2025 June Director Report

DIRECTOR REPORT DIRECTOR REPORT JUNE 1 - 30, 2025

Lake Oswego Parks & Recreation’s mission is to Build Community, Enrich Lives and Care for the Urban and Natural Environment. This report is a look back and summary of operations supporting our mission and promise of excellent services to the people of Lake Oswego.

LORAC Pools Officially Open!

June 16th marked an exciting milestone for Lake Oswego Parks & Recreation and LOSD as we officially opened the Competition Pool, Recreation Pool, and Spa at the Lake Oswego Recreation & Aquatics Center (LORAC). After months of preparation and training, the facility is now fully open, welcoming community members of all ages and abilities.

The pools have quickly become a vibrant hub for lap swim, swim lessons, recreation swim, and gatherings. The community response has been enthusiastic, with families, athletes, and local groups all making the most of these long-awaited amenities.

We’re grateful for the teamwork that made this happen and excited to see LORAC grow as a welcoming community gathering place for everyone.

JUNE WAS BUZZING WITH ACTIVITY ACROSS ALL PARKS & RECREATION DIVISIONS, FROM COMMUNITY EVENTS TO THE OPENING OF OUR POOLS!

Community Events Pride Festival & Flag Raising: The Pride LO Festival hosted by LO for LOve kicked off the Month of June. Thousands of people came out to celebrate Pride Month with LGTBQIA+ vendors and performers. After the festival, attendees walked to City Hall for the ceremonial Pride Flag Raising. Volunteers from Youth Action Council read the City’s Pride Proclamation while the flag was raised.

The Pride Flag was also raised at the LORAC and will fly through the month of June.

Juneteenth: On June 22, community events hosted Juneteenth in partnership with Respond to Racism, LO for LOve and the School district. There were 500 people in attendance celebrating Freedom Day. The program included a Keynote address from Taylor Stewart, opening remarks from Lake Oswego City Councilor Massene Mboup and performances from Aaron Nigel Smith, Sebe Kan, and poetry from Shayla Noil. Overall, the event was well attending and food and artisan vendors had good sales.

Farmers’ Market: In June, the farmers’ market hosted the Lake Oswego Fire Department at Kids Corner to teach the community hands only CPR. This is part of the Lake Oswego Fire Departments initiative to teach CPR to as many people in the community as possible.

Star-Spangled Events: The summer event season gets into full swing with the July 3rd Millennium Concert Band performance honoring veterans from the various military service branches at Millennium Plaza Park.

The next day festivities continue on the 4th of July with a parade, pie eating, laser show, and more. The planning and preparation have been ongoing lining up the final preproduction elements for that kick off and the summer concert season that starts up right after. Letter agreement creation and follow up for parade performers, entertainers, sound engineering, laser techs, and other miscellaneous vendors contributing to the 4th of July Star Spangled Celebration and Illumination have been created, sent out, and return processed.

Luscher Farm Summer Camps: Camps have officially kicked off! For the next 9 weeks, Luscher staff will be going on hikes, harvesting and preparing food, and doing crafts. Campers will learn about homesteading, farming, ecosystems, and wildlife. We are so grateful to have an amazing staff of counselors, mostly comprised of former JCCs (Junior Camp Counselors).

Luscher Farm Partnerships: This year, in partnership with families from Lakeridge Middle School, we have started including middle school volunteers into our weekly rotation of work projects. Currently, we have 10 middle schoolers coming to Luscher Farm on Thursdays from 11 a.m.-1 p.m., and we are accepting more applications. Thanks to the high school’s involvement, we are able to issue CRLEs (Career Related Learning Experience) forms. This means that the students can count these volunteer hours towards their volunteer requirement to graduate high school.

Luscher Bees: Our beekeeper visited camps!

Huge thank you to Trevor of Raw Oregon Honey for teaching beekeeping lessons to campers (no bees were brought to camps). The kids had a blast learning about pollination and processing honey.

Adult Community Center Trainings Scott Lind from the LOFD presented to the ACC staff how to best handle when a person falls.

Scott generously donated a backboard to assist with falls.

Human Services: Meals on Wheels is currently delivering to 71 household in Lake Oswego, which equates to about 100 meals delivered a day.

News: Programs: Took 2 busses on the day trip to Skamania.

