Minutes of the Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting
Thursday, April 16, 2008
Present: Steve Slozak, Steve O’Shea – Absent Barry Cady
Also Present: Timothy Pascale, Director
Steve Slozak called the meeting to order at 5:28 p.m.
The meeting minutes from the March meeting were not approved as Steve O’Shea was not present at the meeting, therefore only 1 voting member was present.
Steve O’Shea requested the names and numbers of all our baseball coaches so he may contact them regarding Summerfest.
Tim gave the commissioners copies of the current budget for review. A brief discussion was held on the state of the budget. All agreed we are in good shape through June 30.
Steve Slozak made Tim aware that the Summerfest committee is looking into putting in permanent electricity at the Quarry Hill Field. The location of the hookup is still TBA.
Baseball tryouts were discussed. Tim made the commission aware that his family has been catching a lot of grief from townspeople over decisions made by evaluators. Tim asked that maybe the tryouts be held near the end of August so they could be outside. The commission asked Tim to check on the date when school is to start and we will look at this issue again in May.
The school department is looking for the Parks and Recreation Commission to offset school costs by $8,000 for its summer programs which include summer theater, art camp, summer fun week, basketball camp, and cheering camp. The breakdown would be $2500 for camps and $5500 for summer theater. All agreed the figure seemed high especially for the summer theater piece. Tim told the commissioners that director Tess Pelissier was going to meet with the superintendent to discuss use of the building.
Tim discussed the lack of storage space for recreation equipment and uniforms. He would like to purchase a storage facility of some kind while we have money in the budget as future years look to be worse. The commission advised Tim to get some pricing and we would discuss it again at our May meeting.
The issue of generating money at baseball fields and the pool was discussed. Steve O’Shea asked what the town rules were at selling advertising space. Tim thought this was a planning board issue. Steve O’Shea said he would look into it as we have to start thinking outside the box to generate revenue being cut from the budget. Tim advised the commissioners that the recreation expense budget is looking at a 50% cut for supplies and monies to pay umpires, referees and the summer theater director. A more detailed budget will be done by Tim for the May meeting.
Tim advised the commission that the pool was now closed and discussions will continue about the future of the pool. Tim said he is still uncomfortable with hidden costs such as electricity because no true number can be set for electricity. The commission discussed ways of monitoring it such as meters.
Tim made the commission aware that as of this date 426 kids have signed up for baseball and softball. This is the highest we have seen. Tim is worried as our programs grow we are running out of facilities. New baseball fields are needed but we just do not have the land to do so.
The next Parks and Recreation meeting will be on Wednesday, May 7, 2008, at 6:00 p.m.
Steve O’Shea made a motion to close the meeting at 7:45 p.m., and Steve Slozak seconded. All in favor and the motion passed.
Respectfully submitted,
Timothy Pascale
Director/Program Coordinator
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 )
| 
