Minutes of the Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Present: Michael Arbour, Barry Cady and Steve O’Shea
Also Present: Timothy Pascale, Director; Jeannie Guertin, Secretary/Clerk; Dave Braskie; Rick Malo
Steve O’Shea called the meeting to order at 6:35 p.m. Barry made a motion to accept the June minutes and Steve seconded. All in favor and minutes passed.
Dave Braskie appeared before the Commission to discuss the soccer practices that have been conducted by Tom Murphy this summer. Dave and Tom have the same interest, which is helping kids improve their soccer skills. However, Dave feels they’re doing this in two different ways. Tom is conducting his practices free of charge and open to anyone who wants to participate. The ages of those participating are between the ages of 8 to 16, and there are some that are from out of town. The practices are being held every day of the week except Sunday, and each practice is at least two hours long. Dave has been conducting the Five Star Soccer Clinic for several years and feels Tom Murphy’s practices are hurting his registrations for the Five Star Soccer Clinic. The Five Star
Clinic generates money for the Parks and Rec Department. The Clinic is in its 9th year and Dave would like to continue the Clinic. The Parks and Rec does not charge the schools to use the fields, and Tom has not been charged to use the field with the understanding that his practices are for high school aged summer soccer. In the future, Tom will be charged to use the field, especially since he is having practices for so many hours per week, and those attending are not limited to high school players. For the summer of 2010, an appropriate fee will be figured relative to how many weeks Tom wants to use the field during the summer for his purposes.
Rick Malo asked the Commission what the status was of Tri-Town evaluations. July 13 was the last communication Tim had with Tony Dismukes, and Tony has not contacted Tim as to when a good time is for him to direct the evaluations. Steve O’Shea feels that the Tri-Town coaches should have some input regarding how the evaluations should be conducted. Steve will e-mail Tony to ask when he can run the evaluations. He also suggested that the Tri-Town coaches from last year be invited to a meeting with Tony to discuss the evaluations. Also suggested was having more adults take part in the evaluations rather than high school players.
The Friends of the Monson Free Library is holding an October Fest. There was discussion at a prior meeting that the Library’s event may conflict with Summer Theatre, but since Summer Theatre’s play is in September this won’t be an issue.
Tim has not heard anymore from Jen Gouvin about the Soccer Day she wants to hold in Monson on September 19. He will follow up with her.
The bus trip to the Red Sox went well despite their loss to Kansas City.
Steve O’Shea apologized for the damage done at Cushman Field. In an attempt to make the field playable water was swept out of the field into the outfield. As a result the chemicals in the clay that was swept onto the grass killed the grass. Next season coaches should be educated on what shouldn’t be done to the field (“Do not move water”, etc.) to avoid any more damage.
John Morrell has agreed to fix (straighten) the basketball hoop on the court behind the Town Office Building. He couldn’t guarantee when it would be done. There was a general feeling that the hoop was not a safety concern as is, so there was no urgency to have it fixed.
The purchase of a shed for concession sales purposes will be put on hold until the budget is determined.
There’s progress made in repairing the soccer kickboard at Upper Rogers field. Parks and Rec dug the holes, and Dave Braskie did a lot of the work. Tim will send Dave a thank-you letter for the work he’s done to restore the kickboard.
The erosion on the road at Rogers field should be fixed before soccer season starts.
The next meeting will take place on Wednesday, September 9, 2009 at 6:30 p.m.
Steve O’Shea made a motion to adjourn at 7:45 p.m., and Barry seconded. All in favor; meeting adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Jeannie 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 )
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