Bryant Council hears how 2020 affected Parks, IT

During the Bryant City Council meeting on Tuesday, the council heard how the Bryant Parks and Recreation and IT departments were affected by the pandemic.

Parks Director Chris Treat said the best way to talk about 2020 was to highlight those who made an impact on the department.

He began by praising Cassie Henry-saorrono, community outreach and engagement coordinator.

“She was able to create a lot of online recreation options,” Treat said.

There were online competitions, a story book walk at Mills Park and more things she created to keep in touch with the community.

He also praised Center Superintendent Ebonee Scott and Aquatics Coordinator Kristin Robinson for the work they put in to reopen The Center efficiently and safely.

“So many details went into that,” Treat said.

Treat told the council Parks did lose money during the pandemic because of having to shut down and limit offerings when it reopened. He said the biggest losses were rentals, tournaments and memberships. Later in the year, Parks was able to hold a few tournaments.

He added that they also cut expenses due to the shutdown.

“We try to run as lean as pos

sible,” Treat said.

He told the council the loss was not as bad as it could have been.

He pointed out sales tax revenue in 2020 was good.

“We actually are as strong as possible as a department financially,” he said.

With so many people ready to get back to normal, Parks has a wait list for swim lessons and its tournament schedule for baseball and softball is completely booked. The basketball, baseball and softball leagues all have strong numbers.

“We hit the ground running as soon as things started to loosen up,” he said.

He gave some of his time to the Bryant Boys & Girls Clubs and the Bryant Senior Wellness and Activity Center to discuss their impact from 2020.

Clubs CEO Suzanne Passmore said after its initial shutdown, the Clubs partnered with the Bryant School District to offer help distributing meals.

They also offered virtual and physical activity packets for students. Staff sent letters of encouragement to members.

“Our kids have suffered more than anybody,” Passmore said, adding learning loss for them is the highest it has ever been, plus child abuse and neglect are at all-time highs.

She went on to say they faced mental health issues and food insecurity.

With the district, the Clubs held Great Futures Virtual Academy at the

Clubs Bishop Park location to give members access.

Gracen Caddy, business development and marketing for the Clubs, said fundraising has been impacted, even donations, with so many out of work.

During the time the Clubs was closed, 70 employees could not work.

Once they reopened, the Clubs had to go from serving 600 children prepandemic to 100 children of essential workers.

“That is a big impact,” Caddy said.

She added that with school closed, they could not serve the 200 members who attend the Davis Club.

On top of that, the Clubs were faced with increased cleaning costs to have the facility sprayed, around $10,000 each time.

Passmore said the Clubs have lost $269,274.40. For the first time since opening, the Clubs had to take a loan.

Senior Center Director Mary Vickers discussed the impact its closing had on seniors. They had to go from offering a variety of activities and events to nothing.

Many seniors are food insecure so they tripled their home meal deliveries and offered meals for pickup.

Slowly the Senior Center has begun reopening. It even has a band perform for those who attend on Wednesdays. They all wear masks, temperatures are taken and everything gets “fogged.”

Vickers said most seniors have gotten vaccinated.

The Senior Center has offered food boxes for seniors. Vickers praised the Parks Department members who help her staff unload the trucks when food comes in.

“It has been a hard year, but it is getting better,” Vickers said.

Treat challenged the council what more the city can do for the Clubs and Senior Center financially.

He also updated council on the status of the parks signs. They are ready to go, but are seeking to replace the stone mason who backed out of the job.

IT Director Gordon Miller talked about his time so far with the city. This was his first time to present before the council since taking the job.

He told council the city had been without IT support for several months before he was hired and some areas had been neglected. The person who took care of IT previously left no documents and only a few passwords.

He called the first year challenging with much to catch up on. The city hired an assistant for him which has helped make good strides.

Because of the pandemic, he had to make it possible for employees to work from home.

Miller has been upgrading systems in the 911 Center and Police Department and preparing them for an audit, which they passed with only one infraction.

He has also installed computers at the fire and police stations to show dispatch calls.

He said the city archive server was outdated and he is migrating that to the cloud so those who request documents can access them.

Internet access and cameras have been installed in Mills Park, along with new security cameras in City

Hall.

Server software has been purchased to upgrade the current system.

He is working to add courts back into Bryant’s system.

Miller and his assistant are also working to get online training certificates.