Park and Recreation Commission
Minutes of the Meeting
February 8th, 2012
Meeting called to order: 7:35pm.
Commissioners in Attendance: Al Larson, Dave Romejko, Rob O’Connor, Dan Rezende, Craig Zimmerman, Sharon Parlapiano, George Caye, John Caldwell, Katie Graham, and Ray Favreau
Also in Attendance: Deputy Mayor Gary Bazzano, Dan Van Horn, John Pelkey, Alan Osit, and Nancy Barnwell
Approval of Minutes: January Minutes Approved.
Public Input: Alan Osit and Nancy Barnwell from Golf for Kids Foundation established in memory of Alan’s son Jacob who passed away from cancer in 2007 at age ten. This tournament started in 2003 and to date has raised more than $400,000 for various charities concerning children’s cancer. They would like to team up with PARC to have a 5k race in South Windsor. Ray told them that the Rec. Dept has already prepared a race in Nevers Park for the fall of 2012 called the Witch Way. His group could piggy back off this race. Sharon Parlapiano will meet with Alan, Nancy, Ray and Jamie of the Rec. Dept. Some of the net proceeds could go to the Jacob’s View area and also the Monday Night Social Club. Sharon will report back to the members on their
progress.
John Pelkey gave an update on the Indoor Batting Facility. Most of the interior set up is complete. The heating should be installed this week and all that will be left will be placement of the flooring. After this they will need to get inspected and signed off by the town to get the CO. They hope to be using the facility in a few weeks.
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Report of Council Liaison: Gary Bazzano will co-chair the first meeting of the Town Council sub-committee on “Athletic Fields”. This will be a 15 member panel to discuss a wide variety of topics related to field use in South Windsor. The meeting will be on Monday February 13th at 5:00 pm in the Madden Room of the Town Hall. Anyone can attend.
King Street Property: The Town Council met in Executive Session to discuss the purchase of the property. John Caldwell said the property is ready to be used. OSTF recommended the town purchase this as Open Space years ago but there still is an issue with the title of the property. If this is resolved they would like to see the town acquire the land.
The Town Council will have a public hearing on making PARC a 10 member committee on February 21st, 2012 at 7:15 in Council Chambers. Gary will try and get a resolution that night to vote on the change. Thanks again to Gary for bringing this to the attention of Town Council. If any PARC member is available to attend the open hearing to show support for this resolution that would be greatly appreciated.
OSTF: Talked in support of purchasing the King St. property as Open Space for South Windsor. The group also discussed the St. Francis property that the Town Council was to review in Executive Session. OSTF has never walked the property and would not comment on purchase due to lack of knowledge of the area being discussed.
Report of Rec. Director:
- Community Center: Still waiting for the installation of the portico above the stairway and entrance.
- Lawrence Road Park: Thanks to Rob O’Connor for marking trail areas using the GPS coordinates from the Park Plans, Parks Department has been clearing trails and will continue to do this as weather permits. This will greatly save on the costs of building the park. Parks can’t rent bigger equipment to clear areas due to the Town Council spending freeze.
- Donnelly Preserve: SWWWW along with OSTF will host CT Trails Day in the park on Sunday June 3rd, 2012.
- Little League Complex: Building of the Covered Batting cage has begun.
- Town Council: Spending Freeze in Place.
- High School All purpose Field: Parks has put an item in the budget to purchase a Verti Drain Aerator ($22,430) and a Redexim Over seeder ($12,550) to help with the drainage problems. They would like to get this for use this spring and this equipment will be used for all fields in town.
- VMP: New entrance sign has been designed and being built in house. It will be similar to signs already in place at town parks.
- SWWWW: They group has ordered 4 bike racks to be deployed in town using money from South Windsor Community Foundation. One five hoop rack will be placed at the SW High School.
- Youth Sports Initiative: Ray asked if we would like to sponsor any speakers for the group. Craig suggested we try and get a trio of speakers (Coaches Pasqualoni, Daly, Penders) to do a forum with questions on sports. He had another suggestion about getting a speaker to come talk about “concussions” and their impact in sports.
- PZC Presentation: Al Larson for PARC and Ginny Hole and Rob O’Connor for SWWWW presented to PZC for their Plan of Conservation and Development work sessions.
- BOE: Early release program still in the talking stages. They would like to let the schools out early on Wednesdays in the fall and spring and have teacher development days during this time. If this plan goes into effect it would begin during the 2013/14 school year.
- Jim Snow Golf Tournament: The Men’s Golf Club at Topstone is looking to hold a golf tournament in honor of Jim Snow on September 28th 2012. Ray asked that PARC help out with the tournament as needed. Craig asked if anything has been done to honor Jim Snow besides the tree planted by the Nevers Baseball field. PARC had talked about naming the entrance to the Community Center that is being redone In Jim’s name as the entrance to the Rec. Dept. Ray and George will research this in past PARC minutes to see what was talked about concerning Jim Snow.
- Animal Shelter: Town Council on February 6th approved the use of the old firehouse on Sullivan Ave. for a regional animal shelter. This cost to renovate will be from grant money and operational costs will be shared with Manchester and East Hartford. The Rec. Dept. will work with the SWPD to hold programs at the facility like dog obedience classes.
SWW&WW: Please look at the calendar for the 2012 year in your packets. The group has a lot of events planned for May for National Bike Month.
They are working with Bike Walk Ct in having the first in the state “Family Bike Safety Class”. Ray is working with Bike Walk CT on the Curriculum Development of the program which then could be used for all towns in CT. The cost will be about $1000. Ray may ask PARC to pay for the cost from SWWWW money in our Master Plan depending on when or if Town Council lifts the spending freeze. Deputy Mayor Bazzano asked if there is anyone in the group pursuing grants for any projects. Rob told him we are not doing this now but working with CL&P and the State to get paths through the power lines and making Chapel Road Bike Route safe for bikers and walkers. When we get some projects ready we will then look to find grant money to fund
these projects.
Healthy Food System Project: Andy has contacted SWALPAC and members of the Historical Society about starting the program. He would like to use town land (Priest Farm) for a potential site. Tim Shepard has offered to clear and will begin clearing the area around the old farm house on the property as well as the edge of the property to remove all invasive plants. Another area being looked at as a potential site is the Nelson Property. A motion was made and seconded to not spend more than $300.00 to purchase copies of “The Town That Food Saved”. Voted on and passed unanimously.
Master Plan: Ray gave copies of two drafts. After looking these over a motion was made, seconded and passed unanimously to have Ray submit two plans (Draft 3 and Draft 4) to the Capitol Projects Committee. Draft 3 shows us not having enough money by year 5 if we are given only a static $175,000 per year and draft 4 has increases of $25,000 increments beginning in year three so that by year 10 we will be asking for $375,000 from the town to cover expenses to complete all listed projects in the Ten Year Master Plan. Craig also asked if we could get a cost of how much the sports groups in South Windsor have spent over the years to maintain or enhance the fields/facailities in town at no cost to taxpayers.
Motion made and seconded to adjourn.
Meeting adjourned at 9:50 pm
Next Meeting: 7:30pm February 14th, 2012
Respectfully Submitted
George S. Caye
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