RECREATION & PARK COMMITTEE
MINUTES
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Avon Town Hall, Building #7
I. Call to Order - 5:50 p.m. – By Peter Ponziani
A. Attendance
1. Members & Staff Present
Glenn Marston, Director, Sharon Brummert, Admin.Coordinator, Peter Ponziani, Michael Trick, Don Droppo, Peggy Roell, Kathy Thompson. Members of the public in attendance were John Hagan, William Brown, Brian Stoll, Liz Weiler, Alison Folkwein and Karen Wright.
2. Members & Staff Absent
David Jadovich, Paul Marioni
II. Minutes – October 3, 2012
After reviewing the minutes from October 3, 2012, Peggy Roell motioned to accept the minutes as presented and Don Droppo seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
III. Public Comment –
Members of the public were present to discuss the Thompson Brook Athletic Field project. Glenn gave an overview of the project. He said the Thompson Brook Athletic Field project is part of the Master Plan which is a concept plan meant to be a guide and not a roadmap. Glenn said this particular project is for a lighted full size baseball field and an all purpose field both of which would be artificially turfed. The fields were originally going to be done at the high school but there simply was not enough room there. Glenn said he was approached about two weeks ago regarding moving forward with this project, which in 2008 was estimated to cost $3.3 million dollars. Glenn said he is in favor of getting this project done, however, there are other items in the Capital Improvement Program that are farther up the list before the
Thompson Brook fields. Some of the items ahead of the Thompson Brook fields include tennis court repair and re-surfacing, painting the Sycamore Hills Pool and the Fisher Field project to name a few. Glenn said the town is short on practice field space and while this project would help with the game field situation, it will not help the practice field shortage. Glenn told the committee that there are several towns in the process of putting in artificial turf fields or have just completed putting them in.
John Hagan addressed the committee and told them that the Avon Booster Club fully supports the Thompson Athletic Field Project and they are willing to do whatever they can do to help. Alison Folkwein also informed the committee that the Youth Lacrosse group is also in support of this project. Bill Brown informed the committee that there may be some grants available to help fund this project and John Hagan said there may be some environmental groups that would have grant money available.
Glenn said the first thing that needs to be done is a soil test to see if the soil would support the artificial turf fields. The soil test will cost between $5,000 and $8,000 to be done. Glenn said money for this project will be an issue and we would need to tap into available sources.
After some discussion, the committee asked Glenn to get the proposals from towns that have just finished installing artificially turfed fields or that are in the process of working on a project like this and then report back to the committee by January 15, 2013. Once Glenn brings this information back to the committee, then there will be a brainstorming session to look at all aspects of doing a project like this and see what the next step would be
IV. Director’s Report
Glenn informed committee members that this is the busiest time of year for the department. We are currently working on basketball and Sharon is just finishing up the ski program registration, along with the Capital and operating budgets being due and the department is in the process of hiring a part time Administrative Secretary.
Glenn told the committee that there are some drainage problems at Fisher Meadows on the outfield of all purpose field #4. The concern is that there may be a broken pipe. Glenn said the Engineering department went to Fisher and did some elevation research to see if the northwest corner of the field had sunk. Glenn said he got a quote from a company to go in and camera and flush the pipe and the quote was $2800 per day and it would take approximately 3-4 days to complete and we could use money from the Fisher Meadows Maintenance Fund to do this. Glenn felt that it would be cheaper in the long run to camera and flush the pipe then to go down and start digging up the fields looking for the problem. After some discussion with committee members, Mike Trick motioned to do the camera and flushing of the pipes to locate the problem. Don Droppo
seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
IV. Correspondence - None
VI. Committee Communication – None
VII. Old Business
A. Fisher Meadows Field Project Update - Tabled
B. Sycamore Hills Pool and Bathhouse Painting Update - Tabled
C. ADA Updates – Tabled
D. On-Line Program Registration Update - Tabled
VIII. New Business
A. Capital Improvement Program
Glenn informed committee members that he was presenting his Capital Budget to the Town Council at 7:00 p.m. this evening.
B. General Fund Budget - Tabled
C. Set Dates for Future Meetings – Sharon will email the committee members with the next meeting dates.
1. IX. Adjournment
A. Peggy Roell motioned to adjourn the meeting at 6:50 pm. Don Droppo seconded the motion which passed unanimously.
Respectfully Submitted by Sharon Brummert
Sharon Brummert
N:\Recreation\Rec. & Park Committee\Minutes\Minutes November 13, 2012.doc
| 