Discovered the Oregon Trail on a 3-night trip to Baker City.

49 people registered for “Family Estrangement in Modern Families.”

Want to retire in Mexico? 24 registered for a class on how to live your dream of retirement in Mexico.

We installed a new door in the Acorn room to improve on noise levels when the Acorn and Oak have simultaneous programs.

We’re thrilled to share that the Friends of the Lake Oswego Public Library are generously supporting us with $1,000 for fall, $1,000 for winter, and $1,000 for spring! This incredible support has tripled since our very first gift in January.

Recreation & Aquatic Management Exciting News!

We successfully opened both the Competition Pool, Recreation Pool, and Spa on June 16th, marking the official start of member access and fee collection. This was a major milestone for the LORAC and a significant step forward in our phased facility launch.

Throughout the month, we provided several guided tours to staff from our local fire department. These visits were conducted to help familiarize emergency responders with the layout and access points of the building in the event of an emergency. Their support has already proven valuable, as we’ve had to make two calls to them since opening.

June was a highly focused training month across all departments. We conducted onboarding and refresher sessions for our front desk team, lifeguards, and on-call staff to ensure consistent service and operational readiness throughout the facility. Emphasis was placed on customer service, safety protocols, and day-to-day procedures.

Enrichment Summer camps kicked off at Forest Hills Elementary School on June 16! Camp staff worked around the clock to get everything set up and ready in two days for the full schedule of summer programming offered at the site. FHE will serve as “camp home base” to music, dance, lego, STEM, art, sports and tech camps throughout the summer!

The Jr. Camp Counselor Program accepted 86 students into the program for 2025, out of 154 applicants. The program offers job training and volunteer experience working with LOPR camps to teens ages 13-17.

Almost all LOPR camp staff have participated in the program at some point!

The Enrichment/Fitness/Outdoor divisions presented an overview of programs to the Parks Board on June 18, including presentations on the Teen Lounge and Inclusion Support Services program.

Teen: The Lounge wrapped up our 18th school year of programs. We are overjoyed to report we sold a program record 76 school year memberships. We also sold an additional 26 memberships for the summer.

The Lounge has now entered into our summer hours. We are open Mondays and Fridays from 11 a.m.- 4 p.m. On June 27th we hosted a LOPL summer reading sign up station.

Our first session of Teen Service Corps has wrapped! Local teens helped LOPR Stewardship team by covering graffiti, maintaining a trail, and beautifying a park.

To cap camp, they took a rafting trip on the Clackamas river.

The Youth Action Council held its final meeting of the school year on June 3 – welcoming new members and saying goodbye to graduating seniors! The 2025-26 Council has 24 members from both LO high schools as well as Riverdale and Catlin Gabel. This year, YAC completed over 700 hours of volunteer service with the department and hosted events like the Book Swap, Outside the Art Room, Covers for Kids and monthly Living Well Dances! Thank you YAC!

Enrichment Fitness: Barre in the Park kicked off our summer outdoor events on June 21st!

The fitness team made an appearance at Farm Fresh Kids Booth at the Farmer’s Market on June 14th! Kids got to learn a few exercises, and we promoted our Summer offerings.

Personal training and classes at the LORAC are going strong! Our highest attended Member Fitness classes this month were Wednesday 12 p.m. Flow Yoga with 84 participants and Wednesday 6 a.m. Strength Combo with 80 participants.

Personal training programs have made over $10k in revenue since LORAC opening!

Outdoor: Camp season in underway! We have already completed 6 camps led by great contractors. Many more to go!

Kayak and SUP rentals are going strong with Alder Creek Kayak and Canoe, their first Paddle power camps will begin June 30th.

Parks Planning & Projects CAPITAL PROJECTS Lake Oswego Municipal Golf Course (LOMGC): Milroy Golf scheduling sub to replace ¾” bolts at base of driving range poles with 1” bolts per inspectors’ direction. Range will need to close for work.

Final building inspection for driving range and golf course will be scheduled once bolts are replaced.

Railings at driving range and annex patio to be installed in July.

Lake Oswego Recreation & Aquatics Center (LORAC): On-going issues with pool mechanical being addressed with TW / Anderson.

Roof leaks reported to TW and will be corrected.

