbon black and PAHs in particular.” As a result, the appeals court found the EIR was adequate and complied with the requirements of the state environmental quality act.

James C. Kozlowski, J.D., Ph.D., is an attorney and Associate Professor in the School of Recreation, Health and Tourism at George Mason University (jkozlows@gmu.edu). Webpage with link to law review articles archive (1982 to present): http://mason.gmu. edu/~jkozlows.

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FUTURE LEADERS

Kara Kish

Young Professionals Can Be Great Mentors

By Kara Kish

M

entorships play a powerful role in shaping the professionals we become and the budding professionals we inspire. Our passion for the field, our dedication to the essential service of parks and recreation and our conduct as professionals is influenced by those who serve as our guides, friends and mentors. As young professionals, we are in a unique position to absorb the wisdom of distinguished professionals as well as make a lasting impact on those who have recently entered or are preparing to enter the field. Caring, lasting and impactful mentorships have undoubtedly shaped who I am as a young professional, and every opportunity I have to serve as a mentor for a fellow young professional or student continues the succession and betterment of our field of practice.

My exposure to professional mentorship began as a student at Indiana State University. On the first day of my academic journey, I instantly connected with a professor whose mentorship of my career continues to this day. Throughout my studies, professors have served as more than instructors. They were my first mentors. Diverse mentorship rela-

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tionships began to form as I started my career. Some occurred naturally from among those who served as my direct supervisors and those who were peers within my state. Then, I began to seek more formal, professional mentorships. Through NRPA’s Young Professional Fellowship and the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration’s Young

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Professional Externship, I was paired with incredible mentors. Many of these mentorships have developed and thrived throughout my career.

Another outstanding program designed to create mentorships between young professionals and distinguished professionals, as well as young professionals and students, was created through a partnership between the NPRA Young Professional and Administrators Networks (learn more about NRPA’s networking groups at www.nrpaconnect.org). The program reflects the ideal that mentorship is valuable at any stage in your career and that at any stage in your career, you have something to offer — especially as a young professional.

Personally, I have found a consistent pathway to mentorship of students through my role as an adjunct

professor at Indiana State University.

One of my greatest moments came last year when I was recognized by the Indiana Park and Recreation Association for my role in education.

While accepting this award, I looked into the crowd and saw there many of my former students who are now my peers. This moment quite literally brought me to tears. I was immeasurably proud of each of them.

After six years in higher education, I am profoundly aware of the influence afforded to me as their instructor; however, I believe the proximity of our careers directly contributed to the formation and sustainability of mentorships. It is through this unique prism that all young professionals can excel at mentorship. Students are facing the immediate challenge of

transitioning from academic studies to the field of practice. Your experience as a young professional is fresh and relevant, which is highly valued by students. All young professionals have experiences, advice and knowledge to share through mentorship.

Your students are waiting for you!

Mentorships are delicate; not every mentor relationship is anticipated to remain with you for the length of your career, and that is ok! Great mentorships are reciprocal, considerate and, in the best scenario, fun! I value the mentor/mentee relationships I am part of because they are unique to me and that individual. Other mentors have what I have, but it is uniquely theirs. Mentorships persist because both parties connected at some point and are along for the ride together.

What I have learned is that a great mentor sees the value in what you contribute to the field. A great mentor never feels threatened by your achievements. A great mentor openly welcomes candor or even panic during your struggles. And finally, a great mentor will always celebrate your successes. My mentors have been my greatest cheerleaders, my inspirations and my ideals of professionalism. To those that might call me their mentor, I cannot wait to see the impact each of you has on my beloved profession!

Kara Kish, MPA, CPRE, CPSI, currently serves as the Superintendent of the Vigo County Parks and Recreation Department (Indiana) and as an Adjunct Professor at Indiana State University (kara.kish@ vigocounty.in.gov).

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Recipe for an Aster: Prairie Restoration in Chicago

By Becky Barak

I

’m peering through a dense thicket of tall prairie grasses when I see it: the magenta bloom of a New England aster. It’s not a rare plant, but it’s beautiful, and I’ve been waiting all summer to see it flower. This is a transcendent moment — I feel like I’m standing in a prairie that’s been around forever — but my bliss is quickly interrupted by the sound of a jackhammer: road construction on Lake Shore Drive.

I’m not in a pristine ecosystem.

All around me in downtown Chicago is Burnham Centennial Prairie, a restored habitat built and managed by humans to atone for the destruction of millions of acres of prairie that used to envelop the Chicago region. My job, as a Ph.D. student at Northwestern University and Chicago Botanic Garden, is to help land managers best maintain this habitat for the foreseeable future. Prairies in Illinois have been managed by hu-

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mans for thousands of years, and, if we want prairies, we can’t stop.

These prairies are past the point of “natural” management — if left alone, they’ll disappear.

Midwestern farming almost killed the prairie. Ordinarily, prairies return year after year because seeds and roots serve as “ecological memory.”

Natural seed banks (in contrast to frozen seed vaults housed in laboratories) made up of dormant seeds, wait underground for a favorable time to

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germinate. Deep roots allow prairie plants to wait out the winter and quickly re-sprout in the spring. By overturning soils, plowing destroyed prairies above and below ground, so that even when land was abandoned, prairie plants didn’t return. Instead, weedy “old fields” grew. Burnham had very little ecological memory, parts of it were built on sediment dredged out from Lake Michigan and plopped onto the shore.

Building a Prairie With so much prairie destroyed, how do managers know how to build a prairie? Mostly, they study remnants — small patches of original prairie that somehow survived farming and development, usually because they

were on marginal or hard-to-reach land. Building a restoration by looking at a remnant is like trying to recreate a dish without the recipe and in a fraction of the time; it is a big challenge. Land managers have been working on the recipe for prairie restoration for more than 80 years, starting with the first restored prairie at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, but there is still much more to learn.

Studying the plant species found at a remnant is perhaps the most obvious first step to writing the recipe. If they can find seeds of these species, managers can add them to seed mixes used for restoration. But remnant prairies provide more than just inspiration, they also give managers access to the raw materials needed to build a prairie. The seeds that built the earliest restored prairies were hand-gathered from remnants. Today, restoration managers supplement wild-collected seed with those purchased from commercial prairie growers, especially for large-scale processes like Burnham. Some planted species will grow roots and produce seeds, developing ecological memory even in a restored site.

If species and seeds are ingredients for the prairie recipe, management is the cooking technique, and like much of cooking, fire is key. Burning a natural area might feel counterintuitive, but for thousands of years, fires have helped prairies rejuvenate. Fossilized pollen and charcoal remains from ancient sediments show that fire, started by lightning and/or people, has maintained the prairies of Illinois for at least 10,000 years. Fire promotes germination of some tough-seeded species, and keeps weeds at bay by giving all plants a fresh start. Given its location just south of McCormick place, between Lake Shore Drive and Lake Michigan, Burnham has very little chance of a natural grassland fire rolling though. So fire crews, with backup from the fire department, perform controlled burns every year or two.

Biodiversity in the City Despite all the hard work that goes into restoration, restored prairies never become remnants. Restored prairies are usually less diverse; they have fewer species living together. This is because restored prairies are established all at once from any available seed, on disturbed land (or dredged sediment), while remnants have been prairies for thousands of years.

Biodiversity is a big deal because it is linked to the overall functioning of ecosystems. Diverse plant assemblages support a greater diversity of species higher up on the food chain, like insects and birds, are better at keeping out invasive weeds that can destroy native habitats, and store

more carbon to help mitigate climate change. Through my research, I try to figure out how to increase the diversity of restored prairies and help managers design effective seed mixes for restoration.

Even if they can’t turn into remnants, restorations are high-quality habitat compared to the weed fields, abandoned parking lots and drainage ditches that are potential prairies. Restored prairies provide habitat and breeding grounds for migrating species like the beloved (and declining) monarch butterflies. The deep roots of prairie plants retain stormwater and reduce runoff in urban and suburban settings. Most importantly, restored prairies are an unparalleled educational resource for big and small naturalists.

Restorations show Midwesterners that biodiversity isn’t just in the rainforest and tie us back to our natural history before farming and suburban sprawl. In a restored prairie, if you squint just right, you don’t even notice the highway.

Becky Barak is a Ph.D. candidate, Plant Biology and Conservation, at Northwestern University/Chicago Botanic Garden (beckybarak@u. northwestern.edu).

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Parks & Recreation

39

HEALTH AND WELLNESS

Keeping Food Waste Out of the Landfill

By Allison Colman

I

n 2014, the United States Department of Agriculture reported that 48.1 million Americans live in food insecure households (www.ers.usda.gov/ publications/err-economic-research-report/err194.aspx). Of that number, 15.3 million are children. While this number is staggering, what’s even more shocking is that despite the fact that almost 50 million Americans are living in food insecure homes, almost 80 billion pounds of food is discarded in U.S. landfills each year.

According to a 2012 study (www. foodwastealliance.org/wp-content/ uploads/2013/06/FWRA_BSR_ Tier1_FINAL.pdf) conducted by the Business for Social Responsibility for the Food Waste Reduction Alliance, many of these losses are occurring in residential settings (47 percent), full-service restaurants (22 percent) and quick-service restaurants (15 percent). Meal service providers like schools, hospitals and park and recreation agencies also contribute to this number and must take steps to remedy

40 Parks & Recreation

this problem. With millions of people and children living in food insecure homes, meal providers need to consider how they are addressing this critical issue and preventing food waste from simply being tossed into landfills, rather than repurposed to provide additional benefits to the community.

Best Practices to Reduce Food Waste In 2015, 25 park and recreation agencies took steps to address food waste within their out-of-school time

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programs (those participating in the Summer Food Service Program and the Child and Adult Care Food Program). These agencies were tasked with implementing new policies and procedures to reduce food waste and create more sustainable meal programs. Based on the successes and feedback from these agencies, NRPA has compiled a list of best practices to reduce food waste in out-of-school time program sites that are operating meal service programs. [Ed Note: With funding from the Walmart Foundation, NRPA is developing a Food Waste Best Practices Guide that will address several tactics for eliminating food waste. It will be available on NRPA’s website later this year.]

Proper Planning Successful food waste reduction

starts with proper planning. From accurate meal counts and source reduction to site selection, it is important to thoroughly plan your meal service programs to reduce the amount of food being wasted.

Producing less food can help lower the amount of waste that is generated. While large portion sizes at restaurants and over-purchasing at the grocery store are typically the culprits, meal providers may be guilty of over-ordering food for their sites.

It is important to keep accurate meal counts and track attendance at your meal sites. Enrollment numbers and attendance can change daily and weekly (especially during the summer months).

Find the Right Food Vendor Find a food vendor that meets the needs of your agency and community. If you’re participating in a meal program, make sure you are getting everything you need from your vendor. Will they work with you to ensure you are meeting nutrition standards and USDA guidelines? Do they have a meal delivery system in place to ensure food arrives at your site when it’s needed? Are you able to change your meal counts on a daily or weekly basis? These are all considerations when choosing a food vendor and a significant component in reducing the amount of food waste generated.

Quality of Food You can’t have a conversation about food waste without addressing food quality. While there are nutrition standards in place for the federal nutrition programs, there is much room for improvement. While there are certainly exceptions, food vendors don’t always choose to serve the freshest and health

iest options, leaving children to eat meals that may not appeal to them.

Children are more likely to eat foods that are higher in quality, including fresh fruits and vegetables and hot meals, than foods that might appear to be processed. Meals that look and taste better are not only more likely to be fully consumed, but also are more likely to contribute to consistent attendance in out-of-school time programs, providing the mutual benefits of tackling childhood hunger and malnutrition and engaging kids in enrichment and learning programs.

