Salem Park & Recreation Commission
Draft Minutes
Salem Park and Recreation Commission
Minutes of Meeting
Date and Time: Tuesday, January 20, 2015 at 6:45pm
Meeting Location: 5 Broad Street
Members Present: Chair Chris Burke, James Shea, Bob Callahan, Vice Chair Amy Everitt, Leslie Tuttle
Others Present: Councillor Bob McCarthy, Tom Devine, Salem Conservation Agent
Recorder: Marsha Finkelstein
Meeting Called to Order
The meeting is called to order by Chairman Burke at 6:47pm.
Approval of December Minutes
Callahan motions to approve and Everitt seconds. Passes unanimously.
Vote for Commission Chairperson and Vice Chairperson
Callahan nominates Everitt for Chairperson and Tuttle seconds. Passes unanimously.
Callahan nominates Tuttle for Vice Chair and Everitt seconds. Passes Unanimously.
Visitors
Hope Watt-Bucci – Use of the Salem Common for the 2015 North Shore Pride Parade and Festival June 20, 2015
Watt-Bucci commented that this is the 4th year for the North Shore Price Parade and Festival. Requesting the use of the Salem Common for the entire day from 7am-7pm. Vendors set up at 9am and are done at 11am. The requests the Commission’s permission for a beer tent. They had a successful event last year with no issues/incidents. Asking again for food truck permits and are working with the Department of Health on this. Because they’re getting an early start, this helps them secure more food vendors.
Shea asked about trucks on the Common and the impact of the sprinkler system. Watt-Bucci replied that the trucks and stage are not going to be in places that will cause harm. Shea motions to approve and seconded by Callahan. Passes unanimously.
Dave Knowlton –~City of Salem Engineer to explain drainage work to be done through Forest River Park & Pioneer Village
The area being considered is around St. Paul Street, by McDonalds, by Salem State and down Loring Avenue. The area is considered a 100 year flood plain and triggers flood insurance requirements for local home owners. They’re going to have a storage tank that will allow them to pump the water into the harbor.
Knowlton described the current system and the harbor outlet and how come there’s prolonged flooding around McDonalds and the O’Keefe Center parking lot. He commented that they’re going to disconnect parts of the non-functioning areas and put an underground 400 million tank to process the water. Various parties were concerned about silt and adding more dredging. They decided to go with Forest River Park as the optimal choice because it has outlet already to discharge the overflow. He thinks by putting the drainage system in, they could decrease the flooding on the baseball field and reduce water seeping into the grass in that area and making it a very muddy, wet area.
Knowlton also described in detail of how that would work at the location and the potential for improving the ball field and how the swale would improve the water quality. Has had conversations with ACE, Conservation Commission, DEP, and others. He believes this is a win-win for the park and for water quality. The added that they’re going through the permitting process and wanted to come to the Park & Recreation Commission to get their feedback.
Callahan asked about the timeline and Knowlton said it would about a year. Everitt asked about the timeline on the park and Knowlton said it would be about 6 months for the construction. Callahan commented that this was really on the periphery of the park and Knowlton agreed.
Shea asked about improving the basketball court and ball field. He also asked if digging the field would impact the little league use of it. Knowlton commented that they’ll probably build a new court and they’ll probably have to do something with the announcer shack/building. Knowlton added that they would do something to improve the diamond.
Shea asked a follow up question about when Rosie’s overflows. Knowlton replied that it would and added that they have another project in Rosie’s pond that would also improve the situation. Shea commented that his shop is in the area and is often the person who cleans out the catch basin.
Burke asked if they’re planning to keep the wall on the end of the Clifton and has some concern that the boulders are falling apart. Knowlton replied that they would be repaired. Burke asked if the wall would look different. Knowlton replied that they’d do their best to keep it as much to its original state. They would rebuild after putting foundation.
Callahan asked where they’re getting the funding and Knowlton replied that they’re getting FEMA money from the 2010 ice storm and they’ve got 20-22 million and have secured nearly 4 million already.
Tuttle asked if the stream would always be full and Knowlton replied that it would have water most of the time, but more so when it’s draining out. He added that a lot of the details are still being worked out.
Partanen asked how long it would take to do the pipe into Pioneer Village. Knowlton replied about a month and it can be done off season.
Council McCarthy asked about standing water and Knowlton replied that they’d design it so the water was moving.
Everitt commented that the Commission doesn’t need to vote on this right now and Knowlton replied that he’ll come back with a plan when things move forward.
