Antrim Parks & Recreation Commission
Minutes
March 4, 2015
The meeting was called to order at 7:03 pm.
Attendance
Parks & Rec Commissioners: Joan Gorga, Sam Harding, Peter Lamb, and Isaac Lombard
Recreation Director: Celeste Lunetta
Minutes
The minutes from the February 12, 2015 meeting were approved with modifications.
Shea Field
Lighting Plans. In spite of the challenge presented by the three-foot snow cover, we successfully floated five red weather balloons at the positions and heights of the five proposed light towers on the morning of Saturday, February 21. Several of the balloons were blown into trees and popped as the wind came up in the late morning, but all balloons were safely recovered. Three balloons were again floated on Sunday, February 22, in calmer weather. The height of the balloon closest to AES showed that it will not be possible to block that tower with a fence on the school roof, as had previously been suggested. A number of residents viewed the balloons, and photographs were taken and posted on the Town website. Celeste also posted the list of “Frequently Asked Questions” she prepared, mockups
showing what the lights would look like on the field, Photos of the lights and shields to be used, and graphs of the potential increase in playing time and the history of Antrim’s athletic field capital reserve funding.
All close neighbors were successfully contacted and asked for feedback. Fire Chief Marshall Gale looked at the floated balloons and diagrams showing the locations of the light poles, as well as the lights at the Bennington and ConVal fields, and has said he does not foresee an issue with landing emergency evacuation helicopters.
Plans were made for Celeste and Peter to be the primary presenters at Town Meeting, with others prepared to speak as needed. Mike will introduce the warrant article for the BOS.
ConVal Agreement. David Martz called with feedback from the School Board and GBS Principal Jim Elder regarding the draft agreement over the shared use of Shea Field. Jim Elder asked that the field use hours be changed from 8 am - 4 pm to 7:30 am - 4 pm because GBS starts at 7:20 am. He also requested that ConVal be able to able to submit its field use schedule on August 31 for September - December, December 31 for January - April, and April 30 for May - August. After some discussion, we agreed to allow the 7:30 am - 4 pm hours. However, the consensus was that Antrim recreational programs cannot be left to be scheduled at the very last minute, and that it is not unreasonable to ask ConVal to plan ahead to request the use of our fields. Joan will respond to David Martz that while we are prepared to compromise on the hours, we will hold firm on the 4-weeks’ notice of requested field use.
Recreation Department
Personnel. Celeste has two interviews scheduled for next week for the position of Recreation Department Assistant.
Update. Registration for spring sports is under way. We will have at least a U9 girls’, a U13 girls’ and a U9 boys’ lacrosse team this year, and will use some funds from the Richardson trust to pay for coach training. Rick Davis will be coaching a 10U softball team. We will be pooling kids for the Cal Ripken league, and the team needs a coach. We will have T-ball, Rookie and Minors teams, with the Majors probably combined with Bennington. Summer camp registrations are coming in. Sporties for Shorties continues to be popular. There have been several bus trips with the Senior Center. The Bike Rodeo will be held in the Police Department parking lot on May 2, with Brian Lord taking charge. The Lions Club will once again be donating a bicycle and has agreed to be a
co-sponsor. The Fishing Derby will also take place on May 2. There may not be a youth egg hunt this year because the Antrim Friends of Rec membership has dropped, and they need new members to step up to help.
Charlie Boucher inquired about holding a church youth ministry choir event at the Bandstand on the evening of July 4th, with approximately 100 people expected. As this would be held well after the Historical Society’s morning reading of the Declaration of Independence, there seemed to be no conflict. Celeste will advise Charlie that they might want to get one or more additional portable restrooms and inform the police that the event will be taking place.
Gregg Lake
Beach/Boat Launch Issues. Celeste is still looking into replacing the raft.
Town Gym
Shared Use. Nearly all the students are complying with the request to carry their gym shoes over from Great Brook.
Gym Floor. Terry Cutter examined the gym floor, and said he believes it will be stable as long as the moisture is controlled. He also thought that the entire floor might not need to be replaced; we may be able to carefully remove and reuse major sections, even if the supports need to be repaired or replaced. The Highway Department will remove the snow from around the perimeter of the gym to try to keep moisture levels down as the snow melts.
Memorial Park
Ten-Year Plan. Peter Wells forwarded his final conceptual master plan for Memorial Park this morning. Budget details will follow in another week or two.
The next regularly scheduled Parks & Recreation Commission Meeting will be held on Thursday, April 9th at 7:00 pm at the Rec Office.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 pm.
-Joan Gorga, Chair and Secretary
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