Minutes of the Parks & Recreation Commission Meeting
Thursday, July 30, 2015
Present: Peter Beaupre, Jr., Sara Szado, Mark Bodak
Also Present: Timothy Pascale, Director/Program Coordinator; Jeannie Guertin, Administrative Assistant; Keith Valley; Andrew Coelho; Liz Manley, Pool Director
Peter called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.
Sara nominated Peter Beaupre as chair; Mark seconded. All in favor and the motion passed.
Sara made a motion to accept the May minutes; Peter seconded. All in favor and the motion passed.
Andrew Coelho appeared before the Commission to express interest in running our Instructional Soccer program. Andrew’s girlfriend had contacted Tim to let him know of Andrew’s interest. Peter informed Andrew how the program is generally directed. It is every Saturday and should be planned to be 1-1 ½ hours in length. JV and Varsity players will help with drills; Andrew’s role would be managing the stations and the drills, and 8-10 minutes per station is suggested. Instructional Soccer is introducing kids to soccer; no positions are taught. The next division (1st/2nd grade) is when they learn positions. The Commissioners will be around to help, as well as high school players.
Andrew said he played soccer through high school, intramural college and adult soccer. He has never coached soccer but has coached track and field. He feels comfortable and is looking forward to it.
We plan to have Instructional Soccer at Veterans Field and will start August 29. Jeannie will e-mail Andrew a CORI form.
Keith Valley appeared at the meeting at the invitation of the Commission since he had concerns with the basketball and baseball evaluations. Keith thanked the Commission for the invite and asking him for his input. He also thanked Tim for the thank you note Tim sent in appreciation for his coaching the team with Guy Hill. Keith thought the season went well, and had recruited his two older sons for drills. The team also had four adults for fundamentals. There was some confusion from the umpires regarding what they were using for rules, which caused some problems for the parents. There was also a problem rescheduling some games. Keith said that the home umpires did a really good job. Allie Zollo was “incredible and did the best job” in
Keith’s opinion. Keith also felt that that the top teams should be in the playoffs, and earn that privilege. Keith mentioned there was a problem with parents with communication. He added that for the future he thought running pre-season coach clinics would help get parents involved or help coaching. We have done this in the past and the clinics have been poorly attended.
Peter commented he heard from several sources about parents drinking alcohol at home games. There were also complaints to the office from some parents about witnessing drinking at the games. No alcoholic beverages are allowed on town property and if there were a problem we would be liable since it’s a Parks & Rec program. Peter talked to the Police Department about having signage at town property and fields stating no alcohol was allowed.
The rest of the baseball/softball season went well. We would not recommend being in the John L. Sullivan league again. Because of the game schedule it was difficult to have practices. Tri Town is the other option but they are actually more rigid. Our 3rd/4th grade softball team was asked to participate in the September 13 taping of NESN Clubhouse, and the team is very excited.
Liz Manley appeared before the Commission since Mark Bodak had inquired about pool memberships. She said she had researched this in 2013, and distributed comparisons and research. She is willing to try it again if the Commission wishes. Mark asks about options (monthly, six months), and also charging higher fees per swim for non-members, and raising our fees in general. If you make it too competitive people will go elsewhere. Tim feels we would lose money on the membership if it were $30 per month or less. We last raised fees two years ago when Parks & Rec took over the pool. Liz will put a membership proposal together and present it to Tim.
Regarding pool repairs, Mark asked if we can have a maintenance contract with a company. Tim talked to Cote to come out every quarter, and they haven’t responded. Companies don’t want to touch the Dectron, since it’s an outdated computer system.
The Town got a grant for energy and the pool is one of the recipients for that grant. Part of that could be the pool having its own heating system instead of sharing with the school. Tim is proposing a Community Preservation Act grant for the pool locker rooms. Connecticut Custom Aquatics came in and measured for an estimate. The deadline to submit a CPA application is August 28.
The Parks & Rec Department should have a Commissioner on the Community Preservation Committee as a liaison. Mike Arbour was the Parks & Rec representative but is no longer a Commissioner. Peter volunteered to take Mike’s place. Jeannie will notify Leslie Duthie and ask what Peter has to do to fill that role.
Sara discussed the banners at Constantino Field. Sara would like NE Elite to purchase a sign and wants one for Parks & Rec but wanted advice on what the sign would say. Peter had suggested something a while ago. Jeannie will look that up and send something to the Commissioners.
The Parks & Rec Department’s mission statement was discussed. Sara made a motion to approve the mission statement that Peter had amended from Jeannie’s suggestion, and Mark seconded. All in favor and the motion passed.
High school soccer night games are scheduled for September 14 and 15, and Parks & Rec should be involved somehow.
Community Preservation Act funding for lighting for fields at Flynt Park was discussed. It should be noted that abutters are asked for input and that could pose a problem.
The basketball court at Vets Parks is very active. Some of the hooks on the basketball hoops were missing and Tim has since replaced them.
Evan Brassard, Town Administrator, is working on a project to restock Veterans Park with 100 yards of playground chips and 100 yards of clay for the baseball field. The Conservation Commission is involved since both projects are within 100’ from the brook. Evan completed the Request for Determination (RFD) and will file it with the Conservation Commission. The new Parks & Rec storage building to be constructed is also within 100’ of river, and the Conservation Commission will need to be involved with this project, too.
We are slowly bringing back the soccer fields. The sprinkler system at the Monson High School field has been fixed, and Tim would like to sod before the season starts.
Our annual Outdoor Movie Night is planned for Monday, October 24. The Monson PTSA will run a concession stand, the boy scouts would like a recruiting table, and Monson Summer Theatre is going to sell tickets to Suessical.
The next meeting is Wednesday, September 2, at 6:00 p.m. The Commission discussed having meetings on the first Wednesday of each month.
Meeting adjourned at 7:54 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Jeannie Guertin
Administrative Assistant
Timothy J Pascale
Director/Program Coordinator
Monson Parks and Recreation
110 Main Street
Monson, MA 01057
413-267-4105 - Phone
413-267-0327 - fax
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