Park and Recreation Commission
Minutes of the Meeting
October 8th, 2008
Meeting called to order: 7:35pm
Commissioners in Attendance: Rob O'Connor, George Caye, Al Larson, Dave Romejko, Steven Harz, Sharon Parlapiano, Jason Race, Jim Snow, Katie Graham, Ray Favreau
Also in Attendance: Chief Tyler, Jack Ceppetelli, and Gary Bazzano, Deputy Mayor & PARC Liaison
Approval of September minutes approved.
Katie Graham was introduced as the newest member of PARC.
Gary Bazzano was introduced as the new Town Council liaison to PARC.
Public Input: Chief Tyler gave the members a final overview and cost of the Bark Park. The total cost of the park was $127,710. Of that number PARC's total expenditure was $29,977.49. The Police Dept. spent a total of $9,291 from a non taxpayer's fund. The rest of the money was in donated goods and services. A one year anniversary celebration of the Bark Park will be held at the park on Sunday November 2nd from 12-3 rain or shine.
Jack Ceppetelli presented a request to PARC members asking that the baseball field at the old Ellsworth School be repaired so it can be used by little league teams in town. He showed pictures and a diagram of the existing baseball and soccer fields and the basketball court next to the fields. The existing field is a 90 foot regulation infield and would need to be changed to little league size. The existing soccer fields are not being used this year because of poor conditions. It would be a great idea to repair all the fields at Ellsworth to get one playable soccer field, a new level little league field and repair the existing basketball court. Jack pointed out that there are very little open fields west of Route 5 in town for kids to play. This would give kids and parents a base for all sports in this area
of Main Street.
Gary Bazzano spoke to members about trying to get a member from public works to attend our regular meetings. He will give the Town Manager the letter that was sent to his office in May requesting a public works member to attend our monthly meetings He was given a brief overview of our 10 Year Master Plan. Following numerous comments from commissioners, Gary suggested that members come to council meetings and voice their opinions about the way fields and playing areas in town are not being maintained.
Rye Street Park: Jason Race has been working with the builders on getting a final cost of the storage/concession building at Rye Street Park. He got an e-mail today with a new cost of $69,774 for the building shell. This is $15,000 higher than the cost that we received this spring from the same company. Ray Favreau is working on getting a second quote on the building from a South Windsor company, New England Buildings, owned by Tim Starr. Mr. Starr would also be general contractor for the whole project and use local companies as sub-contractors for the rest of the construction. Members agreed to wait for this price and would like to see the project done by local companies. We are still waiting for the health inspector for the number a toilets needed.
Street lights at Rye Street Park have or will be fixed soon. Two new lights are also being placed; one at the entrance to the park and the other by the electrical building to shine towards the ball fields.
The field conditions at the park, especially the football field, are in poor condition and the town staff is looking at the fields and ways to repair them.
Open Space Task Force: Jim Snow said a new property was looked at off of Deming Street.
Report of the Recreation Director:
New dates for all meetings in 2009 are in our packets. Please mark your calendars.
VMP: Anti-slip epoxy floor coating was applied to all "wet" areas of the pool. Commander Reed presented a $54,000 proposal to the Town Council for security measures at VMP. This will include new fencing, lighting, video surveillance, and installing broadband cable for better video and computer operations at the pool.
Nevers Park:
Indoor Batting Cage: Still needs about $44,500 for a total of $140,000 to complete.
Community Center parking lot completed with an additional 65 parking spaces.
Rotary Pavilion: The expansion project will begin October 15th and will be completed before the start of the 2009 rental season. This will be funded in total by the Rotary Club.
Lawrence Road Park: Lawsuit was settled out of court.
Youths Sports Culture Initiative: Joe Ehrman will be speaking at the South Windsor High School on Friday October 17th. PARC members are urged to attend a meet and greet in the cafeteria from 5 to 6:30 followed by his talk from 7 to 8:30 in the auditorium. Ray has asked PARC members to be at the doors after the talk to help kids hand out flyers about the ECHO program. He will have golf shirts for us to wear at the event.
Safe routes to School: 250 kids walked to Orchard Hill School on 10/8. A "walk about" assessment will be done at Eli Terry and PR Smith schools to try and get more kids to walk to school.
Ray is working on a cost estimate for a natural buffer on the east side of Chief Ryan Way for the residents of Andreas Trail.
Please review the PARC Master Plan so we can begin revising it at our November meeting.
Meeting adjourned at 10:45pm
Next Meeting: 7:30pm November 12th, 2008
Respectfully Submitted
George S. Caye
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