 _________________________ MassachusettsParks & Recreation
Parks and Recreation Meeting Minutes of August 18, 2008
Attendance:
Committee Members: Mike Prisco (MP), Rita Mullen (RM), Lisa Dickey (LD), Mike Fitzpatrick (MF), Billie Luker (BL), Sergio Coviello (SC), Kathy Morgan (KM)
Staff: Marty Tilton (MT), Sheila Sturdevant (SS), Lynne Clemens (LC)
Absent: Olga Arnold (OA), (LM) Lauren McMullen
(MP) 7:10pm Quorum, meeting called to order Mike Prisco.
Audience of Citizens:
None
Acceptance of meeting minutes from 3/27/08, 4/23/08 and 7/21/08
(SC) Sergio Coviello made a motion to accept the minutes from the March 27, 2008 meeting.
(BL) Billie Luker seconds the motion.
No discussion was had.
Approved: 5 Opposed: 0 Abstained: 2*
*Lisa Dickey and Kathy Morgan abstained because they did not attend the meeting of 3/27/08
(BL) Billie Luker made a motion to accept the minutes from the April 23, 2008 meeting.
(SC) Sergio Coviello seconds the motion
No discussion was had.
Approved: 5 Opposed: 0 Abstained: 2*
*Lisa Dickey and Kathy Morgan abstained because they did not attend the meeting of 4/23/08
(SC) Sergio Coviello made a motion to accept the minutes from the July 21, 2008 meeting.
(RM) Rita Mullin seconds the motion
No discussion was had.
Approved: 5 Opposed: 0 Abstained: 2*
*Lisa Dickey and Kathy Morgan abstained because they did not attend the meeting of 7/21/08
Old Business
Final Approval on Permit Application
(MP) Discussion was had regarding adding language to the cover page stating that this was version 1 of the handbook and changing statement “North Reading Parks and Recreation reserves the right to update and change the contents of this Field & Facility Permit Policies Handbook” to North Reading Parks & Recreation reserves the right to update and revise the contents of this Field & Facility Permit Policies handbook”.
Page 2-Final Approval on Permit Application (cont’d)
Also, the committee has asked to have an index page inserted into the handbook to keep track of all the revisions, the dates of revisions, etc.
The committee has asked to have the separate pages tagged with revision numbers on the bottom of each page listing the revision numbers.
(MF) A question was asked regarding pg 7 line 1 as to “original or copy of permit”. Committee decided
that whomever the president of each league is should hold the original permit (with Parks &
Recreation seal) on file.
(LC) A question was asked, “what would be the procedure if the handbook and policies change and
revisions are made? How will this affect handbooks already handed out to leagues.”
Committee discussed stapling the version of the handbook handed to the league originally
with the permit. If a policy changes the new version of the page changed should be mailed
out to the league.
Marty Tilton will make a decision on what to order for a professional embossed seal for the permits.
(MS) A Question was raised as to whether or not the Cheerleaders should be charged the $45 user fee
because as a whole they are part of the football league but they have never been charged before
and football did not include cheerleaders at all in there submission of rosters or fees.
Committee discussed that the Cheerleading organization needs to be notified immediately that
they must submit all documentation just as the football organization has and that the cheerleaders
fall under all the same policies and procedures as does their counterpart, football.
The committee as a whole feels that both Cheerleaders and Football Players should pay the
same fee structure. However, because of the late publication of the handbook and the confusion
of whether or not the league is aware of the changes Parks & Recreation is willing to work with
the league and come to a compromise for this season.
(MP) Mike Prisco will take the action of contacting Ernie Arena, President of NRYFL to discuss the issue.
(RM) Rita Mullin made a motion to accept the “Field & Facility Permit Policies Handbook” as
adopted on August 18, 2008 and as revised with changes discuss on August 18, 2008.
(SC) Sergio Coviello seconds the motion.
Approved: 7 Opposed: 0 Abstained: 0
Turf Field Program Update
(RM) Rita Mullin updated the committee on the progress of creating a video to promote the installation
of a turf field in North Reading and all its benefits. She has a proposal for the cost of the video which she will forward to Mike Prisco to approve.
(MS) The project would become a special project line item on the budget.
Update on KidSpot
(MT) Marty Tilton summarized for the committee the meeting with Heidi Griffin, himself and the
state regarding applying for a grant for the KidSpot playground. Marty said the meeting went very well and if we were approved the monies would not come through until July of 2009.
(KM) Kathy Morgan said that it looks as if KidSpot was constructed on Conservation Land and to qualify
for the grant, the land would have to be approved at Town Meeting to be transferred into the
care and control of Parks and Rec. The only problem with that is that member of the
Conservation Commission have stated they would not be in favor of transferring any conservation
land. Kathy Morgan has a ConCom meeting tomorrow night at which time the matter will be
discussed further
Page 3
Update on Maguire Field Renovation Project & Plans
(MT) Marty Tilton will be meeting with the Town Administrator to go over the bid package inquiries
and possibly find out who will be awarded the project.
