Colchester Parks & Recreation Commission
October 6, 2008
Town Hall
7:00 p.m.
Minutes
Members Present: Chairman S. O’Leary, J. Barr, L. Stephenson, C. Ferrante, J. Cohen, N. Kaplan, E. Kundahl , L. Dimock (7:03 p.m.)
Members Absent: K. Wright, Clint Williams, S. Ashe
Others Present: Joe Schomaker, Greg Cordova (BOS Liaison) (7:04 p.m.)
1. Call to Order: Chairman O’Leary called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
2. Citizen’s Comments: Joe Schomaker would like better communication between the sports leagues and the Park & Recreation Department. He submitted all the field requests but never received a permit until recently.
(L. Dimock arrived at this time. (7:03 p.m.)
The permit showed a field request for the first weekend in November was denied. He has been able to reschedule games to allow for this but it would have been easier had they just known at the beginning of the season that soccer did not have the fields on that weekend.
(G. Cordova arrived at this time. (7:04 p.m.)
J. Cohen apologizes to Mr. Schomaker and said he thought a tentative permit had gone out much earlier. It was apparently an oversight. The school needs to give permission for the use of their fields and it often takes longer than policy says it should for this to happen. He believes that perhaps all locations should now have their own permits.
N. Kaplan parents have questioned who determines whether the fields are open and a team can play or not. There is inconsistency in what is being considered unusable fields. A reminder needs to be sent out to the leagues on what constitutes a playable field. C. Ferrante commented that there are coaches that still play on the fields even when the league officials close the fields. S. O’Leary said that it will be looked in to further and the leagues will be reminded to review and familiarize themselves with the playable field criteria that is on the website.
G. Cordova requested the irrigation system be turned off when there is already a lot of rain. There is a rain sensor as part of the irrigation system. It is uncertain if there is a problem with it but there have been instances of the irrigation system still going even when it has rained for days. J. Cohen will look in to the matter further.
3. Acceptance of Minutes – September 7, 2008 Meeting: Ferrante said it should be clarified that under item 7. it is the baseball auxiliary that is interested in bidding on the concession stand. Item 5. , bullet 5, typo of lost should be loss. E. Kundahl motioned to approve the minutes of the September 7, 2008 meeting with discussed changes, seconded by C. Ferrante. All members present voted in favor with S. O’Leary, J. Barr, L. Stephenson, and C. Ferrante abstaining. MOTION CARRIED.
4. Reading of Correspondence: None
5. Committee Reports:
Facilities: None J. Cohen noted that the BOS approved the no smoking policy at the Rec Plex only.
Finance/Administration: None J. Cohen noted the BOS approved the increased lighting fee.
Programs: L. Dimock said help is still needed for the Halloween event at Troop K. J. Cohen and
L. Dimock met with First Selectman Hodge to discuss the holiday tree lighting on the green. The donation of a tree would be used as a contest. The person whose tree was chosen would then get to light the tree. The town will provide the lights this year. Fundraising activities will be worked on, such as an annual ornament, to continuously raise money to be placed in a decorating fund. Paul Picard has volunteered to design and build a tree stand. C. Ferrante motioned to send to the Board of Selectman a recommendation to use a donated cut tree for holiday decorating on the green this December, seconded by L. Stephenson. All members present voted in favor. MOTION CARRIED
Skate Park: No one present to give report.
BOS Liaison: G. Cordova said the BOS is still working on changing library hours. There will be a meeting on October 20th to discuss CIP. There has been discussion on a town spending freeze but no decision has been made at this time.
6. Discussion and Possible Action on Pavilion Reservation Scheduling: J. Cohen said that the hours some groups are requesting to book the pavilion are right in the middle of the day and prevent anyone else from booking it. There was discussion as to if the hours available for rental should be fixed to allow for more availability. The commission questioned how many times of year there is a conflict. J. Cohen said there have not been that many conflicts. The commission decided they would rather continue to offer the flexibility on hours the pavilion is available as long as the instances of a conflict in availability continues to remain minimal.
7. Discussion and Possible Action on Sponsorship for Mulch Madness (Formerly Spring Clean – Up): The commission was in agreement that the Spring Clean –Up name has been come synonymous with the event and more than mulching is done. N. Kaplan motioned to approve the sponsorship with no changes from last year and keeping the name as Spring Clean-Up, seconded by J. Barr. All members present voted in favor. MOTION CARRIED.
8. Discussion and Possible Action on the ongoing viability of certain special events in conjunction with proper facilities maintenance: The commission discussed whether too much time is being put in to preparation for special events and taking away from facilities maintenance. S. O’Leary would like to see the number of hours that are being put in to special event set up, clean up, etc... and therefore being taken away from maintaining facilities. J. Cohen feels that the amount of hours put into special event preparation is actually minimal and the overtime is paid for through the event. L. Dimock commented that there is a belief among many people that Park and Rec does very little. G. Cordova said that if there are people that want the budget for Park and Rec increased or a prioritized
area in which to be funded they need to speak with the BOS and BOF now. By the time the proposed budget reaches the public J. Cohen has had to already reduce it dramatically. Next month the commission will start to review portions of the budget and develop a priority list when it comes to reductions.
9. Director’s Report: A written report was reviewed. C. Ferrante motioned to accept the Director’s Report as presented, seconded by E. Kundahl. All members present voted in favor. MOTION CARRIED.
10. Recreation Supervisor’s Report: No report. Will now be done on a quarterly basis.
11. General Comments: None
12. Adjournment: C. Ferrante motioned to adjourn, seconded by L. Stephenson. All members present voted in favor. MOTION CARRIED.
Chairman O’Leary adjourned the meeting at 8:29 p.m.
Dawn LePage, Clerk
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