Antrim Parks & Recreation Commission
Minutes
April 10, 2014
The meeting was called to order at 7:10 pm.
Attendance
Parks & Rec Commissioners: Joan Gorga, Sam Harding, Peter Lamb, and Isaac Lombard
Recreation Director: Celeste Lunetta
Minutes
The minutes from the March 20, 2014 meeting were approved as written.
ConVal Agreement
ConVal Fee Schedule. Celeste attended the March 27 School Board Policy Committee meeting, where she had to ask them once again to remove Antrim’s facilities from their fee schedule, as laid out in the Budget and Property Committee meeting. Celeste’s request made it evident that they were working on an earlier draft of the fee schedule, and the current one was produced.
ConVal/Antrim Agreement Subcommittee. In a chance meeting, David Martz informed Celeste that the School Board has a revised draft of the proposed ConVal/Antrim Agreement to bring back to the Agreement Subcommittee. Joan will send out an email to initiate contact and 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.
GBS use. In general, GBS students are still complying with the request to carry gym shoes across the parking lot. Although Shea Field is currently closed due to the thawing turf, sports teams have not been coming over after school.
Heat. The gym has been very hot for several weeks, and Celeste has not succeeded in getting ConVal to regulate the temperature.
Recreation Department
Update. The regular Recreation Department programs are going on. A large turnout is expected for the April 11 night egg hunt for 10-14-year olds.
The bike rodeo will once again be competing with a concurrent large bike rodeo in Greenfield. Celeste will order some Striders for the Kid Zone. Isaac may not be able to offer his bike repair clinic due to work conflicts. It was suggested that the bike rodeo could be held at the new Police facility next year.
Celeste is still working on putting together details of a coach’s discount on fees.
This spring a majors baseball team was formed from all four GBS towns. Antrim has its own minor, rookies, and T-ball teams. Teams will be racticing in all four corners of Shea Field for the next two weeks.
Lacrosse games will start tomorrow on Shea Field. Softball and baseball are still a couple of weeks away. Celeste and Peter will see if they can put together a record of when Shea Field is opened each year.
Celeste is in the process of hiring beach attendants and a camp bus driver.
Memorial Park
Signs regarding new ordinances and park rules. We are still looking for simple, appropriate signs.
Cleanup. Celeste and Ken Drabble did a major cleanup at Memorial Park in anticipation of the egg hunts. Celeste installed a dog waste bag dispenser and saturated the park with signs in an effort to convince dog owners to pick up after their dogs.
Galen has given his approval for hiring someone to do the brushwork and remove the debris from the Mill Pond before the May 3rd Fishing Derby. Celeste checked into regulations and determined that there are no wetland issues with the cleanup.
Celeste has been making regular visits to Memorial Park, advising people of the new smoking ordinance and reminding people to pick up after their dogs. She will paint over some graffiti on the bandstand before the egg hunt. Peter has taken a broken-off bandstand bench for repairs. The bump in the bandstand floor has now become dangerous, and needs repair.
The new tennis posts with retractable nets have been installed.
Ten-year plan. Peter reported that Berkshire Design is willing to work with us on the Memorial Park plans. A year ago, David Laughlin kindly provided a survey map for the southern half of the park, where most of the drainage issues appear to be, which will be a good starting point.
One idea proposed was to build up the tennis court area to the level of the Skate Park and Jameson Avenue and turn the tennis court 90 degrees, in order to accommodate both the tennis court and a basketball court.
Another idea was to install a speed bump on Jameson Avenue during the summer months as a means of traffic control.
Gregg Lake
Upgrade to 100 A service. Sam will try to get a second quote so the work can be completed before the beach opens.
Shea Field
Lights. The new LED light packs have not yet been installed.
Scoreboard. The new scoreboard was mounted. It may need to be moved to a different permanent spot if the sun proves to be an issue. Peter will dig a trench for the electrical lines in the coming week.
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 8:00 pm.
-Joan Gorga, Chair and Secretary
| 
