Antrim Parks & Recreation Commission
Minutes
October 13, 2016
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm.
Attendance
Parks & Rec Commissioners: Joan Gorga, Peter Lamb, and Mike Genest
Recreation Director: Celeste Lunetta
Antrim Resident: Chris Morris
Water and Sewer Dept: Matt Miller
Minutes
The minutes from the September 8, 2016 meeting were approved with amendments.
Shea Field
ConVal Agreement. After the events of September 8, during which ConVal was occupying Shea Field when Celeste had closed it during the school day and again when all the recreational players and their families arrived, Joan wrote a letter to Assistant Superintendent Ann Allwarden asking for assistance in getting the agreement signed. On October 1 there was another incident in which ConVal disrupted field maintenance and took the field without regard to Antrim Recreation’s scheduled games. Joan wrote another letter to Ann Allwarden requesting that the agreement be signed. The same day, David Martz sent a new draft of the agreement, asking Antrim to make further concessions. On October 11, Joan and Celeste took the matter before the Selectboard, which decided to send the School Board a letter requesting that the agreement be signed
without further delay. The Commission encouraged Donna to draft the letter in time to get it to the School Board before their October 18 meeting at GBS.
Besides the content of the agreement, we need to work on enforcement of the agreement and ConVal’s contribution to the field maintenance. Celeste said Pete Ketchum agreed to assign someone to check that all is cleaned up after an event. Antrim currently spends $10,000 - $10,500 annually on Shea Field maintenance. Line paint alone for soccer season cost $800. ConVal uses our soccer lines, which have to be painted twice as often as other fields. Based on ConVal using the field from 8:30-11 and 1-4 and the extra hours scheduled for games, as compared to the hours Antrim recreational programs were run, ConVal used the field approximately three times as much as Antrim this fall. We will request that ConVal contribute a minimum of $2500 a year toward field maintenance.
Next year, Celeste will replace the regular portable toilet with a handicapped one, which will cost $50 more per month, but will avoid the need to construct a second toilet pad.
Ice Skating. If we remove the raised pitcher’s mound to put a skating rink on the infield, we will need a portable raised pitching mound for Majors baseball and ConVal will need one for GBS baseball. Our cost will be about $1000. Celeste has informed ConVal that they might want to plan for the purchase. For the skating rink, if we use the residential-grade system we have now, we will need a 6-mil tarp and water, possibly brought in by the Fire Department. A commercial-grade rink would cost ~$300. We will aim to have the skating rink open from the second week in January through February vacation. Monica will head the project and a couple of people have offered to help. We may be able to use the water outlet on the school for touching up the ice, and we should be able to use the tractor to clear snow.
Bittersweet. The bittersweet will spread in the mowed areas. It should be grubbed out and reseeded.
Tournament. Rick Wood, Celeste and Joan will get together to discuss sponsoring a soccer tournament next fall to celebrate the lights.
Gregg Lake
Watershed Management Plan Grant. Joan is preparing a grant proposal for funds from NHDES/EPA to support development of a Gregg Lake watershed management plan. The grant requires a 40% match. Suggestions were to include the Mohawk Bassmasters, who hold an annual fishing tournament on Gregg Lake, and the NH Lakes Association.
Memorial Park
Boy Scout Project. Sean Burwen repaired and stained the two benches in Memorial Park. They still need to be secured with lag bolts. Celeste will see if the Highway Dept will do it when they’re finished with Gregg Lake Road.
Sign. Isaac put Lisa Hennessy’s welcoming sign up on the tennis court fence.
Landscaping. Matt Miller informed the Commission that the Water and Sewer Dept will need to have access to the two manholes in Memorial Park. A 20-ft. easement needs to be left around each manhole, and they will need to dig out some material and put in a base—maybe bluestone or loam mixed with gravel—that they can drive trucks on so they can reach the manholes for cleanout, which will have to be done next year or the year after, and then at five-year intervals. The Commission will keep these access requirements in mind while planning Memorial Park improvements.
The bandstand landscaping has held up well. Joan still has daffodil and tulip bulbs to plant. Antrim 2020 may still decide to plant the bulbs and/or build a picnic table as a community project.
Poison ivy/Invasives/Pond Vegetation. The poison ivy-removal professional came not long after Joan had pulled out most of the visible poison ivy, and found very little. She proposed coming back after it had been left to grow for a month to evaluate how much there was. She gave an estimate of $400 – $600 to remove poison ivy in several areas. By early October, there was still very little visible poison ivy. The Commission decided to put off removal until the spring. Arrangements to have a crew of GBS and/or high school students do some cleanup and invasive removal as community service fell through.
Dead Trees. Andy Robblee did not think that any more of the pine trees are dying.
Tennis Court. Celeste and Joan met with a tennis court contractor who gave us pricing on both a full rebuild ($75,000 –$85,000 with ground leveling, $32,000 without groundwork, both with fencing similar to what we have now) and a crack refill ($2000), which will make the court safer for a few years. We will plan to do the crack repair in spring. He also advised powerwashing the court, especially at the north end, to remove a slick film of mold.
Long-term Plan. Celeste and Joan put together enough of a long-term plan to justify requests for Capital Reserve Funds.
Town Gym
Floor. Celeste has not heard from Tim Grossi or the School Board concerning refinishing the gym floor. She went to the School Board meeting in August to give them a heads-up. C&C Flooring has given a quote of $14,237 to sand and finish with three coats of polyurethane, which does not include striping. Striping would range from $1200–$2800, depending on what striping was put down. This needs to be done — the floor is unsafe now because of the peeling finish. We will plan to pay up front and bill ConVal for half. Celeste will get other quotes and give them to ConVal as soon as possible, since they are now setting their budget.
Budget
We have not heard anything about the submitted CIP budget requests. Celeste submitted the Rec Dept budget to Donna. The operating budget stayed almost the same as last year.
Recreation Department
Update. The volleyball era is now over. Celeste will no longer hold their time at the gym. Pickleball attendance is way down, too.
The next regularly scheduled Parks & Recreation Commission Meeting will be Thursday, November 10th at 7:00 pm at the Rec Office.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:48 pm.
-Joan Gorga, Chair and Secretary
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