Two vacant seats, one subcommittee paused, and December cancelled
With Districts 1 and 5 vacant and District 3 absent, the board voted to delay the community outreach subcommittee's report until it has a full board, cancelled the December meeting for want of action items, and tabled the dog park rules to January 18, 2024. The sports field usage committee created in October has not met yet.
If you read nothing else
- Two of seven seats are now vacant — Districts 1 and 5 — and District 3 was absent, leaving four members at the table.
- The community outreach subcommittee is down to Chair Raish and Vice-Chair Haas. Haas will chair it, and the board voted to delay its report until there is a full board.
- The December 2023 board meeting was cancelled: staff said there were no action items or time critical issues.
- The sports field usage committee formed in October has not met yet. Its members are Coppedge, Engle, Tellez and community member Steve Armstrong; the goal is two or three meetings before an actionable proposal, with the first hoped for before the new year.
- The dog park rules update — promised to the board for October back in July — was tabled to the January 18, 2024 meeting without discussion.
- The disc golf course is intending a grand opening in early December. The new skate park project held its designer kickoff today, with a public meeting kickoff looked at for the second full week of January.
- The activity pool at the regional aquatic center is down due to a heating coil.
Who was in the room
Present
- Fred Raish — At large member (Chair)
- Laura Haas — District 6 (Vice-Chair)
- Kenneth Coppedge — District 2
- Stan Engle — District 4
Absent
- Aracely Tellez — District 3
- District 1 — vacant
- District 5 — vacant
Staff
- Steven Bingham — Director, Parks & Recreation
- Robert Nunez — Deputy Director, Youth Services
- Phillip Catanach — Recreation Deputy Director
- Hazel Nevarez — Senior Office Manager
- Catherine Mathews — Landscape Architect
Others
- Greg Shervanick — public
- Becky Baum — Recording Secretary, RC Creations, LLC
6.1 Community Outreach Subcommittee Update/Status — Chair Raish
Chair Raish and Board Member Haas are the remaining members of the subcommittee. Board Member Haas will chair the subcommittee.
Haas said that since the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board has two vacant seats on the board, the only update is that the discussions were that they should pause activity until a full board.
The board then voted to approve delaying the subcommittee's report until a full board.
The document gives no membership history, charge, or prior report for this subcommittee; this is its first appearance in the 2023 record digested here.
6.2 December Parks & Recreation Advisory Board Meeting — Chair Raish
Staff stated there were no action items or time critical issues for the December meeting.
The board voted to cancel the December 2023 meeting.
7.1 Sports Field Usage Committee Update — Board Member Coppedge
Coppedge said he met with Franco Granillo about sports field usage, and that Franco has more information. The committee has not met yet.
Board members on the committee are Coppedge, Board Member Engle, and Board Member Tellez, along with a community member, Steve Armstrong.
The goal is to meet two or three times before being able to have some actionable proposal for Parks staff, with hopes of holding the first meeting before the new year.
The committee also intends to gather information from the sports leagues — baseball, softball, soccer — as heavy users of the fields, to gather information and preferences. Granillo mentioned possibly another meeting with the sports leagues in February.
7.2 Dog Park Rules Update — Franco Granillo
The item was tabled to the January 18, 2024 meeting. No discussion of the rules themselves is recorded, and Granillo is not recorded as speaking on the item — or anywhere else in this document, although the item is credited to him and Coppedge reports having met with him.
8. Staff Member Comments
Phil Catanach said that on the recreation side staff are getting ready for the annual tree lighting on December 2nd, 6:00–8:00, with the tree lit at 7:00 p.m. — the Mayor's last hurrah with the City. The board is invited. There will be dancers, choirs, carolers, and a band, and all City departments will have giveaways, refreshments and food trucks.
On the pool side, staff are getting ready for annual inspection. At the regional aquatic center the activity pool has been down due to a heating coil; the warm water pool is active, fitness classes are active, and upstairs fitness is active. The natatorium is getting very good use. Staff are getting ready for the employee wellness basketball tournament in December, and have opened up City employee wellness recreation opportunities to dependents of City employees.
In athletics, the youth basketball league continues and is the biggest league, with 58 teams and over 600 participants. Staff are getting ready for indoor volleyball, whose registration sold out within four minutes. Staff are getting ready for the holidays and the annual staff award ceremony. Catanach introduced the new recreation supervisor, Zachary Rogers, who has a lot of aquatic and recreation program experience, and said they are in the midst of hiring an event and special event coordinator. He wished everyone the best for the holiday season.
Robert Nunez said the Keep Las Cruces Beautiful program is having a dumpster day this Saturday 8:00–12:00, with roll-off containers at East Mesa Recreation Center, Young Park, and Tony Gomez. Also Saturday, with KLCB, Councilor Corran has a community celebration at the Animal Service Center from 11:00–1:00. Through an agreement with NMSU there are four interns assisting the program with social media, educating youth in the programs, helping graffiti abatement, litter control, and various other activities.
The Out of School Time program's fall semester is ongoing, serving approximately 400 youth every day at nine different locations, kindergarten through high school seniors. Staff are preparing for Thanksgiving camp, which takes place Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of next week, with spaces for just over 200 youth, and are preparing for winter break and the spring semester.
The Youth Development and Diversion Program is currently in the depths of completing its application for FY25–27, with staff and the grants office getting that completed. Staff are meeting with Gadsden Independent School District, Hatch Valley Public Schools, and Las Cruces Public Schools, as the program is county-wide, to identify various services the City can offer communities to assist youth primarily but also families of youth in need of the services. He wished everyone the best for the holiday season.
Catherine Mathews said there are some public engagement meetings coming up. For Valley View Park and a new playground, no date is set yet — hopefully the 5th or 7th of December, or the week after — for further discussion on what the community wants to see. For the disc golf course, staff intend to have a grand opening in early December. The new skate park project just had its kickoff with the designers today, with a public meeting kickoff looked at for the second full week of January.
Steven Bingham thanked the board members who toured the East Mesa Sports Complex today.
9. Board Member Comments
Board Member Engle congratulated Chair Raish and Vice-Chair Haas, and expressed regret about the tour today.
Vice-Chair Haas thanked staff for the tour and thanked the staff for their hard work all year.
Board Member Coppedge said he appreciated the tour, that it was exciting to see new growth, and that he is getting to know some of the staff better. He said staff are discussing with Las Esperanzas in the Mesquite Historic District, that they are aware and will bring people as well. He said he appreciated the maps. He also said he went to an outreach conference by NMSU where some people from the Doña Ana Wellness Institute said the health of citizens directly correlates to the proximity to green spaces in the City.
Chair Raish thanked everyone, and particularly for the tour today.