Holding focus groups with children and monitoring the popularity of meals is a great way to ensure you are serving foods that are high quality and enjoyable for children. The City of Aurora Parks Recreation and Open Space Department recently implemented both of these strategies.

It successfully reduced food waste by working with a vendor to provide freshly prepared foods, encouraging children to try new items, and monitoring the popularity of items.

Food Donation and Sharing We know that proper planning and serving high-quality meals can help to reduce waste, but what can be done with extra food? The EPA Food Recovery Hierarchy (www.epa. gov/sustainable-management-food/ food-recovery-hierarchy) offers the most preferred management strategies for wasted food. Many of these strategies can be implemented at park and recreation sites, including: Share Tables: The majority of the 25 park and recreation agencies utilized a “share table” method, providing a table where children can place unwanted items others can eat. This helps to reduce waste and to feed children who are still hungry after

their meal. In addition, many agencies, like those in the city of Charlottesville, Virginia, (when allowable) let children bring either a fruit or non-perishable, pre-packaged grain item home or store food according to regulations and re-purposed it to conduct healthy cooking classes and nutrition education lessons.

Food Donation: With millions of households suffering from food insecurity, one of the most logical ways to address a surplus of food is to donate it. The Recreation and Park Commission for the East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, donates allowable extra food and milk to a local church.

While there are regulations on what food products can be donated, it’s worthwhile to look into this option and find a donation partner within your community.

Composting Composting is an alternative to disposing of food in a landfill. Certain elements of foods can be turned into compost to feed and nourish the soil, helping to cultivate new growth. Park and recreation agencies, like those in Lansing, Michigan, have utilized composting bins to re-purpose the food for their community gardens.

This provides the additional benefit of educating youth about the process of how food is grown.

By implementing new policies and procedures, park and recreation agencies are helping to reduce and eliminate the 80 billion pounds of food waste dumped into landfills each year, leading to more sustainable meal programs.

Allison Colman is NPRA’s Program Manager (acolman@nrpa.org).

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41

SOCIAL EQUITY

Coach Cortney and the StarrFire Girls: Raising Awareness and Promoting Greatness in D.C.

By Jayni Rasmussen

T

he auditorium at Raymond Rec Center in Northwest Washington, D.C., is buzzing with energy as hundreds of girls in a vibrant array of colorful outfits get ready to show off a year of hard work at the District of Columbia Department of Parks and Recreation’s (DPR) Cheer and Dance Showcase. A DJ puts on Beyoncé and, after a sharp cheer of recognition from almost every dancer, the room ripples with motion as most of the girls, across teams, move in sync to the choreography of the song. A couple of girls yet too young to be on a team dance along, looking up to the big girls with bright, admiring eyes. As families shuffle to find their seats in the bleach­ ers, a proud mom stands up and yells, “Yeah, Coach Cortney! We all know who the best coach is!”

Coach Cortney is Cortney Wil­ liams, the coach of the StarrFire Dance Team. Williams started Starr­ Fire just over a year ago while co­ ordinating the Young Ladies on the Rise mentorship program as a rec­ reation specialist at the Deanwood Recreation Center in the Deanwood

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neighborhood in Northeast D.C. Williams, noticing that more pro­ grams were needed to serve young girls, recalled her days growing up as a Chicago Park District kid, when she looked forward to practicing and hanging out with her friends every day at her local recreation center’s

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dance program. She immediately be­ gan recruiting, and in just a few short weeks, the StarrFire Dance Team at Deanwood Rec was 25 girls strong.

Washington, D.C., has not been an historically easy place to grow up — just 20 years ago, the city’s macabre nickname of “Murder Capital” was a grim reality for many residents. To­ day, improved community services and gentrification have catalyzed as­ tonishingly rapid change across the city, translating to sharply declining crime rates in neighborhoods with the most development. But just miles from the markedly safe National Mall, in some areas east of the Ana­ costia River, the violent crime rate has stood rigidly still for decades.

Deanwood is perhaps the most be­

leaguered of these neighborhoods in recent months, including a tragic murder on the Deanwood Metro platform of a boy who frequented Deanwood Recreation Center.

That’s why the StarrFire Dance Team is so important to the young girls who come to Deanwood Rec. “Today’s world doesn’t offer much for the girls,” Williams says. “They’re often overshadowed by violence and politics. Being a part of StarrFire provides them with outside support, and it can go a long way.” With Williams’ guidance as a teacher and role model, the StarrFire girls learn to express themselves through hip-hop and ballet, all while making friends and being part of a team.

But Williams doesn’t stop with teaching the girls how to dance.

The StarrFire girls held two candlelight vigils to honor Relisha Rudd, a young homeless girl who went missing from a D.C. shelter more than two years ago. By empowering the StarrFire girls to “raise awareness and promote greatness” through organizing events like the vigils, Williams is showing the girls that they matter and can make a difference.

The confidence that Williams has

The StarrFire Dance Team held two candlelight vigils in honor of Relisha Rudd, a young homeless girl who went missing from a neighborhood shelter.

instilled in the StarrFire girls is easily found in their performance at the DPR Cheer and Dance Showcase.

Even among the amazingly talented teams from recreation centers across the city, it would be hard to forget the StarrFire girls. Dressed in sparkly golden tops and ruby-red lamé pants, The StarrFire Dance Team leaves it all on the floor during their performance at the DPR Cheer and Dance Showcase.

the girls are powerful and graceful as they move in synchronicity to a fastpaced dance track. At the end of the day, the StarrFire Dance Team was rewarded for their hard year of work when they were awarded a beautiful, two-tiered golden trophy for being DPR’s City-Wide Hip-Hop Champs.

Williams’ reward isn’t the trophy.

It’s the equally gilded pride, joy and self-confidence that absolutely emanates from the girls as they celebrate their win, and it’s knowing the commitment and dedication that got them there.

In what seems an unsurmountable struggle to bring peace to Deanwood, it is heartening to know that there are people like Coach Cortney who are changing lives by loving and inspiring the girls of the StarrFire Dance Team.

Jayni Rasmussen is NRPA’s Advocacy and Outreach Specialist (jrasmussen@nrpa.org).

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Parks & Recreation

43

Making Smart Parks

By Edward Krafcik

I

n the past 10 years, technology has rapidly disrupted industry after industry, becoming deeply intertwined with everything we do. The ways we get around, connect with our friends, meet new people and do business have been revolutionized. Even the infrastructure of our cities and the buildings we live in have been transformed. Why, then, has technology been so slow to find its way into parks and open spaces?

Is this slow adoption of technology causing our parks to be less desirable to, or worse, less used by, the growing connected generations? Are park managers missing major opportunities to improve the management of park networks with the aid of technology?

To answer these questions, it is important to first define how technology can be implemented in a park setting, clarifying what value it provides. Soofa, a startup out of MIT’s Media Lab, calls these technology-enhanced parks “Smart Parks.” Since its inception in 2014 and through a part-

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Parks & Recreation

nership with Boston New Urban Mechanics, Cisco and Verizon, Soofa has worked with numerous innovative cities and park departments across the United States and Canada to implement its internet-connected, solar-powered park benches in public and private settings. Soofa’s philosophy dictates that effective technology in parks provides a clear benefit for the public while adding value to park departments. This includes, for example, improving operations management and programming. When operations and programming become more effective, visitors enjoy parks more, giving

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park agencies additional ideas for improvement.

Creating technology-enabled Smart Parks does not require a monumental shift in management practices or departmental organization, nor does their creation require excessive capital expenditure. Quite the opposite.

Soofa’s approach is to start small and build on success with incremental changes. Through testing ideas with innovative partners ranging from the size and scale of the NYC Parks Department to the city of Sunny Isles Beach, Florida, with a population of approximately 20,000 people, Soofa has begun building the foundation for a nation of Smart Parks.

Why Smart Parks?

The need for creating Smart Parks arises in part from the demand of park users. Today, connec-

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er and more connected generations, Smart Parks can help park agencies manage amenities in new ways. In a first-of-its-kind pilot project with the NYC Parks Department, Soofa Benches, containing solar-powered sensor technology, will measure the pedestrian usage of a large park in the Bronx. The data collected will include a basic tallying of park users entering and exiting the park. Knowing this information in real-time allows baseline usage rates to be captured. From this information, the park’s “activity score” will be developed.

With activity scores in hand, department staff can begin to measure the efficacy of programming and capital expenditures. This eliminates the guesswork around how much a community basketball tournament increased park activity, or how many people have been using a new entrance built with last year’s capital improvements budget.

Knowing the answers to these questions is increasingly import-

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tivity is a basic facet of life. For many, connection is a lifeline. It’s no surprise, then, that amenities like public Wi-Fi and free phone charging have made their way into public places and spaces.

A Smart Park goes far beyond just giving connected generations what they want. By creating Smart Parks, park directors can begin to harness the energy of people and groups who over the years may have become disconnected from public spaces and the outdoors.

After all, parks facing threats of budget cuts or complete removal in favor of tax-generating new developments will find it extremely powerful to have highly energized and passionate people on their side.

Look no further than the Lawn on D in Boston’s Seaport Neighborhood as an example. This park is technology-enabled and has become home to popular gatherings like concerts, food truck festivals and numerous community-driven events. People love it and will fight for it to remain and grow.

In addition to engaging young-

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Soofa’s dashbord interface includes a wide variety of data points that help park managers learn more about the community they are serving.

ant as budgets become tighter and measurement becomes the status quo. The most innovative park departments will take action by seeking out new technologies and partnering with startups and established players in the industry.

It is most important to remember that making big changes doesn’t require taking dramatic action.

As Bobbi Nance, senior manager of strategy and innovation for the Park District of Oak Park in Illinois told us, “Sometimes park departments tend to overlook the value of pilot projects.”

Small interventions go a long way in getting the department on the same page around innovative technologies and, importantly, demonstrate to the public that meaningful and exciting change is actually happening.

Edward Krafcik is the Director of Strategic Partnerships at Soofa (edward@ soofa.co).

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Parks & Recreation

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People for Parks:

Tech Edition

A

s director of strategic partnerships and business development at Soofa, Edward Krafcik is interested in improving the health of communities through innovation. Working alongside business leaders, real estate developers, social engineers, landscape architects and urban designers, Krafcik attempts to reimagine our communal landscape as “smarter, more social and more sustainable.” He finds, more often than not these days, that technology plays a leading role in achieving such aims. Products like the Soofa Bench, a solar-powered bench that also acts as a charging station for cell phones and other small electronics, are helping to bridge the gap between technology, leisure and face-to-face social interaction. We sat down with Krafcik to learn more about his vision of how tech and parks can work hand-in-hand to bring people outside and draw them together.

Parks & Recreation magazine: There has been much hand-wringing over how to get people away from their screens and out into nature and communal open spaces, but your work helps bring tech and the outdoors closer together. Talk about why you think that’s important.

Edward Krafcik: As a former landscape architect, I certainly can understand the fears around integrating technology into outdoor environments like parks and communal open spaces. However, it’s important to remember that we live in a world today where all of us in some way or another interface with technology. The notion of a park being a “refuge” today needs to be considered in the context of our technology-centric lives. From connecting with our friends and meeting new people, to getting around the city and experiencing new places when we travel, we rely more than ever on technology. Whether it’s an app

46 Parks & Recreation

on our phone or the public Wi-Fi network in our local coffee shop, technology is important to our everyday lives. That said, I don’t see technology as the enemy of our great parks and public spaces, rather, I see it as a valuable amenity that can be offered. Further, just because technology is made available, it doesn’t mean that everyone will bury their heads in their phones. It simply provides them the same comforts they are used to everywhere else in the city. Another way to look at it is to consider the growing generation of people who are highly connected and ask the question, “Are these people coming to our parks at the same rate they would if we offered amenities that met their technological needs?”

P&R: How have you seen people interacting with tech like the Soofa Bench in parks and public spaces?

