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December 7, 2015 Recreation Commission Minutes
NEWTON RECREATION COMMISSION
DATE: Monday December 7, 2015
TIME: 7 PM
LOCATION: Town Hall Rear Meeting Room

MEETING MINUTES

  • Call to Order:  Chairperson Annie Collyer called the meeting to order at 7:05 PM.
  • Members in Attendance:  Selectman Ex-Officio Matt Burrill, Sue Milner, Bob Faghan, Steve St. Cyr and Annie Collyer
  • Guests:  none
  • Approval of Minutes of November 2, 2015:  Mrs. Milner made a motion to accept the minutes of November 2, 2015 as written.  The motion was seconded by Selectman Burrill and approved unanimously.
  • Senior Holiday Luncheon:  Mrs. Milner reported that all but one ticket has been claimed for the luncheon this Wednesday.  The chaperones will be Ms. Collyer and Selectman Jim Doggett.  Selectman Burrill will also attend, but not as a chaperone.  Ms. Collyer will pick up the poinsettia favors from Newton Greenhouse Wednesday morning.
  • Greenie Park and Town Beach:  Mr. St. Cyr reported that he removed the buoys from the water and attached floats to the anchors to make putting them back in place in the late Spring easier.  
  •         Ms. Collyer said that there is still some finetuning to be done by the security camera installer before the cameras are fully operational, and that Mary Winglass, Office Manager, advises this will be done shortly.  In addition the installer is supplying signage for both the Town Beach and for Greenie Park.
  •         Mr. St. Cyr reported that with all committee members involved in addition to Jim Baker, the old wall ball backboards were removed and new ones installed.  In the Spring, painting of a line and/or targets can be done.  
  • Budget Review and Planning:  Selectman Burrill announced that the Board of Selectmen unanimously accepted the proposed budget and is strongly in favor of the proposed warrant articles for Olde Home Day, for safety measures at the Greenie Park play ground and at the skatepark and for the Senior trips.
  • Warrant Articles:  Ms. Collyer presented a proposed budget for Olde Home Day as the basis for a warrant article.  She included the events and activities of 2015 as well as some ideas such as additional free apparatus, transportation by hayride from additional parking at Memorial School, and either a magician or free movies.  The Commission members discussed what level of budget would make sense to the voters.  Because the cost of Town Day this year was estimated to be about $8000, and because some of the activities were discounted for this year, the total for next year is estimated to be $9655. Selectman Burrill made a motion, seconded by Mrs. Milner, that we propose a warrant article for a total of $9655 for Olde Home Day for 2016.  Mr. St. Cyr pointed out that the event was well-attended and popular this year, and that while waiting to hear whether Memorial School was planning to hold a 5K race, the Commission had only three months to put it together.  It is expected that the day will grow more popular in coming years, and that more attractions will be offered.  Ms. Collyer reiterated that we hope to have a Friends of Recreation form which can also raise additional money for bigger and better Olde Home Day as the years progress.  The motion passed unanimously.
  •         2015 has been a year dedicated to safety by the Commission.  Mr. St. Cyr has been working on obtaining pricing for adding engineered wood chips and moving play equipment to create safer buffer zones from the skate park for the playground at Greenie, and on obtaining costs to resurface the skate park.  The cost for the resurfacing is $6500, but he also needs to obtain the cost to remove and replace the skate park equipment.  Selectman Burrill suggested that Road Agent Mike Pivero as a town resident has both the equipment and the interest in the town to do the work.  He arranged for Mr. St. Cyr to obtain pricing from Mr. Pivero.  Mr. St. Cyr will finalize the pricing and get the information to Selectman Burrill, who has offered to write the warrant articles, and run them by Town Administrator Nancy Wrigley for input.
  •         Ms. Collyer said she will attend the Board of Selectman meetings this month for discussion of warrant articles.  She will be present at the public hearing on all warrants on January 19 and for the deliberative session on January 30.  She encouraged all members to attend the January meetings.  She discussed that passage of our warrant articles will be aided by postings on Facebook and by letters to the editor of the Carriage Towne News by members and friends of Recreation.
  • Other Business:  Ms. Collyer made a motion, seconded by Mr. Faghan, that we spend up to $1000 to enable discounted tickets for Snowtubing at New England Sports Park in Amesbury.  She said the goal is to have tickets available at a discount online for Newton residents, similar to the way residents are able to buy tickets for Water Country and Canobie.  Mr. St. Cyr is hopeful that the tickets will end up costing about $10 each for the discounted fees.  Mrs. Milner would like to have no blackout dates for the discounted tickets.  Ms. Collyer is speaking with the operator and trying to work out a viable solution for the town residents.  All were in agreement that ticket purchases will not go through Town Hall.  The motion passed unanimously.  Ms. Collyer will try to get them into effect prior to yearend.
  • Adjournment:  The next meeting will be held on January 4 at 7 PM.  Monthly meetings will continue until after the new budget and warrant articles are passed in March.  Selectman Burrill made a motion, seconded by Mr. Faghan, that the meeting adjourn.  Having passed unanimously, the meeting was adjourned at 8:05 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Annie Collyer,  Secretary