Old Lyme Parks and Recreation Commission
Meeting Minutes
Thursday, August 3, 2017
Present: Don Bugbee (Director), Bob Dunn (Chairman), John Flower (Vice-Chairman),
Mary Ellen Garbarino, Nigel Logan
Absent: Missy Garvin, Tim Gavin, Glynn McAraw
Guest: Matthew Reed, President Lyme-Old Lyme Little League
1. CALL TO ORDER
Bob Dunn called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM.
2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – June 1, 2017
Nigel Logan moved to accept the minutes of Regular Meeting June 1, 2017 and John Flower seconded the motion. SO VOTED.
3. LITTLE LEAGUE UPDATE
Little League President Matthew Reed spoke to the Commission about future improvements that the Little League would like to do at the Cross Lane Park location. There was a discussion, and the Commission advised Matthew on how to proceed with requests for improvements. Both the towns of Lyme and Old Lyme would be involved as this is a joint League. Matthew commented on what a nice facility it is and thanked the Commission.
4. DIRECTOR’S REPORT – Don Bugbee
Don Bugbee reported that all the Summer Camps have concluded, and that the Soccer Camp has been cancelled due to not enough registrants. Overall, he felt that the Summer Programs went well.
Don reported no major issues at White Sand Beach, and that the sticker system is working well.
The State Police were called to Hains Park on three occasions for domestic disputes involving adults. Hains Park has been extremely busy with rowers, and the sticker system is working better than previous years, but there are still some issues with the rowers. Don suggested that the parking sticker policy be reviewed after this season.
Town Woods Park is in great shape. An irrigation problem was corrected, additional security cameras were added, and corrections were made to the video system due to some apparent shortcomings. The tracks on the two overhead garage doors were replaced.
Baseball is upcoming at Town Woods Park, and the Soccer Club will hold a camp there late in August.
5. OLD BUSINESS
a. Boathouse Update
Bob Dunn reported that the Boathouse Committee had met on July 20 and he reviewed what was discussed. John Flower stated that there should be a CO granted by the end of next week. There was a discussion of ongoing issues with the project i.e. drainage problems and the discontent with the racks. Docks were removed because they were sinking and have been replaced with new ones.
b. Boathouse Lease Agreement with District 18
The Commission had previously reviewed the Lease Agreement, and there was a discussion. District 18 will not sign the Agreement until an Occupancy Permit is granted.
c. Hains Park Improvements
There was a discussion about a plan to move forward with the new bathroom and hopefully a pavilion. There is presently money in the Parks and Recreation budget for this project, money from fundraising, and hopefully some left in the Boathouse project to work with. A committee of five was suggested with three people from Parks and Rec, one person from the Board of Finance and one other. All members would be voting members.
6. NEW BUSINESS
a. Cross Lane Playground update, funding, location, etc.
Missy Garvin was not in attendance, but Don Bugbee shared an email he had received from Missy regarding an update on this project. Presently there is $184,000 available for the project and the Playground Committee hopes to raise another $16,000. The Commission members had questions about the timeline Missy presented in her email considering the problems with the proposed site. The Commission will request that a member from the Playground Committee come to the Parks and Recreation meeting in September to show us the plans. Bob Dunn will contact Missy Colburn with this request.
b. High School Team / High School fields vs TWP fields
The request for the Lyme-Old Lyme High School Boys Pre-season Soccer Camp to be held at Town Woods Park on Aug 14-18 was discussed. It was the consensus of the Old Lyme Parks and Recreation Commission that this Camp be held on the District 18 school grounds, as it previously has been, and not at Town Woods Park.
There were several factors contributing to this decision, including:
The camp has previously been held on the district fields, and these fields should be made available for the high school kids to use.
This pre-season camp is the week before the official start to the High School Season, and the fields should be ready by then. (It was acknowledged that some goal mouth repair work has been done to two of the District fields, but the third field appears to be ready to play on.)
Additionally, Town Woods Park was primarily built to accommodate all Parks and Recreation and Club activity, thus eliminating overuse of Town and District fields.
Don Bugbee will get back to Steven Corcoran to relay the Commission’s decision.
c. Other New Business – None
7. PUBLIC COMMENT – None
8. ADJOURNMENT
Mary Ellen Garbarino moved, and Nigel Logan seconded, to adjourn the meeting at 8:39 PM. SO VOTED.
The next meeting of this Commission will be on September 7, at 7:00 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Mary Ellen Garbarino
Secretary
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