Park and Recreation Commission
Minutes of the Meeting
September 10, 2008
Meeting called to order: 7:35pm
Commissioners in Attendance: Rob O'Connor, George Caye, Al Larson, Dave Romejko, Andy Paterna, Steven Harz, Sharon Parlapiano, Jason Race, Ray Favreau
Also in Attendance: Lissa Ziano, Darren DeMartino, David Hodge
Approval of May and June minutes approved.
Public Input: Lisa Ziano, one of the Youth Sports Culture volunteers, along with Jill Kenefick are chairing the pre-event dinner. They have talked with the local caterers and have a cost of about $15/person. PARC has agreed to pay up to $1000 for this dinner. They are expecting 60-80 people. Andy Paterna is looking into using biodegradable plates for the meals. The PARC members would like to purchase golf shirts to wear during the dinner and presentation to let the public know who the PARC members are in town. The dinner will be in the High School cafeteria from 5:00 to 6:30 with Joe Ehrmann followed by his talk in the auditorium at 7:00 on Friday October 17th, 2008.
Report of the Recreation Director:
VMP: Anti-slip epoxy is being applied to all the wet areas in VMP. This should be completed in the next two weeks.
Nevers Park:
Bark Park: Review committee met twice this summer. Cost estimates are being done for a natural barrier on the east side of Chief Ryan Way. The Bark Park will not be moved. CT Water Co. ran a water line at no cost to the town from Andreis Trail to the Bark Park. Three fountains will be set up. One in each fenced in section and one outside for people. PARC paid for the two inside ones and the Rec. Dept covered the cost of the third. These should be in place by the end of September.
Indoor Batting Cage: Fundraiser golf tournament on 9/28 at Willow Brook. They have most of the money raised.
Community Center parking lot expansion should be completed in the next few weeks.
Rotary Pavilion: The expansion project will begin October 15th and will be completed before the start of the 2009 rental season.
Rye Street Park: The football scoreboard is being installed and should be completed this week except for the electrical.
Darren Demartino spoke to the commission about putting up more lighting at Rye for their practice field. The football club has raised $50,000 for new uniforms and has money to possibly apply toward lighting. Musco Lighting is getting quotes for different projects in town and should be ready for our next meeting. They would also like the storage building be ready for their 2009 fall season. The storage/concession building is being discussed with the town. The problems are the amount of bathrooms needed, size of the concession area and should there be two building instead of one. Two buildings will allow one big storage building and a concession/bathroom building. They also expressed concern about the lack of lighting and parking spaces in the parking lot
at Rye Street Park. They would like to see a bigger parking lot with sufficient lighting throughout the parking lot.
Lawrence Road Park: A plan was selected for the parking area that will have 35 parking spaces and a centrally located kiosk. The town has submitted to the state for a trails grant for the park
Still awaiting a response to the letter, drafted by Steve Harz and approved by PARC members, asking for a member of Parks and Grounds to attend our meetings sent to the Town Manager in May.
PARC members are concerned with the lack of communication between the Public Works Department and recreational users in town in the maintaining of the public facilities in South Windsor. Some examples are;
1) The Tennis Courts at Timothy Edwards Middle School have been closed for the summer due to serious surface cracks and depressions. The T.E. physical education classes are unable to use them now. These should be repaired as soon as possible for the TE kids & the general public.
2) The Soccer Field at the Orchard Hill School have some large areas that are uneven. The Soccer Club has asked the town to repair the areas but have been unsuccessful in getting these repairs. The T.E. administration has also inquired about the poor condition of the field.
Because of these issues, PARC would like to personally invite the Town Manager to an executive session meeting to get his input on our concerns regarding the safety of our children on the town fields and courts.
Annual election of commission officers: The following were elected as officers
Chair: Andy Paterna
Vice Chair: Al Larson
Secretary: George Caye
Meeting adjourned at 10:25pm
Next Meeting: 7:30pm October 8, 2008
Respectfully Submitted
George S. Caye
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