HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-09-25 Recreation Committee Minutes Town of Reading
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Recreation committee
Date: 2019-09-25 Time: 7:00 PM
Building: Reading Town Hall Location: Select Board Meeting Room
Address: 16 Lowell Street Session: Open Session
Purpose: Public Meeting with Abutters of Version: Draft
Parker Turf
Attendees: Members - Present:
Rich Hand (M), Michael DiPietro (M), John Parks (M), Michael Coltman (M),
Mary Ellen Killion (M)
Members - Not Present:
Emily Sisson (M), Eric Gaffen (M), Kate Kammer (M) Patrick Sheeran (A)
Others Present:
Wayne Moda - 25 Ashley Place - Reading United Soccer Club
Pete Coumounduros - 24 Smith Ave - Reading United Soccer Club
Rich Daestrela - Reading United Soccer Club
Katherine Carter - 10 Morgan Park
Donnie Cahill - 14 Morgan Park
Maggie Cahill - 14 Morgan Park
Elizabeth Allston - 11 Morgan Park
Patrick Conroy - 10 Morgan Park
Jay Allston - 11 Morgan Park
Shannon Fratto - Recreation Program Coordinator
Vanessa Alvarado - Select Board Chair and Select Board liaison to commitee
Genevieve Fiorente Recreation Administrator and liaison to committee
Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Genevieve Fiorente, Recreation Administrator
Topics of Discussion:
M. Killion opens up the meet at 5:50pm. Recreation Committee gives introductions.
M. Killion states that during the public meeting that everyone adheres to a civil
discourse when having conversations.
M. Killion gives a brief summary of what has transpired up until the point of the
public meeting. She states that it is very important to get the abutters feedback
and thanks everyone for coming.
M. Killion opens the floor to the public to speak and asks that they state their name
before speaking.
Elizabeth Allston states that she lives on Morgan Park which is right next to the field
with no buffer. She says that she has concerns about the portable lights being used
as these are hours when her children are settling down for bedtime. She goes on to
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say that she would be concerned with the added noise of traffic, kids playing and
form the portable light generators. She also states another concern of lights shining
in through windows.
M. Coltman asks if there would be a time that would work for them? E. Allston says
no.
Patrick Conroy from Morgan Park also states his concerns on the noise and says
that he has to make work calls quite frequently at night during that time.
Maggie Cahill from Morgan Park states that there is no buffer between her home
and the field. She goes on to say that it was previously stated years ago that the
town would never light Parker. She also mentions the Triple EEE virus and that the
lights could attract mosquitos. Maggie states that she has experience broken
fences, windows and a lot of traffic over the years and is concerned with additional
play.
G. Fiorente reads emails from abutters who were unable to attend the meeting.
W. Moda speaks on behalf of Reading United Soccer Club. He states that the lights
would not be shining into the windows as the light poles are not raised that high.
He states that there would be no whistles and minimal noise as it is just practices.
He mentions that they would only be using 4 light poles and only for the next 3
weeks.
He says that the turf 2 being down does have some impact but isn't the #1 reason
why the space is needed. He states that the games at Turf 2 have been shifted to
Symonds this year.
P. Coumoundurous says that he can respect the comments on traffic because he
experiences a lot of it living by Hunt Park Field. He goes on to say that there are
24/7 baseball teams down there and that there is a certain level of opportunity that
they have to provide areas for kids to play. He states the goal is to work together
with the community, Rec Administrator and other organizations to meet the
demand.
Elizabeth Allston asked if Coolidge could be used? W. Moda answers that the ask
was for Parker because the probability of playing is higher on turf than grass if
there is inclement weather. He states that they did not purposely pick an abutting
neighborhood.
Elizabeth Allston asked if they had researched space in other towns before coming
forward with the portable light proposal? W. Moda responds that they did reach out
to Austin Prep.
P. Coumounduros says that Reading United Soccer does a lot for their players and
outsources professional staff to help.
