What is the purpose of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission?

There hasn’t been a single community meeting where the residents haven’t voiced their strong support of our parks. I hear their frustrations and wonder how do we communicate that there is a Park and Recreation Advisory Commission where they can bring their concerns and recommendations?

This quote was taken directly from the Connecticut State Municipal Code regarding the role PRAC, “The Commission shall be an advisory body to the Department of Public Works, the Director of Families, Children, Youth, and Recreation and to the Council in matters relating to recreation and park maintenance services. It shall make studies and recommendations to the Mayor, the Council and the Director of Public Works concerning the use of parks by the general public, park management, and park policies and to the Director of Families, Children, Youth, and Recreation concerning recreation program formulation. It shall also seek working relationships with schools, community and civic organizations and shall provide the general public with information and education as regards recreation and park maintenance. The Commission shall also serve as the contact point for the public to express their opinions and requests relative to recreational programming in Hartford.” https://www.municode.com/library/ct/hartford/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=PTIIMUCO_CH26PARE_ARTIINGE_S26-14ADCO

We meet the last Tuesday of the month, except July and August, at 6:00pm in the Green Room at City Hall on Main Street. The public is welcome to come to the meetings. If you would like to be on the agenda to speak to the commission about an issue, contact Petrel Maylor, Executive Assistant to Public Works Director, Department of Public Works, 1-860-757-9900 or petrel.maylor@hartford.gov. 

How many commissioners are there? There can be up to twenty-one members. It includes representatives of the friends of the parks groups, other members are nominated by the Mayor and have to be approved by the Council on an at-large basis. It doesn’t matter what neighborhood you live in. Anyone can volunteer to be an at-large commissioner. To apply for any commission go to the Boards and Commissions page on the City’s website.

What do we do? We are progressive and reactive. For an example of a reactive situation, recently the mayor’s office proposed a change to the city ordinance regarding Special Events. Many of these events take place in our city’s parks. We review proposals, discuss the impact, and advise the Mayor, City Council, the park division within DPW and the recreations division within DCYFS.  At our 2016 annual meeting several new projects or objectives were discussed. The following topics were chosen and committees were formed; Litter Campaign, ATV Monitoring in Our Parks, Community Service Opportunities within Parks, Celebrating History of Our Parks, Proposed Sale of Batterson Park- Park Trust Fund and lastly, Youth Sports Council. If you are interested in any of these topics, please contact Petrel Mayor, she can provide contact information to the committee chairs.

Lastly, we share and discuss what is happening in our parks, issues, and concerns. Any questions?

Reserving a field or area within Hartford’s City’s Parks

I am not talking about a picnic, pick-up game or bringing children to the playground nor does this include fields that are on school property. You have to contact Lara Bartolotta, Operations Development Specialist at the BOE, Lara.Bartolotta@hartfordschools.org. What I want to do is explain how you can reserve an athletic field or hold an event in our city’s parks. There are two websites that have the bulk of the information I will try to make it easier to understand, http://www.hartford.gov/parks/permits-and-applications and http://www.hartford.gov/meca/plan-an-event.

If you want to stop by a park and play a pick-up game, you do need to respect another group if they have reserved the field. They will have a permit for which they paid a fee, provided their leagues’ insurance documentation and team rosters.

If you want to reserve a field, download an application by clicking on this link, http://www.hartford.gov/images/DPW/2016/Athletic_Field_Application_-_2-8-16_BP_UPDATE.pdf. Athletic Field Reservation Permits are processed at 50 Jennings RD from 8 am to 5 pm.  Contact Brenda Padilla (860) 757-4951 if you have any questions.  In order to reserve a field you MUST submit a complete application.  The application includes a Hold Harmless agreement that has to be signed by each team player and a Certificate of Insurance from your league or group which names the City of Hartford as an additional insured party. You may request a field, but if it is already reserved or it is ‘resting’ between games, you will be asked for your next choice. Here is a link to the parks that includes the fields and their respective numerical designations, http://gis1.hartford.gov/hartfordparks/index.html.

