At their quarterly meeting on June 6, the
ICB (Interagency Coordinating Board),
the entity that sets policy guidelines for the Office of Community Use of
Public Facilities (CUPF), welcomed the former Assistant Administrative Officer
and County Attorney, Ms. Ramona Bell-Pearson, as she was preparing to take control
of CUPF starting on June 10.
Safety is a recurrent issue for the ICB.
As one board member puts it, “No
community is immune.” The Board’s
mission is to encourage the community’s use of public facilities. So, while
concerned with school safety, it must be balanced with access. Over the coming year, the ICB looks forward
to hearing from a joint MCPS and ICB/CUPF workgroup that will be delving into
this subject.
During the quarterly meeting, Mr. Dave
Pullen, a representative of the U.S. Tennis Association gave a presentation on the
benefits of tennis for county residents, including those in low-income areas. Mr. Pullen cited a Harvard University School
of Public Health study that suggests “people who participate in tennis at 3
hours per week will cut their risk of death in half from any cause.” The U.S. Tennis Association advocates for greater
investment in facilities supporting this activity.
Following his presentation, Ms. Liz Habermann,
Acting-Director, presented the customary CUPF director’s report. Ramona will give her first director’s report
at the Board’s next quarterly meeting on September 12.
Self-booking
for use of fields between August 16 and November 30, 2018, will be accepted
online via the customer e-portal beginning Sunday, July 15, 2018, at 8:30 a.m.
Visit www.ActiveMONTGOMERY.org to permit fields for
your athletic sports activities (excludes MCPS
high school grass fields). Contact cupf@montgomerycountymd.org
for permitting information regarding artificial turf sites and regional park
fields.
General reservation
requests of indoor school facilities, including before and
after-school enrichment programs, evening use,
weekend use, etc. for the 2018-2019 school year will be accepted online via the
customer e-portal beginning Wednesday, August 15, 2018, at 8:30 a.m.
The above process does NOT
apply to the following: MCPS administrative use of school facilities, licensed
before and after-school childcare (other than extra gym space or evening
activities), PTA/ PTSA submissions, government offices, large events, or
approved high-volume use permits.
PTA/
PTSA use of school facilities receives high priority if requests for the entire
school year are submitted by the long-established deadline of August 15 each year.
Annual PTA/ PTSA
informational packets regarding ICB/CUPF reservations are sent to schools and
MCCPTA in the summer and is available on the
CUPF’s website as well. The packet includes information critical to the PTA/ PTSA
permit submission process so that PTA
organizations may receive priority placement.
Contracted service
providers are often used for before and after-school enrichment programs.
Please note that these contractors are NOT given PTA/ PTSA priority for
scheduling and should not be submitted directly by the PTA/ PTSA. Contracted service providers should adhere to the public access schedule for
ActiveMONTGOMERY.org (July 15 for field use, August
15 for ALL indoor school space). Please refer to this PTA/ PTSA
Packet .
Well, believe it or not, it has been one month since I
assumed the role as CUPF’s Director, and I have enjoyed every hour of it, even
the ones where I didn’t know what I was doing.
I really enjoy getting to know each of the Staff members, to
get an understanding of what they do and how they do it. Some have asked about changes I might be
interested in making. I want to take this opportunity to assure those who might
be wondering, I don’t believe in coming in and making changes just for the sake
of making changes. I also don’t believe
in upending things when you are the “new Kid on the Block” and do not fully
grasp how things work, and why they are the way they are. Besides, I still have 7 boxes to unpack
before fully settling in. That is down
from the original 22 boxes I came with.
That’s good, right?
My first six months, of which five months are left; I plan
to get to know everybody as much as I can and familiarize with the agency’s
multi-layered operations. Each Staff
member performs an important task that enables CUPF to meet its responsibility
to our community of users. Despite the
no change rule, there are some changes that have been waiting to be made. They
include, filling some positions that are open and which are in need of
personnel and establishing more opportunities for Staff to socialize or get
reacquainted. I also have planned one-on-one meetings to personally know my
Staff.
I continue to be very excited about working with Staff and
our Community Partners. This
Organization is a unique and valuable part of our County government and the
Community at large. We have a positive
impact on people every day by helping them realize and benefit from their use
of public facilities. I know that
everyone here has a commitment to keep up the good work! Ramona
The tempo hasn’t
slowed down one beat for the CUPF staff and their manager, Eric Rasch, at the Silver
Spring Civic Building, at Veterans Plaza. Instead they seem to revel in the
barrage of events that their center boasts weeks after weeks, like the upcoming
World Music Festival on Sunday July 15 and the Jazz Fest on September 8. Kudos
to Eric, who recently was a guest of the local radio show known as Montgomery AL DIA, on AM 1540 Radio
America, to promote the SSCB services. To visit the SSCB online Click Here
Thank you for using the county’s public facilities for your
community events and activities! Please contact
our office if you have any questions or suggestions about how we may better
serve you. Our office hours are: Monday-Friday,
8:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Phone 240-777-2725 or
Email: cupf@montgomerycountymd.govThe After-Hours Problem Line is: 240-490-CUPF (2873) If
before or during your permitted event you experience any of the following: a
lockout, HVAC issue, security concern, equipment failure, availability of
venues or rooms, you must call 240-490-CUPF (2873) and a member of our staff will
jump on it immediately to assist you in solving the problem. Until next month, Ciao!