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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-04-17 Recreation Committee Minutes O i 1 Town of Reading h3�{ 4' p Meeting Minutes j ,s38r1RK NCORQ��t" 'r0. N C`&n a @g�} „, at p READ A D S �.r, 25; P��I . Board - Committee - Commission - Council; Recreation Committee 2010 MAY 10 PM 1: 53 x Date: 2018-04-17 Time: 7-:00 PM Building: Reading Town Hall Location: Berger Room Address; 16 Lowell Street Purpose: General Discussion Session:^'General Session Attendees:: Members-- Present: Dan Foley, Mike DiPietro, Rich Hand, Frank Driscoll, Kate Kaminer Members - Not Present: Adam Chase, Lori-Russo, Emily Sisson,, Mary Ellen Killon, Gil Congdon, Jeanne Borawski Others.Present: Genevieve Fiorente Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Genevieve Fiorente Topics of Discussion: . D. Foley opens the meeting at 7:150m. R. Hand makes a-motion to elect K. Kaminer as a voting member for the evening,. M. DiPietro seconds. All in favor 4-0. D. Foley states that the committee must-approve the meeting minutes from March. R. Hand makes.a motion to approve the meeting minutes as written from March 19;-2018. K. Kaminer. seconds. All in favor 5-0. G. Fiorente"presents the;first amplified sound. permit-presented by the Reading,.Little League. G..Fiorente explains that they plan to-have a parade-on April 29th for their"opening- day and batting cage dedication ceremony from. 12pm-6pm.-She states that they-.would like to-use amplified sound near the batting cages.-and majors field at the Birch Meadow Complex for the national anthem and general announcements. K. Kaminer asks how many people are expected at the event. G. Fiorente^says around 500 kids from RLL and RSLL-and their families. F. Driscoll asks if there is anything else planned- at the High School that day..G. Fiorente says.that RLL reached out to-facilities and were told that there.was not: G. ,Fiorente said that the parade was'approved by all"appropriate town department heads. She stated-she was invited last minute to the Review Team:meeting that goes over-the.event and that.she.tried.logging into school dude to-double check the field house"activity for that day. G. Fiorente was unable to logon in the meeting. M.-DiPietro says - that he is not sure why. G. Fiorente would not initially,be included in the meeting and asked, who ran the meeting and attended it.-G. Fiorente states the:appropriate division and department heads that were there and also mentioned that John-Halsey, Mike .Wondolowski and Bob Weiden were therefrom RLL. 'She.says that.I Mercier runs the meetings and goes on to say she is glad Julie mentioned she should attend this time since there was an issue she found. G. .Fiorente states that she got on an hour later and verified that the recreation division was holdinga volleyball.jamboree, the high school had scheduled practices, there was a private ,volleyball event scheduled, and,the RMHS drama club were:all.at the High School and/or Page I 1 field house that day. She was concerned for the traffic flow and reached out to-the RLL about this issue. She stated one suggestion.that they switch.the parade.date to their rain date since there are no events scheduled in the field house that would interrupt the parade. When the response was no, she said she problem solved and moved her recreation event later once Tom Zaya, the Athletic Director at the High School verified he could push. his practices later. She also stated that she was told there.would be another exit route made for the earlier private volleyball event. K. Kaminer says that she feels the event was rushed and wonders why it was approved in.such a shorttime frame given that new events of this magnitude are and should be more carefully planned overtime. She says she still worries of the safety of traffic flow and the number of people attending several events that day. F. Driscoll tells G. Fiorente that once she found out she had an.activity in the Field'House that those recreation programs should have taken precedence over an outside organization: The committee agrees that large events held by youth organizations should come.before the recreation committee with their request and to meet with the Administrator to field these potential conflicts. G. Fiorente states that they did fill out appropriate permits to run the event and that they were aware of the short term planning. She said they.have already made it very clear that they will start the planning process much earlier in the future. K. Kaminer.asks if other,leagues:request amplified sound on opening days a,nd G. Fiorente says . none that she can recall. F. Driscoll makes a motion to approve Reading Little League the amplified sound permit on April 29th, 2018 from 12pm-6pm for,the national anthem and general announcements. K. Kaminer seconds. Committee votes 5-0,.motion approved. G. Fiorente presents,the next amplified sound permit from Connect the Tots who are having their annual member appreciation day on May 6, 2018 and wouldlike to play music from 3:30pm-4:30pm at Memorial Park. F. Driscoll makes a motion to accept the amplified sound permit request from Connect the Tots from 3:30pm-4:30pm-.on May.6, 2018. K..Kaminer seconds. All in