Minutes of Park Commission Meeting Held on Tuesday, March 22, 2005
I. Call Meeting to Order
Mr. Busch called the meeting to order at 6:45pm. Members present were Mr. Busch, Mr. Redding, Mr. Chiasson and Linda Ghiloni, Director of Recreation.
II. Act on Minutes of January 10, 2005
Mr. Busch motioned to adopt the minutes of the January 10, 2005 meeting as written, seconded by Mr. Chiasson and carried….
Vote: 3-0 in favor
III. Citizens Issues/ Special Interest Groups
a. Mariann Fitzsimmons and Carmela McDowell present to voice their concerns over the
Recreation Summer Program age cutoff of June 1, 2005. Ms. Fitzsimmons has a son who will not be 6 until August 2005 and she would like him to attend the Playlot Program, for children 6 to 9 with his six year old cousin. Ms. Fitzsimmons’ concern is why the Park Commission does not use the Hudson Public Schools age cutoff of September 1, 2005.
Mr. Busch explained that the Recreation programs are not part of the Hudson Public Schools. The Park Commission uses the June 1, 2005 date because that is the beginning of the Recreation programs. Mr. Busch explained that unfortunately this may not fit every family’s individual needs.
Ms. McDowell stated that all four of her children have attended the Playlot programs and the Recreation Department should use the same dates as the school system.
Mrs. FitzSimmons felt her child was being discriminated against since he is 2 ½ months shy of attending Playlot due to the cut off date.
Mr. Chiasson informed Ms. McDowell that children coming out of kindergarten are accustomed to a half day, whereas our program is a six hour program, and many children are not necessarily ready for that change.
Mrs. Ghiloni stated that if the policy were to change the cut off date would be age 6 by the previous September 1st, therefore children would have completed a full year of first grade.
Mr. Redding felt that the impact on parents would be much greater if we were to change the date to the previous September at this point in time, with no advance warning to parents who may have already made their summer plans.
Mr. Redding stated the commissioners would take their concerns under advisement and informed
Page 2 Minutes of Park Commission Meeting Held on Tuesday, March 22, 2005
Ms.Fitzsimmons and Ms. McDowell they would be notified when the Park Commissioners came to a final decision.
Mr. Redding motioned that the present policy remain in effect and that June 1, 2005 is the cut off date for Playlot, seconded by Mr. Chiasson and carried….
Vote: 3-0 in favor
Mrs. Ghiloni will survey parents this summer, talk with supervisory staff of the programs that would be directly affected by any change and inform the commissioners of her findings at a later date.
IV. Director’s Report
a. Article – May 2005 Town Meeting - $55,000.00 will reimburse Recreation Gifts and Grants for money recently spent on the design of the South Street Expansion Project.
b. Copies of documents submitted with the DHCD/CDBG grant for the South Street Expansion Project were distributed to each of the commissioners for their information.
a. Evaluation forms for Linda Ghiloni were given to the Commissioners for their input prior to the next meeting. Mr. Busch will complete the evaluation and email copies to each commissioner for more information.
V. New Business
a. Mrs. Ghiloni informed the Park Commission that she had been approached by Neil Fossile regarding the land he owns between Hudson High School and the Hudson Elks. He offered to donate a piece of the wetlands with the understanding that the Town of Hudson would assist him with various wavers from the Planning Board, Zoning Board of Appeals and Conservation Commission for three house lots. Jen Burke, Town Planner and Katrina Proctor, Conservation Agent also attended the meeting. At this point Recreation is still interested in acquiring the entire parcel from Mr. Fossile for a field on the dry section of the land and a walkway along the river, leaving the remaining river buffer and wetland areas in their natural state.
VI. Old Business
There is no old business to be discussed at this time
VII. Communications
a. Letter from the Planning Board regarding trees from Hudson Light and Power. A copy of this was given to Park Maintenance for their input regarding where the trees should be planted.
b. Notification was received from the Zoning Board of Appeals regarding the sale of 49A Lincoln Street (adjacent to Moulton’s Field) to allow the existing structure to be converted into a four unit office building, that is in a SB Single Family District.
VIII. Adjournment
Mr. Busch motioned to adjourn at 8:00pm, seconded by Mr. Redding and carried….
Vote: 3-0 in favor
M: Mr. Chiasson_________S:__Mr. Redding__________ V:__2-0 in favor (Mr. Busch not present)
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