DHU2 insulation issue to be corrected once A-Absolute has a permanent solution. Temporary fix has been put in place so Rec pool can operate.

Pool light extenders arrived this week. TW to schedule installation ASAP. City Engineering submitted ROW punch list to TW. TW trying to finalize all outstanding issues and obtain Final Inspection from Building Department.

Rassekh Park Phase 2 – The boulder climbing wall and seat wall have been set and will be mortared in place over the next several weeks with a natural sand finish.

Hand holds and the rope and post climbers will be in stalled in July or August. The last of the concrete curbs will be poured on July 1, followed by the final rat slab underneath the tile play area in early July. Construction of the wood footbridge is complete, and construction of the wood climbing wall is underway. The picnic shelter was received and has been constructed, and the picnic shelter pad will be poured in early July.

Parks Planning & Projects CAPITAL PROJECTS CONTINUED

Willamette River Greenway Trail Willamette River Greenway Trail – A submittal for Metro Local Share funds for this project is being prepared for Lake Oswego City Council and Metro Council review and approval in 2025.

A design and engineering team led by Lango Hansen is refining the design and preparing a land use application, with a submittal date expected in early July. Per the pre-application conference the land use application is expected to be reviewed under ministerial review and will not require a land use hearing. A project update was shared with the Old Town Neighborhood Association board and property owners along the easement in June. Following approval, the project is expected to begin construction in early 2026.

PLANNING & POLICY PROJECTS Parks Plan 2040 – Parks Plan 2040 was unanimously adopted by Resolution 25-24 at the June 3 City Council meeting! This project is now complete.

Parks SDC Methodology Update – Work is expected to resume in early July, with a draft methodology completed in September 2025.

West Waluga Park Neighborhood Connector Trail - Scoping and design for this project, which emerged as a community priority during the Metro Local Share community engagement process, is expected to begin in 2025. The project will connect neighborhoods north and south of West Waluga Park to each other and to the park’s amenities via a boardwalk trail between Royal Oaks Drive and Oakridge Court or Yorkshire Place.

Luscher Area Master Plan Implementation – Preparation of a land use application package including narrative, traffic impact analysis, local park master plan, a summary of feedback from local area farmers, and numerous maps and exhibits is underway. The application is expected to be submitted in June 2025. The submittal will include narrative addressing all of the applicable requirements, as laid out in the pre-application conference, including: standards from Clackamas County Zoning and Development Ordinance (Section 401 EFU Zoning, Section 706 Habitat Conservation Area District (HCAD), Section 709 Water Quality Resource Area District (WQRAD), Section 707 Historic Landmark Overlay District, Section 714 Special Use Overlay District, Section 1000 Development Standards for Institutional uses, and Section 1202 Criteria for Zone Changes; findings related to Comprehensive Plan goals and policies from Chapter 4 Land Use for Agricultural Lands and Urban Reserves and Chapter 9 for recreation and Historic Landmark related goals; requirements set forth in Oregon Administrative Rules 660-034-0040 and thus OAR 660-034-0035(2)(a) to (g) related to public park uses on farm and forest lands; requirements set forth in Oregon Revised Statute 215.296 related to impacts to farm and forest uses; and Statewide Planning Goals 1 through 15.

Tennis, Golf & Sports TENNIS CENTER Program Updates

Summer Program Development

June marked the official start of our summer programming, with classes beginning the week of June 2nd. We launched our Oswego Aces Tennis Camp on June 16th at Lakeridge High School, and we are thrilled with the early success and strong participation numbers. Feedback from families has been positive, and the energy on and off the court has been contagious.

With our summer schedule now fully underway, we continue to fine-tune our lesson plans and weekly camp activities to best meet participant needs. Our focus remains on providing a balanced experience that promotes both enjoyment and long-term development.

Our youth and adult summer classes are now in full swing, offering a range of levels and times to meet the needs of our diverse tennis community. Enrollment numbers are strong, and our instructors have done a great job of creating an engaging, inclusive, and skill-focused environment for all players.

We’re especially pleased with the implementation of our inclusive instruction strategies, which are helping ensure every player, regardless of skill level, feels challenged and supported.

Staffing & Professional Development We are fortunate to have an exceptional team of seasonal staff this summer. Each member of our summer tennis staff has brought professionalism, energy, and care to their roles.

