2015-11-10 Recreation Committee Minutes

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Committee members start to recall conversation on their thought process. Emily Sisson recalls there was an issue with a field hockey field overlay at Morton Field and the proposed pole location would shorten that field. A. Chase recalls neighborhood resistance on Morton during the neighborhood walk. A. Chase also commented on the field pole issue again on Morton. J. Feudo shows the committee a picture diagram of Morton and points out how the overlay would affect Morton fields use. K. Kaminer asks who actually uses the Morton Field. J. Feudo answers high school Field Hockey and Baseball and Reading Babe Ruth. N. Swain asks why Turf2 can't be paid for the by the School Department since it's there field. Mr. LeLachuer agrees that its low priority since it is already lit. A. Chase brought up the quality of the lights previously discussed on Turf 2 and that they are not sufficient for HS sports. J. Feudo says that there have been issues when running High School games and that the lights aren't up to par when it comes running HS caliber sports. Mr. LeLachuer replies that the stadium field can be used for that. J. Halsey comments that the idea of the lights is to keep as many people recreating for as much time as possible. J. Feudo responds that fields becoming more multipurpose will require a lot more maintenance. M. DiPietro asks if the Town can maintain Morton as a multipurpose field? K. Kaminer says she can't get past lighting Morton Field and having it be used for Multipurpose and has seen the use at Washington park diminish. She just doesn't see the need. N. Swain agrees. J. Halsey states he has no personal agenda and is willing to fold his intercity league baseball team if it means more lighting for the fields. N. Swain asks the Town Manager his priority of the fields. B. LeLacheur says two softball field areas are first and second, followed by Morton, Little League, and Turf 2. N. Swain asks about the recovery time for fields. J. Feudo gives a brief overview of how recovery time works and what goes into it. Typically fields don't get to "rest" he stated. Mike DiPietro asks about input from baseball organizations who have contributed to maintenance of the fields for the past several years. He mentions his concern for their thoughts and would they be as diligent in helping with the maintenance if this field becomes multipurpose. The committee agrees. K. Kaminer also adds that the importance of having Reading citizens on the fields is most important to the Recreation Committee. K. Kaminer mentions asking baseball organizations for their input is an important step. J. Feudo recommends inviting them to the next meeting. Mr. Halsey says the key to baseball people is maintaining the in -field and that the outfield is a different story. He goes on to explain that while they would like it green and nice, that he thinks they would be open to sharing that space and coexisting. M. Di Pietro says he really wants to get feedback from the Babe Ruth folks. John Halsey suggests talking to the President Jeff Pierce. Mr. Halsey says that if Morton is lit, he can see 3 flag football games down there on Saturdays in the Fall. J. Feudo says that he would hope Fall baseball could return. The worst situation would be putting up the lights and not being able to use them. Bob LeLacheur mentions getting feedback from the School Department and School Committee liaison Jeanne Borawski's opinion. K. Kaminer suggests conversing with High School Athletic Director Tom Zaya. J. Feudo responds that he has had some discussion with Tom Zaya but will reach out again to Zaya and Borawski to get more feedback. J. Feudo also brings up the neighborhood on Bancroft and their constant concerns on traffic by Morton, especially with out of town users who abuse parking. J. Feudo goes on to explain that he has a hard time justifying non - resident usage of the field when he gets these Page 1 2