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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-05-09 Recreation Committee MinutesN oFR O� r B39. f'Co 1,0� Town of Reading Meeting Minutes Board - Committee - Commission - Council: Recreation Committee Date: 2017-05-09 Time: 7:00 PM kECENEU I DEIN CLERK KEAIDiNC. M tSS. 2011 MAY I l P 8: 001 Building: Reading Town Hall Location: Conference Room Address: 16 Lowell Street Purpose: Monthly Meeting Session: General Session Attendees: Members - Present: Adam Chase, Emily Sisson, Frank Driscoll, Gil Congdon, Kate Kaminer, Mary Ellen Stolecki, Rich Hand (showed later after quorum) Members - Not Present: Jeanne Borawski, Lori Russo, Dan Foley, Mike DiPietro Others Present: Bob Hayes, Reading Softball Little League Steve Zessis, Reading Little League Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Genevieve Fiorente Topics of Discussion: A. Chase makes a motion to open the Rec Committee Meeting at 7:05pm. A. Chase appoints K. Kaminer as full member for the evening to have a quorum and for voting purposes. The rest of the committee members are in favor 4-0. M. Stolecki makes a motion to approve the March meeting minutes. K. Kaminer seconds. All in favor 5-0. G. Fiorente introduces Bob Hayes and says he is here to request 3 additional special permits for Reading Softball Little League. G. Fiorente also states that RSLL has already received two early starts. She says that RSLL claimed they did not know about the early start rule outlined on field permit. G. Fiorente in good faith granted one additional after that. B. Hayes introduces himself and says the season has been successful so far with a total of 245 girls. He says with the rain this season it has been backed up a bit. He requests 3 early Sunday starts on 5/21, 6/4, and 6/11. He says that it is just a safety net and that if they do not need to use the dates, they won't. M. Stolecki says she is concerned about the early morning play with the abutters of the neighborhoods. F. Driscoll mentions giving all these extra start dates on Sundays will bring others like Reading Little League Baseball to come forward to request all the early Sunday dates too. G. Congdon asks if they can extend the season. B. Hayes says that he is concerned that the kids will be getting out of school and they won't be able to play that late. G. Congdon says that once softball ends, that RSLL can even play on the week nights to make up games. F. Driscoll references a Sunday date on the RSLL schedule that appears to have other towns on the schedule. He said he would not advise the committee to extend special early Sunday permits that have other towns coming in and playing on the fields. Page 1 1 K. Kaminer asks how old the minors are. B. Hayes says 7-9 years old. A Committee member asks how many travel teams they have. B. Hayes says there are 4 travel teams. M. Stolecki asks about the breakdown of age divisions. B. Hayes says there are about 7 teams in minors, 4 in majors, 5 in juniors, and 4 in seniors. G. Fiorente states that she has mentioned RSLL being able to use Killam on Sundays and during the week for the younger groups to make up some of their time. E. Sisson makes a motion to give RSLL one additional early Sunday permit on June 11th starting at 10:00am. K. Kaminer seconds. There is discussion. F. Driscoll says that in 20+ years he has never given anyone 3 special permits and he does not agree with doing so. The committee votes 2-3-1. The motion does not pass. A. Chase asks if there are any other motions. The committee does not bring up any other motions. G. Fiorente thanks B. Hayes for coming and says she will work with him and RSLL on any available time at Killam should they need it. G. Fiorente introduces Steve Zessis from Reading Little League. S. Zessis says that Reading Little League is in the beginning stages of raising money and formulating ideas to refurbish the batting cage down at the High School and/or build a new batting cage. He tells the story of a coach that they hope to dedicate the cages to. He comments that he has talked with G. Fiorente and J. Halsey and is aware that this type of project must align with the Birch Meadow Master Plan. Committee members ask specific questions on dimensions and other possible locations for the batting cages. G. Fiorente asks on the timeline for the project. S. Zessis says that ultimately he would like the cage(s) to be near the Little League Field and he hopes the project details will be complete by the end of summer. R. Hand asks if they have considered other projects aside from the batting cages. S. Zessis answers that they have thoughts of some field renovations to accommodate a 50 X 70 field but that would be a more extensive project. G. Fiorente suggests the Birch Meadow Master Plan Subcommittee meet to discuss possible locations for the batting cage(s). The committee agrees. S. Zessis says he will keep the committee informed on developments of the project. G. Fiorente presents the first amplified sound permit submitted by Reading Little League. S. Zessis explains the event to the committee and says it will be a skills challenge for each division to be held on May 29th from 10am-2pm at Hunt Park. K. Kaminer asks about the age breakdowns. S. Zessis answers that at Hunt there are divisions for 10s, 11s, and 12s. F. Driscoll asks if it will just be announcements. S. Zessis answers yes. Members of the committee suggest playing the National Anthem since it is Memorial Day. G. Fiorente asks what time Memorial Day Events are. F. Driscoll replies that the services start around 9:30am. G. Fiorente suggests that perhaps the skills challenge can start later to give families the opportunity to attend the morning services if they would like. S. Zessis says that he is not hung up on the exact time. K. Kaminer makes a motion to provide Reading Little League an amplified sound permit from 11:00am — 4:00pm at Hunt Park on May 29th. E. Sisson seconds. Committee votes 6-0. G. Fiorente presents the next amplified sound permit for the annual Connect the Tots event on May 19th for their Member Appreciation day from 3:30pm-5:30pm. K. Kaminer makes a motion to approve the amplified sound permit for Connect the Tots on May 19th from 3:30pm-5:30pm. A. Chase seconds. All in favor 6-0. G. Fiorente talks about the next amplified sound permit for Michael and Ben Mini who would like the permit for the charity music concert they did last year and would like to do again on Sunday, June 11th from 2pm-5pm. The committee asks several questions about the event about how they raise the money and the charities it benefits. G. Fiorente says she can find out those concrete details if the committee wants to know but does recall one of Page 1 2 the charities they donated to last year was Cradles to Crayons. E. Sisson makes a motion to approve the amplified sound permit on June 11th for the Charity Music Concert from 2pm- 5pm. The committee votes 5-1-0. G. Fiorente presents the last amplified sound permit for the annual RISE Preschool event on June 1st from 5pm-6pm. E. Sisson makes a motion to approve the amplified sound permit on June 1st from 5pm-6pm for the RISE Preschool event. M. Stolecki seconds. All in favor 6- 0. G. Fiorente brings up the emails she has been receiving about expanding the multipurpose court at the High School for the Pickleball players. The committee agrees that more money cannot be put toward the court at this time. G. Fiorente gives an update on Hunt Park and says that the renovation will start the first week in June. She goes on to state that there was a site walkthrough with the playground vendor and the DPW a couple weeks ago. She says they all agreed that the area was too wet to start the project. F. Driscoll makes a motion to adjourn at 8:30pm. A. Chase seconds. All in favor 6-0. Page 1 3