There are three different payment schedules; First Priority – Exempt (Hartford Schools and Hartford Youth Leagues), Second Priority (Hartford Adult Leagues/Teams), and Third Priority (Teams and leagues who reside outside of Hartford). Grass fields and artificial turf fields are charged a different rate.

Dillon Stadium can only be used for games, not practices. It has its own application,

http://www.hartford.gov/images/parks/Dillon_Stadium_Application_2014.pdf. The fee schedule is included on the form. If you have any questions, call (860) 757-4967. All of the same requirements are required as when you reserve a field; rosters, waivers and insurance documents must be submitted. If you want to use Dillon Stadium for other than an athletic purpose, you will be asked to go through the Special Events process. 

A “special event permit is required to ensure the health, safety and welfare of event participants, residents and visitors, and to minimize the financial and legal risks to the Event Organizers (EO) and the City. Special events include parades, sporting events, concerts, theater productions, celebration, outings, weddings ceremonies, and fairs, among others,

”(http://www.hartford.gov/meca/plan-an-event). Depending upon the expected number of attendees and the type of event, different information is required to be completed on the permit application, and different levels of support will be provided. Here is a link to the permit. http://www.hartford.gov/images/2016/COH.SpecialEventsPermitApplication.wsr.v1.3.30.16.pdf

At first, the document may appear to be daunting. But just persevere, and take one section at a time. If a section is not relevant to your event, skip it. When you meet with the Special Event Task Force, they will ask questions and guide you through the process. The sooner you submit your application, the sooner you will meet and discuss the requirements for your event. All organizers want to know, what is the cost. You can only find this out by meeting with the task force. The deadline for a completed application (including copies of all required permits & insurance documentation) is 60 days before the proposed Special Event. But, I would not recommend waiting this long, our parks are booked well in advance by other organizations and groups, and there are restrictions on the number of times areas can be used. You can submit your event application by email: marian.andoh@hartford.gov, Fax: (860)722-6074 or (860)722-6402

or mail it to the City of Hartford, Department of Development Services, Re: Special Events Permit Application, 250 Constitution Plaza, 4th floor, Hartford, CT 06103. If you have any questions, email or call Marian Andoh at (860) 757-9526.

Many people like to hold their wedding at Elizabeth Park. To do so, you will need to complete an application, http://www.hartford.gov/images/parks/Wedding-App_rev_20140228.pdf. The fees are $50.00 for Hartford/West Hartford Residents (proof of residency required), or $100.00 for non-residents for weddings. For pictures only, you will be asked to pay $25.00 for Hartford/West Hartford Residents and $50.00 for non-residents. These reservations and permits are processed at 50 Jennings Rd, 2nd Floor, from 8 am to 5 pm. You can either mail them or drop them off. If you have questions, please contact Stacey Willis at (860) 757-9971.

I am hoping that by putting all the information in one location, it will make it easier to complete any of the application forms. Don’t hesitate to call to ask questions, they can’t process your application if it is not completed. Was there something I left out?

Graffiti or Tagging? Which is it? Does it matter?

I have learned to qualify my use of the word ‘graffiti’. Some people use it to describe a form of art. I am not talking about art. I am talking about the application of permanent materials on public and private property without permission.

When I speak with artists about the problem, and others justify tagging and graffiti as art, I see the artists cringe. Spray painting letters, numbers or symbols on surfaces does not make it art. I also know that the graffiti problem has gotten seriously out of control in some places in our city. You may not be familiar with the term tagging, it is when a person, group or gang mark objects in an area to claim it as their territory to sell drugs. I have found that when I use the term tagging, most people understand that it is a problem.

Removal of defaced public property results in the spending of precious tax dollars in the City of Hartford. Over the past couple of years, many people have just given up reporting it, as they don’t understand why it has not been removed after they have reported it.