Update on Wheeler Renovation Schedule and Plans
(MT) Marty Tilton has been getting quotes for work at the Wheeler Property. Marty advised members that mold is a major issue and once cleared out, more testing should be done prior to occupancy.
LUC Golf Tournament Event
(MP) Ken Tarr of LUC has asked the committee if LUC could set up a table at the weekly IRP BBQ
to promote the LUC Golf Tournament benefit to raise monies for the IRP Bathroom Project.
Ken Tarr has also asked if P&R Has any other ideas on how to promote or market the fundraising
for the project.
(LC) Lynne Clemens will take action on working with Ken on Marketing the Fundraising.
New Business
Parks Manpower issues
(MT) Marty Tilton updated the committee on the manpower changes about to occur for his staff. The Temporary staff will be leaving to go back to college. The foreman, Dan Foynes, is back at work.
Discussion Request for P&R to take over Field Hockey league.
(LC) Lynne Clemens let the committee know that she updated this issue during the last meeting also. But Bill Bellino is currently trying to see if any parents of the kids playing would like to take over the league before thinking about turning it over to P&R, but he wanted to know if no one stepped forward would P&R consider taking over the league.
(MP) Mike Prisco would like to see all the details for the past three years for Field Hockey to make a determination.
Recreation Program Summer Updates
(LC) Lynne Clemens updated the committee on the summer events and programs. She said it was a great and successful summer. No major incidents occurred. The staff did a wonderful job keeping track of incidents and record keeping. Everything went much smoother than last year. Lynne will be writing a letter to the editor.
Lynne is looking forward to the fall session. Two of her instructors are leaving this season so she will be interviewing to fill those two positions. She put out an email blast through the VTH system and has received a huge response of interest from parents. She will be interviewing all next week.
FY09 Manpower issues
(RM) Rita Mullin is pleased to announce that the Town Administrator has offered Maureen Stevens a
position as Operations Director for Parks & Recreation. This would be a non-union position. The Town Administrator has also asked Maureen Stevens if she would be interested in being Department Head for Parks & Recreation. The two positions are separated that way if the Operation Manager left the position the Dept Head title would not be lumped together with the position and could be assigned to someone else. If Maureen Stevens accepts the position she will be leaving the Veterans Office part time position and moving over to Parks & Recreation for the full time position.
Page 4- FY09 Manpower issues(Cont”d)
(RM) Rita Mullin made a motion to send a letter to the Town Administrator recommending Maureen
Stevens for the position of Operation Director and Dept Head for Parks & Recreation Dept.
(SC) Sergio Coviello seconds the motion.
Approved: 7 Opposed: 0 Abstained: 0
No discussion was had.
FY09 Final Budget
Copies of the FY09 Budget were distributed to all members of committee and staff. A discussion was
had regarding any questions anyone had regarding the budget. The budget is based on a 3 year
average. Someone asked what the Special Projects were listed under the line items. It was specified that
they were the Wheeler project and the Maguire Field/ Chestnut St Project. They are listed as separate line
items to ear mark and keep track of the monies spent on these projects.
FY08 Budget
(MP) Mike Prisco has asked for a final copy of the FY08 Budget to be distributed and Maureen Stevens did so at this meeting. It was asked if anyone had any questions. They went over the budget. Emergency Fund line item was explained that this is monies earmark for unforeseen situations that are of an emergent timing.
FY10 Budget Activity
(MP) Mike Prisco asked Maureen Stevens what the schedule is for the FY10 Budget and when it is due. Maureen informed the committee that she believes the Town Administrator will be discussing
that at the next Dept. Head Meeting.
Mike Prisco feels that FY10 will be a very difficult year because the Board of Selectman have already acknowledged a shortfall for FY10. So Mike would like to ask the committee and staff members to brainstorm on ideas to bring in more income on our own.
Yearly Maintenance Log for NRLL
(MT) Marty Tilton passed out a document outlining what kind of maintenance has been done for NRLL and any associates cost.
The committee would like to review the log, but at a glance can see that no equipment time was considered.
This list is just for tasks performed. Committee will revisit at future meeting.
Upcoming meeting dates
*9/3/08 (this is a Wednesday evening) 9/15/08
Adjournment
(KM) Kathy Morgan made a to adjourn the meeting at 9:50pm
(SC) Sergio Coviello seconds the motion
In Favor: 7 Opposed: 0 Abstained: 0
Meeting Adjourned at 9:50pm
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