William Seymour (Absent)/Eric Roise (presenting in William Seymour’s absence) – Gale Associates to discuss the scope of services for the Recreation/Open Space/Field Assessment plan.
Schedule of the report is to get a lot of the report done in the next 2 months and into April. Want to have a good draft of the report by April before it’s finalized at the end of April.
Roise discussed the overview of the project
Team: William Seymour working with Eric Roise and many others are working together on this project.
Goals/Objectives: Accurate Data Collection & Documenting those conditions
Project Approach – How they’re going to accomplish the goals/objectives and the detail of how they’re going to come up with the concepts to present to the community with ongoing iterations until the Master Plan is developed. They hope this will happen in March/April of this year, with a final plan at the end. At the end this, it’s presented in a public forum
Facilities Inventory/Assessment – They use standard forms with checklists of the park’s condition. They’re taking pictures and creating reports on site. They look at all different aspects of the park as well as looking for the potential of the park and hoping to explore the level of use.
Recreation Programming
Community Input – Public Meetings, Surveys, etc. The meetings will be documented and a working group has been a big part of this process. They’ve got some target dates for community and working group meetings.
Maintenance Resourcing – Big part of Master Plan and evaluation equipment, staff, how facilities are maintained and compare it to what should be done. Once the 2 are compared, they’ll come up with some recommendations for budgeting staff time.
Master Planning Program – all about documenting how it’s done and how to accomplish it. Goal to determine priority needs and get public comment for Master Plan Program.
Schematic Site Planning: And, Master Plans for each park. They’ll also do cost estimates and have a lot of experience in this area. They’ll also include phasing and a site constrain plan.
Open Space & Recreation Master Plan Update. The 2007-2012 plan would be updated to reflect current conditions and future plans. The intent is to comply to all local and statewide requirements.
Burke asked about the minutes from the working group and Devine commented that he’ll make sure Burke gets them. Roise commented that the working group members were sent an email with the minutes.
Shea asked Roise why he’s not doing the entire project management and Roise replied that him and Williams are sharing responsibility given that there are a lot of night meetings. Shea asked Roise about getting a copy of an old report from Winter Island and Roise said he would look for it.
Shea commented that in regards to staffing and maintenance, what Roise is thinking about how he plans to make their recommendations. Roise replied that they have a realistic way of breaking out how to find out the process for each park.
Callahan asked if one of the recommendations would be to eliminate a park and Roise commented that that is a possibility.
Everitt requested that Roise come back to the Commission prior to the completion of the draft reported. Roise replied that it would happen in April.
Callahan asked Devine about who’s funding this and Devine is combining 2 sources to do this project.
Tuttle commented that Salem is limited in the winter outdoor activities and is looking for Roise’s expertise in that area.
Shea commented that Park & Rec doesn’t really have a full building/gymnasium for people to use as it would be cost prohibitive. He commented that the Winter Island hanger might be an option as the school department is not an option that works well.
Burke commented that they went to the working group meeting. He stated that it seemed that most of the athletic groups were participating. Burke added that people are frustrated by the school department and the high cost of the use of the athletic fields by the schools, it would be good. Partanen commented that the working group is interested in exploring having a rugby field and is looking for as much info as possible on the use of park facilities.
Nicole McLaughlin –~Plummer Home is requesting use of Waikiki Beach July 11, 2015 for Paddle for Plummer
They are doing a Stand Up Paddle (SUP) Boarding event. They’re asking for permission to use Waikiki and starting at 7:30am. They anticipate being done by 12:30pm. McLaughlin added that after the race, they’re holding a yoga clinic and are asking for permission to do that. The time would be around 12pm or sooner. She also added that regardless of which race the participants are doing, they have to be out of the water by 10:30am. Shea motions and Callahan seconds. Passes unanimously.
Partanen asked about parking and McLaughlin replied that they’ve got parking all set
Joseph Majahad (Absent) – Night Owl Rocketry Club requesting the use of Gallows Hill for rocket launch events.
Brett Mentuck (Absent) –~Community Gardens would like to discuss bees at Mack Park
Mamadou Diop (Absent) – Karen Partanen will speak on his behalf –~Use of the Salem Common for Culture Fest July 17 & 18, 2015
Partanen commented about a music complaint received last year and responded that he doesn’t set up his music till around 10am.
Burke motions to approve, seconded by Shea. Passes unanimously.