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Krafcik: As a young technology and design company, it’s extremely important for us to observe how our products are being used and interview those who are using them. Some examples of what we’ve seen have been kids at basketball courts plugging in small scoreboards to our bench’s USB ports to keep score over the course of an afternoon, people using our bench as a place to meet up with friends, young children explaining to their parents how the solar panel is using the sun to power their phones, and many similar stories. One of my favorite things about our technology or any Continued on page 48

CityReporter Inspection Software

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hen it comes to playground inspections, having the right tools for the job makes all the difference for safe public parks, solid recordkeeping and efficient processes.

“I’ve trained hundreds of CPSIs to use an inspection app,” explains Pamela Liu, a client support expert at CityReporter. “It’s very common to hear that paperwork is piling up and inspections aren’t getting done because park departments have so many important priorities. Once they start doing inspections on their smartphone, that all changes.”

Park directors across the country have recognized their staff members are doing more with less and that’s

why they’re equipping their CPSIs with powerful inspection apps. The results are encouraging.

According to a director at Elk Grove Park District in Illinois, “[The] park inspection software has streamlined our playground inspections. Staff no longer uses paper inspections, and because it’s so easy to use it has made it a lot easier for staff to stay organized and keep up with the inspections.”

To request a live demo of CityReporter and receive a free bonus download of things to consider when choosing an inspection app, visit www.cityreporter.us/results.

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Continued from page 46 type of human-centered technology is that so many different types of people will find a way to use it.

P&R: What trends do you see in the area of tech, parks and open public spaces?

Krafcik: The most important thing right now is making and implementing technology-enabled products that have a clear benefit to both the public and the park departments that deploy them.

What I mean by this is that with all of the dialogue these days around data privacy in the public realm, it is critically important that technology provides a clear benefit to the public. Technologies that in any way use data from the public to enhance operations for park departments, for example, will come under scrutiny if they don’t show the public in a clear way how the data is benefiting them. This is important because a theme I’m seeing is that

there will be a growing collection of companies that offer products and services which help park departments generate and use data. This data will help park managers more effectively and efficiently manage day-to-day operations, measure the efficacy of programming and help show the return on investment from capital improvements. Of course, the success of these companies will be largely contingent on how well they can connect with the public. Ultimately, though, with more and more government departments becoming data-driven and evidence-based in their decision-making processes, it’s only a matter of time before more companies will be able to offer similar types of technology for park departments.

— Samantha Bartram, Executive Editor of Parks & Recreation magazine

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Customers can book facilities and register for activities on- and offline while staff can also book facilities, schedule activities and help their members. The software automates membership renewals, payment and billing processes, as well as streamline communication and marketing.

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the needs of your organization without the hassle of paid upgrades, server and network maintenance.

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The ABCs of Free Public Wi-Fi LA Parks — Technology Innovators

By Mark Saferstein

T

his is awesome! I can sit outside in the park and get my work done while watching the kids play. It’s so much better than being stuck at home in front of my computer or going to a fast food restaurant to get free Wi-Fi. — Recently overheard at Echo Lake Park in downtown L.A.

The city of Los Angeles, along with a growing number of local, state and federal agencies, has committed to bring free Wi-Fi to public spaces. The pilot program in Los Angeles has already been embraced by the public, with iconic locations such as Venice Beach and Griffith Observatory now offering this free service. Wi-Fi is no longer considered an amenity, but rather a public utility, like electricity and running water. If you don’t believe it, just ask any millennial or the parent of a young child.

What’s Needed?

In order to offer Wi-Fi to your visitors, there are two primary needs: high-speed broadband (i.e., an internet connection) and constant electricity to power the system.

With this in mind, there are several questions that invariably arise: • Where should I place Wi-Fi? The best locations are where there’s a high concentration of pedestrian traffic and where people are likely to stay for a while, such as a visitor center, beach, playground, day-use or concession area.

• What’s the range of Wi-Fi? Carrier-grade, commercial Wi-Fi has a limited range, typically no more than several hundred feet. However, the range can be extended

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significantly by adding multiple transmitters (commonly known as access points or APs), linked together to form a continuous “mesh” network.

• Why do we need Wi-Fi if there’s cell coverage? Simple, Wi-Fi is free and cellular data plans are expensive. Recent research shows that as many as 28 percent of customers pay overages for exceeding their data plans.

Also, approximately 90 percent of tablets are Wi-Fi-only, where cellular isn’t an option.

• My park is off the grid and the local Internet Service Provider (ISP) says there’s no wired Internet connection available.

Is there still a solution? Yes! There are multiple options to bring in a signal, both wired and wireless. Each has pros and cons. Wired solutions, if available, typically offer lower monthly cost, higher speeds (measured in megabites per second or Mbs) and no data caps.

However, there are lots of places where it’s prohibitively expensive — and sometimes impossible — to install a cable or fiber line, or where it’ll just take far too long. Wireless solutions include cellular, microwave and satellite. Cellular-based Wi-Fi is too slow and expensive for a

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public system. Microwave systems start with a wired internet connection and then beam it long distances using multiple point-to-point antennas. This can work for remote locations, as long as there’s direct line of sight, but the cost of the service is quite expensive. In locations where this isn’t an option, satellite increasingly offers a great solution. Within a year’s time, both ViaSat and Hughes are launching new satellites that will cover all of North America. While satellite-fed Wi-Fi has a data cap, and therefore higher monthly costs, these data costs are expected to drop significantly with the new generation of satellites. Also, the speed of satellite internet is projected to be more than six times faster (i.e. far greater capacity) than the current satellites. One of the major advantages of satellite is that you can be up and running in as little as a week!

• Are Wi-Fi systems private, secure and family-friendly?

Yes, commercial systems are typically anonymous, the data is encrypted and you can block objectionable content.

The city of Los Angeles partnered with American Park Network to install free public Wi-Fi in multiple locations, including the famed Venice Beach and Griffith Observatory. The primary goals are to provide enhanced visitor services, increase visita-

tion and ultimately get people to spend more time outside. In addition, the Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Department sought to leverage many of the following benefits: • Internet access for underserved communities • Highly accurate traffic monitoring • A digital portal for education — visitors can download information about the park, such as mobile apps • Save money on printing — digital content, such as trail maps, schedules and education materials, pose significant cost savings • An operational tool to monitor visitation patterns (e.g., schedule security, maintenance, staffing based on timing of peak visitation, etc.)

• Real-time visitation information to help with budgeting and appropriations • Ability to target messaging to park visitors to encourage repeat visitation, promote park usage/event attendance, etc.

• Potential to generate additional revenue or support operating costs through public/private partnerships Millions of Angelinos have had the opportunity to use this new service, which is very popular. An average of more than 20 percent of devices connect to the system when in the WiFi hotspots for five minutes or more. At one park with limited cell coverage, the connection rate is as high as 36 percent!

One of the Most Requested Services In Los Angeles, all equipment, installation and ongoing main

tenance has been made possible through a public/private partnership. Michael A. Shull, general manager, Department of Recreation and Parks, was instrumental in making this program come to life. “It’s been very rewarding to collaborate with American Park Network with support from Toyota to bring free Oh, Ranger! WiFi™ to park visitors,” says Shull.

“We look forward to expanding Wi-Fi services throughout our entire park system. Bringing connectivity to parks enhances community offerings and gives everyone an incentive to spend more time outdoors.”

New York State has a similar public Wi-Fi initiative, bringing free connectivity to iconic spots like Niagara Falls and Jones Beach. State Park Commissioner Rose Harvey echoes Shull’s sentiment, adding that free WiFi is a way to appeal to younger constituents, who often make their choices based on their ability to connect. “Whether opting to use Wi-Fi to share real-time photos of friends and family or to access apps and maps, having this technology is another way to draw people in to spend their precious leisure time at our parks,” says Harvey.

“In Arizona, connectivity is one of the most requested services,” says Sue Black, director of Arizona State Parks. “The park community needs to take a leadership role and set the standard for the public.” Arizona is currently working with concession partner Aramark to install free public WiFi in popular destinations like Kartchner Caverns and Patagonia Lake State Park, with plans to ex-

pand the service throughout the entire system.

Ultimately, the key for parks isn’t to have Wi-Fi everywhere, but rather to offer visitors the option to connect in well-defined, high-traffic locations. That option can make all the difference in getting people to show up and share their experiences. In many respects, it’s similar to offering showers at campgrounds.

There was a time when a hot shower at a campground was a luxury.

Today, visitors consider it a necessity but would likely trade a hot shower for a reliable internet connection any time.

Mark Saferstein is the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief at American Park Network (wifi@americanparknetwork. com).

Rec Desk

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Park Technology: Exploring Opportunities Turning to tech to connect to nature

By Karen Zgonc

F

rom management to fundraising and education to engagement, technology is changing the landscape of our parks. With increased accessibility to tech solutions, there is no shortage of opportunities to explore.

Administrative tools Most park and recreation organizations now operate online recreation management software to simplify workloads, generate revenue and maximize staff productivity. Activity and membership management, facility bookings, sports league management, invoicing and reporting are just some of the features these all-inone software packages provide.

Communities expect the ease of online registration, ideally on their mobile phones, and it is easily provided. Communication with customers about changes or scheduling of specific activities is easy with email blasts or text messaging through these applications.

Multiple administrators can have different levels of accessibility to manage the organization.

Maintenance management software has also gained leverage in recent years. These solutions provide an invaluable resource to maintain facilities, parks, equipment, vehicles and more with features that enable staff to schedule preventative facility management, track costs, log inspections and create work orders.

Technology has also changed the way parks market to the public. By creating tailored campaigns and promotions, hours of work are now done with the click of a button.

Beyond brochures and websites, parks can use social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, Pinterest and YouTube to name a handful) and mass email programs, such as MailChimp and ConstantContact, to advertise and target past, current and future patrons at little to no cost. Marketing is easy to schedule and automate to lessen staff workload.

Recreation organizations constantly look for new ways to fundraise for specific projects or general operations, and it is now simple to take it online. Crowdfunding presents new opportunities for fundraising. NRPA’s Fund Your Park (www.fundyourpark.org) is a parks and recreation-specific crowdfunding platform. Other popular platforms include Kickstarter, Indiegogo, Crowdrise and Razoo. Traditional fundraisers can use auction software to sign in patrons and host silent auctions via mobile bidding.

Engagement Tools Beyond administrative solutions, technology is also changing how parks engage parkgoers and encourage interaction with nature.

In the past, technology in parks Continued on page 54

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Discovery Agents

U

sing gaming and technology to engage kids with nature and parks sounds implausible; however, a new mobile game is taking outdoor education by storm. Discovery Agents melds GPS technology, best practices in video gaming and outdoor learning in a way that motivates kids to get outside by providing a revolutionary and fun gaming experience that requires players to move to solve challenges.

University researchers evaluated the effectiveness of mobile gaming in outdoor learning and demonstrated that kids learned more, had more fun and were more engaged with their surroundings than those who participated in guided or self-guided tours. Currently under development in more than 120 parks across the country, with partners, including the U.S. Forest Service, Texas State Parks and the city of Los Angeles, the Discovery Agents game is expanding

rapidly. Discovery Agents is an effective and easy to use tool for park rangers or educational staff and a fun, interactive and educational game for kids. The game is expanding to provide educational content in a variety of themes, including Agents of Water in the City of Los Angeles; Agents of Nature in Texas State Parks; and Agents of Culture with the U.S. Forest Service in Kentucky. Discover more about this “Move to Play and Learn� evo-

lution and the research about it by visiting www.discoveryagents.net.

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Sun Charge

Sun Charge Systems solar powered charging station is an environmentally friendly, self-contained power system.

