Minutes of the Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting
Wednesday, October 15, 2009
Present: Michael Arbour and Steve O’Shea
Also Present: Timothy Pascale, Director; Jeannie Guertin, Secretary/Clerk
Steve O’Shea called the meeting to order at 6:33 p.m. Steve made a motion to accept the July minutes and Mike seconded. All in favor and motion passed.
The Community Preservation Committee has chosen the Flynt Park baseball field as one of the projects that will be voted on at a Special Town Meeting on November 16 at 7:00 p.m. at Granite Valley Middle School. Tim has been trying to contact Steve Slozak to see if he needs help writing the warrant for the Town Meeting. An e-mail will go out from the Parks and Rec to gather support for people to go to the Special Town Meeting and vote for the approval of the baseball field project.
There was an article in The Republican about the condition of the tennis courts and Tim was interviewed. Tim stated (in the article) that two out of three of the Selectmen voted not to provide the $7,000 needed to repair these courts. Sam Bilotti said that he might be interested in donating money to repair the courts, but we haven’t heard back from him. This would be a good CPC project if they changed their policy to include the betterment of existing facilities.
The Bruins bus trip scheduled for October 10 has been postponed to April 1 due to lack of ticket sales.
The soccer season is going good. There has been only one incident to speak of during a 1st/2nd grade game where a parent confronted a coach and resulted in dissension between the two teams. The two teams have one more game to play together, and the coach will talk to his team’s parents to see if they’re okay with playing that team again. If not, Tim will adjust the schedule so they don’t play each other.
Monson Summer Theatre operated at a loss this year. Tess will be acting as only Producer next year and Erin Greene will be taking over as Director. Tess Pellisier’s party went well and raised $2,000 for a scholarship fund. Nancy Zurawka will meet with Tim to see how the scholarship fund account will be administered.
Steve O’Shea distributed three articles regarding the disposition of the Monson Development Center and its grounds and buildings. Steve thought that this might be an opportunity for the Parks and Recreation Department. Perhaps the Parks and Rec could acquire building space and/or recreational outdoor property for very little money. There was discussion about having recreational space (i.e, gym) in one of the MDC buildings, and using some of the conservation area and/or fields for recreational trails or playing fields. Tim and Mike will take a closer look at the property.
Tim will contact John Morrell about fixing the leaning basketball hoop on the court behind the Town Office Building.
The Board of Selectmen has asked some departments, including the Parks and Rec Department, what impact on services will happen if the remaining balance in their budget is reduced by 10% or 30%. Tim had already given that information to the Selectmen when they requested it recently. It’s difficult to see how the Rec Department could survive a 30% cut. Perhaps organizations like the Monson Baseball Association and the Monson Basketball Association could fund raise to keep the Rec Department going. Another possibility is to have registration fees add an “administration fee” to help pay the salary of the secretarial position. The Commission has to move forward and brainstorm on how to continue to provide services to the town with the proposed budget cuts.
The Selectmen will be meeting to discuss the budget cuts on Tuesday, October 27 at 7:00 p.m. Tim has a prior commitment in Orange, MA, but should be able to attend the Selectmen’s meeting in time. Steve O’Shea has a 6:15 pm meeting that day, but will attend the Selectmen’s meeting directly after.
The next meeting will take place on Wednesday, November 18, 2009 at 6:30 p.m.
Steve O’Shea made a motion to adjourn at 7:55 p.m., and Mike 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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