Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-09-10 Recreation Committee MinutesTown of Reading Meeting Minutes Board - Committee - Commission - Council: Recreation Committee Date: 2013 -09 -10 Time: 0700 PM Building: Reading Town Hall Location: Conference Room Address: 16 Lowell Street Purpose: General Business Attendees: Members - Present: t' ECEI V£D .-.1 OWN CLERK ,`DING, MASS. 2015 APR 10 P S: 33 Nancy -Linn Swain, Rec. Committee Member, Richard Hand, Recreation Committee Vice Chair, Frank Driscoll, Rec. Committee Chair, Michael DiPietro, Rec. Committee Member, Mary Ellen Stolecki, Rec Committee Member, Kate Kaminer, Rec. Committee Member, Adam Chase, Rec. Committee Member, John Feudo, Recreation Administrator Members - Not Present: Sean Whalen Others Present: Genevieve Fiorente, Dan McGrath - Reading Youth Baseball, Carl McFadden Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: John Feudo Topics of Discussion: F. Driscoll opened the meeting at 7:04 PM. June 2013 Minutes - N. Swain Motion, R. Hand second. 7 -0 -0 in favor of accepting the June 2013 Minutes. J. Feudo and J. Fiorente showed a brief video from Summer Camp. Follow -up Softball Field Switch: J. Feudo met with members of the RMHS Softball Coaching Staff, Reading Youth Baseball and the RMHS Athletic Director along with Rec Committee chairman F. Driscoll. He said the meeting was productive as it gave both organizations the opportunity to describe the impact of changing fields. It became obvious that both organizations viewed the other as better off. Reading HS softball stated that they are dissatisfied with the field they play on. The field the infield mix is subpar and they would really like to have a fence to enclose their field. They are looking for a place to call their home field. After a lengthy discussion, it became apparent that sharing a HS field with youth baseball would not work for a number of reasons. The raised mound and infield type both posed issues. Also the Tennis court field is utilized during the mid - afternoon currently by RYB and HS would need the field during that time slot. Finally the proposed changes would take years to raise money for. J. Feudo recommended that HS softball work with Reading Men's softball and combine resources to try to fix the current issues at the Lighted Softball field. Hopefully some attention to the infield mix and field management by these groups will help rectify some of the issues with the playability of the field. RMHS seemed to think this was their best course of action in the short term due to lack of resources. Page I 1 2013 -09 -03 Town of Reading - Meeting Minutes Reading Youth Baseball Dan McGrath from RYB introduced himself. Dan stated he was coming before the Recreation Committee to reintroduce the tennis court field project that was before the committee two years ago. The proposal is similar but has been scaled back to reflect only the items that RYB believed to be necessary. The main issue they would be addressing is to add a fence and raise the outfield depth. They are also proposing enclosed on -deck areas for batters and netting to protect the tennis players from foul balls. The proposal is as follows: Installation of safety net and or extension of the backstop as necessary to prevent foul balls from landing in the tennis courts. As a minimum standard, protective netting should extend from the edge of the backstop to the 3rd light pole of the tennis courts to protect unaware players. The net should extend 18 ft tall. The netting should be clear monofilament UV protected and as invisible as possible. This issue should be revisited as needed to ensure safety and minimum impact on the tennis courts. 2. Provide fill and grade the outfield so that a level playing surface can be achieved to a distance of 210' from home plate throughout the field from left to right until the 210' intersects the existing 8' fence in right field between the high school and the baseball diamond. At present the field starts to slope down just beyond 180' from home plate. 3. Install a black chain link fence, not to be taller than 5', starting at the left field line at the 210' distance that maintains that distance from home plate thru centerfield until it intersects the aforementioned right field fence. The fence would be distinguished by the following. Pictures are shown where available the round. • Installation of a warning track, both sides of the fence to promote player safety and removes need to weed whack /trim, thus saving mowing time • 6 foot foul pole in left field, foul pole should be not more than 10 ft from the ground • Access gate sized to allow entry of maintenance equipment in the outfield (location up to town) a 12ft gap versus a gate. • Install a yellow safety border similar to the photo (right) at the top of the fence. 4. Protective fencing installed in front of stands at 3`d base. As current situated there are spectators are at risk for a batted foul ball. 5ft black vinyl fencing to be consistent to the existing backstop and wings. There shall be a gap for players to access the field and fencing shall protect existing bleachers. The installation of small enclosed "on- deck" batters areas on each side near the dugouts would be installed as well. 5. Small manual scoreboard in Left Field, this is for the fan experience since it's hard for them to know what the score /inning. M. Stolecki made a motion to accept Reading Youth Baseballs proposal (as adjusted above) for enhancements to the Tennis court field including the recommendation that the Town includes funding particularly for the safety netting in the Capital Improvement plan for FY15. N. Swain seconded the motion. Motion passed in favor by a vote of 6 -0 -1. Page 1 2 2013 -09 -03 -% Town of Reading - Meeting Minutes J. Feudo stated this recommendation will be sent to the Board of Selectmen as the park commissioners for review and or final hearing. C. McFadden stopped in to mention that the Saturday Night Flag Football program has received a variance from the Board of Selectmen to use amplified sound on each of the dates of the program. He went on to speak about the program and the success they have had thus far. J. Feudo stated the program has become one of the largest programs run by Reading Recreation. Washington Park Project Design for new Tennis and Basketball Courts J. Feudo presented the preliminary design for Washington Park's new tennis and basketball court. The design is based on the master plan that was developed several years back. The Town Engineering division has run into several challenges in the design of the courts. The most significant was the size of the tennis court. When the site was surveyed it would not fit into the confined space allocated by the master plan. The Town engineer recommend moving the court the prior location and shifting it so the field shifting still could occur down the road. J. Feudo was looking for feedback from the Rec Committee and offered to have a Town Civil engineer at a future meeting to discuss possible options and locations for the courts. The committee seemed concerned about making sure the walking path and bullpen areas would still be in the plan with any proposed changes. J. Feudo stated they would make some changes and come up with a couple of options for the committee in October. Administrator's Report: J. Fiorente gave an overview of the program running this fall. Mentioning Flag Football and some of the new afterschool programs being offered. She mentioned the cabin was being utilized for programming a lot this fall. J. Feudo mentioned he is working on putting the final touches on the Sturges Park Playground. The playground has been installed. Benches and a picnic table will be added as well as some shade trees. The grand opening will take place some time in mid - October. R. Hand gave an update for RCASA. The annual meeting is on Sept. 26th at 7 PM. At that time they will release the results of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey. The group is also working to get information out about MOLLY. This is the new drug that has taken main stream media by storm. R. Hand mentioned he would like to make a connection with the youth coaches in the spring time regarding the HS Drug and alcohol policy of RMHS. The Youth Crew held sessions in July to create short educational videos on substance abuse for elementary health. They have also been busy working with the school department on a new health curriculum to include the Health Triangle- social, physical and emotional. N. Swain made a motion to adjourn. M. Stolecki seconded the motion. Motion passed in favor of adjournment by a vote of 7 -0 -0. Meeting adjourned at 8:34 PM. es 011y Submitted by: udo c e do Administrator e 33 2013 -09 -03