Park and Recreation Commission
Minutes of the Meeting
April 11th, 2012
Meeting called to order: 7:45pm.
Commissioners in Attendance: Al Larson, Dave Romejko, Rob O’Connor, Dan Rezende, Craig Zimmerman, Andy Paterna, George Caye, John Caldwell, Katie Graham, and Ray Favreau
Also in Attendance: George Danials, Rich Backman, and Bart Pacekonis
Approval of Minutes: March Minutes Approved.
Public Input: George Danials spoke to the commission about the problems with the Rye Street Park Basketball and Tennis Courts. He had pictures showing the broken nets and cracks in the pavement on both courts. Ray informed him that the upcoming 2012-2013 Parks Division budget includes repairing the basketball court now and will have to look at the Tennis Courts.
Rich Backman asked that the Commission to look into setting up two outside Pickleball Courts in town. The group (12 to 14 members) currently plays at the Ellsworth Gym. Ray is looking into setting up Youth Tennis Courts on the Rye Street Courts and having the group use these courts as they are similar in size. He is also looking for possible grant monies for building youth tennis courts.
Bart Pacekonis, a member of P&Z in town, stopped by to listen in on one of our meetings. He is working on the plan of conservation for P&Z in town.
OSTF: Still an issue on access for the King St. Property
Dzen Subdivision: Proposal went before P&Z to clear the open space being given to the town and then lease the 10 acres to allow it to be hayed. There was some disagreement between OSTF members on what should be done to the area. Some wanted it seeded and mowed while others wanted nothing done. P&Z has tabled the issue for a later meeting. Ray presented at the OSTF meeting about setting up a chart listing all open spaces in town and what uses are available at each site. He is also meeting with the Town’s Risk Management consultant from USI about what to do in parks and open spaces damaged by storm Alfred with the potential for tree hazards where there are no trails but where people
might still walk through. Should these areas be posted because of liability issues?
Report of Parks & Rec. Director:
- Community Center: New Stairs have been repaired and the portico will hopefully be installed within a few weeks.
- Lawrence Road Park: With Town Manager approval, Bill Burke has been hired to bring in his Brontosaurus to clean up the stumps and smooth the trails in the park and also some other areas in town. Ray will let members know when the machine will be used if anyone wants to watch the process.
- Ellsworth Gym: Floor will be refinished in June.
- ADA Compliance Project: Ray is meeting with the BOE on the issue.
- Little League Complex: Covered Batting Cage is complete and being used by LL teams.
- Indoor Batting Facility (Nevers Park): “Opening Day” ceremonies will be held on Friday April 20th at 6:30 pm. on Rotary Field. Craig Zimmerman and John Pelkey invite all members to attend this event.
- Rotary Pavilion: First event is scheduled for April 28th and the facility is almost totally booked until late October on the weekends
- Town Council: Spending Freeze still in place.
- High School All Purpose Field: Still having drainage issues. Parks will purchase the Redexim aerator in July if the new budget passes. The Stadium field has been seeded and is closed until the fall SWHS Football season. Grass is starting to grow on the field.
- VMP: New entrance sign has been placed. Pool covers are being removed to prepare for the upcoming season.
- Youth Sports Initiative: Teddy Herrera will present “One Pedal at a Time” on Monday April 16th at 10 am in the Wapping School Gymnasium. Everyone is invited. Teddy is biking across America to get the message out about child obesity. He also plans to go before the Town Council Monday night to talk about his rides and be there when the Mayor presents a proclamation about May being National Bike Month.
- DEEP will help the town implement their new Mosquito Control Plan. This will go after the larvae in the ponds and not the adults.
- Trim mowing service bid opening is Friday April 13th, 2012. Contract(s) will be awarded a quickly as possible thereafter.
- Parks Crew has started placing items throughout the town parks for Geocachers.
- April 6th was the Easter Egg Hunt at the SWHS. The event was a success. 22,000
plastic eggs were collected by the kids.
- Annual Fishing Derby will be held at the Dzen Tree Farm Pond on April 28th from 9am
to 1pm.
- The first day of Spring/Summer registration had the largest single day revenue of
$162,474. This was $30,000 more than the old record.
- Eagle Project: A scout, Matt Braddock, is working with the Parks Crew cleaning up and
reconfiguring the center of My Friends Place.
- Ray is moving forward with the ADA audit that was discussed at a previous PARC meeting. He has permission of town manager to begin the bidding process to hire a qualified consultant. They will cover all Parks and Rec. facilities along with the Town Library and Town Hall. This will allow the town to formulate a plan to address issues with ADA compliance as they come up in the parks in town.
SWW&WW: Upcoming Events: 1) Teddy Herrera this Monday April 16th.
2) Spring Thaw Poker ride at the Bike Shop at 9:30, 4/14.
3) May 18th is bike to work day.
Rob gave John Caldwell a list of neighborhood connectors throughout the town and sidewalk list. These can be prioritized and the town can start to connect our neighborhoods.
Ray would like PARC to allow him to register SWW&WW members for American Trails. This group has info on how to improve trails and areas in town for pedestrian and bike traffic. A motion was made by Andy and seconded for Ray to spend up to $300 to register SWW&WW members for American Trails. Voted on and passed 6-0 with George and Rob abstaining because of being members of the SWW&WW.
Healthy Food System Project: The group is meeting every other Wednesday. Andy has gotten many of the farmers and restaurants on board. The SW Food Alliance consists of PARC SWALPAC and the SW Historical Society. He has a budget proposal of $17,500. This includes rental space for a winter Farmers Market, advertising, van rental to deliver food to restaurants, promotions, land preparation, signs to identify fields/crops. Andy will continue to update PARC at future meetings.
PARC Master Plan: Kids from the Skate Board Group have been attending Town Council meetings and asking for a Skate Park in town. Ray asked that we set up a future meeting possibly in the Town Council chambers and have it focus totally on a skate park. We would invite the Skate group and parents and brain
storm on ideas for location as well as design. He will also try and get a company to attend that designs parks.
Ray will also be presenting two 10 yr Master Plans to Capitol Projects. One will be with $175,000 allocated per year and the other asking for a $25,000 increase ever year. This will show the Capitol Projects group that with the increase most of the projects could be totally funded over the ten years period.
Motion made and seconded to adjourn.
Meeting adjourned at 10:30 pm
Next Meeting: 7:30pm May9th, 2012
Respectfully Submitted
George S. Caye
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