Firstly, I would like to explain in plain language the City’s Graffiti and Tagging policy. Knox Inc. has been reinstated as the removal vendor of graffiti or tagging for public property. Use 311 to report it, taking a picture with objects in the background really makes it a lot easier for the Knox crew to locate it in the park. In the description, you can include additional information, such as ‘on the outside fence around the pool’. Take a photo of each area that needs to be cleaned; otherwise, it is easy to miss spots.  Knox Inc. has a very tight turnaround to clean the area. BUT, this process only includes small areas. The City does not have a solution for large-scale areas. These are the most problematic. It is expensive and tagging/graffiti tends to reappear quickly. This requires that a neighborhood or NRZ (Neighborhood Revitalization Zone) come together, select a solution and then determine how the project can be financed.  Ronnie Vasquez (860.757.9592, Ronnie.Vazquez@hartford.gov) in the Livable and Sustainable Neighborhoods Initiative (LSNI) group has many options that can be reviewed by an NRZ or group. Funding will need to be sought out by each group as the City does not have the funding for these efforts.

In the ‘311 request’, it will ask you if it is public or private property. This is important. The City cannot clean private property – we don’t have the resources (financial) and the liability of working on private property is too great. The only time the City takes action on private properties is when it has gone through a lengthy and expensive required legal procedure. The property owner will receive a letter that they will have a specific period of time by which they are to clean it up or  a fine will be imposed. I think we all know that enforcement is a problem, as the legal cost is too expensive. We need the community to step in and tell the property owners that we want them to clean it up. On Maple Avenue, Hyacinth Yennie is famous for her vigor in communicating this problem to the owners. We all need to step up and communicate how we feel about vandalizing property and its impact on our neighborhood. If you don’t feel comfortable doing it in person, you can send a letter. If it is a business say that you won’t shop there or that you will tell people not to go there. Or maybe, you will ask if they need help, maybe if they buy the paint, you are willing to paint over the graffiti with their permission. Many private property owners with this kind of vandalism do not know who to call to have it removed. Knox can be hired by private property owners to remove graffiti for a fee. They can paint over if it is on a painted surface or we can treat it or power wash the surfaces if they are brick or concrete. Call Knox at 860-951-7694 , the office mgr will direct callers to the right person.

I am hoping that you will try again and report graffiti or tagging on public property. I very much appreciate your frustrations. Please let me know if you have any questions, or contact Ronnie Vasquez directly at 860-757-9592, Ronnie.Vazquez@hartford.gov. He is very nice and tries very hard to be helpful.

My next blog will be about how to sign up to use a playing field in a park. Even if you don’t plan to, it is always good to know what is involved.

Reporting Non-emergency Problems 311 – PublicStuff

I see posts in Facebook groups or I am at a city meeting and hear people complain about problems in the parks, and sometimes I ask, and other times I don’t, did you report it?

Hartford’s 311 is where you can report problems to the City. It can concern the parks or any other non-emergency issue. At the bottom is a new (5/16) trifold regarding how to access 311. The City transitioned from SeeClickFix to PublicStuff about a year ago, granted this was not well publicized.

If you choose to set up an account, it will store your issues in your profile. I prefer the App on my cell, as the GPS finds the location for me and I can take a picture and upload it. As you know, a picture is worth a thousand words. Sometimes it saves time locating the area or makes it clear what is wrong.  Another reason I prefer entering the information into either the web-based tool or the App, is that the issue is stated exactly how I described it. The person on the phone will naturally interpret what you are saying as they type it in.

You will need to select a category for your complaint. After a request is submitted it goes directly to the appropriate department, the employee(s) listed within the workflow will receive a notification. They are responsible for updating statuses; received, in progress and when it is completed. Good news! As of July 1st, you can submit your problem under “General” and the 311 folks will find the right department for you!

