Minutes of the Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Present: Steve Slozak, Michael Arbour
Also Present: Tim Pascale, Director/Program Coordinator, Jeannie Guertin, Secretary/Clerk
Steve Slozak called the meeting to order at 7:15 p.m.
The status of the $500,000 grant projects was discussed. The reconstruction of two tennis courts was awarded to Palmer Paving, and a letter was sent from the selectmen’s office yesterday authorizing them to start at any time. The work will be done in the fall. The forestry work for Flynt Park has been awarded to Rocky Mountain Wood Co., and they also have been sent a letter stating it was okay for them to start working. There may have to be signs, pillars, wires, etc., removed for them, or they will get access through the Keep Museum. There are drainage issues at Cushman Field that need to be resolved before work is started there, and some of the grant money may be used for this purpose.
Flynt Park drainage has passed through the Conservation Commission. They will start with Lower Rogers and then Upper Rogers. Work on the third field will wait until the spring when Rocky Mountain is done working there.
Regarding irrigation at the high school baseball field, the school wants to know a water usage figure and Craig Jalbert is getting this for them. The area has been flagged off.
Tim discussed a contract for his position of Parks & Recreation Director/Program Coordinator. He had been contacted by the state ethics commission regarding him coaching for the high school and being Director of the Parks & Rec Department. A town employee cannot have another position in the town, assuming the time needed for the second position would interfere with the primary job. In a letter from the ethics commission, Tim was told his only recourse, besides resigning from the coaching position, would be to have the coaching position included in his contract with the town for his Director position. The contract would need to be signed by Tim, the Parks & Rec Commissioners, and the Board of Selectmen. Steve Slozak and Mike Arbour agreed to sign the contract, which is dated
7/1/12-6/30/13, and would be renegotiated next year. The Commission had given Tim permission to coach for the high school, and he has been doing this since 1989. Tim will contact Steve O’Shea to discuss this with him. Tim is currently coaching the Junior Varsity high school girls’ soccer team. He has until November 6 to get this resolved with the ethics commission, or he will be fined $2,000. Hopefully, the contract can be reviewed by the selectmen at their next meeting on October 9.
Pete Beaupre would like to start an open gym for boys and girls in Grades 1-4. Parents have been complaining about the decrease in gym time at Quarry Hall due to a switch to a block schedule, and the open gym would supplement the loss of physical education time. A letter has gone to the selectmen asking permission to use the Hillside gym proposing a six-week session beginning on Monday, November 12, every Monday and Wednesday evening until December 19 (excluding Wednesday, November 21), from 6:00-7:00 p.m. We would charge participants $25 for the six-week session, or a “pay as you go” fee of $3 per evening, per child.
The open gym would be directed by Pete, with assistants present as needed, based on number of participants. Types of supervised activities would include those that normally take place in a physical education class (tag, kick ball, badminton, etc.). They can use equipment that we use for our Summer Fun Week camp. If a large number of kids participate, we could always move the program to Quarry Hill.
Camps for the weeks of February and April school vacations are also being considered, but we need to find someone to direct both camps. Tim has contacted Kristine Kelly who directs Summer Fun Week, but hasn’t heard back from her.
Basketball registrations start Monday, October 1, and evaluation dates have been set for CYO and Suburban teams. Mike Arbour will run the evaluations again this year.
Soccer is going well. A white dotted fall back line has been put on the field closest to the river, per Pete Beaupre’s request, to help guide the Instructional and 1st/2nd graders.
Mike would like to start a men’s basketball league starting in November and use Granite Valley Middle School. There would be two 10-week sessions, and the fee would be $30 for each session, or $3 per night. The league would play either Sunday mornings or Wednesday evenings. Participants would have to pre-register with a registration form.
The last bill for Monson Summer Theatre was just paid for police coverage. Ticket sales were good and it is assumed there was a decent profit made from this year’s production of “Grease”. Jeannie suggested that next year two complimentary tickets be offered to any person who has coached a team in the past year to show our appreciation.
The next meeting date was proposed for Wednesday, October 17 at 7:00 p.m. Jeannie will check with Steve O’Shea to see if this is okay with him.
Mike Arbour made a motion to close the meeting at 8:20 p.m. Steve Slozak seconded; all in favor and the motion passed.
Respectfully submitted,
Jeannie Guertin
Secretary/Clerk
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