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03-11-14
MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF
THE NEWTOWN PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION
TOWN HALL SOUTH
MARCH 11, 2014

These minutes are subject to approval by the Newtown Parks and Recreation Commission.

CALL TO ORDER

Chairman Marks called the meeting to order at 6:01pm.
        
Commission Members present:  Marks, Boritz, Crick Owen, Brookes, Barczak and Yanni Jr.
Commission Members absent: DiNicola
Staff present: Mangold, Samuelson and Reggiano
Staff absent: None
Public: None

ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES

(m/s/c: Brookes/Crick Owen) “Motion to approve the minutes of February 11, 2014 meeting.” The motion passed unanimously.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

  • Commissioner Richard Boritz announced that he would be resigning his seat on the Commission effective immediately.  He will be moving out of Town by the end of March.  Commissioner Boritz told the Commission that he has had a wonderfully refreshing and rewarding experience being on the Commission. Commissioner Boritz worked directly with the Trails Committee.  
CORRESPONDENCE  

  • None
CHAIRMAN’S REPORT

  • Director Mangold and Chairman Marks went to the Board of Finance meeting to be available to answer questions related to the 2014/2015 Budget request they submitted.  This was the second year in a row that the Commission has removed the purchase of a truck in order to work on smaller Capital items.  If the budget gets cut any further it would directly affect the Commissions/Departments core mission.  Some projects would not be able to proceed.  The budget request will move on without cuts.
  • Babe Ruth Baseball President, Andy Via is questioning the waiver given to the Fairfield County Captains Baseball league.  Chairman Marks and Director Mangold have provided the First Selectman with more information about the process of providing the waiver to the Captains.  
DIRECTOR’S REPORT

  • Director Mangold reported that the Newtown Hawks track team is requesting time on the High School Track and has submitted criteria for review. The Commission would like Director Mangold to send an email that the request was denied because of the nine month notification/request period. The Hawks are requesting use in the next couple of weeks. The Commission would like the request and the email to go to the Town’s attorney, Dave Groggins. Donna will send the request packet to the Commission members.
  • Director Mangold and Assistant Director Samuelson have met with Harvey Pessin about the plans for the Victory Garden for this coming year.
  • 44 slips, to date,  have been rented at Eichler’s Cove Marina.
  • The Dog Park will be opening on Saturday, May 3rd at 11:00 am.
  • The group working on the Community Center project is still meeting and is working hard to make progress.  Much work still needs to be done.  A few members of the group visited the Mansfield Community Center.
  • Dickinson Park Playground Grand Opening will be Saturday, July 26th at 11:00 am – rain date is Sunday, July 27th at 1:00 pm.  Donors are requesting plaques be placed at the playground.
  • Director Mangold and Assistant Director Reggiano have met with members of the Chamber of Commerce to discuss participating in family fun day events.
  • Director Mangold will be meeting with Jennifer Barahona from The Newtown-Sandy Hook Community Foundation on Thursday to discuss the process of Parks and Recreation becoming a 501(3)c and to discuss the possible consideration of funds from the foundation to be used for camp scholarships. Nike will not be donating funds toward day camp scholarships this year.
  • Peter D’Amico is requesting field time for 2 teams for his semi-pro soccer team.  This team does not meet the 80% residency requirement.  The Commission agreed in the past they would not rent out the fields.  Scheduling time for these teams would take time away from other approved uses. The Commission agreed that they would not be able to accommodate the request.
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF PARKS – PARKS AND FIELDS REPORT   
 
  • See attached report.
  • Assistant Director Samuelson reported that tree work at Treadwell Park tennis courts has been completed and test borings look great for the new tennis court installation.
  • The OSHA Air Quality tests that were taken at the Fairfield Maintenance Facility have come back very good.
  • Eichler’s Cove tree work is being completed.
  • Assistant Director Samuelson is hopeful that we are done with snow work and removal.
  • The crew is gearing up for spring.
  • Buoys at Eichler’s Cove have been slashed.  They have all been tied together and have been brought back to shore.  The police were notified as this is a financial loss to the Town.
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF RECREATION – RECREATION REPORT

