Old Lyme Park and Recreation
Meeting Minutes from February 5th, 2015
American Legion Room / Old Lyme Town Hall
Present: Bob Dunn (chairman), John Flower, Nigel Logan, Missy Garvin.
Late Arrival: Tim Gavin
Meeting guests: Norman Main, Lauren Main and Tom Lynch (Boy Scouts troupe 26) and selectwoman Mary Jo Nosal
The meeting was called to order at 7:01
John Flower made an amendment to the January minutes that the proposed addition to the boathouse should read 22 by 80 as opposed to 22 by 60.
Norman Main presentation:
Norman Main, his mother Lauren and his troupe leader, Tom Lynch, presented to the park and rec commission their proposal to build a skate park in Old Lyme. This skate park would be Norman’s Eagle Scout project for the boy scouts. There are three spots that Norman would like to see this park built; Town Woods Park, Cross Lanes Park or Haines Park. Bob Dunn stated after speaking with Don Bugbee, it would be close to impossible to build a park at either Town Woods or Haines Park, therefore Cross Lanes would be the only possible option.
Norman stated that he has the support of a pro skateboarder and skate park designer, Jeff Paprocki who has built many skate parks within Connecticut and surrounding areas. The park would give kids something to do instead of school sports. He would like to start the park small and possibly expand over the years. He stated that the park he has in mind would be the size of a basketball court and would be made primarily out of concrete.
John Flower brought up liability and Lauren Main stated that they have discussed this project with the first selectwoman, Bonnie Reemsnyder, who stated it could be covered under town liability insurance. John also brought up rules of the skate park and recommended that if the park passes there must be a sign that mandates helmets.
Bob Dunn asked where the funds were going to come from. Norman stated that there were a few local businesses willing to donate, that they were looking into applying for STEAP grants as well as the Tony Hawk Foundation and fundraising ideas thru the boy scouts. The startup cost of a small skate park would be in the range of $30,000-$40,000.
Nigel Logan asked who would maintain the park, and Norman stated that in other towns the Park and Rec maintained the park, but he believes that the boy scouts would be able to do it.
Other small towns with skate parks include Deep River, Middlefield and Sprague.
Bob Dunn requested that Norman draw the dimensions of the park and drop it off to Don Bugbee. He also stated that due to lack of room and the cost of a park he believed this would be a difficult project. Bob brought up the Old Saybrook Skate Park and how it failed and asked Norman to look into if this project was to fail, how hard would it be to disassemble the park and remove.
At the end of the presentation, Norman showed a quick video that he made on the sport of skateboarding.
WINTER PROGRAM UPDATE:
PLEASE ATTACH DONS NOTES
BOATHOUSE:
Bob Dunn expressed that he was the only actual member of the Park and Rec Commission that served on the Boathouse Commission, he was confused as to why we couldn’t add an additional member. He believes that it is in the town’s best interest to have John Flower on the commission, but the Board of Selectman want him to serve as ex aficionado. The BOS also concluded, after hearing the Parks and Recreation commissions’ proposal to elect Glynn McAraw, that it would be too much Park and Rec input.
Bob Dunn and John Flower discussed the 12/13 Boathouse meeting with the commission. The architect was not at the meeting, so they will have Nina Peck at the next meeting on February 12th at 7:30.
Everyone agrees (according to Greg Hack and Paul Gianquinto) that the number one need of the boathouse is to improve storage. If the building is used for storage, code states that for every 100 occupants you need one male and one female bathroom. The existing bathrooms meet that code. Bathrooms must be within 500 feet of the building, and the farthest point to the bathrooms now is 250 feet. The bathroom could be cleaned up and heated for colder months. Changing rooms, similar to the ones at White Sands, could be added as well. Bob would also like security cameras to be installed.
John Rhodes stated that if Region 18 is going to maintain the building they have no interest in it becoming a building for public use.
Bob Dunn also stated that the existing parking lot could be used if the driveway was widened, and if the new parking was put into place, the existing bathrooms would not be able to be used. The park and rec commission was in agreement that if possible, they would recommend the existing bathrooms be used due to safety concerns and the location within the park. As well, the commission agrees that it would be a good idea to widen the driveway in order to divert some of the run off from rainwater. The installation of an absorbent turf would also help this problem.
Tim Gavin asked if the existing foundation could be salvaged and used since it is in good shape and John explained that it could but would need a lot of work to expand on it. What was presented at the December meeting was to tear down the existing foundation.
Based on town ordinance, the boathouse commission will need to present the plan to the park and rec commission for approval.
Greg Hack is looking into new docks for Rogers Lake. The docks are made of a polymer plastic that will not pollute the lake. The price of these docks is $40,000 for two 10 x 60 docks. Greg will bring all of this information to the 2/12/15 meeting.
Bob Dunn stated that he was confident that progress was being made in the project.
NEW BUSINESS:
Bob Dunn stated that he received an email from Ellie Czarnowski about installing a kiosk about the fish ladder / Rogers Lake damn improvement project at Haines Park. We will discuss this in more detail at the March meeting.
Missy Garvin made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:24. The motion was seconded by Tim Gavin
The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, March 6th at 7:00pm
Submitted: Missy Garvin
Attachment:
Director’s Report
P&R Meeting 2.5.15
OL Town Hall Veteran’s Room 7:00 pm
Please excuse my absence from the February P&R Meeting. I am coaching a rescheduled Basketball Game versus St Bernard tonight. Have fun at the meeting and I’ll catch up to everyone down the road. Thanks for understanding.
Program Updates
Adult Open Gym Basketball
Sessions are held at the High School Gym on Wednesdays from 6:30-9:00 pm and will run from Sept 2014 thru May 2015. Sunday sessions from 10-12 am started in November. Fees are collected from participants for the Sunday Sessions to cover the cost of the Custodians. These programs are for Lyme and Old Lyme residents only. There are no sign-ups or fees and Teams are formed each week based on participation. We relocate to the Middle School Gym on evenings when there are Home Volleyball matches or Basketball games at the HS Gym.
Yoga
Winter Sessions (8 weeks) will run Feb 18-April 8, 2015 and Spring Sessions (6 weeks) are scheduled for April 22-May 27, 2015. Sessions are held at the Mile Creek School Gym on Wednesdays from 3:45-4:45 pm. Fees are $10 per weekly session.
Winter Youth Basketball
We are in currently heading into week 5 of 8 for this Program. The Program is open to Lyme and Old Lyme Residents in Grades K-8. We use the High School and Middle School Gyms on Saturdays. There are currently 144 youth playing on Teams.
2015 Summer Staff
I have been accepting new applications for Summer Staff since November 2014 and I have contacted last years Staff to see who will be returning. I am about three quarters through this process and will provide updates as we get closer to Summer.
Facilities Updates
As previously reported, all Facilities are shut down and closed for the Winter months.
Miscellaneous Item
2015-2016 Budget
I am scheduled to go to the Board of Finance Meeting on Tuesday Dec 10, 2015 at 7:00 PM to discuss the proposed Parks and Recreation Budget. I will update everyone at the March Meeting as to how things went.
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