Minutes of the Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting
Monday, July 30, 2007
Present: Steve Slozak, Barry Cady, and Dave Braskie
Also Present: Timothy Pascale, Director; Jeanne Guertin, Secretary; Tom Back, Faith Esposito, Airin Roso
Dave made a motion to open the meeting at 5:40 p.m. and Barry seconded. All in favor and the motion passed.
The minutes from the June 14 meeting were discussed. Dave said that the minutes reflect that his motion didn’t pass regarding increasing the amount of expenditures that should be approved by the Commission. There was no vote taken after his motion was made. It was agreed that the minutes would be changed to show that there was no second to Dave’s motion and therefore, no vote on the motion.
Also, the minutes show that the drainage problem at Lower Rogers Field is on the “to do” list, and should be changed to show that the problem is on his (Steve’s) “to do” list.
The June 14 minutes were approved as corrected.
Barry made a motion to accept the July 24 minutes, and Steve seconded. All in favor and the motion passed.
SKATE PARK:
Faith Esposito, Airin Roso, and Tom Back were at the meeting to discuss expanding the Skate Park. Airin is designing and coordinating this. To save money instead of contracting out, there will be a “build a barn” type event, except it will be “build a Skate Park”. Faith got estimates for materials and Squires gave them the best price. Tom said there are a lot of parents on board to help. Airin did something similar in Sturbridge and Brimfield. Sturbridge also had parents and kids help build the park. Steve mentioned that most of this is wood construction. Other materials have been looked at in the past, but the cost is high. Faith and Tom have gotten more volunteers by putting their faces out there and people seeing that things are getting
done. Airin has volunteers who will help, too. John Demers, a celebrity bike rider, is a friend of Airin’s and is willing to help.
Airin has drawn up different ramps and has come up with a plan that has three different sections. The expanded Skate Park will cater to skaters of all levels. There will be a section for beginners, a second section for intermediate skateboarders, and a third section that will be more advanced.
The estimate from Squires is $3,782.92, and for Airin (with John’s help) $2,500. As soon as they get approval from the Parks and Rec Commission they would want to build it as soon as possible so the Skate Park would be ready for this skating season. Kevin (Haley) needs to know lumber needs in advance. They could have the lumber and be ready to build in two weeks. The skating surface is plywood. Airin said two layers of plywood lasts about two years. Any Skate Park should have layers of sheet metal riveted to it. Sheet metal is typically added after a couple of years because they want to see how much interest is in the Skate Park before they go to the expense.
The building of the park is turning more into an event. The bike rodeo could be done on the same day as the building day to get the community involved. Airin and John will do bike demos, there will be a bottle drive and they will sell refreshments.
Faith has letters ready to go out to local businesses for donations. Tom said they want to do a raffle and there are people interested in donating services or items for the raffle. Airin felt the one day event could bring in around $3,000. Faith thought of calling the Fire Department to bring down a truck. Airin could bring down autographed pictures and sell them for a dollar apiece, and his bike sponsors will also give things to raffle that will interest the kids. He has already done an informal demo at the Skate Park and had a lot of kids interested. Tom will call the media for coverage. Lori Stabile from The Republican already knows about the Skate Park and has done a story on it. Airin knows Mistress Carrie, a DJ on radio station WAAF, and could possibly get the
radio station to do a broadcast from the Skate Park. Flyers advertising the building day are going to be distributed by the kids.
Dave asked Faith if she should set up a committee and/or officers. Initially, there was a committee, and Faith said she could get a handful of people to serve on a committee that is current. Dave said if there were a problem there would be somewhere to go to if there was a committee.
Everyone agreed that the plan for the Skate Park expansion sounded good and it was something that they’ve been looking for.
Dave asked about rules and regulations. Wearing helmets is a huge issue and Faith wants to buy helmets and get them at a discount. Tom suggested the kids help out with the fundraisers. Faith said they haven’t started pushing the helmet rule. They want to build the Skate Park first, then handle the helmet rule. It was discussed paying someone to watch the park and make sure the rules were being followed during park hours. Tim said it was being done before, but the problem was you had kids working who were making sure kids were following the rules, and it didn’t work out. Dave suggested that the parents sign a waiver, and Faith wasn’t sure that could be implemented. Tim said there would be no way to know who signed.
Airin said Belchertown’s Skate Park is successful because their park is located behind their police station. Monson’s park is also located behind their police station, but the police are not watching the kids. There has been a meeting with the Police Chief, and the problems on the street had decreased by 90% since the Skate Park opened.
Dave made a motion to accept the plan for the Skate Park expansion, and Steve seconded. All in favor and the motion was passed.
Tim distributed budget information to the Commission.
Steve said he received a letter from Kathleen Norbut saying she endorsed the expansion of the Skate Park.
SELECTMEN ISSUE:
The next item discussed was the Selectmen’s request that the Parks and Rec Commission think about how the Parks and Rec Department could combine outdoor maintenance responsibilities with the Cemetery Department.
Dave said he had ideas on how to improve efficiency. It would save time when Parks and Rec employees go to mow to have them put trash barrels on the truck. It saves a little extra time. Tim thought it was a good suggestion. If the school wants to eliminate mowing Tim could do it, and he’s got the machines. Steve understood that Dave is trying to free up time to take over the School Department’s mowing.
Dave said a job study should be done. It should be done for a whole week, and for a whole month. He thinks we have time to do this. Tim said they don’t have time in April, May, September or October. Dave thinks the job study is worth looking into.
There is a lot of trimming at the high school. We are trying to help the school, but it is the Parks and Rec and Cemetery Departments the Selectmen are interesting in combining.
Dave said the school is probably looking to cut out some employees, and asked Tim if he would want to see the Parks and Rec Department grow. Tim said he is if the funding was there. The Parks and Rec has the equipment. Seasonal employees cannot work more than 19 hours. Anything over 19 hours would be eligible for benefits. It was discussed if there is something that obligates the town to follow this policy.
Tim said there were some things they could share like rakes, shovels, etc. The Cemetery Commission couldn’t use our mowers. The Highway Department has to have their own shovels. There are almost 10 employees on the Highway Department.
Steve said they have to sit down with the Cemetery Commission, and he will talk to Al (Wilcox). The Cemetery Commission regularly meets around 3:30-4:00 p.m. once a month. The only similarity is mowing, including the walk-behind, but the Cemetery’s is smaller. We could use their dump truck, and could arrange to do this when the Cemetery Department isn’t using it.
The Cemetery Commission has one trailer and we have two that we use on a daily basis.
The next meeting is set for Wednesday, August 15, 2007 at 6:00 p.m.
Barry made a motion to close the meeting at 6:46 p.m., and Dave seconded. All in favor and the motion passed.
Respectfully submitted,
Jeanne Guertin
Secretary
Timothy J Pascale
Director/Program Coordinator
Monson Parks and Recreation
110 Main Street
Monson, MA 01057
1-413-267-4105 ( phone )
1-413-267-0327 ( fax )
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