Our charging stations are built to provide access to electrical outlets for the purpose of charging personal electronic devices such as cell phones, tablets and laptops.

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54 Parks & Recreation

Continued from page 52 was considered taboo and often criticized, but now geocaching, self-guided trails with QR codes, live streaming, free Wi-Fi, education technology and virtual hikes are all examples of ways a park can use technology to enhance a connection to nature.

Your park can provide an old-fashioned treasure hunt, with geocaching (www.geocaching. com). Georgia State Parks has utilized this technology in two ways — a Parks GeoTour, with caches hidden in more than 40 state parks throughout the state, and a History Trail GeoTour, where the combination of the treasure is revealed only after participants have learned about the site’s history. Because of the popularity and demand for geocaching, numerous parks now host FAQs, rules and/or applications for permits to place a cache on their websites.

QR Codes (www.qr-code-generator.com) on signs along self-guided trails can enhance educational experiences. With a click of the phone, parkgoers can learn about nature, wildlife, historic sites and more throughout the park. There are field guides developed specifically for this purpose. Union County Parks in New Jersey, has installed tree signage with QR codes that immediately provide information and illustrations with everything you would want to know about a tree, from how it propagates to the region it inhabits.

Live streaming gives recreation organizations the opportunity to engage parkgoers at home with everything from the popular ea-

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gle cam to watching city council meetings. The city of North Myrtle Beach and the town of Mooresville, North Carolina, provide access to live events at their baseball and softball fields so little league fans can watch and cheer from anywhere. Other recreation departments have placed webcams on everything from parking lots to trailheads.

During the past few years, parks from coast to coast have rolled out free Wi-Fi. In some cases, WiFi equipment and maintenance has been privately funded. San Francisco, for example, received a $600,000 gift from Google and Los Angeles Wi-Fi was supported by Toyota. Charleston, South Carolina, has a website (www.chsfreewifi. com) dedicated to information on its free Wi-Fi that offers FAQ, support, limitations (three hours) and even the possibility of creating a unique network for events.

Contests have always been a popular way to engage parkgoers, and with social media, it’s easy to take it online! Create a specific hashtag for your contest, like the #OurWakeCountyParks or #abileneparksandrec, and follow the entries on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Parks are using these contests as an easy and fun way to celebrate Park and Recreation Month in July.

Technology in and for parks is limitless. Tech has become an important way to connect with nature and, therefore, important for organizations to continually investigate modern ways to engage parkgoers.

Karen Zgonc is the Marketing Director for REC1 (www.rec1.com).

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Zika and Parks:

What You Need to Know

By Richard J. Dolesh

T

he Zika virus is coming to the United States, and it has prompted a very high level of concern on the part of public health officials at all levels. Media attention on Zika is white hot, and articles and reports are appearing on a daily basis. And it seems that each new finding about the effects of this mosquito-borne disease ratchets up fears to an even higher level.

So, what does Zika virus disease mean to parks and recreation? Are our employees and the public we serve on the front line of exposure?

Do we need to take action, and if so, what kind? As the threat of locally originated cases of Zika grows, how can park and recreation agencies be best prepared to deal with this emerging public health threat?

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What Is It? Zika virus disease is a mosquito-borne disease having much in common with dengue fever, Chikungunya and West Nile virus. Zika affects the myelin sheath of nerves, resulting in neurological damage.

While first thought relatively benign, Zika has now been identified by the World Health Organization (WHO)

James Gathany U.S. Centers for Disease Control

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Z I K A A N D PA R K S

as the cause of microcephaly in infants and Gullian-Barré Syndrome in adults, two especially damaging neurological conditions.

Zika was first discovered in 1947 in Africa near the Zika forest in Uganda, thus its name. While known medically since 1948, it wasn’t until 2007 that a widespread infection of up to 80 percent of the human population of the Island of Yap in Micronesia was discovered. However, even then, the disease still did not prompt a high level of concern because the effects on most people were mild — a slight rash, itching, fever, muscle aches and other symptoms — and where it breaks out, many people didn’t even know they contracted Zika virus.

However, early in 2015, the disease began to explosively spread through the Americas beginning in Brazil.

What was once seen as an ailment without serious impacts suddenly became a major public health issue. In Brazil alone, more than 4,000 cases

of microcephaly, a birth defect causing an abnormally small head and incomplete brain development, were reported in 2015. In addition, a number of instances of Gullian-Barré, a condition in which the body’s immune system attacks part of the peripheral nerve system, were reported in adults. Recent scientific research is now linking Zika to other possible neurological damage, and the level of public health concern has grown even higher with the recent determination by WHO and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that Zika is a causal factor in these conditions.

How Is It Transmitted?

There are more than 3,000 species of mosquitoes world-wide, and about 173 mosquito species have been found in the United States. Only two mosquito species in the United States are considered to be potential carriers of the Zika virus. These are the Aedes

Drain-and-cover is a good strategy for parks to adopt to prevent Aedes aegypti mosquitoes from breeding in vessles like bird baths, watering cans or flower pots.

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aegypti mosquito, which is sometimes called the Yellow Fever mosquito and more recently the “urban mosquito,” and Aedes albopictus, which is commonly called the Asian tiger mosquito. Because of its habits and its closer association with humans, Aedes aegypti is considered to be the primary vector species for Zika in the United States.

Aedes aegypti has been around a long time in the United States, in fact, some attribute an outbreak of Yellow Fever in 1793 in Philadelphia to this mosquito species. The species is common in Florida, parts of the Southeast and along the Gulf Coast states. Although it is considered a tropical and sub-tropical mosquito, it has moved rapidly northward into temperate climates. A breeding population of A. aegypti has been verified in Washington, D.C. Some researchers believe that the range of this species is expanding northward because of climate change conditions. A. albopictus, the Asian tiger mosquito, only appeared in the United States in 1980, but since then, it has a much broader range northward in the country.

The Zika virus is generally transmitted by the bite of an infected mosquito. If transmitted by a mosquito, it will only be through the saliva of the female mosquito when she re-bites a human to obtain blood, which contains needed proteins to form eggs.

New evidence is emerging that Zika may also be transmitted by sexual contact. Much is still unknown, but the recent declaration by the WHO, now confirmed by CDC, that the Zika virus causes microcephaly in infants and Gullian-Barré in adults, makes concerns much more serious.

Dr. Thomas Friedan, head of CDC, said, “There is no longer any doubt that Zika causes microcephaly.”

The greatest threat has been to women of child-bearing age who are pregnant or who are planning to be-

come pregnant, but new evidence of potential sexual transmission of Zika means that there is a much wider pool of those who may transmit the disease. Public health officials have previously used language such as “has been associated with…” or “is linked to…” but now are expected to be much more direct about the potential threat.

All cases of Zika virus in the United States so far have been “travel” cases, that is, they have come from persons who have traveled to countries where the disease is endemic.

There have been no Zika cases that have yet been reported from local transmission in the United States.

John-Paul Mutebi, a research entomologist for CDC and a member of the agency’s Zika Action Team, agrees with the description of A. aegypti as the “urban mosquito.” He says this species is most often associated with cities because of its preference for warmer temperatures, darker

places and higher levels of moisture.

“Where humans go, this mosquito follows,” he says. Mutebi also noted that wherever A. aegypti is found, it is expanding its range northward and remaining there, depending on how mild winters are. Range estimates are now northward to New York City in the east, Kansas City in the Midwest and San Francisco in the west. Populations are generally estimated to be higher along coastal areas because of warmer temperatures.

Aedes aegypti is a highly successful mosquito of the Cuclicidae family. It breeds most often in artificial containers wherever standing water can accumulate. Eggs can remain dormant and dry for more than 30 days, perhaps much longer, and only need as much as a bottle cap of water for them to hatch, become larvae and pupate. Within 10 days to two weeks adults emerge, and the female will seek a blood meal to start the cycle again.

James Gathany U.S. Centers for Disease Control

The Aedes aegypti mosquito has a complex life cycle and undergoes a full metamorphosis. The pupae here in a container of water will emerge in just a couple of days as adult mosquitoes.

A. aegypti feeds efficiently on humans. It generally bites the back of legs or arms avoiding detection. It lands lightly and bites gently compared to other mosquitoes. It bites at any time during the day, not just dawn or dusk, and it doesn’t alert you with a high pitched whine as some other species do. If there was ever a mosquito well-adapted to biting humans and getting away with it, it is Aedes aegypti.

What Can Be Done?

President Obama has proposed major funding at the federal level to address Zika and states and cities are beginning to acknowledge the potential threat. Dr. David Persse, public health director and Incident Command director for Zika in the city of Houston, says, “We are definitely preparing.” He continues, “This is the pre-season. We have a plan and we know we will have

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from storm drains to rooftops. They are also covering trash receptacles and working with their county PROTECT YOURSELF FROM ZIKA WITH THE 3-D’S. solid waste management division to encourage faster, more efficient disposal of trash that can hold water, such as abandoned DRAIN DRESS DEET tires. The parks and recreation department has > Once a week empty items > As weather permits, dress > Spray exposed skin with that hold water such as in long pants and long a repellant containing trained park staff on best flower pots, toys, or trash. sleeve shirts.

DEET or other EPA labeled repellant. methods of personal pro> Keep your yard trimmed > Make sure doors and and tidy. window screens are in > Follow label instructions; tection and has developed good repair. reapply as needed. > Help your neighbors drain public-facing messages as standing water. > Use air conditioning when > A mosquito net will protect well. They now distribavailable. babies in a stroller or car seat. ute trilingual handouts at For more information, visit us at www.houstontx.gov, call 311 park entrance gates, the or Harris County Mosquito Control District 713.440.4800. zoo and after school to parents.

Houston, Texas, has adopted “3D Zika Defense” tactics to inform the public about the The Recreation Commission of dangers of Zika virus. Informational cards like the one seen here are posted and distributEast Baton Rouge (BREC) says it ed at public facilities, including parks and recreation centers. does not post public safety messages for Zika, but it does discuss possible to manage adaptively, but we are What Does Zika Mean for hazards and provide insect repellents definitely getting ready.” The sceParks and Recreation? for program participants at the benario for which they have begun to Even though the range of Aedes mosginning of conservation education plan is that once mosquitoes start quitoes has rapidly expanded northprograms in its nature parks. Carolyn breeding in large numbers, local A. ward, most park and recreation agenMcKnight, superintendent of BREC, aegypti mosquitoes will bite an incies have not yet taken the threat of says her agency is in the initial stages fected traveler and then transmit the Zika seriously. However, a number of of understanding and managing Zika disease to humans locally. He says, agencies in the south and along the and the more information it receives “We must all take responsibility to Gulf Coast are already well along in the better its response can be. ensure that no child is born with planning and activating their role in Other agencies queried in the microcephaly.”

Zika response. known habitat areas of A. aegypti When asked if parks and recreJoe Maguire, natural areas managmosquitoes had varying degrees of ation can be part of the response er for Miami-Dade Parks, Recreation knowledge and readiness for the poto the threat of Zika, Persse says, and Open Spaces, says his agency is tential threat of Zika. One clear need “Oh yeah!” Persse described how fully engaged in addressing the threat that park and recreation agencies exHouston has established an Incident posed by the Zika virus. “We are the pressed was that they did not know if Command Structure, a multi-agency agency that meets with a lot of the these mosquitoes are present in their quick-response action approach that public,” says Maguire, “and we take jurisdiction and in their parks. Mutebi is initiated in times of public safety this responsibility seriously.” says this is a critical piece of knowlemergencies. Houston’s task force is Miami-Dade has instructed staff edge. “Are these mosquitoes in your composed of public works, fire, housto aggressively work to clean up any parks or not?” He says it is important ing, finance and parks and recreation, sources of standing water in parks by to do surveillance, and that park and as well as other agencies that are parlocating and draining small containers recreation agencies should be working ticipating in the response along with that could hold water. They promote a with their local mosquito control units Harris County, which overlies much “drain and cover” message to staff and and request that parks be included in of the city. the public and are looking at everything the areas where traps are placed.

