Colchester Parks & Recreation Commission
April 6, 2009
CES, Conf. Rm. 3
7:00 p.m.
Members Present: Chairman S. O’Leary, N. Kaplan, E. Kundahl, L. Dimock, C. Williams, L. Stephenson, C. Ferrante, A. Spranzo, M. Kennedy
Members Absent: J. Barr
Others Present: Jay Cohen, Tom Carey, Steve Ashe, Robert Jones
1. Call to Order: Chairman O’Leary called the meeting to order at 7:08 p.m.
Melissa Kennedy and Al Spranzo were congratulated on becoming members.
2. Citizen’s Comments: N. Kaplan spoke about his frustration that the Bacon athletics do not seem to have to follow field closure policy. They use them whether the Park and Rec Department have closed them or not. There are events being advertised in the paper as being held on the Bacon baseball fields, which is nonleague play, and therefore does not adhere to the league division guidelines and scheduling needs.
3. Acceptance to approve the minutes of March 10, 2009: C. Ferrante motioned to approve the March 10, 2009 minutes removing J. Cohen as a member, and adding Al Spranzo and Melissa Kennedy as Others Present, seconded by C. Ferrante. All members present voted in favor with
L. Stephenson and C. Ferrante abstaining. MOTION CARRIED.
E. Kundahl motioned to approve the minutes of March 17, 2009 removing J. Cohen as a member, seconded by C. Ferrante. All members present voted in favor with L. Stephenson and C. Williams abstaining. MOTION CARRIED.
4. Reading of Correspondence: None
5. Committee Reports
- Facilities: Some members of CBL would like the batting cage by R6 moved down the line as not to interfere with a game being played on the field. The commission and Park and Rec maintenance staff does not see how the cage can be moved down much further than where it is. The batting cage is falling apart. The net is currently hung backwards and will need to be fixed. J. Cohen will have his staff check on the cage to see if it is considered unsafe.
E. Kundahl motioned to accept the facilities report, seconded by L. Stephenson. All members present voted in favor. MOTOIN CARRIED.
- Finance/Administration: None
- Programs: None
- Skate Park: No report. J. Cohen informed the commission that he has been in meetings with the First Selectman and Sgt. Haslett to discuss a drug problem at the skate park. There is a grant that would provide money for programs to help deal with the issue. There was discussion as to if the police would support a park ranger in the budget for next year. It was felt that people that would otherwise not support such a position would if they knew about the drug problem at the park.
- BOS Liaison: None
- Dog Park: J. Cohen reported that the Dog Park committee will be going before Planning and Zoning for a predevelopment meeting.
6. Discussion and Possible Action on 2009 Field Closure Plan: The facilities subcommittee met
Representatives from each of the youth sports programs. The recommendation is to close R7 June 7th, 2009 until the end of August 2009. The group will meet again in the fall to discuss closing R2 in 2010. Leagues would like to have certainty that if they contribute money to the maintenance of the field that supplies for the field will be bought and the money will not just go into a general fund. J. Cohen said that the leagues are welcome to purchase the materials themselves so they know what the money was spent on.
There might be alternative ways to take care of the fields such as leagues renting the fields they use and then being responsible for the upkeep. Leagues would have to agree to share the fields even during the time they are renting them however. T. Carey is concerned that if the soccer league puts money into purchasing the supplies for the field to be repaired but the Park and Rec Department does not have the staff to take care of the field the most will not be made of the repair. Can the soccer league have someone else work on the field repair? J. Cohen will speak with the First Selectman to see if that would be possible. L. Stephenson motioned to accept the facilities task forces recommendation to rest R7 from June 7, 2009 until the end of August, seconded by E. Kundahl. All
members present voted in favor.
7. Discussion and Possible Action on Commission Orientation: A. Spranzo will become a member of the finance subcommittee and M. Kennedy will become part of the programs subcommittee. A commission orientation will be held on May 4th at the end of the meeting. The meeting time will be changed to 6:00 p.m. start.
8. Director’s Report: New regulation nets have been put on Bacon tennis courts. Adult Ed. will no longer be offering recreational classes. Park and Rec will evaluate the classes that Adult Ed. will no longer offer possibly picking up some of them to offer. Over 20 representatives from the youth and adult sport leagues attended training on field maintenance. Upcoming events were reviewed. There is no seasonal help through June at least because of the budget freeze. Tennis courts at the park need cracks repaired and resurfacing. Facilities are looking to see if they can do any repairs within their budget. E. Kundahl motioned to accept the Director’s Report, seconded by N. Kaplan. All members present voted in favor. MOTION CARRIED.
The Recreation Supervisor Report was briefly reviewed. No discussion took place. E. Kundahl motioned to approve the Recreation Supervisor Report, seconded by C. Ferrante. All members present voted in favor. MOTION CARRIED.
9. General Comments: None
10. Adjournment: L. Stephenson motioned to adjourn, seconded by C. Ferrante. All members present voted in favor. MOTION CARRIED. Chairman O’Leary adjourned the meeting at 8:55 p.m.
Dawn LePage, Clerk
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