Minutes of the Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Present: Steve Slozak, Barry Cady and Steve O’Shea
Also Present: Timothy Pascale, Director; Jeanne Guertin, Secretary
Steve Slozak called the meeting to order at 6:02 p.m.
Barry made a motion to accept the minutes from the October 15 meeting. Steve Slozak seconded and all in favor.
Discussion began regarding the Commissioners seeking a salary increase for Tim. Jeannie had checked with Debi Mahar on this and Debi had given Jeannie a copy of the Town’s Personnel Policy, and Jeannie gave a copy to each of the Commissioners. In the Personnel Policy, it states that under the classification plan salary increases have to be requested from the Board of Selectmen. Tim told the Commissioners in light of the spending freeze and budget situation, he would like them not to pursue this issue.
The Commission then discussed initiating performance reviews for Tim. Per the Commission’s request, Jeannie will ask Debi Mahar what she does for staff that reports to her to get an idea of what other departments are doing. The Commission will look into other formats and discuss at the next meeting.
The Skate Park is closed for the season. Faith Esposito is responsible for getting volunteers to cover the ramps with tarps until the spring. Some of the ramps need repair. The condition of the ramps is one reason why the Skate Park closed earlier than usual. Another reason was that there were some problems with kids in the Park.
Using CPA funds for lighting for a sports field was discussed. Steve Slozak had an e-mail from Bill Skillman, Chairman of the Monson Community Preservation Committee, that addresses this. The e-mail states: “There was a lawsuit concerning a proposed CPA recreation project in Newton. The city of Newton wanted to use CPA funds for work at two existing parks that were not created or acquired with CPA funds. The state’s highest court upheld a lower court’s decision in favor for the plaintiff, saying that CPA funds can be used ‘for the creation of land for recreation use, not the creation of new recreational uses on existing land already devoted to that purpose’”. Whether the result of this lawsuit would restrict the creation of a baseball field at the
third field at Rogers Field was discussed. The field there has been started but still needs a lot of work to be complete. This issue is a gray area and is still being worked on by state legislature. Steve Slozak will still file an application for the baseball field project for the next round of CPA funds next year. The deadline is in September of 2009.
Tim would still like to see a concession stand at Rogers Field. Individuals set up concession stands with volunteers and made a good sum of money for the high school soccer program. In the fall when those individuals tried to use the electrical outlet for the concessions they discovered it didn’t work. There is an electrical box in the left field area of Flynt Park. Tim got a price from Steve Kacoyannakis of $500 to fix the electrical box. Steve K. did the electrical work for the batting cage, as well as work done in the Parks and Rec office.
Barry discussed a conversation he had with Gretchen Neggers a couple weeks ago. There was an article in The Republican about Monson’s spending freeze. The article read: “Neggers told selectmen that she is worried some departments are going to push back, especially those who operate under separate boards. The Park and Recreation Commission and Cemetery Commission are elected to their offices and control their departments.”
As a Parks and Rec Commissioner Barry took offense to the inference made in the article towards the Parks and Rec Department and the perception it would give people reading it. It was not his intent to challenge Gretchen, but to express the negative feeling he got from reading the article, and the feeling the Town of Monson might get that the Parks and Rec Department is not cooperating. The Commissioners think that under the past and current budget constraints Tim has done an excellent job in keeping up with the Parks and Rec responsibilities after the budget cuts. The Parks and Rec expense budget used to be $43,000, but this year it is $27,000. Steve O’Shea had a copy of minutes from a Board of Selectmen’s Meeting on April 28, 2008, which states “Ms. Neggers said the
department heads need to come to terms with the~severity of the situation, as some departments can’t accept the gravity of the~situation and can’t comprehend having to cut the level of services they know~the town needs but can’t pay for, however there are some departments really~trying, such as the Parks and Recreation Department.” Gretchen’s recent quote in the paper gives a different impression. It was acknowledged that she did explain that the article did not accurately portray the discussion and it was taken out of context. ~ However, those reading the article would still get a negative perception of the Parks and Rec Department. Gretchen stated in an e-mail that she will not communicate with the Parks and Rec Department without direction from the Board of Selectmen. The Commissioners felt that a more optimistic attitude should be taken when addressing the budget situation in Monson, even in light of the likelihood that the
situation may get worse. The Town should have a positive outlook and work together. Tim has continued to manage the Department and keeps it running despite every budget cut that is made. They also agreed that if one of the Commissioners needed to address a situation in the future they would contact the Board of Selectmen.
Concession sales during basketball season were discussed. Tim was given storage room for concession materials, so there will be concession sales this year.