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What Should Park and Recreation Agencies on the Front Line Do? Public education is one of the most important roles that park and recreation agencies can play in Zika response. “Park and recreation agencies have the ability to educate the public,” says Persse. “People touch parks everywhere, especially younger people who like to be outdoors.”

Houston has adopted the “3D Zika Defense — Dress properly, Drain containers and use DEET.” Miami-Dade is placing doorknob hangtags in parks and in facilities that promote a message of “Drain and Cover.” In addition, both agencies are instructing program participants in how to utilize personal protection for biting mosquitoes — repellents, defensive clothing, including loose long-sleeved shirts and long pants, and effective screens in place at dwelling places.

While DEET is considered one of the most effective mosquito repellents, a number of people have concerns about using products with DEET. CDC recommends five repellents, four of which are alternatives to DEET. These are repellents that contain Picaridin, IR 3535, oil of lemon eucalyptus and para-menthane-diol. The so-called “botanicals” are not generally considered as effective as 20-25 percent concentrations of DEET, with the exception of oil of lemon eucalyptus. Picaridin repellents also rank highly.

Joe Turner, director of Houston Parks and Recreation Department (HPARD), says his agency is very concerned about staff members having the best information and being well-equipped to prevent exposure.

“We want to know what the staff needs to do. Nearly 70 percent of our staff works outdoors.”

With regard to insect control in

parks, unfortunately, many park and recreation agencies don’t know if Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are present, and they don’t know exactly what is being sprayed in and around their parks by city or county mosquito control units, which are often in another department or branch of government. Mutebi says this is important information, and park and rec agencies should insist on knowing what insecticides are being used in and around their parks. Although there is not good evidence to make generalized comparisons, it appears that many local parks are not sprayed regularly, if at all, unless it is specifically requested by the park agency.

Aerial spraying is generally not considered the most effective control measure for A. aegypti mosquitoes because of their secretive habits and breeding locations. In stagnant standing water that cannot be drained, larvacides that are applied in small cakes to standing pools of water can be effective.

The presence of A. aegypti can only be determined by monitoring and trapping, Persse says, and he notes that Houston’s trap strategy is evolving. Their mosquito control unit is presently using three types of traps and expanding trap locations. It doesn’t matter whether your mosquito control unit performs surveillance or you hire a private contractor, says Mutebi, you must know if you have these mosquito species in your parks.

Then you can make appropriate plans to take action.

Jed Aplaca, natural resources manager for HPARD, says natural controls are important as well. In public programs, HPARD staff members encourages the public to conserve all insect predators, especially those that eat mosquitoes. “We look to preserve habitat for bats, for example, in the parks, and we encourage people to put up bat boxes, purple martin hous-

es and to look for other ways to promote insect predators.”

Cooperation Is Key to Successful Response Public education is paramount, and as this public health crisis threatens to expand, the more people know, the better the response can be. NRPA continues to promote better collaboration between park and recreation agencies and local public health agencies. The spread of Zika virus disease is a compelling reason to seek more and better cooperation with public health coutnerparts. Park and recreation agencies can be an excellent way to get the best, up-to-date, accurate information about the threat of Zika to the public.

“We don’t know what the future will bring,” Maguire says, “but we are working with the mayor’s office, mosquito control and other agencies to ensure we have the most effective response.” Persse adds, “At the end of the day, local government can only do so much. But, it is hugely important that we do everything we can. And, we need everyone else to do all they can.”

Zarnaaz Bashir, NRPA’s Vice President of Strategic Health Initiatives, contributed to this article.

Richard J. Dolesh is NRPA’s Vice President of Conservation and Parks (rdolesh@nrpa.org).

Resources CDC recommendations for Zika prevention: www.cdc.gov/zika/prevention Relative effectiveness of insect repellents for mosquitoes: www.blogs.plos.org/ thestudentblog/2016/04/08/ insectrepellent

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The ‘Hard Skills’ of Park and Recreation

Leadership

By Sara Hensley and Lawrence Allen

L

eadership remains one of the most discussed but elusive concepts across all sectors of life. We all desire to be better leaders; however, because there is no ultimate set of skills or dispositions that totally define effective leadership, it is a continuous process of development we all desire. The skills and dispositions employed will vary based on the circumstances we are presented with, including the formal or informal philosophy and desired outcomes of the agency or setting in which we are working. Every setting is different and it may require a different set of skills.

The above discussion notwithstanding, we believe there is a basic set of skills and dispositions that define effective leadership in the public park and recreation field. As a service profession dedicated to the betterment of the community and our constituent groups, we embrace the concept of servant leadership where the focus is on the growth and

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well-being of the people and communities we serve.

According to Joanne Ciulla, a leading scholar in leadership studies, “Leadership is not a person or a position; it is a complex moral relationship between people, based on trust, obligation, commitment, emotion and a shared vision of the good.” Josh Kuehler, president of Internal Consistency, defines leadership as the “ability to inspire motivation in others to move toward a desirable vision.” And,

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many years ago, American businessman and founder of Firestone Tires, Harvey S. Firestone stated: “The growth and development of people is the highest calling of leadership.”

All of these definitions have similar themes and fit well with the philosophy and goals of our profession.

While, as Kuehler points out, “management is focused on tasks,” leadership is about building relationships, motivating and inspiring, empowering and building people. These are core skills of servant leadership, and they help us more effectively work with our constituent groups in public parks and recreation.

These are not “soft skills” as some might believe. They are easy to say and promote but hard to achieve. Microsoft’s co-founder, Bill Gates, stated it best: “As we look ahead into the next

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PA R K L E A D E R S H I P

century, leaders will be those who empower others.” We have broken down this discussion of leadership into four primary constituent groups: • Consumers who use our facilities and parks and/or enroll and participate in our programs • Employees and volunteers at all levels of the organization • Partners including other government agencies, not-for-profit organizations and private businesses • Legal authorities, including boards, commissions and elected officials Other groups could be established, but these are four major groups we all encounter in public recreation and park systems. To effectively work with each of them, we must possess the technical knowledge and skills associated with our job responsibilities. However, technical competence does not determine effective leadership. The “hard skills” identified herein are the more critical skills for promoting effective leadership in our profession. So, how do we effectively work with these constituent groups?

Effectively Working with Our Consumers Whether they are children, youth, young adults or seniors, working with our consumers is all about relationship building and establishing a true sense of understanding and empathy. If you cannot understand where someone is coming from, then you have no idea what they truly want and need. Taking the time to listen, building a consumer-friendly atmosphere, being responsive to their needs, and not focusing on procedures and rules, but rather on addressing consumer concerns, are the mechanisms for creating positive consumer relationships.

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ing more on the needs of the individual, family and group, we move away from the “usual and traditional” program and service ideas, and focus more on the special, niche areas that will impact lives. What’s needed is more prescriptive programming that directly addresses consumer needs.

This not only will create a better sense of understanding of what we really do, but also will enhance our relationship with and the overall support of our consumers.

When community members better understand that parks and recreation directly impact the quality of their lives and community (addresses and supports health and a healthy lifestyle, supports a healthy environment, focuses on critical social issues and advocates for social equity), then it is hard for them not to support all that we stand for. Community members want to know that we hear them. They want to be engaged. They desire that we build programs and services with them and not just for them.

To engage our consumers and the broader community is a time-consuming process, but the overall outcome is worth it. If we can create a community of consumer partners that feels engaged and supported, then we will fulfill our mission and will have much more support for what we do. Listen, learn and then plan!

Effectively Working with Our Employees and Volunteers Our employees and volunteers are our most valuable asset, and they need to know we care about them as individuals, not just as employees. Building their leadership capacity through continuous training and opportunities to be involved in the decision-making process will create a positive work environment and a greater sense of loyalty.

Training needs to be focused on their individual assets, which will help to

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promote their success at work as well as with their families and communities.

It is important that we stress the seven Cs — compassion, creativity, collaboration, communication, conflict resolution, compromise and critical thinking — in supporting and enhancing our workforce. Again, the more we listen and learn, the more we will encourage their leadership development.

Providing more opportunities for them to expand and share their creativity will also enhance morale and a positive work environment. Many employees and volunteers have great insights and ideas, and we need to encourage them to share those thoughts and pursue their ideas within the context of their work responsibilities.

Further, promoting and encouraging collaboration is critical to our survival. Our performance evaluation system must encourage collaboration and direct communication among our workforce rather than competition. Many times, text or email messages are not the best form of communication, especially when trying to promote a collaborative effort.

Conflict is inevitable, so we must prepare our workforce to deal with it. They must learn the art of compromise, finding the commonalities, not the differences.

Finally, promote working smarter, not harder. Critical thinking skills are most important in our world. Foster problem-solving behavior and teach employees how to analyze situations to identify their key elements and challenges. In addition, show staff how to lay out simple, yet comprehensive evidence-based plans that effectively address issues in a holistic manner and promote accountability through after-action reports with clear performance measures and touch points.

Encouraging a stronger relationship with your workforce, promoting individual growth and development, facil-

itating the development of the seven Cs and providing a supportive work environment will require continuous effort and resources, but the payoffs, in terms of productivity, morale and workforce retention, far outweigh any costs of time and money.

Effectively Working with Our Partners Leadership with our partners is about creating a sense of community. Finding commonalities with other agencies, nonprofits, city departments, business community and citizenry is critical to the overall success of how we work. As park and recreation professionals, we must be more open to the idea of partnerships, focusing on what is best for the community as a whole and encouraging this philosophy among all our partners. If someone else can do it faster, better and at lower costs, then we should support them with open arms. It is critical that we seek out partnering opportunities so we not only open more doors to being more economically viable, but we also increase the number of voices sharing our success stories.

In order to achieve successful relationships with our partners, the following elements have been found to be very helpful: • Gain buy-in by all partners. Listening, acknowledging and compromising are critical to gaining buy-in. So is identifying mutual benefits for all partners.

• Provide all partners a real sense of ownership. They need to know that you respect their involvement and see them as an equal partner.

• Provide clear and meaningful recognition of their involvement.

• Work to establish a deep sense of trust among all partners. This requires being completely honest

and transparent and promoting mutual respect. Without trust none of the other keys to success can be accomplished.

Building partnerships and encouraging collaboration are so important in today’s work environment. As mentioned earlier, part of the performance evaluation system should address the workforce’s success and effectiveness in creating and utilizing partnerships and collaborative efforts. These performance criteria are possibly more important than other areas of performance that we traditionally focus on, such as the number of programs offered and how much money they make.

Effectively Working with Policymakers For the most part, working in the policymaking environment is exciting, colorful and diverse, but you need to know your core values, be confident in your ability to articulate them and always have a backup plan to be successful in this arena. If as leaders we seem uncertain, indecisive and vague, policymakers will sense that and challenge us. Effective leaders speak in a calm, clear, focused and concise manner. No policymaker wants to hear us pontificate; that is their job!

It is important to always be professional, but this does not mean you have to always agree with or respond to a policymaker with what they want. It also does not mean compromising your standards or doing something you know will have lasting implications with regard to ethical issues. What it does mean is that you need to have your finger on the political pulse. You have to be able to help policymakers understand the implications, good or bad, of the decision(s) they may make. Once you have handled this in the most

professional manner, then it is up to the policymakers to make their decisions. We may not always be able to make them take action on what we want and believe, but we can provide the best professional information for an informed decision.

The Effective Future Being an effective leader in this “new normal” world requires us to be able to respond to the rapidly changing work, family, civic and societal environments in which we operate. All of our constituent groups desire connectedness; not just technologically but personally as well.