Their efforts have been instrumental in fostering a safe and welcoming atmosphere, and they’ve adapted quickly to the rhythm of our programs.

Ongoing support and check-ins have helped reinforce class quality and team cohesion, ensuring our summer staff continue to grow in their roles.

Facility & Operations In June, we maintained a strong emphasis on operational readiness. We continue to monitor equipment, facility wear, and staff scheduling to ensure consistent support throughout the busy summer months.

Tennis, Golf & Sports SPORTS DIVISION

Adult Sports Adult basketball and adult softball continue on strong! Between the two leagues, there are games running 6 days a week totaling nearly 80 hours of game time! In June, with much anticipation, we opened up registration for our first Fall volleyball league with mixed and women’s divisions. Currently, Summer soccer starts soon with all Summer leagues wrapping up in August.

Youth Sports We had a variety of programs kick off the Summer. Skyhawks opened the LORAC Gym summer camp schedule with 27 basketball campers followed by 25 fencing campers the next week. Other camps held around the city by Jordan Kent Camps, Play Fit Fun, and Skyhawks saw over 150 campers total. In addition to this, indoor preschool soccer classes with Soccer Shots and indoor preschool basketball classes with Skyhawks Super Tots have taken off with full rosters as well.

LORAC Gym The LORAC Gymnasium has been a popular Summer spot with over 550 total visits across Open Play sports. Among the offered open play sports (basketball for all ages, basketball for 17 & under only, pickleball, volleyball, and backyard games, volleyball and pickleball are the two most visited!

We began Summer camps at our own indoor facility for the first time in LO Parks & Rec sports history! With 10 weeks of half and full day camps, the LORAC gymnasium is a hub for sporty kids this Summer.

Tennis, Golf & Sports GOLF

PICKLEBALL In June, we offered five Beginner Pickleball classes, two Drill & Play Clinics, and one Family Play session. Each program utilized all three courts and collectively served 95 participants.

We are excited to have launched our summer season and are already planning for fall, when indoor participation is expected to increase as the weather shifts. It’s rewarding to see the continued growth and enthusiasm for pickleball in Lake Oswego.

June was a busy month for golf. Golfers took advantage of the (mostly) good weather and booked 5,693 tee times in June, which totaled just over $108,789 in green fees.

The driving range is still popular, even with limited flight balls and club restrictions. In June, our golfers hit 215,705 balls on the range, which translates to 3,115 buckets of balls, and $27,978 in revenue.

Golf has officially passed the $300,000 mark in revenue since we opened!

Parks Department Highlights June 1st staff worked the LO Pride event at Millennium Plaza.

Staff spent hundreds of hours preparing & working at the annual Festival of the Arts at George Rogers Park that took place June 23rd- 25th.

Staff hosted a pollinator event to showcase the self-guided tour now available in the pollinator garden in Iron Mountain Park.

There was a citizen vehicular oil spill incident at upper George Rogers parking lot. Parks staff collaborated with Public Works/Streets crew for safe cleanup.

We are excited to welcome our newest parks specialist, Thomas Kamany!

Shrub bed maintenance including hedge trimming, deadheading, clearance pruning, fertilizer application, and lots of weeding & string trimming.

Staff began wood chip top dressing on beds in high use areas at Foothills. Wood chips are from Natural area chipping projects. This practice supports our sustainability efforts.

Pathway maintenance was conducted along Roehr walkway including string trimming, clearance pruning, and digging a trench to redirect slope runoff.

Irrigation repairs and adjustments in alignment with fluctuating weather.

There was increased trash/litter and vandalism cleanup with increased visitor use.

Before and After photos at Sundeleaf

Parks

Athletic Fields & Irrigation Staff replaced the old Toro Sentinel Irrigation controller at George Rogers Park with a new Hunter Centralus Controller.

Two broken lateral lines at Hazelia Park were repaired.

Irrigation programing schedules were adjusted.

Replacement and adjustment of damage or inefficient irrigation heads and nozzles throughout the parks system continued.

Holes on the athletic fields at Westlake and George Rogers were filled.

Soccer goal inspections were done on all our athletic fields: East Waluga, Hazelia, George Rogers, and Westlake.

Aerating was done on all softball and baseball areas at George Rogers and Westlake to help compacted soil draw inn more water and air to promote healthy growth.

