Antrim Parks & Recreation Commission
Minutes
March 20, 2014
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm.
Attendance
Parks & Rec Commissioners: Mike Genest, Joan Gorga, Peter Lamb, Isaac Lombard and Tim Smith
Recreation Director: Celeste Lunetta
Minutes
The minutes from the February 20, 2014 meeting were approved as written.
ConVal Agreement
ConVal Fee Schedule. The proposed ConVal fee schedule has been put on the agenda for the next School Board Policy Committee meeting. Celeste may move the yoga program to Town Hall to avoid possible conflicts over using the GBS gym.
ConVal/Antrim Agreement Subcommittee. Nothing appears to have been done toward scheduling another ConVal/Antrim Agreement Subcommittee meeting. Now that elections and town meetings are over and committee memberships have been reestablished, we will try to initiate another meeting, as we would still like to establish an agreement over use of the Town Gym in the morning. Joan will try to get things moving again.
Town Gym
Flooring. Jim O’Sullivan of O’Sullivan Flooring has not yet provided a report of his inspection. Celeste and Galen will try to contact him. It was noted that in his verbal report, O’Sullivan said that if the floor is redone, changes would have to be made to several doors to bring them up to code.
GBS use. Celeste reported that overall GBS compliance with the policy of carrying gym shoes across the parking lot has improved, but it has slipped off a little after the initial efforts to comply. The custodians are also making an effort to sweep immediately after GBS use. Town Meeting did some damage to the floor. It might be better not to bring chairs with sharp legs over from Town Hall. It was also noted that items were left in the gym for five days after Town Meeting.
Recreation Department
Update. The regular Recreation Department programs are in full swing. Celeste has cut back on some of the extra programs due to illness in her family.
The police are organizing the bike rodeo, which is scheduled for May 3 at 2:00 pm at the Town Gym. We will offer a “Learn to Ride” area. Tim will order some Striders or children can bring their own bikes.
There are two community-access keys to the Town Gym. One is held by the Kirkpatricks and one has been kept at Rick and Diane’s. The latter will be moved to the Police Department, where it will only be inaccessible between approximately 11 pm and 8 am.
The Antrim In The Evening program is coming together well. The featured performers will be the Shana Stack Band in mid-summer. Celeste has also scheduled a couple of animal shows, which are much loved by the kids. The Ukulele Society of Antrim will wind up the season. The Skate Park Subcommittee will again do concessions and may bring a Human Slingshot for additional entertainment.
There will be a new nighttime egg hunt for 10-14-year olds on Friday, April 11, in addition to the usual daytime egg hunt for the younger kids on April 12.
We discussed offering coaches a discount for their kids, perhaps having them pay only the league fee. In return, the coaches would be required to do all the coach training, either locally-offered or online. In some cases, coach training is a full-day class. Celeste will work on putting together the details.
Since Antrim’s parks have been declared tobacco-free, we will have to figure out how to address the rampant smoking in the town beach area.
There is still considerable interest in establishing a dog park. The cemetery land remains the most attractive site.
Budget
All Parks & Rec budget items were approved at Town Meeting, including the $25,000 to be added to the Capitol Reserve Fund and the $13,000 for improvements to Memorial Park.
Memorial Park
Signs regarding new ordinances and park rules. After some discussion about what to put on new park signs, Tim offered to look up what’s available online.
Cleanup. There is a considerable amount of debris in the Mill Pond, much of which has been washed down during heavy rains. We would like to have this removed before the May 3rd Fishing Derby. The suggested target for cleanup is Earth Day, April 22nd.
Ten-year plan. Peter will contact Berkshire regarding a conceptual plan for Memorial Park. As a Memorial Park neighbor, Lauren Kirkpatrick requested some input on the plan during Town Meeting, including discussion of appropriate fencing. At Town Meeting, Ken Drabble requested that landscaping be designed with an eye towards keeping maintenance simple. Bulbs, perennials and annual flowers should be restricted to beds which would be maintained separately from the mowed turf. Trees should be placed so that mowing is facilitated. Also at Town Meeting, it was suggested that we contact Superintendent Jim Cruthers, of the Antrim Water and Sewer Department, regarding maintaining access to sewer lines and manholes while redesigning Memorial Park.
Gregg Lake
Upgrade to 100 A service. Galen has approved the service upgrade. Jim Craig submitted a quote to do the work for $1640.
Shea Field
Lights. LED light packs were approved and the scoreboard will be installed. The bad news from NH Public Service is that if we install lights on the field it will cost $400 for the first half hour each month. After that we would pay $5.22/hr. Thus we would have to carefully manage light usage with regard to the billing cycle.
Community Supper
Parks & Rec were approached to see if we would co-sponsor the June 20th Community Supper with Antrim Friends of Recreation. Since there has been no response from Friends of Rec, and we are all feeling overspent, we decided to politely decline at this time.
The next regularly scheduled Parks & Recreation Commission Meeting will be held on Thursday, May 8th at 7:00 pm at the Rec Office.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:43 pm.
-Joan Gorga, Chair and Secretary
| 