Consumers, employees and volunteers, partners and policymakers all want meaningful relationships with their constituents and colleagues.

Success, now, is highly dependent on building, facilitating and maintaining these relationships.

Our employees must have the tools necessary to meet the many complex issues we are facing: ever-growing environmental challenges, diverse and highly individualized groups, the ever-changing balance of power in organizations, demographic transformations, instant and continuous communication, energy challenges and many others we can’t even fathom today.

We need to be innovative and build a public recreation and parks system that foresees the future and successfully responds to it. In the words of the famous Canadian ice hockey player, Wayne Gretsky, we need to “skate to where the puck [i.e., challenge] is going to be, not where it has been.”

Sara Hensley is the Director of the Austin Parks and Recreation Department (sara. hensley@austintexas.gov). Lawrence Allen is professor and Dean Emeritus in the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management at Clemson University (lalln@ clemson.edu).

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g u J g The Art of

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n li g

Project management is like juggling three balls — time, cost and quality. Program management is like a troupe of circus performers standing in a circle, each jugglingthree balls and swapping balls from time to time. — G. Reiss

Project Management in Parks and Recreation

By Paula M. Jacoby-Garrett

C

reating a project or program from initial idea to completion is a challenging endeavor that takes a host of people, planning, time and money to be successful. Projects from across the country are different and challenging in their own way, but the goal in each is the same — a rich, engaging resource and experience for our visitors to enjoy for years to come.

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PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Moving Forward Post-Recession Park and recreation projects become investments in the future for our visitors and help to create and maintain a sense of community and identity. A 2014 report, titled A Survey of Capital Projects Management Among New York City Government Agencies and prepared for New Yorkers for Parks by Public Works Partners, states that New York City Council members “see their funding of parks capital projects as critical investments in their constituents’ neighborhoods, and they are particularly concerned when these projects run behind schedule or over budget.”

For many municipalities and departments, the 2007–2009 recession significantly impacted their departments and projects. For some, the impacts were fiscal; for others, it resulted in personnel reductions and

sometimes a combination of both.

Yet, during this time, the financially strapped public was flocking to these resources.

The Miami-Dade Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces Department (PROS) saw its “department’s general fund support decreased by 30 percent. Coincidentally with that decrease, the department’s permanent workforce was decreased by almost 30 percent. These cuts were...at a time when the public became more dependent on low-cost entertainment such as that offered by the public park system.”

In the greater St. Louis area, the Great Rivers Greenway District has been working for 15 years to connect parks with greenways. “Our primary source of funding is two special sales taxes. We also use federal, state and local grants to leverage the taxpayer’s

Park and recreation projects — from splash pads like the one envisioned at left or bike trails for enthusiasts like the gentleman pictured above — help to create and maintain a sense of community and identity and provide individuals with the tools to engage in a healthy lifestyle.

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investment in our projects. As people spent less money during the recession, our income decreased. We had to operate with a smaller capital budget and adjusted accordingly,” says Megan Riechmann, AICP project manager.

“Our main priority is ensuring we are moving our master plan forward — working toward the goal of a 600 mile network of greenways,” says Riechmann. “It is very easy to be distracted by a wide variety of recreation and alternative transportation needs throughout our region, but we strive to stay focused on our core greenway routes — keeping the overall connectivity of the system in mind.”

For the city of Henderson, Nevada, the recession made the municipality look at funding sources a bit differently. “We realized that we cannot rely solely on one funding source for our projects,” says Amie Wojtech, park project manager for the city of Henderson. “Many of the projects that we were/are directly involved with are funded through the Southern Nevada Public Land

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Jeanne R. Tinsman

Upcoming Issues For most areas of the country, municipalities are revving up again with new projects and getting back on track to meet their goals. The future of project and program management is ever changing, as are the needs of

the visitor and the available resources. Keeping abreast of these changes and upcoming issues is key to being prepared for the future.

Miami-Dade PROS put time and effort into identifying the needs and issues of the future and consider them a priority for its departments.

Its list includes: • Public Private Partnerships: Project managers becoming familiar with public private partnership (P3) projects.

• Technology: Applying the advancement of technology to manage projects more efficiently and transferring knowledge from veteran staff to new staff.

• Staffing: Within the next five years, a significant portion of the workforce will be retiring. The need for capable and experienced project managers will continue to grow, especially in the technology, security and construction specialties.

• Green Practices: Continue to adopt and adapt to “green practices.” The

Green infrastructure, such as this evaporation pond, can inadvertently become a sanctuary for wildlife, like migrating birds, and fill the dual role of being an important water management feature while providing a much needed community open space resource.

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Jeanne R. Tinsman

Management Act (SNPLMA). With the recession, public land was not being purchased and therefore minimal funds were available for our projects.

As a result, it decreased the number projects we were working on. [Now] we actively search for grants because we still are in the recovery process for capital improvement projects.”

Full funding for a project is required “prior to any surveys, schematics, designs, construction or acquisition of equipment” in the city of Memphis Division of Parks and Neighborhoods. Yet, even with this tight mandate, it has been able to create parks within 1 mile of almost every neighborhood in its district — a notable accomplishment.

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integration of energy conservation measures into every design and building project will also be integral to keeping pace with national and worldwide conservation efforts.

• Climate Change: Similarly, on the not so distant horizon is the issue of climate change (how projected sea level rise will affect coastal facilities, how more frequent and/or stronger storms may affect parks systems, etc.). Work to integrate coastal resiliency into an overall risk management strategy is ongoing and PROS continues its attempts to identify better practices.

• Terrorism: On a more global scale, the ever-growing threat of terrorism (domestic and abroad) may impact design and construction practices for the public sector and subsequently project management processes. How can organizations like PROS (recreational and educational facilities, museums and the

like) provide enhanced security for visitors and staff members alike in their deliverables without compromising the recreational/educational opportunities?

For Riechmann the future is about relationships. “More dynamic engagement and public relations are expected by the community and stakeholders, especially when dealing with public funds.” Keeping up with the interests of these groups is imperative to creating successful projects and programs that satisfy the needs of the public.

“The priority for the future is planning, particularly ensuring parks and trails have a master plan,” says Wojtech. “Taking the time and putting effort into creating vibrant, dynamic master plans that meet the needs of the public ensures a successful end product. The issue, of course, is funding for these projects.”

Unique Challenges Every project has unique challenges either in design, implementation, funding or construction. For Great Rivers Greenway District, its ongoing Trojan Park project has had a few. This project, NRPA’s 2016 Parks Build Community Legacy Park, will receive donated expertise, materials and funds for its construction. Located in Wellston, Missouri, just north of St. Louis, this area was once a thriving business district but has had a host of challenges and is now one of the poorest cities in Missouri.

“This project is a totally new model for us, working with donated products from all over the country, within a compacted timeframe. Balancing the expectations of partners with the needs of the community has proThe entrance to one of three regions of Miami-Dade PROS’ Amazon and Beyond exhibit, one of two $50-million projects underway at this facility.

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duced some unique challenges,” says Riechmann. “That said, the project has brought everyone together with a shared goal of creating a wonderful new space for the children and families of Wellston to play!”

“One of the most unique projects that the division has undertaken is the construction/development of the Wolf River Greenway,” says Toni Holomon-Turner, public affairs manager, Division of Parks and Neighborhoods for the cityof Memphis, Tennessee. “The Memphis portion of the Wolf River Greenway is 22 miles in length with a 10-12-foot-wide path that is nestled in amid an urban environment. People can walk, run, jog, rollerblade, skate or bike along its path that runs through trees and the Wolf River Watershed.” This unique project combines public and private funding across several cities along the Wolf River, connecting other trail systems, local centers and the natural forest and wetlands.

In Henderson, Nevada, the Wastewater Reclamation Facility inadvertently created a habitat for birds in its evaporation ponds, and with the birds came birders with binoculars to view them. Combining water treatment with a bird-viewing park created an interesting set of challenges. “It is unique as we are trying to promote wildlife habitat, but at the same time, it is a facility that holds reuse water in evaporative ponds,” says Wojtech.

Currently in the master planning process, the Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve is combining the needs and infrastructure of the existing water treatment facility with the needs of a public access park.

“The goal is to provide a facility that will attract more visitors, increase the effectiveness of our trail system by providing shade, improve the interpretive signage system, improve the quality of the ponds, and

introduce a new visitor center that promotes education through exhibits and classes.” To work effectively, this process will cross multiple departments. “The balance among the natural landscape, wildlife habitat and built environment is what makes the project worthwhile.”

For Miami-Dade PROS, its most challenging project to date not only was expensive, but also included non-human visitors, which created unique challenges. It was a “$50-million project including a new front entry for Zoo Miami as well as a new exhibit titled, ‘Florida: Mission Everglades.’ The project is on approximately 5 acres and, in addition to the new front entry, includes new guest services facilities; a flamingo, song birds, wading birds, spoonbills and pelican exhibit; a crocodile and otter exhibit, both with underwater view

ing; Florida bear and panther exhibits; a burrowing owl and armadillo exhibit; alligator exhibit; eagle exhibit; fox, bobcat and raccoon exhibit; and a boat ride. Another $50-million project, ‘Amazon & Beyond,’ is approximately 27 acres and consists of three regions and a village plaza,” says Maggie Tawil, chief, Project Management.

“The design, permitting and construction of animal exhibits are an interesting process. It combines the need to create comfortable living conditions for animals; efficient and safe working conditions for animal keepers and maintenance staff; and an exciting and educational visitor experience,” says Jorge L. Mora, chief, Design, Construction and Maintenance. “Ensuring that the keepers and staff input are addressed and balanced with the need for a fun

A rendering of Miami-Dade PROS Zoo Miami project, designed to incorporate comfortable quarters for the animals; safe, efficient working conditions for staff; and an engaging educational environment for visitors.

and educational visitor experience is not always easy to achieve.”

No matter the size or scope of the project, the balance between time, cost and quality is a delicate one. Understanding the challenges that we face today can help us deal with our changing world and the challenges we will see in the future. Keeping the end goal in mind is essential — to create a dynamic, engaging project for our visitors today and for years to come.

Paula Jacoby-Garrett is a freelance writer based in Las Vegas, Nevada (paulajacoby. garrett@gmail.com).

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NRPA Update

How Much Do You Know About Your Agency’s Facilities?

By Kevin Roth, Ph.D.

J

ust how well do you know the users of your agency’s park and recreation facilities? Do you consider the characteristics of the residents who live near your agency’s parks, recreation centers and other facilities when you make programming decisions? Do you know which communication channels may be most effective in reaching likely users of your park and recreation facilities? Has your agency tapped the power of geospatial tools to optimize decision-making?

We all know the importance of demographics and data — this information is vital for knowing who we serve and where they live. For example, there may be a great need for a

recreation center surrounded by a large child population to offer afterschool and summer child care, while one serving an aging population may want to program activities that would

Figure 1: Map of 3-, 5- and 10-Minute Drives from the Facility

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engage a senior audience.

Today, there are a number of powerful resources that provide greater insights about who we serve — and who we can serve — at our agencies.

Unfortunately, getting your hands on that information — especially detailed, facility-specific information — may not be easy because of the expense and expertise needed to use these resources.

That is where NRPA is able to help. We have created a new tool for your agency to better understand the constituents you serve in your community. NPRA Facility Market Reports (www.nrpa.org/FMR), sponsored by Playworld, offer park and recreation professionals key data and insights about the market served by their agency’s park and recreation facilities in an easy-to-understand format. The reports combine U.S. Census Bureau and market research data to provide insights on the size of the market, age trends and more. This data is helpful for programming your facility, identifying the best communication channels to market your offerings and informing your capital spending budget for future master plans.

