RECREATION & PARK COMMITTEE
MINUTES
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Avon Town Hall, Building #7
I. Call to Order - 6:10 p.m. – By Chairman, Peter Ponziani.
A. Attendance
1. Members & Staff Present
Glenn Marston, Director X
Sharon VanDeusen, Admin. Coordinator X
Peter Ponziani X
Douglas Evans
Kathy Thompson X
David JadovichP
eggy Roell
Donald Droppo X
Michael Trick X
II. Minutes – Minutes of October 15, 2008 meeting were presented. Michael Trick motioned to accept the minutes as presented, Kathy Thompson seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
III. Public Comment – None
IV. Director’s Report
A. Director reported that registrations for the Youth Basketball registration are up from last year (534 vs.502). Glen also reported that ski registration is down 30% from last year.
V. Correspondence
A. Steven Harris – Avon Middle School Girls Softball
The committee discussed the possibility of an Avon Middle School Girls Softball program run by the Recreation and Park Department. The Director reported to the committee that he had spoken to Mr. Sunblade and he did not have a problem with this program being run. If the program were run by the Recreation Department, the cost per student would be approximately $450. The committee thought the program was pricey and as a result there would not be many girls registering. Mr. Marston suggested the possibility of a sponsor or having the team be put together independently. After much discussion, Peter Ponziani suggested that the Director speak to Steve Harris to discuss this further and then report back to the committee.
B. Dr. Eddie Rostenberg – Mandatory Mouth Guards
Citing injuries he and his colleagues see in their practices, he asked that the Recreation and Park Department require all sport participants using town facilities use mouth guards where not already required, such as football, hockey, field hockey, etc. The Director cited basketball and baseball/softball as those that had a higher incidence of injury that would have been believed. Members of the Committee decided not to make mouth guards mandatory, however, they would be strongly suggested. Mr. Marston said he would write a letter to groups such as Avon Little League and Avon Soccer to ask them to strongly suggest the use of mouth guards. Mr. Marston will contact Dr. Rostenberg and let him know the committee’s decision.
C. Mr. Marston informed the committee that Victor Mangome, Head Coach of the 11U Team Connecticut Baseball contacted him to request the use of Sperry Park for a competitive youth Travel Baseball team in Avon. The team uses a 70-foot length base path and the mound is located 50 feet from home plate. Mr. Mangome said he would be willing to provide a removable/temporary pitching mound and funding to assist in ensuring the field can accommodate the longer base paths. Mr. Marston said that Mr. Mangome used Sperry Park for practices last summer and would now like to bring a team to Avon. Mr. Mangome indicated that if they couldn’t have a home team, then they would like to do a tournament at Sperry. After some discussion, the committee recommended that the Town only accommodate him on
a special basis and not on a regular basis. Mr. Marston will contact Mr. Mangome and inform him of the committee’s decision.
VI. Committee Communication – None at this time.
VII. Old Business
A. Gift Catalog Update
The Director informed the committee that the gift catalog is now two years old. He said it did not get distributed as much as he hoped it would and the Town Council is going to discuss this at the next Town Council meeting. Mr. Marston said he would like to update the pricing in the catalog and then mail it to all non-profit organizations as well as the Chamber of Commerce and also put it up on the Recreation Department’s website.
B. Fisher Meadows Field Project
1. The Director recommended that the letter be sent to Mr. Simmons indicating that the Town will be making use of the Fisher field property in the Spring of 2009 pending funding for the preliminary final design and soil testing. Mr. Marston will ask the Town Council for and additional appropriation of $20,000 for the soil testing, preliminary final design and construction estimates. If the Town Council approves the $20,000 request then Mr. Marston will take $20,000 out of the Capital Budget for fiscal year 2009/2010. The Committee concurred that an RFP should be done and then interviews would be done with a group of architects including Weston and Sampson.
Review of Fees
A brief discussion took place on the assessment of fees for use of the Senior Center similar to those set by the Board of Education. Mr. Marston informed the committee that he has requested information from the Board of Education on their fee policy. He will review the possibility of charging all groups a nominal fee based on 7 hours of use and anything over 7 hours would be assessed a per hour fee. He will get back to the committee at a later date with the detailed information. He will also be updating the Certificate of Insurance for use of all facilities that the Recreation Department schedules.
VIII. New Business
A. Set New Meeting Dates
The next Recreation and Park Committee meeting will be December 3, 2008 at 6:00 pm in building #7 of the Avon Town Hall. Sharon VanDeusen will send out an email to all committee members. Future dates will be determined at that meeting.
IX. Adjournment
A. Meeting was adjourned at 7:12 pm, Chairman Ponziani adjourning.
Respectfully Submitted by
Sharon VanDeusen
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