Kerri Powell (Suzanne Kouri presenting for Kerri Powell) – The Marfan Foundation is requesting use of the Salem Willows May 16, 2015 for a fundraiser walk.
Kouri is speaking on Powell’s behalf and is on their board. Most of the event fundraising is online. They want to use the hatch shell. They have a celebrity spokesperson and they’re hoping they’ll have a good attendance.
Callahan asked about the map and Kouri commented that they’re walking on the sidewalks only. She commented that it’s a casual, low intensity event.
Burke asked if that while the walk goes on, people can still use the park and Kouri replied that they can.
Shea motions for approval and Tuttle seconds. Passes unanimously.
Jude David – Requesting permission to use the Salem Willows for the 1st~annual Country Fest on August 29, 2015
They wanted to have an event that covered a lot of different types of foods and music and country themed events. They are using a variety of vendors (starting with local vendors) and have planned to have a 3 day music festival which would draw a lot of people to Salem since it’s at the end of August. There are a lot of similarities to the food festival, but with a country flair.
David commented that this would be designed to have good public access and the main component is the stage, water line and electrical. She went on to say that this was the best weekend to do this. The proposal is for 10% back to the City of Salem.
Callahan suggested the Salem Common as a venue and asked if there’s something particular about the Willows that makes it more ideal than the Common. David replied that it’s important to have the proper infrastructure and they must have a big stage. Several Commissioners talked about possible parking issues and David replied that she’s unsure how it will work with the neighborhood associations, etc. Callahan added that it would be nice to have more options. Members discussed the possibility of shutting down the Commons.
Shea asked if it’s going to be too much to have another event of that nature in the Willows. Councillor McCarthy commented that Willows residents complained about the visuals, the limited egress and the loud freezer trucks from last year’s Seafood Festival. David responded that those issues where discussed and resolved for future event planning. Burke asked about the event hours and David replied with the hours for each day.
Burke commented that the park is going to get a harder use for this festival for things like the mechanical bull and the pig races. David replied that the people running these events build it up so much that there’s very little impact on the land. Burke is concerned about the intense use of the land and the amount of time it’s being closed to the public.
Callahan commented that it is possible to fence off half of the Common and still have plenty of room for an event like this.
Shea commented that events like these provide good entertainment for our lower income and elderly residents. He asked Partanen what she thinks about it and Partanen asked about the fireworks. David said she’s flexible about it.
Shea added that fireworks is a draw for people and it’s great, whether you have money or not. Partanen asked about comps for teens in the community for an event like this. David agreed to give 50 free tickets to Partanen for low income teens in the community.
Shea motions for approval. David asked the Commission which location they prefer. Callahan prefers the Common, Shea asked about Forest River. Shea withdraws motion.
Burke motions to approve with modifications to the location in the park and that music wouldn’t start before noontime on Sunday morning. Tuttle seconds. Passes with 2 nay votes by Callahan and Shea.
Discussion: Shea will vote against it in support of Councillor McCarthy’s opposition to having the event at the Willows. Burke commented that while it’s a good event, the organizers are profit making, rather than non-profit like the Salem Jazz and Soul. David asked if the Commons was an option and Partanen and several Commissioners discussed that option. Tuttle stressed that the parks are for everyone’s use and that a small portion of the neighborhood complaints shouldn’t stop the rest of the City from using the Willows. Callahan prefers the Commons because it’s very walkable.
Superintendent’s Report
Revenue Report
Callahan asked Partanen about setting up a revolving account for Pioneer Village. Partanen replied that revolving accounts go through the state.
Commission’s vote for a resident Bertram Field Committee member
Partanen suggested Charlie O’Donnell fill this spot. Shea motions to put Charlie O’Donnell on the Committee and Callahan seconds. Passes unanimously.
Parks & Facility
Discussion of a possible 5K Color Run on the Salem Common
Partanen commented that this is a messy event, and different. The Commission discussed this and Shea motions to deny this road race and Callahan seconds. Unanimously denied.
Signing of State funded PARC program for Winter Island Multi-Purpose Trail
This is complete.
New Business
Golf Course Rate - Ask Scott to bring in anticipated golf course rates. Shea asked Partanen to have Scott come to the next meeting to talk more about this
Salem Jazz and Soul – Shea asked about why they don’t pay for the City services, but it’s been address and SPD is paid for.
Adjournment
Callahan motions to adjourn and is seconded by Tuttle. Passes unanimously.
Next Meeting: February 17, 2015
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