Development means new hires at Mozingo

CITY OF MARYVILLE PHOTO
With the development of new facilities at Mozingo Lake Recreation Park — including the under-construction conference center shown here next to the nearly finished Boulders Inn & Suites hotel — the city-owned recreation area’s staff is growing as well. City Hall is currently accepting applications for a Mozingo recreation coordinator, and later this year is expected to hire a conference center coordinator responsible for marketing the center and booking gatherings and special events there.

With completion of the Watson 9 junior golf course at Mozingo Lake Recreation Park and the opening of a new conference center/clubhouse at the lake set for Jan. 1, the staff at the city-owned recreation complex is growing.

City Hall is currently accepting applications for a recreation coordinator at the 3,000-acre park, a post filled for the past three years by Brandon Cartwright, whose title is being changed to guest services coordinator.

The addition of a new full-time professional position at Mozingo was approved by the City Council last fall following the annual round of budget deliberations. Also funded was an additional full-time maintenance position, which has already been filled.

Still to come, probably late this summer, will be a second professional hire, a “conference center coordinator” responsible for marketing the conference center and booking gatherings and special events there.

Taken together, the new positions will expand Mozingo Lake staff from eight full-time employees in 2016 to a total of 11.

The park has only two full-time management positions, which are held by maintenance chief Ron Darnell and golf pro Kyle Easter. Assistant City Manager Ryan Heiland has overall responsibility for Mozingo operations and development.

The park has an annual budget of almost $2 million a year, money that is derived from user fees and a half-cent sales tax that was renewed by voters a year ago for a term of 20 years.

Heiland said Wednesday that the recreation coordinator position came about because Cartwright’s responsibilities have expanded beyond the job’s original description, which included organizing programs and activities for park patrons.

In the past, such offerings have included the Haunted Campground, annual 4th of July celebration, RV campground movie nights, and outdoor sports events such as the Bird Hunters United field trials and numerous fishing tournaments.

But as time went on, Heiland said, more and more of Cartwright’s time was given over to managing the park’s online reservation system, booking such facilities as the organized youth camp and rental cabins, and scheduling staff to operate the information booth near the main park entrance.

Cartwright has also assumed a significant amount of responsibility for marketing Mozingo and attends a number of trade shows, fairs, and exhibitions each year in an attempt to publicize the park across the region.

The new recreation coordinator will return the post to more or less its original function, Heiland said. Though whoever is hired will have the added challenge of creating and facilitating program activities for corporate retreats and other functions centered around the conference center.

In addition, the coordinator will likely help promote and organize youth events and programs held at both Watson 9 and the group camp, a cabins-and-dining hall layout where the city is looking to boost occupancy rates.

“That’s one exciting aspect of the job,” Heiland said. “It’s going to be wide open for the right person.”

The application deadline for the position is March 13, and Heiland said the posting has already attracted a fair number of resumes.

In addition to development and coordination of recreational programming, the formal job description mentions such tasks as event planning, marketing, hospitality services, and the creation of special events.

Qualifications include a bachelor’s degree in parks and recreation administration or a related field and at least a year of experience or training with “progressive responsibility.”

Applications are available at City Hall, located at 415 N. Market St., or online at www.maryville.org.