Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-11-07 Recreation Committee Minutes WTown of Reading Meeting Minutes Board - Committee - Commission - Council: 2619 JAN 23 AM 10 55 Recreation Committee Date: 2018-11-07 Time: 7:00 PM Building: Reading Town Hall Location: Conference Room Address: 16 Lowell Street Session: Open Session Purpose: General Version: Final Attendees: Members - Present: Emily Sisson (M), Adam Chase (M), Rich Hand (M), John Parks (M), Chuck Robinson (M), Kate Kaminer (A), Mary Ellen Killion (A), Patrick Sheeran (A) Members - Not Present: Dan Foley (M), Lori Russo (M), Mike DiPietro (M), Eric Gaffen (M), Michael Coltman (A) Others Present: Genevieve Fiorente, Recreation Administrator & Liaison to Recreation Committee Vanessa Alvarado, Select Board Member and Liaison to Recreation Committee Bob Hayes, 739 Pearl Street and representative from RSLL Angela Binda, 10 Orchard Park Drive Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Genevieve Fiorente, Recreation Administrator Topics of Discussion: E. Sisson opens the meeting up at 7:07pm. G. Fiorente asks if anyone needs copy of meeting minutes. Members take some time to review meeting minutes. A. Chase makes a motion to approve the meeting minutes from the September 18`", 2018 meeting. J. Parks seconds. V. Alvarado makes a friendly amendment on a spelling error. G. Fiorente takes note of it. Committee in favor 5-0. E. Sisson thanks the committee for their Flexibility on the date of the meeting to address the gift presented by the Reading Softball Little League (RSLL) to the Town of Reading at Sturges Park. She states that they are in a time crunch for volunteer labor and financing. She references the video clip that was sent out in an email to the committee along with the agenda from Select Board meeting on 10/30/18 of her speaking on the topic of the gift and tells the committee that any questions can be discussed. E. Sisson states that she received a phone call that the gift was going on to the Select Board Agenda on 10/30/18 at 6:47pm the day of so she made sure she attended the meeting to explain how the process has typically worked. E. Sisson continues to give some background information on the Sturges Park project that RSLL would like to gift to the Town of Reading. She explains that it will consist of a replacing the existing backstop and also adding above ground dugouts to the Sturges Park Softball Field. E. Sisson reads the motion from the Select Board at their meeting on 10/30/18 that stated, "V. Alvarado moved that the Board approve the gift from Little League Softball to do improvements to Sturges Park contingent upon approval from the Recreation Committee by Page 1 1 November 13". The motion was approved with a 5-0 vote." E. Sisson states that B. Hayes is here to present details to the Recreation Committee so they can make a recommendation to the Select Board. B. Hayes gives a power point presentation (enclosed). He states that the project will be funded 100% by cash from their treasury and will be gifted to the town. C. Robinson asks about the liability for the town while construction is occurring on the site. G. Fiorente says that is a great question and she will circle in with J. Miller who handles town Insurance. J. Parks states that he has a concern with where the extended fencing is going to go on the third baseline. He says that is used for soccer in the fall and the fence would impede on the soccer field and the multipurpose use of the field. B. Hayes responds that they can scale back on the fence to ensure it does not interfere with soccer play. J. Parks states he and M. Sheedy from Reading United Soccer will go down and take some measurements as the soccer field is currently lined. J. Parks states he will email G. Forente and let her know the result. C. Robinson says that since B. Hayes said that it was modeled after the Morton Field dugout why do they need a fence going past the dugouts. B. Hayes said it was added for safety for spectators. M. Killion states that she thinks this a great project for the town and seconds that she thinks liability is important and also asks about the 24ft backstop and if that is typical. B. Hayes states yes. K. Kaminer asks how tall existing one is. B. Hayes says about 16ft. M. Killion asks If neighbors were notified and says she feels this is always an important part of the process when something new Is added to a recreational field. B. Hayes states there are not many abutters. K. Kaminer also emphasizes the importance of notifying neighbors and states that good communication with abutters has always been a part of the process. M. Killion also expresses concern on conservation. V. Alvarado states that the Town Manager was given reassurance by DPW and conservation on the project at the Select Board Meeting. G. Fiorente makes a point that Sturges is not currently a regulation Softball Field. K. Kaminer adds that it would be good to explore the option of extending the field, but doing permanent fencing is not an option because it is currently a multipurpose field. C. Robinson asks since the backstop is existing would RSLL be okay with just doing that project and then re-exploring the dugouts in the spring. B. Hayes responds that he does not see a big problem with that personally but would need to speak with the contractor of the project because of the labor. B. Hayes says that there would probably be a problem getting the job done in the spring owing to weather and soft ground. J. Parks asks about this being on the Select Board agenda. V. Alvarado said the project was a surprise as well to her. R. Hand asks if B. Hayes talked to other town departments. He answers yes. R. Hand asks if B. Hayes would be willing to present this to