Antrim Parks & Recreation Commission
Minutes
September 11, 2014
The meeting was called to order at 7:01 pm.
Attendance
Parks & Rec Commissioners: Joan Gorga, Peter Lamb, and Isaac Lombard
Recreation Director: Celeste Lunetta
Minutes
The minutes from the August 14, 2014 meeting were approved with corrections.
Budget
CIP. The Parks and Rec CIP budget was submitted on August 25. As yet, we have received no response or feedback.
TAP Grant. Joan attended a HEAL (Healthy Eating Active Living) NH workshop on September 9, where she found out more information on the current round of TAP grants. Since the funding will be very competitive, and we don’t fit the criteria they are looking for too well this year, we decided against applying for TAP funding at this time.
Other. We might currently be in a better position to apply for a HEAL grant or a LWCF (Land and Water Conservation Fund) grant. The city of Laconia recently received HEAL funding to revitalize a park that is very similar to our Memorial Park in location and scope of issues. LWCF funding was used in previous Memorial Park improvement projects. There is a LWCF deadline for a “Notice of Intent” to be submitted by Friday, September 26. Completed applications are due on January 9, 2015.
Peter also mentioned that grants may be available from various sports organizations for field improvements, such as installing lights.
Memorial Park
Signs. If and when the Select Board approves the new park ordinances, a new master sign will be made. The ordinances are on the Select Board agenda for Monday, September 15.
Skate Park. The unsafe ramp has been removed. There was good attendance at the Home and Harvest skate park event run by Mitch Reynolds.
Maintenance. The electrical box that had been exposed by erosion was fixed somewhat as an emergency measure. One of the new security cameras appears to have been stolen out of its box at the top of the pole. The bridge, bandstand and benches continue to be vandalized.
Ten-year plan. Berkshire Designs is scheduled to come to assess the park at 9:30 am on Wednesday, September 24. We will try to set a timeline that will allow for a formal park plan to be in place in time to meet the January 9 LWCF grant deadline.
Gregg Lake
Beach/Boat Launch Issues. Issues with the Sunday volleyball crowd have escalated again. They continue to blatantly consume alcohol from glass bottles on land in the point area, although they are careful to remove their garbage. They also smoke, use foul language, and abuse the beach staff. A number of town residents have mentioned that they no longer go to the beach on Sundays because they feel that it is not an appropriate family atmosphere, and the beach staff are reluctant to work on Sundays. One option is to hire a beach manager who will be there more hours. However, if we are going to continue to staff the beach on Sundays, we will need increased police backing and commitment from the town.
In order to facilitate removal of debris piled off the edge of the beach, the commission approved installation of a double gate in the last section of the fence toward town. The money is in the budget.
The bulldozer digging toy is broken. Celeste will see whether it can be fixed, or whether it needs to be replaced. It is not safe to leave it in its current condition.
Celeste received an email from Jeanne Baker reporting that the barbeque farthest from the shelter needs to be replaced. Peter will inspect all the barbeques, see how many need to be replaced and get prices.
Shea Field
Update. Mike Kuchinos took pictures at Shea Field and will make mock photos of what lights would look like when installed. As stated above, we will look into the possibility of applying for grants for installing lights on the field.
Peter reported that the horizontals have once again been knocked off the fences. The back stop on the West Street side has been damaged, and Pete will get it repaired. There have been some problems with the garage door being left open during GBS athletic events, and the garage door itself required repair. Celeste will work on cleaning out the shed, and Pete will look into improving its ventilation. For the most part, the GBS goals have been moved off the field when not in use. However, they still do not have anchors on their goals. The posts are up, and the nets will be ordered to keep balls away from West Street.
GBS is still using the field for 7th grade recess, but not for 8th grade recess. GBS has scheduled heavy use of the field after school hours. There are 11 days between September 15 and October 17 when GBS has scheduled use of the field until 5 or 6 pm. Use until 6 pm has a significant impact on Recreational Programs. There may not be enough space between the fields the GBS teams use and the U8 recreational fields for both t be used at the same time. Celeste will see what happens if she asks the fans at the GBS games to move to the ends of the fields before the Rec programs begin.
The condition of the field is holding up well so far.
Maintenance. The field is in great condition.
ConVal Agreement
Antrim’s Counterproposal. The Town Gym agreement has been approved by all sides!. We have not yet begun to work on the Shea Field agreement.
Town Gym
Update. The Bombers basketball camp did make a $1000 donation toward the gym floor repairs.
Celeste has obtained 2 quotes for resealing the gym floor, and a 3rd one is coming.
AES has a new full-time gym teacher, who is making good use of the gym. GBS is not using it much, but has asked to use it for their running club one morning a week. An agreement was worked out to share the gym with the Before School Club on that morning.
Recreation Department
Community bus use. The community bus is getting older. It was purchased in 2005, but has only 25,000 miles on it, and we would like to keep it running. It has some rust and needs some repairs. This year it should be undercoated and get an alignment. Inside storage would also improve its lifespan. The heaviest use is for summer camp. It is also used for the ski club. Bus maintenance costs are included in the summer camp fees and in the fees skiers pay for transportation to the ski area. The Senior Center is the biggest user outside of the Rec Department. A number of other groups have also requested use. The bus use form will be reviewed and updated.
Update. Antrim Friends of Recreation will not be going to the NASCAR races after all this year. They will also not be doing roller skating any more. They may instead try laser tag at Shea Field with inflatable structures.
Judges are needed for Halloween window painting to take place on October 25th and 26th. Maybe some Seniors would be willing to do it?
The scoreboard remote burned out, and will need to be repaired or replaced.
The next regularly scheduled Parks & Recreation Commission Meeting will be held on Thursday, October 9th at 7:00 pm at the Rec Office.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:49 pm.
-Joan Gorga, Chair and Secretary
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