Park and Recreation Commission
Minutes of the Meeting
March 11th, 2015
Meeting called to order: 7:35 pm.
Commissioners in Attendance: Rob O’Connor, George Caye, Dave Romejko, Katie Graham, Bill Nowak, Al Larson
Also in Attendance: Ray Favreau, Preeti Gundapwar
Before we started the Agenda Al talked about weak PARC member attendance at the last few meetings. We did not have a quorum at the February Meeting and have had just enough members for Jan. and today. The general feeling was that the Town Council treats PARC with a lack of respect. And it is discouraging that PARC has not been funded in the last three years and is unlikely to get funding for the next fiscal year 2015/16. He is encouraging members to continue to work hard and what we can do now is to give the Town Council the best Master Plan for them to approve. Al has drafted a letter to be sent to the Town Council and Capitol Projects requesting $150,000 for the 2015/16 fiscal year. This money would be specific for repairs to the Basketball and Tennis Courts at Rye Street
Park.
Approval of Minutes: A motion was made by Dave Romejko and seconded to approve the January Minutes. Passed unanimously.
Public Input: Preeti Gundapwar asked PARC what the plans were for the open space area on the corner of Frazer Fir Road and Barber Hill Road. This is the area where the pond is located. She would like to see some benches and trails on the ten acre area. Ray told her that the land is still owned by the developers and the town will not take ownership until the next phase of the housing project is complete. She also requested that the area be for the owners of the houses on Fraser Fir. Ray informed her that it would be Town owned open space and be available to the public and not a private park. The town may get ownership this year but there are no funds to do any work on it for the f upcoming fiscal year.
Special Reports: Discussed the Wapping School and who might be using the building after the new Orchard Hill School is complete.
Report of Council Liaison: None
OSTF: Two Discussions at our last meeting:
- Barton Property: RFP’s sent out to clear 20 acres of the property. This area will be for a debris site if needed for a major storm. It will be a level grass field for a potential site for relocating the Wapping Fair after 2015. This would also be an open practice field for youth sports groups, and a cricket pitch.
- Victory Outreach Property: West River Farms LLC has purchased the property and wants to build houses on it in East Windsor. There are 17 acres in South Windsor that is adjacent to the Scantic River. East Windsor Scout Hall Building Committee is willing to take over the property to be maintained as open space and open to the public. WRF has agreed to build a gravel road down to the river with a turn around. They will get approval of this from the SW P&Z then go back to East Windsor for approval of the entire project. This area will be the only access to the Scantic River from South Windsor.
Report of the B of E Liaison: Craig asked Ray to tell everyone that the B of E is still looking to turf the Stadium Field. They are getting ready to go out to bid and looking to do a lease. The project will start this summer immediately after school dismisses if funded.
Report of Parks and Rec. Director: B of E has committed $100,000 for the realigning of the Ayers Road Softball Field. The project will go out as three bids. They will be for one for fencing, one for irrigation and a third for amenities (like scoreboard, bleachers, players benches, etc). George asked that the fencing also include finishing the backstop at Duprey Field. The top portion was never completed. Ray said that they will also look into putting in sidewalks to connect to the Nevers Road Sidewalk Project and connect it to Ayers Road Sidewalks. There will be portable fencing on the field for this season, purchased and ready for installation.
The town is still looking to place a Miracle Field in the Little League Complex. The issue is with the surface material used. Miracle Field only allows two types of surfaces. These materials (PVC cap over asphalt or poured-in-place rubber) will not be payable by other baseball teams and would essentially close off the field for most of the time. Al Maximino suggested using Turf for the field and this would be playable for any sports including soccer. This idea is well-liked and under serious investigation.
SWW&WW: The group is setting up a bike education session for seniors. Tom Fields is doing a AAA Senior Safe Driving class in town and the group will help with the bike portion of that class. They are also working on a resolution to give to the Town Manager for adopting a Complete Streets policy.
There were about 30-35 people who attended the Full Moon Walk at Nevers Park on 3/6/15.
Master Plan Subcommittee: Next meeting is Tuesday March 24th, at 6:30pm at the Community Center for anyone who wants to attend.
We still have $60,000 in Capital Projects which is earmarked for the Ayers softball field.
SW Food Alliance: There are 5 meetings set up by the group at the Community Center. They will feature healthy eating. The dates are on the website and the cost is a can of food donation to the food bank.
PARC will do a site map exercise for members at the April 8th meeting to now hear what commissioners envision for the master plan.
Meeting adjourned 10:15 pm
Please note that our next meeting will be at the regular time of 7:30
Next Meeting: 7:30pm April 8th, 2015
Respectfully Submitted
George S. Caye
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