Antrim Parks & Recreation Commission
Minutes
September 8, 2016
The meeting was called to order at 7:10 pm.
Attendance
Parks & Rec Commissioners: Joan Gorga, Peter Lamb, and Isaac Lombard
Recreation Director: Celeste Lunetta
Boy Scout: Sean and Peter Burwen
Lions Club: Rick Wood
Minutes
The minutes from the August 11, 2016 meeting were approved with amendments.
Boy Scout Project
Boy Scout Sean Burwen proposed repairing and staining two benches at Memorial Park as a community service project for “Star Scout.” Scoutmaster Brian Beihl and Sean’s father, Peter, have examined the benches and believe they can safely be repaired. Sean expects to complete the project by the end of October. Joan provided the stain left over from the picnic table built by Liam Veverka this summer and promised to alert Chief Lester that the work would be going on. Celeste will check with the Highway Department about replacing the rusty bolts that are sticking up.
Shea Field
Tournament. Rick Wood once again offered the services of the Lions Club to paint the dugouts and/or the shed at Shea Field. He also proposed that the Rec Dept and the Lions Club co-sponsor a tournament next fall that would culminate in a game played under the new lights and bring the community out to celebrate the lights. As the Rec Dept was thinking along the same lines, we all agreed to work together with the aim of a community celebration of the lights sometime near Halloween next year.
Ice Skating. Celeste will look for our existing equipment and we will re-address the question of setting up an ice skating rink on the baseball infield next month. We can remove the raised pitcher’s mound because only GBS uses it. They can get a portable mound if needed. Celeste will check to ensure that the Majors don’t need the raised mound. We will probably aim for skating in January and February, depending on the weather, since we’ll need to be able to get the field ready for spring sports in March. Some labor will be needed to set the skating rink up. Celeste will report back next month, as many logistics need to be worked out.
ConVal Agreement. Following the July 19 letter sent to the School Board, on August 19, Ann Allwarden asked Joan to call about ConVal Agreement. She explained that she was working with David Martz to complete the agreement. There has been no further communication.
Celeste described a series of events that occurred earlier that day (September 8), which are summarized as follows:
- Celeste emailed GBS that two of the smaller fields would be closed today from 9:30-11 am while she painted lines and for about two more hours while the paint dried. She was very clear about which fields were to be painted, but when she went out there, GBS students were playing ultimate Frisbee on them. Although they did eventually move off the field, she lost valuable time while getting them to leave.
- GBS had home field hockey and soccer games scheduled on Shea Field yesterday (Wednesday). Celeste was not notified that the games were not played yesterday, and found out that they had been rescheduled for today only at 2:00 pm when she went over to GBS to talk to her daughter. The field hockey game was over, but the GBS soccer game was only just beginning its second half when 35 families showed up for our U8 recreational soccer.
- Celeste had requested once again that GBS game fans not gather on our U8 field, as it should be possible for us to begin U8 soccer while a game is being played on the large field. Instead, 60-70 people, all the GBS soccer fans and all the athletes who were not playing, were on our U8 field, with complete chaos. The field hockey players were climbing on the fences and damaging the field. The parents were rude about being asked to move off the field, and Celeste got no help from ConVal personnel in clearing the area.
- GBS left their benches and equipment out on the field.
Joan will compose a letter to Ann Allwarden describing the situation and reiterating that we need to have a signed agreement.
Bittersweet. Unfortunately, the Highway Department mowed the bittersweet along West Street and School Street half an hour before Justin Santos got there to look at it. The bittersweet will spread in the mowed areas. At this point, Justin may grub it out and reseed for next year.
Other. Celeste will look into pricing for a windscreen, which would also serve to block the lights on West Street. She is also working with the base pads to try to make them look better. Monica is making some straps that are the same color and can be used to hold them in place so the “Antrim” shows. Celeste will also make a sign that says that the field is owned, operated and maintained by the Town of Antrim. The concessions have been running at every game.
Gregg Lake
Beach Summary. Two of the spruce trees on the point appear to be nearly dead. The dog waste bag container has been refilled; people seem to be stealing large numbers of bags. Joe Valley will repair the bathhouse door. The raft, float lines and all equipment have been brought in. The Gregg Lake Association inquired about donating money for paid Lake Hosts. Celeste suggested that it would be more effective for them to donate the money to the NH Lake Association.
Memorial Park
Landscaping. The bandstand landscaping has done well in spite of this summer’s drought. Joan still has daffodil bulbs donated by Shelley Nelkens to plant, as well as some additional daffodil and tulip bulbs on order. Antrim 2020 may decide to plant the bulbs and/or build a picnic table as a community project.
Poison ivy/Invasives/Pond Vegetation. Celeste has contacted a poison ivy-removal professional to evaluate thorough removal of the poison ivy in the park. Joan is working with Avenue A Coordinator Jacqueline Roland to try to get a crew of GBS or high school students to do some cleanup and invasive removal as a community service. Peter Beblowski suggested that a few people in canoes or kayaks could thin the Mill Pond vegetation without requiring an expensive dredging operation.
Dead Trees. Celeste will talk to Andy Robblee about some additional pine trees that appear to be dying.
Skatepark. Joe Valley fixed the vandalized decking and donated the labor. Mitch Reynolds called to say that although there will still be activities at the skatepark during Home & Harvest, there will be no official competition because all events are required to have insurance.
Long-term Plan. Joan and Celeste will use Peter Wells’ Memorial Park plan to work out a long-term plan for Memorial Park improvements to justify requests for Capital Reserve Funds.
Town Gym
Floor. Celeste is still working on the gym floor issue and will have an update in October.
Budget
Celeste and Joan will lay out a long-term plan for Memorial Park and submit the CIP budget requests for building Capital Reserve Funds at $10,000/year for replacing the gym floor and $15,000/year for renovating Memorial Park.
Recreation Department
Projects. We will try to keep a list of relatively small projects that can be done by volunteers seeking to do some community service. Several groups have asked recently.
Update. Soccer has been busy. The bus trip to Salem is filling up. The Before & After School Clubs are going well, as is the GBS Running Club.
The next regularly scheduled Parks & Recreation Commission Meeting will be Thursday, October 13th at 7:00 pm at the Rec Office.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:01 pm.
-Joan Gorga, Chair and Secretary
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