The most common issues from the parks are bulky waste, knocked over garbage cans, litter, overturned porta-potties, and graffiti. I want to offer a tip. Don’t just automatically pick “Parks”, look at the categories and decide where it would be best to submit the problem. Even if the problem is in a park, it may not be a task performed by a park worker. Bulky waste needs to be reported under “Sanitation” regardless where it is located. Another example is lighting, regardless of where the lighting is located, lighting can be either city-owned or, more commonly, owned by Eversource. I recommend that you choose “Street Lighting”. It is difficult to tell the difference between Eversource and city -owned, but the easiest way to figure it out is by appearance. The very tall aluminum lights are usually Eversource. They all have poll numbers on them, sometimes they are placed high on the poll. That is all the info Eversource really needs to identify the location, but by filling in the street information gives them extra information. The new 311 response folks are working on having those go directly to Eversource. The decorative lighting, black, with lanterns, are mostly owned by the city and sometimes they have numbers, and sometimes they don’t. So, try to give all the information you can regarding the location along with the GPS location. This is where I think the picture really helps. I try to include a building in the background. It is difficult to know in the daytime what lights are out. A fuller explanation about graffiti will be covered in another blog, but here are a couple of tips; take a picture and add descriptive information in the comment box for each area such by the pool. Usually GPS states the park you are in, but not where in the park. The problems to report under “Parks” are; litter, tipped over garbage cans, tipped porta-potties, or broken equipment. Each park has a day of the week for general clean-up when the litter is picked up, the grass is mowed and the field lines are put down or refreshed. Please consider joining a Knox Clean-Up event in any park. Or, do as I do, just go over however often you can and pick up litter for an hour. Another suggestion is to carry a plastic bag with you when you go for a walk, and when your bag is full, you are done. Please pick up glass bottles and dispose of these anytime you see them. Broken glass is dangerous, and it damages tires on bikes, wheelchairs and strollers.

What do you do if someone is playing on the field that you have a permit for? Approach them with your documentation, they may be unfamiliar with the field numbers or that there is a reservation system. If they insist that they, too, have a reservation for the same field you should contact, either Brenda Padilla at 860-757-4951 or Tom Baptist at 860-372-2816. You can still report it on 311, to document that there was a problem, but needless to say, you most likely want to resolve the problem asap. I believe that the same is true of missing lines, or equipment.

How fast do things get fixed? 311 has asked the departments to provide expectations for how long it will take to fix the problem in their initial response. Janice Castle, in Community Services, will be creating reports to see how well the system is working, as well as to see where improvements can be made. But I believe that as a resident, we really just want the bulky waste removed, the trash picked up and overall a well-run city. I hope this has helped you understand how 311 works.

Do you have more questions about 311? Please comment below, I will respond within 48 hours. My next blog will be about the Graffiti problem/solution in Hartford. If you want to be notified of the next blog, just click subscribe at the bottom.

The purpose of the blog is to share what I know about what is happening in the City of Hartford’s parks. So often I will be in a conversation when someone has assumed that the City needs to do something or isn’t doing something when in fact it is in progress or a decision was already made about it. I am on the Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission (PRAC) representing the Friends of Colt Park. I am serving my second term as the Secretary. This role requires that I review the minutes, create the meetings agendas, and in general, follow-up on action items. There are other departments besides DPW’s Park Department and the Recreation Department that impact what happens in our parks. And quite often, there is a lot of confusion as to who does what and who to contact with questions or problems. I can’t answer all of the questions now, as it would be a saga instead of a blog. I will feature some events, share upcoming improvements or repairs to the parks and information that I discover during PRAC’s monthly meetings. The official minutes can be requested via the Town and City Clerk’s office, 860–757–9749, Office Hours: 8:15am — 4:45pm. But as with all meeting minutes, they do not include background information. This blog is non-partisan, I want to stay focused on the parks.

My first blog will be about how to report problems in the park — or for that matter, anywhere in our city, with the exception of emergencies (call 911).

I hope that you will subscribe to this blog and feel comfortable sharing what you know as well as asking questions.