Steve O’Shea commented that the Upper Rogers Field is looking good. There is quite a lot of brush being cleared at Lower Rogers as a result of using community service people every other Thursday morning and Friday mornings. There is a large pile of brush that is accumulating, but the Fire Chief will not allow any brush burning until after the first of the year, and when there is snow on the ground. Mike Tassinari is going to give Tim a price for stump removal.
As a result of uncovering old drainage pipes at Lower Rogers Field, Tim has been doing some research, primarily to see if he can find original plans for that field’s drainage system. He has been in touch with the archives director at Wilbraham-Monson Academy and he will be meeting with her to see if there are any photographs in their records when the fields were being used by Monson Academy. Steve Slozak talked to Dennis Swierad, and Dennis told Steve that the Historical Society has a number of historic photographs of Monson, but they are in several boxes and uncategorized, so it would take some time to go through them all. In one of the Department’s weekly e-mails we will ask if anyone has any old photographs or anyone knows of someone that has old photographs to contact the office. If
we had photos of what the fields used to look like, it might help if there comes a time when we want to raise money towards fixing those fields.
Steve O’Shea said the Baseball Tomorrow Fund application is due by January. He recently learned that the Fund is meant for communities with a lower income, but we’ll still apply and see what happens.
Steve O’Shea suggested that the repair of the tennis courts be put on the CPA list of prospective projects. The cracks in one of the courts are quite large and there is a net pole coming out of the pavement. The courts probably should be locked up until they can be fixed.
Tim discussed the spending freeze which was recently implemented. The spending freeze is for “all but essential items”. Tim was concerned what would be considered as essential or non-essential, and he wanted to discuss the following needs he feels are essential:
The Xmark Lazer Mower doesn’t run anymore. Tim distributed the request he sent to the Finance Committee, which was for $4,168 for a new motor for the XMark, and the Finance Committee approved his request. However, he received a note from Debi Mahar recommending that Tim hold off on the purchase of the motor since this purchase should be considered frozen. In the long run (over a five-year period) it will cost more if this mower isn’t repaired. Tim will get three prices per the Finance Committee’s request. Some internet companies may be cheaper, but they require payment in advance. The Commission agreed that the motor is an essential purchase for the Parks and Rec Department.
Fertilizer was another purchase that Tim wanted to bring before the Commission. Is this essential or not? Tim feels that it is. We have already cut down 80% of what we have been buying. We also buy fertilizer early because it’s cheaper, usually buying next year’s product now so the vendors can clear their warehouse for next year’s products, thus saving money. We are the only department that buys fertilizer. If we stop fertilizing now and the fields deteriorate, it will cost a significant amount of money to get them back in good shape. Therefore, the Commission felt that fertilizer is an essential purchase.
Expenses needed for basketball referees’ salaries was the next item Tim wanted to discuss. The Parks and Rec Department receives $1,100 from the Town to pay for basketball officials. Tim figured this into his budget when he set the registration fees for basketball for this season, which has already started. If he doesn’t receive this money to help pay for basketball referees, he doesn’t know where it will come from. It was agreed to request this money for the coaches to pay the referees as planned.
The same issue will be faced for baseball officials. Tim has set the Tri-Town fees since evaluations took place in August. Registration forms were printed and distributed at that time. Rec fees for the 8/10 age group were set, but not for the other age groups. The Commission will table this for discussion at a future meeting.
The recreational basketball program for high school boys is not happening this year. Historically, there have been many problems with this group. Last year there were criminal charges brought due to a fight during one of these games. Also, there are no other towns to play against. Some towns no longer have a program for that age group, but also, Monson is not permitted by other towns to participate in their programs because of last year’s incident. Tim is considering having an open gym one night a week for high school age boys so they can still play, and charging them a fee for each night.
The Parks and Rec Department received a check for $750 from Granite City Sweepstakes. This was the third place prize in the Granite City Electric contest in which Monson entered to win lighting for a baseball field. This money will be deposited into the Field Maintenance Revolving Fund and will be earmarked for the third field at Rogers.
The work on the Cushman dugouts has been started. This is an Eagle Scout project being done by Steve Henaire.
Parks and Rec has billed the School Department for $23, 000. Of this amount $14,000 has been paid. Part of that money was for a seasonal employee.
The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, December 17, 2008 at 6:30 p.m. in the Parks and Recreation office.
Barry made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:22 p.m., Steve O’Shea seconded, all in favor and the motion passed.
Respectfully submitted,
Jeanne Guertin
Secretary/Clerk
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 )
| 