favor 5-0. F. Driscoll asks.what the field scheduling updates a.re on.the agenda. G. Fiorente said that she wanted to get feedback from the-committee on the Board of Selectmen public meeting and also give an.update on the two organizations. The.committee has a.brief discussion on the public hearing. G. Fiorente says that.John Halsey had asked if he could reach out to Mike Cormio from RMSL if compromise could not be agreed upon between the RMSL and RSLL organizations. She said that yes, the leagues should be trying to work things out. G. Fiorente said that she didn't think there.would be a.meeting focused on the current Spring season since her understanding was,that the immediate need of,RSLL was already met with the 3 early Sunday permits for the Spring 2018. She stated that in this meeting,-RMSL L gave: up field space already awarded to them by the Rec Division on Wednesday nights on one field for one.hour and .gave the space to ,RSLL for this season only. G. Fiorente said this will, give them about 7 hours of more play in addition to the 3 Sunday.early starts. The committee members voice a collective concern with the inability of the current directors of the organizations being unable to reach compromise.on their'own. F. Driscoll and K. Kaminer both state that they have been.on the Recreation Committee'.for over 30 years and have neverseen an organization like RSLL treat staff so poorly. R. Hand mentions that he felt Barry. Berman on the selectmen also agreed that town staff should be treated with the upmost respect based on his statements at the Public Hearing. M. DiPietro suggests that RSLL and'RMSL should be invited to a future meeting which will be mandatory to go over what is expected moving forward. The committee strongly emphasizes that they plan to-be actively involved and help handle this issue over the course of the next year. D. Foley, mentions.that a subcommittee can also be formed if needed. D. Foley presents the next agenda item of Liaison to the Recreation Committee. He states that committee members and the Administrator have been publicly and privately questioned on their integritybased on associationwith the current liaison to the Board of Selectmen, John Halsey. K. Kaminer states that it is.difficult-for staff and the committee to operate when they are unsure of the liaison's,role on certain recreation topics. She states that John Page 1 2 Halsey sits on five different boards for outside town organizations and.some deal directly with the recreation staff and committee. K. Kaminer goes on to say that she has had conversations with him on his involvement and while he is passionate and enthusiastic about many recreational activities, it is hard to determine what hat he is wearing. K. Kaminer suggests that they are reappointing liaisons.in June and the committee may benefit .from a new member of the Board of Selectmen. The committee discusses the subject and -agrees that there are blurred lines and that the committee needs to be seen as transparent to the community. F. Driscoll makes a motion to send a letter to the Board of Selectmen to request a new liaison for the coming year. K. Kaminer seconds. All are in favor 5-0. G. Fiorente additionally states as an aside that Laura Gemme, the Town Clerk, has received calls from_committee members and members of the public questioning the integrity.and operations of the recreation committee as a whole. Some of these individuals have asked her to attend future meetings to.ensure transparency on behalf of the:recreation committee. G. Fiorente said that she welcomed her to come to any meeting. G. Fiorente speaks about the playground mock rules that she was exploring last year. She. says that she has a list of rules that she would like to share with the Parks Department and eventually get them posted at each-of the playgrounds. She says.that currently there are park rules and regulations but none specific to the playground. The committee supports the idea. G. Fiorente gives an update on the Memorial Park Bandstand. She states that the bandstand has been completely taken down. She says that she plans to circle in with the Pacing Family since they had mentioned a potential donation for a new project last year. G. Fiorente said that she, has been researching pre-fab Gazebos that would fit nicely in the area. She mentions that her initial research shows that this option would be very cost efficient and beautiful. G. Fiorente mentions that she spoke with Jeff Zager as well about the idea. The committee all agrees that they are on board with this idea and do not feel it is necessary to form a subcommittee at this time. They advise G. Fiorente to go in this direction and update them on developments. G. Fiorente says she will continue to research and collaborate with Town Departments on the project. G. Fiorente gives an Administrator's report on what is going on in the division. She states that the programs for spring and summer continue to fill!up and the recreation magazine has been mailed to Reading Residents. G. Fiorente states they are currently still working on hiring a part-time program coordinator for the division. F. Driscoll makes a motion to adjourn at 9:15pm. K. Kaminer seconds. All in favor 5-0. Page 3