Minutes of the Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Present: Steve O’Shea (Chairman), Peter Beaupre, Michael Arbour
Also Present: Tim Pascale, Director/Program Coordinator, Jeannie Guertin, Secretary/Clerk; Amanda Beaumier and Alex Kibbe (Skate Park); Dan LaRoche, Town Planner; Peter Wells, Berkshire Design Group; Robin Santos and Tim Gerry (Suburban Basketball)
Steve O’Shea called the meeting to order at 6:21 p.m.
Robin Santos and Tim Gerry appeared before the Commission to discuss the age requirements for Suburban basketball league participants. Mike Arbour said the Commission had discussed that the Suburban bylaws state fourth graders can play “up” on the 5th/6th grade teams, but 6th graders may not play on the 7th/8th grade teams. The Commission looked at the rules for CYO and Suburban basketball before the Parks & Rec Department’s guidelines were decided on. Tim Gerry feels the best players should be playing with other players who are more at their skill level. There can only be one Monson Suburban team for each age level entered into the Suburban league. We can enter more than one CYO team into the CYO league at different
skill levels (A, B, C and D divisions). CYO has a “jamboree” date for all teams where they are placed in their appropriate division.
Steve O’Shea said he doesn’t want to make changes or make exceptions for one player. We also do not want to put our best players in CYO and have our Suburban team be the “second best”. Hadley does not participate in the Suburban league.
Mike Arbour made a motion to have all teams that are evaluated play CYO and not participate in the Suburban league. Peter Beaupre seconded.
Tim Pascale commented that some parents may not want to travel to the inner city schools. Mike Arbour commented that there are more options with CYO. CYO allows players to play “up” in all their age divisions and teams can be placed in a specific division, and therefore, play other teams that are more appropriate to their skill level. Peter said CYO is a more competitive league and has more levels than Suburban.
All were in favor and the motion passed.
Tim Gerry said that 8th grade girls are allowed to try out for High School Junior Varsity so we will have to wait until after those tryouts to establish our A division CYO team.
Peter Wells of Berkshire Design appeared before the Commission to present plans for the new skate park at Veterans Park. There are 12 concrete components planned. The concrete material will be durable with little maintenance. Alex Kibbe commented that there are components that are attractive to the beginner skate boarder, as well as more challenging components so the experienced skate boarder won’t be bored. The first phase of the skate park is hoping to be bid on this winter, and be ready for construction in April.
Amanda Beaumier commented that there should be a rule that helmets need to be worn and if they are not being worn, the skateboarders should be asked to leave the skate park. Tim said it would be difficult to appoint someone to monitor that. Other towns have liability forms that skate boarders sign. The insurance company says that a displayed sign is enough.
There is a 15 year warrantee on materials, and Peter Wells will look into the warranty more to see what happens if something starts to break down. Alex Kibbe asked if portable components can be brought into the skate park, and the answer was no. Every component has to be anchored to the surface.
Part of the skate park’s budget is to repair any area of the field that may be damaged by bringing in large pieces of equipment to construct the skate park. There was discussion of how to produce more shade in the skate park area. It would not be encouraged to plant more trees which would result in an increase of maintenance (i.e., leaf removal). A canopy would be very expensive, but the cost of one could be explored.
Mike Arbour asked questions as far as what duties Tim Pascale does and how he does them. Mike feels we have a small Rec Department and Tim’s responsibilities need to be outlined and time should be tracked for mowing, office work, etc., in order to be more efficient. Steve O’Shea said he feels the work is getting done and as a Commissioner does not want to micro manage the Director. Steve walks around and inspects the fields. He checks on what gets done and what doesn’t get done, and from what he’s seen and by talking to people, he feels that Tim is getting the job done, and the fields look good.
Peter thought there were too many variables to track. Tim could be frequently talking care of something in the evening and/or outside of an eight hour day, and he agrees with Steve and doesn’t see it necessary to have time cards or work logs. The Commission’s responsibility is to set policies and procedures and not to micromanage.
Steve said that if there were specific concerns, then they should be addressed. Mike commented on Tim’s board near his desk of sporting events and questioned Tim using office equipment to create the materials used on the board. Tim commented that he has a color printer and a laminator at home. While he admits he has used the office printer on rare occasions, he creates the materials for that board at home with personal equipment. Tim also said that if he has a couple minutes during the work day he might update his board. He probably won’t be able to have the board next year since the new town offices will have offices much smaller than what we have now.
Mike also commented on the printouts that Tim does of every evaluation for each child that participates in tryouts and feels it’s not efficient to have copies of all of them. Tim had printed these out last year for each Commissioner since he had a lot of complaints from parents about the results. Mike also commented on the color copies of budget reports Tim distributes. Steve and Peter commented that they like the color format of the reports, but perhaps Tim can send these items electronically to the Commission to save on office supplies.
The Lacrosse registration form and age requirements were discussed. It is not necessary to make any changes to the age requirements that we have had in the past.
Tim met with Erin Greene (Monson Summer Theatre Producer), Cristina Pedro (Town Treasurer) and Debi Mahar (Town Finance Director) regarding the way in which cash is accounted for. They also discussed tracking ticket sales and concession sales. Ticket sales and concession sales will have to be accounted for in a more specific way to abide by the Town’s auditing rules. Also, the School Superintendent had some issued regarding the condition the school was left in after Monson Summer Theatre’s use. No complaints have been received as to the production piece of Monson Summer Theatre. Tim has met with Erin and discussed the accounting and school issued with Erin.
Mike Arbour said the Community Preservation Committee approved the application for irrigation and a water fountain at Constantino Field, and the next step is to go to Town vote on November 5.
Tim said the pool maintenance work is being done on schedule (while closed from October 7 to October 18 for maintenance). He and Paul Demaio were at the pool all morning cleaning toilets and sinks. There are several applications for the part-time positions of pool custodians. One custodian will be hired for the Monday through Friday position, and then it will be determined if a second custodian is necessary for the weekend position. The party room will need to be included in the custodian’s area of responsibility.
Mike Arbour made a motion to approve the minutes of the September 24 meeting, and Peter seconded. All in favor and the motion passed.
The next meeting will be Wednesday, November 20 at 6:30 p.m.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:17 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Jeannie Guertin
Secretary/Clerk
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