Minutes of the Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Present: Steve O’Shea (Chairman), Steve Slozak, Michael Arbour
Also Present: Tim Pascale, Director/Program Coordinator, Jeannie Guertin, Secretary/Clerk; Peter Sauriol (School Committee liaison); Liz Manley, Pool Director; Craig Szado, Ed Yesu, Matt Kowal, John Fiester (Tri Town evaluations); Nancy Zurawka (Monson Summer Theater); Dot Jenkins and Jeanne Bailey (Rotary)
Steve O’Shea called the meeting to order at 6:31 p.m.
Craig Szado, Monson High School Varsity baseball coach, appeared at the meeting at the request of the Commissioners to discuss Tri Town evaluations. He was asked what he needed from the Parks & Rec Department for evaluations (March 22 and 23) and what his plans were. Jeannie will be there to check in participants. Craig will have a panel of five evaluators who will not know any of the participants. Those who have volunteered to coach Tri Town teams can observe but will not do any evaluating. Immediately after the March 23 evaluations, Craig will meet with the coaches if he needs any input from them regarding the evaluation results.
Ed Yesu voiced his concern about not running evaluations in the fall. He feels Monson falls behind by not doing this, since most other towns do this and are able to train their team all winter. He said it would be an advantage for the teams to practice with the kids all year and set up positions for the kids. Mike Arbour said at the 8/10 level kids should be playing different positions, and not just train for one position. Craig is against fall troyuts, and feels that nothing is keeping Ed or any other coach from training a group of kids all winter if they would like to do that. Most sports, and baseball in particular, at the high school and college levels have tryouts in the spring and very little practice time before their season starts. Also, there are too many conflicts for kids in
the fall that would keep them from attending tryouts. Craig said that as long as he is asked to run evaluations, he will always have them in the spring.
Per the Tri Town league, the 10/12 age division must have an A team; and the 8/10 team has to be an A team. Even if we don’t have enough participants for an 8/10 team, a full evaluation will be run. Carl Santos wants to coach an 8/10 rec team, and there was concern that this team should be a Tri Town team. Carl may not want that option given his limitations of time with his new work schedule. It can’t be mandatory for players to participate in evaluations and play Tri Town. Craig will contact Carl and talk to him about considering having his team play Tri Town.
There was discussion as to what the age criterion was for a player to play Grade 3 and 4 rec baseball. The league rules go by grade level and not age, and that is what we have to go by. This means that if we have an eleven year old that is in 4th grade, he must play Grade 3 and 4 rec baseball.
Wilbraham is starting a Suburban baseball team for 8/10 players, and the intent is that these teams would eventually be in the Tri Town league.
The Parks & Rec currently needs a facilitator to run the Instructional Baseball program. The Instructional Baseball program is a new concept. The T Ball program did not teach the kids basic skills, and players were moving up to Coach Pitch (Grades 1 and 2), without knowing the fundamentals of the game. There should be drills and stations for the kids to move to teaching them basics. Craig can run a training session for all coaches (baseball and softball) for all teams pre-season, maybe a week before Instructional Baseball starts. Mike and Steve O’Shea discussed each being able to be present at different times on the Saturdays of Instructional Baseball.
Nancy Murawka appeared before the Commission to discuss the Monson Summer Theatre (MST) scholarship status. There is currently $4,000 in this account. Once this account is exhausted by granting the scholarships, which is $200 a year, the account will no longer exist. When the 40th year of MST was reached, there was money generated by fundraising for a scholarship for a high school senior who participated in MST. There is also a Fine Arts scholarship that is administered by the Monson High School. Tim will form a committee, which will include himself, to choose the recipient of the MST scholarship. Jeannie has shown interest, and the current MST director should also serve on the committee. The recipient should not only have been in MST, but also should have
experience in volunteering.
Dot Jenkins and Jeanne Bailey discussed the Rotary’s proposed skateboard by law. The Rotary had a meeting with the police chief regarding this on January 18. They discussed placing a surveillance camera at the gazebo to decrease the amount of damage and vandalism. The camera would be funded by Gifts from the Town since the camera would be placed on town property. The Police Chief said he cannot enforce vandalism by skate boarders if there is no skate board by law in place. The Board of Selectmen assumed the Parks & Rec Commission had seen the by law and had approved it. The Rotary had talked off the record to Steve Slozak, but there was no formal discussion at a Parks & Rec Commission meeting. The by law was patterned after Ware’s skate board by law which was
approved at their town meeting. The Rotary has supported community youth programs financially, including the skate park and other organizations.
