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?