The City of Carrollton Parks & Recreation Department received the Texas Recreation & Park Society (TRAPS) 2022 Administration-Management Excellence Award on Thursday, February 17 at an award ceremony during the 2022 TRAPS Institute & Expo in College Station.

“Carrollton’s 2021 Winter Storm Warming Shelter submission stood out above the rest to exemplify commitment and dedication in the field of recreation,” Awards Committee Chair Jesse Enriquez said. “The TRAPS mission is to advance the quality-of-life industry through Connections, Advocacy, Resources, and Education (C.A.R.E), and Carrollton exemplifies this acronym with tenacity.”

The TRAPS award recognizes innovation in administration, management, or supervisory actions that have responded to problems, have improved service to the public, or have increased employee morale, staff development, or communication between or among the public, boards, Council, or staff, etc.

“One of the worst storms in Carrollton’s history began on Monday, February 15, 2021,” Carrollton Recreation Manager Heather Smith said. “Carrollton’s Emergency Management team said projections by Texas’ electric providers indicated that some residents might be without power for up to two weeks. Temperatures were projected as low as zero degrees and residents losing power in their homes would not be able to easily shelter in place.”

Parks & Recreation was tasked to pull from their knowledge base of years of programming, league, and special event planning experience, according to Smith, and with the help of other City departments formed a logistics plan for a warming shelter, and enlisted help from a local high school with a generator and ample room for dormitory, eating, and socializing space, plus access to showers and a kitchen. The first night a restaurant, closed for the storm, was able to supply a handful of staff to reopen the kitchen to supply free hot meals to sheltering residents, and the Carrollton Animal Services & Adoption Center was able to house any pets sheltering residents brought with them.

“The City of Carrollton is extremely proud of the success from the winter storm warming shelter,” Carrollton Director of Parks & Recreation Scott Whitaker said. “It is an honor for the Parks & Recreation Department to be awarded the TRAPS 2022 Administration-Management Excellence Award. It was a tremendous opportunity for the whole team, something they have the right to look back on and be proud they were a part of this unique time. This type of effort is what makes Carrollton the community that families and businesses want to call home.”

By weeks end, staff and volunteers had worked more than 2,000 hours to keep the shelter going and hundreds of residents were helped, Whitaker said. The majority took temporary shelter from the cold during the day, powered their personal generators, received a hot meal, and had a hot shower, while others appreciated the ability to stay through the night until the conditions improved. The shelter operated for six days and was open round the clock.

“It was a hopeful, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that brought the community together,” Smith said. “I don’t think the City could have showcased any better the Carrollton Difference than by what the staff accomplished this week. Parks & Recreation was notified at 10 a.m. on the first day of the storm and the shelter was operational by 4 p.m. that afternoon.”

This is the fourth time in three years Carrollton Parks & Recreation has been honored by the TRAPS organization. Carrollton also earned the 2018 Lone Star Recreation Programming Achievement Award for the inaugural Run for Rover 5K and fundraiser event as well as the 2018 Excellence in Maintenance Award for using natural resources to irrigate McInnish Sports Complex, and the 2021 Gold Medal Award for Excellence.

The City of Carrollton Parks & Recreation Department employs approximately 87 staff members providing services to more than 139,000 residents, and offers programs, events, and recreation facilities for an active community. With more than 1,100 acres of park space, three recreation facilities, a 36-hole golf course, tennis center, 38 sport fields including an adaptive turf field, a nature center, and a homestead museum, in addition to a wide range of recreation classes including arts, education, fitness, sports, adaptive programming, and over 50 community events each year, Carrollton continually strives to be fiscally responsible and resourceful while providing quality park space and recreation options.

Through the City’s budget process, Parks & Recreation annually formulates a three-year projected business plan as outlined in Carrollton’s Parks & Recreation Master Plan. These business plans serve as a road map for staff to better implement valuable services and amenities for the community.

For more information about Carrollton’s Parks & Recreation Department, call 972-466-9800 or visit cityofcarrollton.com/parksandrec.