  • The spring brochure is on line and the summer brochure will hopefully be done and on line next week.
  • Assistant Director Reggiano has met with Dorrie Carolyn from Newtown Youth Academy to discuss the employee changes at NYA.  Assistant Director Reggiano explained that communications between NYA and Parks and Recreation is number 1.  They will be meeting again next week to discuss the 2014/2015 schedule.
  • Torpedoes Swim –a-Thon raised $27,000.00 in honor of Daniel Barden. Torpedoes would like to place a plaque up in the Community Center in honor of Daniel and hold another fund raiser.  It is hoped the money would be used toward the new Community Center Pool Facility.
  • Assistant Director Reggiano asked the Commission to consider raising the surcharge fee for the Newtown Youth Basketball organization to $20.00 per player.  She spends a considerable amount of time on scheduling and rescheduling for this league.  Chairman Marks asked that this item be put on the agenda for one of the summer meeting.  The Commission will also have to see how security issues play out over the next couple of months.  New basketball courts at Fairfield Hills would be a good way to give back to the basketball league.
  • Destination Newtown is Wednesday, May 7th .
  • Mad Dash is Saturday, June 7th  .
  • Rooster Run is Saturday, June 14th  .

OLD BUSINESS

1.  DOG PARK UPDATE

  • Strutt Your Mutt event will be held on Saturday, May 31st at the Dog Park.
  • Dog Park opening will be Saturday, May 3rd.  Parking will be behind Reed School.
  • Dog Park rules have been approved by the insurance company.
  • The Buy a Brick Campaign for the Dog Park is going very well.  The deadline to purchase a brick in time to be installed by the Grand Opening is April 1st.
2.  FIELD/FACILITY NAMING POLICY

  • Chairman Marks will discuss further with First Selectman Llodra Item No. 2 on the Facility Naming Police that references a thirty day notice to the Board of Selectman.
3.  2014/15 BUDGET

  • See Chairman’s report.
4.  JOSEPH AUGUSTINE – Men’s Senior Baseball League – Field Request

  • Chairman Marks spoke with Mr. Augustine.  There will be no request for field time needed this year. But Mr. Augustine would like the request to serve for next year and this will provide the nine month notification/request period.


5.  CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN - Prioritize

  • Tabled until August /September when commission would have to tackle  the CIP again.
6.  SURCHARGE DISCUSSION

  • This item will be removed from the agenda.  The Commission was giving a handout of the surcharge history to review.  Commissioner Brookes suggested that this be a separate document for boards and commissions.  This item may be put back on the agenda in July or August.
7.  COMMISSIONER’S OUT AND ABOUT

  • No reports.
8.  OTHER


NEW BUSINESS

1.  CHARTER REVISION RECOMMENDATIONS

  • Commission members reviewed the last update to the Town’s Charter.  Chairman Marks will recommend that the Commission does not have any changes at this time.
2.  KEVIN COMMUNITY CENTER RATE REDUCTION REQUEST

  • The request is from Kevin’s Community Center to reduce the fee charged for a pavilion rental to $175.00.  The Commission agreed to treat Kevin’s Community Center as a non-profit and agreed to the reduction.  If they use the pavilion for a fund raiser they will be charged the full business rate.
3.  OTHER

(m/s/c: Yanni, Jr./Barczak)  “Motion to adjourn.”  The motion passed unanimously.

The meeting ended at 7:32 pm.

Respectfully submitted by,
Donna Benson
Commission Clerk


                                                               PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT

PARKS AND FIELDS REPORT


TO:             Newtown Parks and Recreation Commission,
                Amy Mangold, Director

FROM:   Carl Samuelson, Assistant Director – Parks

DATE:   March 11,2014

RE:             Monthly park update and field report

Much of our time this past month has been dedicated to snow removal.  Following storms we spend many days with loaders removing the high banks to allow safe entrance and exit from school parking lots as well as the FFH campus.

  • 4 Staff members attended Rhode Island Turf conference educational sessions,  4 others attended trade show.
  • Snow removal and clearing.
  • Tree work for new Treadwell tennis courts complete.
  • Tree work at Eichlers Cove dock areas
  • Borings and geotechnical investigation for Treadwell Courts complete.
  • OSHA report complete for air quality at maint garage.

Items we have started/continued work on:

  • Continue invasive removal at FFH maint garage.
  • Brush and trail clearing ongoing on meadows and trails.
  • Seasonal clean up and equipment refurbishing ongoing.
  • Continued operator training program for Park Maintainers.
  • Began skating rink breakdown at FFH


Staff:

  • 224 hours of vacation/sick/personal/injury/discipline hours were used out of 1600 potential work hours in the past month. This represents a 14% loss in workforce or 1.4 employees per day.