City of Salem
Youth Commission
Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, June 19th, 2007
5:30 pm
In Attendance: Peter Baglioni, Jose Avila, Zachary Broughton, Deb Amaral, Bill Legault, Donna Condon, Eileen Dunn, Karen Pelletier, Ann Marie Tanzella and Tom Watkins
Introduction, Mission Statement and Outreach
Deb called the meeting to order at 5:40 pm. Since there were new people at the table, the group introduced themselves to all present. The meeting minutes from May of 2007 were then reviewed and approved. Deb clarified the grammatical changes to the Mission statement that were made at the previous meeting. The mission statement now reads as follows:
The Mission of the Salem Youth Commission is to coordinate and enrich the services and opportunities available to Salem youth through community education, service coordination and advocacy.
Outreach efforts were made to Mary Manning of the Collins Middle School who could not make the night’s meeting but will attend at future meetings. Also, Arabelis Luciano of the Point Neighborhood Association also confirmed that she was interested in working with the group and will attend future meetings. New members of the group that were present were Karen Pelletier of the House of Seven Gables and Eileen Dunn of the Recreation and Community Services Department.
Discussion of City Playgrounds
Eileen informed the group that there are currently two park instructors at Mary Jane Lee Park. Deb said the YMCA did receive funding for 5 additional staff for which she planned on sending to staff City parks, however, Director of Recreation and Community Services Doug Bollen suggested against it. Doug had said to her that the demand is not there and that many surrounding communities do not have staffed parks. Instead, Doug is interested in expanding the hours of the instructors at Mary Jane Lee Park, maybe even including the weekends, as there are many kids who use this park.
Deb also informed the group that the neighbors of Cabot Farm Park will not be privately funding staff for the park this year. The Schools will be providing lunches at the following places this summer: Bertram Field, Boys and Girls Club, Forest River Park, Mary Jane Lee, Pequot Highlands, and the Salvation Army.
Deb had mentioned that Blaine Gann may have a good estimate as to how many kids go to the parks. Ann Marie said that she will check to see if Palmer Cove can be added to the list of parks which will be provided a free lunch.
Community Calendar
Deb did receive some information/dates from Jodi at the Boys and Girls Club. She asked the group to email her any dates so she can add them to the calendar. Tom will send an email out to the group reminding them to do so. Deb and Tom will get together this coming month to work on getting this calendar up on the City website, www.salem.com
Child Safety Day
Target will be holding their National Night Out this year so they will not be able to provide the City any funding for Child Safety Day. Deb also stated that the half marathon sponsored by the Dept. of Recreation and Community Services will not be on the proposed date for Child Safety Day, September 15th. Eileen will check with Doug on the following spaces for potential locations for Child Safety Day:
Soccer Field at Willows (pros: plenty of parking, picnic areas at willows, lots of space, will not have to rent port-o-potties)
Salem Common (pros: centrally located, many people can walk to it, parking garage nearby, supports local businesses)
Some of the events which were mentioned that could be a part of Child Safety Day were:
· Sherriff’s Department Dogs
· Finger printing
· Smokehouse
· RAD
· Firetruck/Police Cruiser/Ambulance
· McGruff the Crime Dog
· Child safety seats demonstration
· Bike safety
· CPR/First Aid
· Water Safety – Police Dive Team
· CHIP’s program
Donna had mentioned if there will be events/information available to older teens, such as sex education and drug abuse. It was discussed by the group that such information may be better displayed and dispersed in handouts. Also, the Teen Outreach Program at Salem High School might be able to assist the group with this.
The group talked about having food at the event. Having pizza and hot dogs was mentioned. Ann Marie volunteered to work on the food situation for the event. Deb will work to find out how many volunteers will be needed.
Deb asked the group to email to her all ideas that need to be put in place for Child Safety Day in order to discuss and finalize the details by the next meeting.
Next Meeting
The Youth Commission’s next scheduled meeting is set for Tuesday, July 17th, 2007 at 5:30 pm in the 3rd Floor Conference Room of the City Hall Annex Building, located at 120 Washington Street.
The Meeting adjourned at 6:35 pm
Meeting minutes recorded by Tom Watkins
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