Minutes of the Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
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 6:37 p.m. Mike made a motion to accept the August minutes. All in favor and motion passed.
Steve commented that Tri-Town evaluations went well. The Parks and Rec office received a comment from one of the parents that some boys showed up at the evaluations with their Tri-Town uniforms on and felt it was unfair. Tony Dismukes will be sending a list to Tim with the results of the evaluations so that letters can be sent from the office informing participants of the outcome. Ed Yesu has volunteered to coach a team, but there will be other coaches needed. Coaches can be chosen once Tim has the evaluation results.
Steve said that on Saturday there will be volunteers at the third baseball field at Rogers Field to smooth out the infield material and ready it for completion. The Highway Department has repaired the holes in the lower parking lot.
Basketball fliers will go out by September 29. Mike has agreed to coach the 7th/8th grade girls Suburban/CYO team, and also run the instructional program. Instructional will still take place on Saturdays. The first date for instructional will be December 4 at 2:30 p.m. The time may change to the morning, if Mike’s schedule allows. Evaluation dates will be October 26 and 28 for the girls, and November 1 and 2 for the boys. November 3 will be the date for 3rd/4th grade CYO.
Changes made to the Application for Field Use form will be tabled until Steve Slozak is present.
Monson Summer Theatre will be wrapped up next week. Tess Pellissier is definitely stepping away 100%; therefore, a producer will have to be chosen to replace her. Tim feels that given the shrinking attendance numbers, the Commission needs to think about ideas on how to help pay the bills. Raising the ticket price would not generate enough extra revenue to consider. Charging the participants a fee for Summer Theater involvement could be an option. Several years ago when shows were sold out there was general admission instead of reserved seating. Partial general admission seating is a possibility. Also, ads could be sold for the program, and there might be grants available to help out. Erin Greene, the director of this year’s production, should meet
with the Commission in November to discuss this.
Tim proposed to the Commission that they think about taking on a lacrosse program, especially since lacrosse is now a Monson High School varsity sport. There is concern about any expenses to the Parks and Rec Department that this program would incur. There is a Monson Lacrosse Association that can fundraise, but on the other hand would want to make sure that MLA remains as a resource and wouldn’t disband. The Commission will invite the Monson Lacrosse Association board members to discuss this in November or December.
Tim has talked with Preco Power Supply about the possibility of leasing a mower. Preco is now a Dixie Chopper dealer and that’s the type of mower the department would be interested in. Tim has talked with Finance Director Deb Mahar and she is open to it. The terms would be $250/month for five years with lease to own. If Preco is on the state bid list Tim won’t have to get other bids. This would take stress off the aging Exmark mowers, which we would still keep.
The financial outlook for the pool is not good. The pool still owes the school $3,000 for May and $3,000 for June. The school charges the pool $21,000 a year to run the pool and five out of the seven $3,000 payments have been made. The school will start billing soon for this year. There is $25,000-$26,000 in the school budget for operating expenses and the other $21,000 comes from our budget. The school just started to install separate meters so we will have a better idea once these are in place as to how much use the pool programs contribute to. The boosters were supposed to contribute $10,000 but have not done so yet. Fees have been raised for programs and Liz has held various fundraisers, but this doesn’t generate enough money. There are still many janitorial related
problems with the maintenance of the pool. Liz Manley should come in so a collective decision can be made as to what the future of the pool should be.
In the next election there will be ballot questions regarding lowering the state sales tax back to 3% from 6%, and also to stop taxing alcohol. It is felt that if these two questions pass, local aid will be cut to make up for it. If local aid is cut, there could be a negative impact to town departments, including the Parks and Rec. Word should get out about these ballot questions and possible repercussions so people are aware.
A sprinkler system at Rogers Field should seriously be considered. The state of Lower Rogers Field is very bad, especially with the unusually dry season we’ve had. At this point Lower Rogers Field needs to be totally redone. Quarry Hill is even worse. Moriarty Field can’t be used for spring soccer because of track. Upper Rogers can’t be used because of baseball. Possibilities to rotate field use were discussed, including putting coach pitch or 8-10 baseball at Cushman. Costs associated with a sprinkler system at Rogers would have to be explored.
There will be a Monson Parks and Rec “night” at the Springfield Armor, the NBA’s version of minor league basketball, on Saturday, November 27 at noon. The tickets are $10 each; they are normally $15. The first 50 kids that purchase tickets will be able to “high five” the players as they are introduced before the game. If this event goes really well, we can try to sell 100 tickets to a game. If 100 tickets are sold a portion goes back to the buyer for fundraising purposes, and Head Coach Dee Brown would come to Monson to do either a players’ or coaches’ clinic.
Tim is sending a letter to the Selectmen outlining concerns with the Parks and Rec Department asking their possible support with Gifts to the Town funding. These concerns include the state of the tennis courts and aging vehicles and equipment. The tennis courts are in such bad shape, they may have to be redone and not just resurfaced.
The Police Department’s K9 car may be available to the Parks and Rec Department and would be an upgrade to the current vehicle that is being used.
Kevin Murphy will be leaving soon, and another seasonal employee will need to be hired to get through the fall. Matt Doyle has been hired and can work until December if needed.
The next meeting will be held Wednesday, October 20 at 6:30 p.m.
Steve O’Shea made a motion to adjourn at 7:45 p.m., and Mike seconded. All in favor; meeting adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Jeannie Guertin
Secretary/Clerk
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