There was concern that the by law is too restrictive. It appears that there is no skateboarding allowed at all, and endorsement by the Parks & Rec Commission isn’t relevant to the by law. When the new skate park is built is should alleviate some problems with vandalism.
Steve O’Shea distributed a Pool Proposal he wanted feedback on that will ultimately be presented to the Finance Committee. Since the last Parks & Rec Commission meeting the School Committee doesn’t have many to budget for the pool. As a Commission, the Parks & Rec is responsible to try to keep the pool open and let the community decide if they want to keep it open. The Commission is now going back and forth with the Finance Committee trying to find ways to keep it open. The Commission would like a separate account from the school which would specifically finance the pool. Electricity and chemicals would be turned over to the Parks & Rec Department and there would be a pool subcommittee. Parks & Rec would receive the bills and the school would be reimbursed
through this separate account. A member of the subcommittee would read the meter to record and reconcile with the school. The pool subcommittee would be between 3-5 members and should include a certified pool operator and someone in charge of marketing. The subcommittee would report to the Parks & Rec once a month at a minimum.
The School Committee has agreed to keep the pool open until March 6 at 5:00 p.m., which is the day after the Finance Committee meeting at which keeping the pool open will be discussed. Part of the discussion with the school was that if the pool is kept open some revenue can come in from running programs and we could give some money back to the school that we owe. However, no more rental money from the Parks & Rec would be expected for the rest of the fiscal year.
Tim asked who would be in charge of the subcommittee. He wasn’t comfortable with a subcommittee, and feels he should be a certified pool operator if the pool were turned over to the Parks & Rec, and would work more closely with Liz, and she would have more responsibilities.
Liz will read the meter the first of the month, and Peter will call Don Smith and Superintendent Ted Malvey to see the meter.
The operating cost of the pool according to the school is $5,700 for the month of March, which includes chlorine and test kits, then approximately $4,000 a month thereafter. Liz’s salary is $1,240 a month. Figures were calculated for the rest of the fiscal year on a monthly basis, based on these numbers, and it is planned that these are figures that will be presented to the Finance Committee.
Bids are still open until March 8 for the new pickup truck. Marcotte Ford is the only one that has responded, despite several requests for the specs.
The lacrosse program is moving along and the Monson Lacrosse Association is working with Tim. Two half fields may be created at Cushman Field. We are in contact with a representative of the state to see what needs to be done to continue using the MDC field with a licensing agreement.
There is nothing to be done to Cushman accept get it ready in the spring to play. It is 90% ready to go now since work was done in the fall. Regarding Upper Rogers field, it doesn’t make sense that work be done there until the work on the bank is complete. The 8/10 field will be ready, and the third field is expected to be ready in May.
There is still grant money left to install a gate at Flynt Park to discourage vehicles driving on the trails. Work needs to be completed by June 30. All the commissioners are familiar with the location of where the gate is suggested to be placed. Steve Slozak made a motion that the gate be placed at the beginning of the trail that leads to Mount Ella, and Mike Arbour seconded. All in favor and the motion passed. Tim will get estimates for different types of gates.
An engineer has been hired for the new storage shed, and no discussion is needed until a design is presented.
Regarding the use of town fields, if there is an organized activity on any field, a permit is needed. If there is an organized activity which results in damage to a field, they should pay for the use of the field. If we start to see any damage to the fields we will address the issue of unapproved use of town fields by specific private parties. The word “organized” also needs to be better defined, and liability and field maintenance needs to be considered.
Steve Slozak wanted to formally apologize to the rest of the Commission for being at the Board of Selectmen meeting and speaking out of line regarding the surveillance camera issue. He felt it was an opportunity to try to keep an eye on it (gazebo). Steve O’Shea and Mike did not have a problem with it.
There is $1,185 still owed for outstanding basketball fees. Second notices were distributed to coaches, and Steve Gordon has been trying to text people to remind them they still owe money.
Steve Slozak made a motion to accept the January 17 minutes. Mike Arbour seconded; all in favor and the motion passed.
The next meeting date is Friday, March 15 at 6:30 p.m.
Steve Slozak made a motion to close the meeting at 9:50 p.m. Mike Arbour seconded; all in favor and the motion passed.
Respectfully submitted,
Jeannie Guertin
Secretary/Clerk
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