Each NRPA Facility Market Report is customized to meet the specific nature of the facility being analyzed. The NRPA research team can build a report for any facility, including parks, sports parks, aquatic centers, recreation centers, senior centers and golf courses.

Each report includes detailed demographic data on: • Size of your market, including

Figure 2: 2010 Census Data and 2015 and 2020 Forecast Data of People Residing Within a 10 Minute Drive of the Facility Summary

Census 2010

2015 Forecast

2020 Forecast

Population

57,630

77,397

96,922

Households

18,455

24,597

30,693

Families

14,925

19,709

24,437

Average Household Size

3.12

3.15

3.16

Owner Occupied Homes

15,139

19,871

24,875

Renter Occupied Homes

3,316

4,726

5,817

Median Age

32.6

33.3

33.3

population, median age, number and size of households and home ownership • Exercise habits of your community • Recreation spending of your community, including participation rates • Social media usage of your community to assist with marketing strategies The NRPA Facility Market Report also features a map of the potential market for a given facility. This could be a 10-minute walk or a 5-, 10-, 15or 30-minute drive from the facility.

You can select the appropriate distance based on the type of facility being analyzed. For example, a 30-minute drive may be the appropriate area for analysis for a large regional park while a 10-minute walk may make more sense for analysis of a smaller neighborhood park.

Perhaps your agency is looking toward the future? You can request an NRPA Facility Market Report for a park or facility that does not exist today or one that is about to undergo a major renovation or repurposing.

We can produce an NRPA Facility

Market Report for a future park site or facility not yet developed, arming your agency with critical information that can help with the planning and development process.

NRPA Facility Market Reports give you and your colleagues vital market data that will help you: • Identify the optimal programming to increase usage and satisfaction with your agency’s offerings • Identify opportunities for new potential markets that your agency can serve • Develop strategic plans on capital investments based on potential markets served by your agency If you agency is an NRPA Premier agency, getting an NRPA Facility Market Report is easy and is included as a benefit of Premier membership.

You simply give us the address of the facility and select the radius desired for the analysis — choosing from a 5-, 10-, 15- or 30-minute drive or a 10-minute walk. Within five business days of your request, we will send you a customized report presenting key U.S. Census Bureau and other

Figure 2 summarizes Census data of the residents living within a 10-minute drive of the facility, including population, household formation and home ownership status. The 2010 data represents actual United States Census data, while the 2015 and 2020 figures are projections developed by Esri. The projections are based on forecasts for births, deaths, international and domestic migration and other factors that influence population shifts. These projections, which naturally are subject to revision, assist your agency in its planning of future programming at the facility over the coming years.

marketing data for the potential market of your facility.

Learn more about NRPA Facility Market Reports and find out how many reports your agency can receive at www.nrpa.org/FMR. Not a Premier member? NRPA Facility Market Reports are available for a nominal charge. Even better, visit www.nrpa.org/premier to learn how the NRPA Facility Market Report is just one of the many benefits available to you and your agency as a Premier member.

Kevin Roth is NRPA’s Vice President of Research (kroth@nrpa.org).

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registration opens may 16

100’S

of top speakers

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october 5-8, 2016 st. louis, missouri

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www.nrpa.org/conference2016

NRPA Update

Member Spotlight: Alex McKinney

A

s a child growing up on a ginseng farm in Elroy, Wisconsin, Alex McKinney had an affection for the ocean and dreamed of being a pearl farmer. (Fun fact: Wisconsin accounts for 90 percent of the ginseng grown in the United States and shipped to China.) But, McKinney also had a passion for health and wellness and the outdoors, and when he enrolled at the University of Wisconsin — LaCrosse, he found a major and an opportunity to be involved in, and learn about, public lands and the benefits they provide to people. At the beginning of this year, McKinney was part of a delegation of professionals from the public, private and university sectors that traveled to China to share insights about getting kids involved in winter recreation. Parks & Recreation magazine had a chance to catch up with McKinney to learn about his trip and the success he’s achieved so far in this field to which he was drawn.

Parks & Recreation magazine: Of what accomplishment are you most proud?

Alex McKinney: We have this really unique adventure adaptive program we started about 10 years ago, where we partner with local companies and other organizations to provide outdoor adaptive opportunities. Three Rivers Park District provides participants with kayaks adapted with outriggers so if people don’t have feeling in the lower half of their body, they can still go out and paddle and not have to worry about tipping over. We also provide custom paddles for participants with grip issues, or for certain amputees, we have paddle supports.

We received a grant from NRPA to get adaptive mountain bikes, and our maintenance crews adjusted a portion of our single-track trails to make them accessible for the bikes.

Our adaptive programs are really growing, and we’ve hired some great instructors who helped get it off the ground. Now, we have Nordic sit skiing, kayaking, mountain biking, archery, fishing and a variety of other opportunities for individuals to experience the outdoors.

76 Parks & Recreation

P&R: What is one of the biggest challenges you’ve encountered in your career?

McKinney: A constant challenge is finding a balance, filling a niche and making sure we’re staying relevant to what we’re doing. That comes down to figuring out what our core values are and staying true to those core values. We are a very successful division, and we work for a fantastic park district which has seen a lot of success as well.

Our core really is to introduce outdoor active lifestyles to new people and expose them to our parks and to show environmental stewardship and the benefit of recreation and our natural resources. If we can’t relate it back to that, then we really have to ask ourselves, ‘What’s the reasoning for doing this?’

P&R: Tell us a bit about your trip to China at the beginning of this year.

McKinney: I teach in the Recreation, Parks and Leisure Studies Division at the University of Minnesota, which has a global component to what it does. About five years ago, the university developed an American/Chinese culture exchange

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which has a different focus each year; this year was on winter recreation. I was asked to go over there as part of a delegation to talk about how we engage kids and what are our models for success. The couple big reasons China is so focused on this now is that the country is experiencing a massive influx into its middle class — about 2-3 percent of the population (roughly 20-30 million people) a year — and this is leading to a more sedentary lifestyle. We spent a lot of time in Northern China and when you think of China you think of bikes — we didn’t see many bikes. With the increase in income, cars were everywhere, so the government is focusing on the people’s health. Also, China will also be hosting the winter Olympics in 2022, so as part of that they have this goal of getting as many people as possible into winter sports and recreation.

— Sonia Myrick, Managing Editor of Parks & Recreation magazine

Are You Keeping Your Community Safe?

A

s you recruit volunteers this season, it’s important to keep the children and community members with whom they will be working safe by performing a quality background screening. That’s why NRPA has partnered with the Background Investigation Bureau (BIB). NRPA members will gain immediate peace of mind knowing their volunteers and employees are being well-vetted using some of the most powerful and advanced background checks available.

ensure that our background screens are up-to-date. From our first inquiry, through staff training and throughout our experience with BIB, their staff has always been quick to respond to inquiries and very easy to work with.”

Why should NRPA members use BIB? • Online platforms means no paper forms • Tracking of who has been screened and when • Professional-grade screens (criminal hits always verified) • Inclusive pricing (no additional fees!)

• Self-pay options • Options for employees and volunteers • Help with compliance • Credential ID cards • NRPA Members receive exclusive pricing on BIB’s Secure Volunteer background screenings Ready for a demo? Visit www.nrpa. org/BIB. Questions? Contact Hayley Herzing at hherzing@nrpa.org.

Test Your Park and Recreation Knowledge The following question is a sample Certified Park and Recreation Professional (CPRP) examination question.

Tax rates are sometimes expressed in mills. How many mills are equivalent to $1?

A. 1,000 B. 100 C. 10 D. 1 Calling all beginning to mid-level professionals! The Certified Park and Recreation Professional (CPRP) is the national standard for all park and recreation professionals who want to be at the forefront of their profession.

For more information on the CPRP certification program, please visit www.nrpa.org/cprp.

— Hayley Herzing, NRPA’s Member-

W W W. PA R K S A N D R E C R E AT I O N . O R G | M AY 2 0 1 6 |

Answer: A. 1,000

BIB has a web-based, turnkey platform for screening volunteers, called Secure Volunteer. Individuals enter their own data, removing paper forms from the process. Secure Volunteer manages who has been screened and when, facilitates the approval process, provides a professional-grade screen and supplies approved volunteers with ID cards.

NRPA member, Edward Austin, CPRP, CPO, is the athletics superintendent for the Wake Forest Park, Recreation and Cultural Resources Department. His agency began working with BIB in 2014 and is very happy with their services. “Our previous provider of background screens was providing satisfactory service, but an opportunity to explore a more budget-friendly background screening company (located in our state) that promised the same type of service and accuracy that we were accustomed to was the first draw to BIB. Once we began discussions with BIB staff, it was evident that they were a good fit for our department’s needs.

BIB’s implementation of secure technology allowed us to stop handling paper applications in-house and allowed our volunteers to enter their own information, from anywhere, via a secure link on our website. BIB’s Secure Volunteer program even sends annual reminders to our volunteers to

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NRPA Update NRPA is dedicated to providing learning opportunities to advance the development of best practices and resources that make parks and recreation indispensable elements of American communities.

Find out more at www.nrpa.org/education.

TUITION-FREE DIRECTORS SCHOOL

The NRPA Directors School is an exclusive professional development opportunity designed to prepare new and potential directors of park and recreation agencies for the challenges of leading and managing effectively. Thanks to the generosity of The Toro Company, we have up to 10 need-based scholarships available for the 2016 school. This is your opportunity to attend the premier school for senior leaders in the park and recreation industry. School starts soon — August 28-September 2, 2016, at Oglebay Resort and Conference Center in Wheeling, West Virginia. For more information, visit www.nrpa.org/directors.

SCHOOLS AND CONFERENCES NRPA Conferences and Schools are forums where the park and recreation community comes together to exchange ideas and information. Register now for these upcoming events. All NRPA Schools are held at Oglebay Resort in Wheeling, West Virginia, unless otherwise indicated.

August 28-September 2, 2016

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www.nrpa.org/CPSI 78 Parks & Recreation

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19-20

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Operations Lightning Safety and Indoor Pools: To Clear or Not to Clear Clearing Indoor Pools Presents Greater Risks

By Dr. Tom Griffiths and Rachel Griffiths, MA If our goal was to eliminate all risks, we would drain swimming pools and close them to the public.

Recreational waters are inherently risky. With the best policies, procedures and supervision, swimming pool patrons face risks such as drownings, broken necks, slips and falls, and electrocutions. Our mission, as Aquatic Risk Managers, is to reduce and warn against potential risks.

Since it started tracking fatal electrocutions in swimming pools and spas, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has reported a total of 74 electrocutions between 1990 and 2014. None have been caused by lightning strikes. The majority of electrocutions in swimming pools have been caused by underwater lights, pool pumps, fil-

ters, vacuums, electrical outlets and switches, extension cords and others. We know electricity and water do not mix, but we continue to keep pools open with electricity driving their disinfection, circulation and filtration 24/7, even though there is an electrocution risk. However, when electrical storms approach, too many close their indoor swimming pools.

There are no documented reports of fatal lightning strikes at indoor swimming pools. None! Ever! Ninety-five percent of all fatal lightning strikes occur outdoors, not indoors.

The decision to close indoor swimming pools during these storms is based on irrational fears rather than objective facts. The problem with closing indoor swimming pools during electrical storms is that this

policy places people at greater risk by removing them from the safe confines of swimming pools and placing them in unprotected areas like on phones, in showers, outdoors and in cars where electrical storms have killed people.

As Aquatic Risk Managers, we must prioritize real risks and de-emphasize perceived risks. We don’t believe the rationale: “If there is any risk at all, we will err on the side of safety.” Do we let our teenagers drive cars? Statistically speaking, that’s a real risk.