Edging and a weed eater routine established maintenance at Westlake athletic field.

Grooming softball and baseball fields routine maintenance at George Rogers and Westlake.

Mowing Westlake infields two times a week as well Iron Mountain and Woodmont Parks & small areas natural grass on all the parks once a week.

Blowing dugouts and bleachers & athletic fields routine maintenance.

Clay was added to batter boxes for our community and play users.

Synthetic fields routine maintenance sweeping and adding rubber to uneven surfaces helps to preserve the turf longevity and performance.

Repainting foul lines every week on our athletic field’s locations: Westlake and Gorge Rogers.

Fertilized the athletic fields natural turf grass multi-use fields as well the infields at Westlake and Gorge Rogers. Helps to maintaining a safe and high-quality playing surface.

Troubleshooting the score board at East Waluga Field number two, it is currently working properly.

Routine irrigation maintenance.

Parks

Natural Park &Areas Natural Area Projects Staff hosted a plant survey on the endangered delphinium leucophaum in Iron Mountain Park.

A “State of the Park” tour was held with the Friends of Springbrook Park.

Staff led a gravel work party at Springbrook Park with a corporate volunteer group, Dext Capital.

Some of the ramps at the Quarry Bike Park were rebuilt.

Staff had the Teen Service Corps repaint the Jarvis building and add mulch to all the shrub beds and tree wells.

The Teen Service Corps. helped rebuild a gravel trail in Springbrook Park.

Started our Ash Tree inventory in multiple northern Lake Oswego parks.

Reservations Requests for fall field allocations (September 1 – November 9) were received from Category 1 & 2 users. Fall fields have been allocated with priority to soccer and football groups. Only East Waluga ballfields are available for baseball and softball use during the fall. Online requests for Category 3 & 4 users will open by the end of the month.

We are preparing for the Lake Oswego Little League District 4 Tournament being hosted at the Westlake #2 ballfield, June 28-July 3.

Special events held this month (other than City events) that were issued permits included the Pride Festival on June 1 and the Festival of the Arts June 20-22.

Upcoming permits have been issued for the Oswego Lake 4th of July Fireworks.

Picnic Shelter and Premier Park reservations are still being submitted at a high rate. We had 13 Premier Park (Foothills and Millennium Plaza) reservations for the month of June. There were 61 - 3-hour block reservations at the Picnic Shelters (E. Waluga, George Rogers #1 & #2, Rossman, W. Waluga and Westlake Parks) in June.

Communication & Sponsorship Park & Natural Area Projects Social Media Social media efforts in June focused on promoting and keeping the community informed about several key Parks & Recreation initiatives and events. Posts, videos, and stories highlighted: Opening of the pools Juneteenth celebrations Temporary closure of Lower Millennium Park for public artwork removal Updates on the city email outage Upcoming Star Spangled Celebration Summer concert series Summer camps Golf driving range LORAC Support Materials Signage, brochures, and other promotional materials are continually developed to support programs and enhance operational procedures LOHS Civics Class Mentor I was invited to serve as a judge and provide feedback for Lakeridge High School’s civics class presentations on government. The students presented thoughtful ideas, including projects focused on improving connectivity through parks and recreation

Website Management Maintained regular updates to the Parks & Recreation website, with emphasis on: LORAC, pool programs, and membership info with class schedule updates Event updates and promotion Golf course and driving range updates Communication & Messaging Ongoing content development for HelloLO and LODown newsletters, focusing on timely and engaging stories for the community Supported the CMO in developing messaging for lake access communications Attended Comms meeting on June 5 Parks Board Attended the June 18 Parks Board meeting.

Community Inquiries Responded to numerous questions regarding LORAC memberships, golf programming, and facility amenities Fall Activity Guide Prepared copy and information for the guide

Banner Program The banners program included both removals and new installations on June 7, with more than 55 new banners placed along A Avenue, Boones Ferry Road, and in various parks Sponsorships Continued coordinating with both committed and prospective sponsors Collaborated with the City Attorney’s Office to facilitate contract approvals Conducted walkthrough meetings at park venues with concert sponsors Managed logistics and follow-up with sponsors who participated in the Juneteenth event Attended and provided on-site support for Juneteenth and Pride