Minutes of the Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting
Monday, December 10, 2007
Present: Steve Slozak, Barry Cady and Dave Braskie
Also Present: Timothy Pascale, Director; Jeanne Guertin, Secretary
Steve called the meeting to order at 5:35 p.m.
Steve made a motion to accept the minutes from the November 15 meeting and Dave seconded. All in favor and the motion passed.
The sprinkler repair bill was paid, and it was less than what was quoted. Dave asked if the system was blown out correctly, and if we had a guarantee on the work. Tim will check to see if there is a contract with a guarantee for the work done.
Tim talked to Liz Manley about the Palmer pool program. She used to post our pool information at the Palmer Library and felt there wasn’t a big draw from doing that. She can start posting our information in Palmer again.
Tim checked into the product Milorganite that was brought up at last month’s meeting. It is a slower releasing nitrogen. It is more expensive that what we use now, is hard to obtain, and doesn’t really slow down the mowing. There is a supplier in Boston which would add a shipping charge to the cost.
Barry brought up Cushman Field, and it was decided that the goal would remain up there.
Getting the inmates to do some work for March or April was discussed. Tim will prepare a priority list and contact the Police Chief.
Steve will start clearing out brush and stumps at Upper Rogers Field. A stump grinder would be ideal for the bigger stumps, but the Town doesn’t have one. However, most of the stumps remaining are small and would not necessarily need a stump grinder for removal.
Tim announced that the Monson Basketball Association ran a clinic in the fall and would like to donate $840 from the proceeds to the Parks and Recreation Department. The money will be used towards the purchase of a set of uniforms.
Tim, Steve and Jeannie will attend CORI training in Chelsea, MA, on December 11. Every time a person is recertified they must attend the CORI training. There is no fee for the training. Also there is no charge for the Parks and Recreation to request CORI’s since we are a government agency.
There was a problem with the service contract for the leased Konica Minolta copier. The Parks and Recreation Department received the copier in February and there hadn’t been a bill or service since then. Tim called Konica Minolta to inquire about this and because of their error they have agreed to give us a full year of free service.
The Community Preservation Act will be implemented in 2008. The average household will see an increase in taxes of about $48-49 per year. Approximately $156,000 will be generated, and with the state’s yearly match there will be a total of $312,000. The Housing, Recreation and Historical departments will benefit from this. Ten percent will go to each of the three areas. The Parks and Recreation Commission has to decide how that money will be spent and we should be prepared to know how we want to use that money when it is available. Steve is a member of the Community Preservation Act committee and will update the Commission once they start meeting again.
Courtney Gilligan gave her resignation notice. Steve Gordon will be promoted from within the Department to her position.
Representatives from the Cemetery Commission joined the meeting at 7:00 p.m. They were: Paul Lovell, Superintendent; Al Wilcox, Commissioner; Dave Martin, Commissioner; and Shawn Connery, Commissioner.
The purpose of the meeting was discussed in that the Long Range Financial Planning Committee wanted the Cemetery and Parks and Recreation Commissions to look into the possibility of improving efficiency by combining the grounds maintenance efforts of both departments.
It was discussed that combining equipment will not make the departments more efficient. Both departments have in common mowing responsibilities; however, they need different equipment for different purposes. For example, a small mower is necessary to mow in between gravestones, and there is a considerable amount of weed whacking done around the gravestones.
It was the overall opinion that efficiency would not be improved by combining grounds maintenance of the Cemetery and Parks and Recreation Departments. The Selectmen should be made aware of what specific responsibilities each department is accountable for. Each department has an inventory list of their equipment. They will prepare a more detailed spreadsheet showing what equipment they have, and when it is used.
Al suggested a liaison for each department (to the Selectmen) to let them know what each department is doing. The Parks and Recreation Department has initiated quarterly meetings with the Selectmen to improve communication. They had requested to meet in the Executive Session portions of the regularly scheduled Selectmen meetings. The Selectmen responded that they couldn’t do this since the purpose of the meetings did not fall within the guidelines for Executive Session policy. Representatives from the Parks and Recreation Commission will first meet with the Selectmen on Tuesday, January 8, a regularly scheduled Selectmen Meeting. Dave Martin suggested that Cemetery Commission representatives appear at the January 8 meeting also. It was agreed that this would be a good
idea and that representatives from both the Cemetery and the Parks and Recreation Commissions would be present for the January 8 meeting with the Selectmen.
Also, at a past meeting with the Selectmen it was mentioned that perhaps the School Department’s ground maintenance could be looked at. Tim had contacted the Superintendent about the Parks and Recreation Department taking over the maintenance of the school grounds. Dr. Nabel responded that he would wait to address Tim’s proposal until after a new business manager is hired. There will be a new business manager hired, as well as a new facilities manager.
The next Parks and Recreation meeting will be on Friday, January 4, 2008, at 5:30 p.m. At this meeting the Cemetery Superintendent and Commissioners will be present.
Dave made a motion to close the meeting at 7:58 p.m., and Barry 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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