abutters. B. Hayes says absolutely, whenever he is needed. K. Kaminer asks B. Hayes why he thought he did not need to come to the Recreation Committee beforehand. She goes on to say that he has been Involved for a long time and should know the procedure. B. Hayes said that is a difficult question and that he was given the impression that only DPW and Engineering would need to be Involved in the decision. K. Kaminer responds that she finds that hard to believe. G. Fiorente states that she wants to speak out on behalf of the committee and the chair, specifically. She says she does not want the Recreation Committee to be seen as being difficult when they are only trying to anticipate problems and help projects move along. She stated that E. Sisson sent out an email on 10/19/18 to Bob Hayes, Larry Hurley and John Halsey as members of the RSLL Board after hearing that the potential gift was mentioned publicly in the Select Board Meeting on 10/16/18. She goes on to say that the email depicted the process that has always been followed and was not met with a response back cage 1 2 from anyone in the league. She says that if someone had explained the time constraints and had the courtesy to respond to the email or give out a phone call to staff, the committee would have met earlier to discuss the plan. She states that Is a hard argument to make that RSLL did not know especially considering the content of the email sent by the recreation chair. B. Hayes apologizes and says that he is in a difficult position and that all conversations led him to believe it was only structural in nature and not a big project. K. Kaminer adds that she thinks this is a big project as the league plans to make the backstop higher and add new structures with dugouts and fencing onto a recreational field. Other committee members agree. G. Fiorente states that any projects that happen on the Parks & Fields are typically procured and planned by the Recreation Division with special help and approval from other Town Departments. She goes on to say that each of these projects is always run by the Recreation Committee and on more than one occasion, has required approval of a subcommittee or the making of a new subcommittee to ensure due process. The committee discusses the current red flags of the project as the fencing may impede on the soccer field, there are unknown liability issues, and the fact that abutting neighbors have yet to be notified about the project. They agree that the next step would be to have a public meeting with the neighbors. Committee members agree to the date of November 13, 2018 at 6:30pm, noting that this Is an exceptionally fast timeline for such a project. V. Alvarado thanks everyone for their flexibility and says she sees the Importance of the Recreation Committee in the process after this meeting. E. Sisson asks V. Alvarado what would have happened if she did not attend the Select Board meeting on 10/30/18. E. Sisson speculates that the Recreation Committee would have been cut out of the process, the project would have gone forward, and there may have been the loss of a soccer field. She notes that would have been a loss that the current field schedule could not withstand. V. Alvarado agrees and goes on to say that this is why the Select Board relies on volunteers and staff to make these recommendations to them. She says she is new to the process of gift giving on the Select Board and asks if there is currently a written procedure. G. Fiorente said that there may not be a written procedure but there has always been a process of consulting with all town staff and appropriate committees before going to the Select Board. She said the past few projects on fields have followed the same process and for the past 7 years she has been there, the same has held true. Members of the committee agree. K. Kaminer asks V. Alvarado to see if the Select Board has a written procedure on gift giving. C. Robinson said the School Committee does. E. Sisson brings up that some organizations are more well-funded than others and that when they give the gift, it is made clear that many fields are multipurpose to ensure that organizations that donate do not feel they"own"the field. K. Kaminer asks B. Hayes if the Intention is to make this the RSLL trophy field. B. Hayes states no. G. Fiorente gives updates on division projects. She says that the Parks Supervisor and herself have met at Joshua Eaton and it was highly suggested that a net be put up at the Joshua Eaton baseball field that abuts Cherry Lane. She states that several foul balls have been reported flying over onto the street and Into yards. She also says that the light poles that fell down in one of the bad storms over winter at Sturges Park will be replaced. She asks the committee if they have any questions. The committee does not. G. Fiorente also states that there were problems again with organizations not shutting off the lights at the softball fields and her strong feeling is that she will have to hire staff down there to shut the lights off and on. G. Fiorente also gives updates on programming. She states that in-town basketball and travel basketball will be starting up soon. She also mentions that she Is working on the winter/spring magazine. She asks the committee their thoughts again on going electronic. She and the committee both agree to transition Into electronic after the summer with about copies available in the office for anyone who would want them. Page 13 R. Hand gives an RCASA update. He said that they just had their annual meeting and that the Director, Erica, had left and has now returned back to her old position. J. Parks makes a motion to adjourn at 8:55pm. A. Chase seconds. Committee in favor 5-0. o is Lt Page 14