To us, lightning strikes are akin to shark attacks. Although both catastrophes are relatively rare, when they do occur, sensational headlines and videos are quick to appear on the mainstream and social media networks. Even with shark attacks, people don’t stop swimming in the ocean, and you’ve never seen or heard of a lightning strike killing someone in an indoor pool. Data drives good decisions and there is no data supporting closure of indoor swimming pools during electrical storms.

Tom Griffiths, Ph.D., is President and Founder of Aquatic Safety Research Group, LLC (tomgriffiths@aquaticsafetygroup.com).

Rachel Griffiths, MA, is Communication Director for Aquatic Safety Research Group (rachelgriffiths@aquaticsafetygroup.com).

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Risk Is Greater than Inconvenience

By Carl Swanson III and Steven E. Clark Many inconsistencies and misconceptions exist regarding the lightning safety protocol for indoor swimming pools. Pool operators may assume patrons are safer from the elements in an indoor pool because it is indoors.

This is not necessarily the case. Some examples of inconsistent protocol are: Patrons are evacuated only when lightning is 2 miles away and closing.

Patrons are allowed back in the pool when 10 seconds have elapsed after the sound of thunder.

Some agencies do not evacuate their indoor pools at all.

Some agencies vacillate between evacuating and not evacuating the pool.

When metal parts of the pool are not connected to the building’s grounded metal components, Dr. Martin Uman, a professor and former chair of the University of Florida’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, explains: “… there will be a voltage between them that could cause a shock….Electrical wiring to the pool lights or other electricity in or near the pool can also be problematic in the event of a lightning strike to the building. If the building is not properly lightning protected, the risks are higher.”

The National Electrical Code (NFPA 70) requires swimming pools and their buildings to be prop-

1 2 3 4

erly bonded and grounded; however, “grounding a pool cannot itself control lightning behavior to the electrical circuitry, nor to adjacent metallic conductors.” In addition, electrical bonding of pools is, on rare occasions, improperly done and the bonding can deteriorate over time.

The National Weather Service, National Lightning Safety Institute and the National Athletic Trainers’ Association are three of several groups that recommend evacuation of indoor pools when the threat of lightning exists. Following are some practical suggestions when developing a lightning safety protocol: • Educate patrons and employees about the hazards of lightning (including pool safety).

• Work with your maintenance/ engineering staff to learn how your pool is connected to your plumbing and electrical systems.

Understand the actual hazard!

• Establish protocol with an action plan for your facility. This should include avoiding contact with all plumbing and electrical systems, as well as metallic structural components during a storm. Post the policy and educate your employees.

• If you evacuate, encourage patrons to “shelter in place” in your facility. Discourage them from exiting your building into an active storm.

• If you choose not to evacuate, consider advising patrons of the possible hazard so they have the option to take individual action.

• Consult the National Weather Service for published guidelines for the timing of lightning safety.

We have not found a single lightning researcher who endorses staying in a pool, indoor or outdoor, in an electrical storm. Remember, absolute protection from lightning is impossible. We believe the risk of electrical shock from lightning is greater than the inconvenience of evacuating the pool.

Detailed references in support of clearing indoor pools during lightning storms are available at www. parksandrecreation.org/2016/May/ Lightning-Safety-and-Indoor-Pools-ToClear-or-Not-to-Clear.

Carl Swanson, III, is a member of the Lightning Data Center since 1997, a storm chaser, lightning photographer and member of the National Weather Service’s spotter network (carlswansoniii@comcast.net).

Steven E. Clark is a member of the Lightning Data Center and owner of Clark Consulting (sclarktoto@gmail.com).

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Get ready for a show-stopping splash with the Big Top Soaker, a new product in the Cirque Collection by Waterplay! This humongous dumping bucket features a translucent AquaLume™ design that lets light illuminate the water as it rises, creating a fun visual experience for excited waterplayers below. An irresistible main attraction for youth play areas, Big Top augments any aquatic adventure! WATERPLAY, 250.712.3393, WWW. WATERPLAY.COM

Web-Based Software for Recreation Aquatics Pump Significantly reduce waterpark aquatic facility operating costs by installing Pentair Commercial Aquatics’ Acu Drive™ XS variable frequency drive on pumps. The device cuts operating costs by drastically reducing energy consumption, with savings of 60 percent or more.

The Acu Drive™ XS is 98 percent efficient — it adjusts input voltage for optimal results. Specified to save energy with minimal payback, the Acu Drive™ XS includes a built-in display showing the time remaining until the drive pays for itself! A must for waterparks and splash play areas.

PENTAIR COMMERICAL AQUATICS, 800.831.7133, WWW.PENTAIRCOMMERCIAL.COM

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Tent Pole Covers Add flair to your scratched and unsightly tent poles for your next party or event with Kwik-Pole Covers. Available for both center and side poles, Kwik-Pole Covers are easy to install and are reusable. Kwik-Pole Covers are a fast and simple way to add elegance to an outdoor event. Available in 20-foot, 25-foot and 30-foot lengths for center poles and 7-foot or 8-foot side poles.

Offered in 20 covers per case for 10 poles. Ties for each cover are included. Available in white only. KWIK COVERS, 866.586.9620, WWW.KWIKCOVERS.COM

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Request free information from the manufacturers of the products found in this issue.

I prefer to receive the information via

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Name________________________________________________________________ Phone__________________________ Address______________________________________________________________________________________________ City_________________________________________________State________________ZIP_________________________ What’s the preferred surfacing material when it comes to playgrounds maintained by your agency? Why?

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____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Please email your answers to dstorm@nrpa.org.

Check the product(s)/company(ies) that you would like information from: AQUATICS

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Lincoln Aquatics............................. 16 800.223.5450 www.lincolnaquatics.com Vortex............................................. 33 877.586.7839 www.vortex-intl.com Water Odyssey............................... 13 512.392.1155 www.waterodyssey.com ATHLETIC/EXERCISE EQUIPMENT

John Deere..................................... 19 800.537.8233 www.johndeere.com/local TORO®............................................. 15 800.803.8676 www.toro.com/GTX GOLFING PRODUCTS/SERVICES

Go Ape............................................ 85 415.553.0769 www.goape.com Greenfields Outdoor Fitness............3 888.315.9037 www.greenfieldsfitness.com Scoremaster................................... 86 888.726.7627 www.scoremaster.com Soccer5®USA.................................. 13 305.393.5230 www.soccer5usa.com BLEACHERS/ SEATING Polly Products................................ 86 877.609.2243 www.pollyproducts.com BUILDINGS/TENTS/SHELTERS Easi-Set Buildings.......................... 85 866.252.8210 www.easisetbuildings.com Shade Creations by Waterloo........ 35 800.537.1193 www.waterlootent.com Shade Systems Inc............................1 800.609.6066 www.shadesystemsinc.com/sails

Adventure Golf Services................ 37 888.725.4FUN (4386) www.adventureandfun.com PARK PRODUCTS/SERVICES Ameristar®...................................... 22 888.333.3422 www.ameristarsecurity.com Bright Idea Shops........................... 84 800.886.8990 www.brightideashops.com Dogipot....................................... 9, 85 800.364.7681 www.dogipot.com Gyms for Dogs — Natural Dog Park Products................................. 39 800.931.1562 www.gymsfordogs.com Most Dependable Fountains......... C2 800.552.6331 www.mostdependable.com Murdock Manufacturing..................5 800.453.7465 www.murdockmfg.com Mutt mitt®....................................... 30 800.697.6084 www.muttmitt.com National Construction Rental....... 86 800.352.5675 www.rentnational.com

Pilot Rock........................................ 27 800.762.5002 www.pilotrock.com Willoughby........................................7 800.428.4065 www.willoughby-ind.com PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT American Swing Products............. 86 800.433.2573 www.americanswing.com Cemer® Playground & Fitness....... 21 +90.232.853.87.04 www.cemer.com.tr Cemrock Landscapes Inc............... 31 520.571.1999 www.cemrock.com GameTime®..................................... C4 800.235.2440 www.gametime.com/expression Landscape Structures®.................. 17 888.438.6574 www.playlsi.com Playworld Inc.................................. C3 800.233.8404 www.playworld.com/playcubes PROMOTIONAL PRODUCTS Banners.com................................... 84 866.965.9300 www.banners.com/promo/ parksmag2016 SIGNS/SCOREBOARDS Berntsen ......................................... 84 877.686.8565 www.berntsen.com SKATEPARKS/SKATE RAMPS Freshpark........................................ 25 714.369.2495 www.freshpark.com

Mail the completed form to Dana Storm at NRPA, 22377 Belmont Ridge Road, Ashburn, VA 20148-4501 or email to dstorm@nrpa.org.

(ISSN 0031-2215) is published monthly by the National Recreation and Park Association, 22377 Belmont Ridge Rd., Ashburn, VA 20148, a service organization supported by membership dues and voluntary contributions. Copyright ©2016 by the National Recreation and Park Association. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. Opinions expressed in signed articles are those of the writers and not necessarily those of NRPA. Issued to members at the annual subscription price of $30, included in dues. Subscription: $36 a year in the U.S.; $46 elsewhere. Single copy price: $4.50. Library rate: $48 a year in the U.S.; $58 elsewhere. Periodical postage paid at Ashburn, Virginia, and at additional mailing offices. Editorial and advertising offices at 22377 Belmont Ridge Rd., Ashburn, VA 20148. 703.858.0784. Postmaster, send address changes to Parks & Recreation, 22377 Belmont Ridge Rd., Ashburn, VA 20148.

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Park Bench

Jump in Break out the goggles and swim trunks! Pool season is about to be upon us, and, just in time, is May’s National Water Safety Month. The awareness campaign, coordinated by the Association of Pool and Spa Professionals with support from NRPA, the American Red Cross and the World Waterpark Association, encourages parents, caregivers and kids to familiarize themselves with basic safety tips and best practices as we dive into pool season. Below, find some simple suggestions to help make this year’s trip to the community pool the safest and most fun it can be.

• Learn how to swim and make sure children know how to swim — your local park and recreation agency can help with lessons!

• Swim in designated areas supervised by lifeguards.

• Weak or inexperienced swimmers should wear U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jackets anytime they’re in or around water.

• Always swim with a buddy.

• Actively supervise children whenever around the water.

• Always stay within arm’s reach of young children and avoid distractions.

• Keep children away from pool drains, pipes and other openings to avoid entrapment.

• Be sure to have a first-aid kit, phone and emergency contact information with you when you go to the pool.

• Know where to find lifeguards and pool supervisors in the event of an emergency or if assistance is needed.

More information about National Water Safety Month is available at www.nationalwatersafetymonth. org. To learn more about certification training, watch webinars and check out NRPA’s other aquatics-related offerings, visit www.nrpa.org/aquatics.

— Samantha Bartram, Executive Editor of Parks & Recreation magazine

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REintroducing

PlayCubes

™

Designed by Richard Dattner, Architect

A Cuboctahedron?

In the 1960s, Richard Dattner, one of America’s eminent architects, introduced this iconic form as play structures in Central Park, New York City. His groundbreaking work helped encourage future designers to imagine play in new shapes, forms and materials.

We are delighted to partner with Richard to re-introduce PlayCubes to today’s children, and allow them to discover play on their own terms and in their own way.

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To see PlayCubes in action, go to Playworld.com/PlayCubes

One of many pre-configured options available.

ads16SS044 © 2016 Playworld Systems, Inc.

PLAY HAS NO LIMIT.TM Since 1929, GameTime has created innovative ways for people of all ages to play…together. Expression SwingTM is the original, patented face-to-face swing that allows parents and children to interact during play like never before. See what you’ve been missing at gametime.com/expression.

Enriching Childhood Through Play®

PARKS&RECREATION MAY 2016 ◆ ZIKA VIRUS ◆ TECHNOLOGY IN PARKS ◆ HARD SKILLS OF LEADERSHIP ◆ PROJECT MANAGEMENT