Salem Park & Recreation Commission
Salem Park and Recreation Commission
Minutes of Meeting
Date and Time: Tuesday, November 20, 2012 at 6:45pm
Meeting Location: 5 Broad Street
Members Present: Chair Bob Callahan, Chris Burke, Amy Everitt, James Shea
Members Absent: Leslie Tuttle
Others Present: Karen Partanen, Director Park, Recreation & Community Services, Tim Short, Supervisor, Salem Parks Recreation and Community Services, Hope Watt-Bucci and Brendan Walsh
Absent: Stan Swartz
Recorder: Marsha Finkelstein
Meeting Called to Order
The meeting is called to order by Chairman Callahan at 6:45pm
Approval of September Minutes
A motion to accept the minutes of the October meeting was made and accepted. Motion made by Burke & seconded by Everitt. Passes unanimously.
Visitors
Stan Swartz – not able to attend. Will be at a future meeting.
Hope Watt-Bucci – North Shore Pride Parade 2013, President of North Shore Pride, Inc.
Thanks commission for support of last year’s pride event. Report of no complaints, successful, family event. Had over 50 vendors, 50 marching groups at the event. Asking for same for next year for June 2013. Asking for permission for use of the Common for the event. Event had various vendors, a stage, children’s area and information areas. Recycling was handled by their event.
Callahan asked about providing Porta Potties. Watt-Bucci reported they had more Porta Potties than were needed. Burke inquired about details of standard use and Watt-Bucci responded that it was approximately 100 per person.
A motion to approve the event for next year was made by Everitt and seconded by Burke. Passes unanimously.
New Business
Brendan Walsh – Proposal for Salem Children’s Charity
Major fund raiser being held on December 11th at Victoria Station. They hope to raise $20,000. Walsh explained that the funds raised are usually spent by the time the next event starts. The program supports various family and children’s programs throughout the year. Walsh requests the Commission offer as a silent auction item a year membership to Olde Salem Greene (valued at $1000). Callahan suggested it should be a live auction item. Burke has no opinion about whether is was a live or slight auction, but does think this is something the Commission should support.
Shea motioned for approval and Everett seconded it. Callahan is willing to leave it in Walsh’s hands how to handle the details. Everitt suggested putting a minimum bid on it and Walsh agreed.
Motion passes and approved unanimously.
Correspondence
Review of Monthly Revenue Reports
Golf |
Short: Met with Paul and Scott last week and today there were still 20 cars up there. |
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Burke: The weather has been the same and the revenue has gone up |
Witch House |
Short reported that in October there was a bit of a down trend and Elizabeth, Short and Partanen met this past week. Callahan and O’Shea agreed that sales were still very good, and Shea commented that the last few days of the season were bad due to the hurricane/bad weather. |
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Willows Meters |
Short deferred to Callahan who reminded the Commission that the City Council has been asked about increasing meter rates and it has not been addressed. Burke commented that the Willows gets money from the meters and that they’re the cheapest in Salem. Callahan commented that the Commission will probably do another letter to the City. |
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Winter Island |
Short met with David Gilbert & Partanen. Gilbert has some issues with the budget and is working on ways to increase the revenues. Callahan commented that Gilbert has been doing a great job and suggests Partanen work with Gilbert since he’s a one man operation, even though he manages staff. Shea asked about boat storage and associated fees. Partanen responded that she’ll find out where the money from boat storage is going. Burke suggested that it may be time to renegotiate and see about getting more of that money. Callahan and Shea both agreed this was something that needed to be looked into further.
Short commented that the Harbormaster usually attends the December or January meeting, which would be a good time to bring this matter up. Callahan suggested the Harbormaster be invited to the next Commission meeting. |
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Mack Park Roof Update |
Short commented that they’re waiting for more bids on the RFP and they’ve only received 2 bids at this time. Shea commented that 2 bids are not enough and suggested it be reopened to get more bids. He also emphasized the hand nailing as part of the bid. Callahan expressed concern that the building is not being used and will be empty. Shea commented that down the road it may be a great location for the Park & Recreation offices. |
Superintendent’s Report
Recreation |
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Department Logo |
Short reported that only 2 logos were submitted and that he felt that neither meets the specifications they were looking for. Short also expressed concern that the Department as a whole is a big title to fit into a streamlined logo. Shea asked if Montserrat College were contacted and offered to contact someone at Salem State. Everitt suggested re-approaching Salem State and framing it as a community service opportunity. Short expressed that it’s been difficult to get interest from the general public as well as the local schools, even given efforts made to publicize the contest in local newspapers, social media and websites. Short went on to
say that it seems like there’s not a lot of interest in participating. Everitt offered to connect Partanen to the Chair of the Department at Salem State to see if they can make any progress, not as a competitive thing, but as a community service opportunity. Short expressed hope that in re-approaching Salem State, something would come of it. Discussion about concern about possible outcomes of logos and what might happen if a logo was suggested and it wasn’t good. Additional discussion about working with the high school. Short has reached out to the Schools, City Council and has not gotten a very good response. Everitt offered to connect Partanen to the Chair of the Department. Partanen commented that if this doesn’t happen with Salem State, the option is to go to a graphic designer, which would be more costly. Everitt said she will follow up with her contact at Salem State with a community service offer. |
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Thanksgiving Coloring Contest |
Short commented that the event had over 80 participants and the winner will be announced tomorrow. Short went on to say that it was a great even all around, and the winner gets 2 tickets to Cinema Salem. |
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Santa’s Mailbox |
Short described a new program where kids will mail letters to Santa that will run through December 17th. The program is asking for all letters to include a self-addressed stamped envelope. |
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Breakfast with Santa |
Short described this upcoming event with Santa and Mrs. Claus as a nice family event with low ticket cost. They’ve chosen easy, low cost food. Short commented that this was a nice easy event and good for families and the community. |
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Parks & Facility (Continued)
Golf Use by Employees: |
Callahan commented that this was very reasonable and Shea suggested that since it’s going so well there’s no need to keep adding it to the agenda. |
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Salem Common – Walking Path Upgraded by Aggregate Industries: Short commented that the work was valued at $30,000 and the path looks great. He also commented that it’s great for walking, running and other recreational purposes. He also expressed that the project was a nice upgrade to the park. Shea asked about the fill and Short replied that it was sandstone. Short also said that it was great for running. Shea asked if a letter had been written to thank them. Short responded that Jason Silva’s writing one for the Salem News. Callahan suggested a direct thank you letter be sent ASAP to Aggregate. |
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Nominations for Awards/Awards: Short stated that there will be an awards ceremony in January for people that have given back to our community. Have a few nominees. Tom Crane from baseball program has been nominated and there are 2-3 other individuals already. Short follow up by email to the Commission for other nominees. Suggestion from Shea that Aggregate be nominated. |
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Splaine Park Update |
Partanen commented that the contractors are a month behind and have attributed that to the recent storm and she’ll stay on them to keep them on track with timeline. |
Old Business
None
Adjournment at 7:31pm. Motion made by Everitt and seconded by Shea. Next meeting will be on December 18, 2012.
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