Park and Recreation Commission
Minutes of the Meeting
June 13th, 2012
Meeting called to order: 7:40pm.
Commissioners in Attendance: Al Larson, Rob O’Connor, Andy Paterna, George Caye, John Caldwell, Dan Van Horn, Katie Graham, Sharon Parlapiano, and Ray Favreau
Also in Attendance: Gary Bazzano,
Approval of Minutes: May Minutes Approved.
Public Input: None
Ray welcomed Dan Van Horn as the newest member to PARC. We are now a ten person committee thanks to Gary Bazzano and the South Windsor Town Council.
SW Food Alliance: Andy informed the group that the Summer Farmers Market will begin on Sunday July 8th from 10-2 at the Union School on Main St. The group is looking for a venue to hold a winter market which will run from October to May. A possible site would be rooms 205-207 in the Community Center. This would run from 8:30 to 11:30 am.
The Nelson property is be looked at as a possible Community Garden Center in South Windsor. The Environmental Science Club has done some soil testing on the site and they are waiting for test results.
Andy would like a sign made to be displayed on all town owned land that is being farmed. There are about five areas in town. These would have the town seal and food alliance name (PARC Subcommittee) along with the name of the farm. A motion was made and seconded to spend up to $300 for the SW Food Alliance to have signs made and placed on all town owned land that is being leased for farming. Voted on and passed unanimously.
The group is also in talks with the schools and some local businesses about composting.
Report of Council Liaison: Gary Bazzano and the Field Committee met with the BOE Tuesday night, June 12th and discussed the athletic field proposal for the 11 acre portion of Nevers Park across from Ayers Road and the High School Stadium Field. The group has proposed a 2-3 million dollar project, to go to referendum, to put synthetic fields on both areas and light the Stadium and the largest of the three fields at Nevers Park. The BOE didn’t want to commit to anything about the project. The group will go back to the next BOE meeting and again request a yes or no commitment from them for the project. Gary also discussed a possible ”lease to own” option for all the lights and fields instead of going to referendum. PARC agreed that this would be a better way to
get the project done which would only require approval from the Town Manager and the Town Council. Gary is also looking to meet with School Superintendent, Dr. Carter for her support on the field project. George Caye requested that the group look at putting a Softball field in the area but the group wants to stay with rectangular fields and wants the town to work on repairing the Ayers Softball field (possibly move it in 40 feet to allow for handicap parking along Ayers Road and dugouts on both sides of the field. This would be a separate issue and not related to the current field project.
OSTF: No meeting was held this month, No Report.
Report of the Parks & Rec. Director: Ray said that someone has been using the High Ropes Course without authorization. They have posted signs around the course because of liability issues.
CL&P is doing maintenance work on the high tension lines and will be temporarily blocking off part of Wapping Park.
Report to Town Council: Ray outlined the six projects that the council recently approved for proceeding. All are in the starting phase. There is a meeting June 14th at 6:30 regarding the Skate Spot. This will be to get input from the skaters as to their needs and get a small group to help in the planning and design. The Fencing at My Friend’s Place came in at $7500. The project is funded for up to $30,000 and we may extend the fencing from the parking lot to the entire west side of the area along Nevers Road.
- Town Council passed the use of monies collected by the town for leased farm land to be used to maintain open spaces. The amount is about $16,000 a year. The Parks Division is looking into purchasing a trailer and supplies for Boy Scouts to use for trail clean up.
- Four Pickleball Courts are being lined at the TE Tennis Courts by Parks Staff.
- Trailblazers Camp: A new camp to be held at TE this summer. Camp discovery is full all summer with a 30 kid wait list each week. This camp will be for those kids unable to get into Camp Discovery. Rec. Dept. is looking into a second venue for Camp Discovery due to the large increase in numbers. It has outgrown available space at OH school.
- Adventure Camp and the Performing Arts Camps are full. There are also 162 kids on the Seals Swim Team this summer, making it the largest summer rec. team in CT.
- Phase I of the USTA grant application for Youth Tennis Courts at Rye Street Park has been accepted, now working on Phase II.
- The Boys Lacrosse regional Championships were held last weekend at Rye Street Park. They hosted 64 teams Saturday and 32 Sunday. Many compliments received about the park and facilities.
- 250 camp counselors attended CRPA’s Camp College staff training at TE over the weekend hosted by the Parks & Rec. Dept. Ryan Kane ran the event and the staff wore 06074 “I Play Here” T-shirts that the dept is looking to sell in the future for $12. Net proceeds to benefit special need services/accommodations for inclusion in regular and dedicated programming.
SWW&WW: The group along with the OSTF hosted CT Trails Day at Major Donnelly Preserve on June 3rd from 1-4. The town has reached the Bronze Level of a Bike Friendly Community by the LAB. The Park Staff has developed a new Share the Road Sign. Ray showed us the sign and this will be placed on roads throughout town. The town should look to sell these throughout the state. The 14 trail connectors approved by Town Council have been inspected by town staff for repairs and improvements. The Sidewalk/Bike subcommittee of the Town Council has sent a plan to recommend to the Council.
PARC Master Plan for Capital Projects Committee: Ray presented the five areas of the plan as outlined and agreed upon at the May 9th meeting and we have been asked to cut some areas so the total will be around a million. The initial five-year plan estimate was $1.5 million. A motion was made and seconded to keep all five items on the list and send it back to the Capitol Projects Committee with the total cost of the five projects at one million dollars. The motion was seconded and voted on and passed unanimously. These items will be put on the referendum along with all the other town projects on the November ballot, if approved by Town Council in August.
- Phase Two of the Skate Park
- VMP improvements
- Trail: developing new trails in town in conjunction with the SWWWW Master Plan.
- Field Improvements (All Fields in Town)
- Park Improvements (All Parks in Town)
Ray stated that there is a group in town that wants to present to PARC for the need of a cricket field in town. They will be coming to a future meeting. It was noted that PARC will be purchasing a portable cricket pitch for the group next year if the Town Council lifts the spending freeze.
The High School All Purpose Field is draining after the rain the past couple days. John walked it today and it is better than before. Grass is growing on the field. The High School would like to use the field this fall.
Motion made and seconded to adjourn.
Meeting adjourned at 10:40 pm
Next Meeting: 7:30pm July 11th, 2012
Respectfully Submitted
George S. Caye
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