M. Coltman asks if anyone has done noise measurements for the light poles and
says that when he has been out to the ones on Birch Meadow that he does not
personally think they give off much noise.
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No one has.
R. Daestrela says that the thinks that the fields are in poor condition and on
different occasions Reading United Soccer Club has gone out and fixed the fields
themselves. He states that he doesn't know what would happen if some of these
fields had to be shut down due to poor conditions.
G. Fiorente responds that Reading United Soccer has done things on their own and
not given any time to Town Staff to address these issues. She states that as soon
as Town Staff knows about it, it is addressed and while she is appreciative Reading
United Soccer took initiative that they should not be out doing anything on Town
Property without permission. M. Killion adds that doing fixes on Castine field could
also be a conservation issue.
M. Di Pietro asks if this is a one and done request by the Reading United Soccer
Club.
The representatives state yes.
The neighbors state that they are nervous about the precedence it sets and are
worried that if it got approved that it would be something that kept happening.
V. Alvarado states that in her conversations with neighbors that they had a similar
concern that a part time ask turns into a full time ask. She also states that Reading
United Soccer should not be doing any work on Town property. V. Alvarado asks
about more specifics from Reading United Soccer Club on the space from this year
to last year.
Reading United Soccer Club brings up the games moved from Turf 2 to Symonds
Way and the need for more practice time.
V. Alvarado asks a follow-up question on the real amount of hours they are losing
and gaining as they are only asking for 3 weeks of time with the lights. Reading
United Soccer didn't have an exact answer.
I Parks states that he thinks that the request should move forward but that they
should be placed at Symonds Way and not Parker.
V. Alvarado asks J. Parks if he is speaking as a Recreation Committee Member,
School Committee Member, Reading United Soccer Representative, or a resident.
I Parks states as a School Committee Member.
R. Hand asks Reading United Soccer for clarification again on the exact days and
hours and asks if the amount of kids is 30-40? W. Moda says yes and that it is
Monday-Thursday 7pm-9pm.
The timeline is discussed for approval. G. Fiorente states that it will need to go back
to the Select Board as it is a different ask then what the Select Board had
approved. She goes on to say that the Select Board approved Parker on the basis of
inclement weather which is an extenuating circumstance.
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V. Alvarado confirms that the Select Board did make that approval and also added
that they did not want to move forward without Recreation Committee and
Recreation Administrator input. V. Alvarado says that it would have to go back to
the Select Board and they are meeting 3 weeks from yesterday.
Reading United Soccer Representatives say that it will be too late by then and say
to forget about the request.
R. Daestrela asks what happens if Castine and other fields become unusable due to
weather what options do they have? G. Fiorente answers that for several years
Castine has been known to not be relied on especially if the weather is inclement.
She states that that should not be a surprise to anyone and that all organizations
are always imploring for more field space. She says that the favorite phrase is that
there are a finite amount of fields and organizations need to make it work with
what they are given. She goes on to say that it may come down to organizations
taking less participants so that the organizations can better manage the space that
is allotted.
Reading United Soccer says they understand.
M. Killion asks if anyone has any other comments closing the public meeting
discussion. She thanks everyone for coming and giving their valued input.
M. Killion states there will be a brief recess of 5 minutes and the Recreation
Committee will reconvene at 6:40pm.
Committee comes back from recess at 6:40pm.
R. Hand states that the thinks in the future Symonds Way is a better option for
portable lights as it does not abut any neighbors. The committee agrees.
M. Coltman states that he thinks that it is poor of someone to promise that lights
will not be put up at any field given the nature of how things change over the
course of 20 years.
G. Fiorente states she has not heard that. J. Parks says that he spoke with J. Feudo
in the past about lights at Parker and that it is true that the town promised Parker
would never be lit. G. Fiorente states that she was unaware of this.
M. DiPietro states that he thinks that the committee has to be careful about the
precedence they start.
R. Hand states he is glad that the Recreation Committees always goes through the
process of informing the abutters and having them be a part of the conversation.
The committee agrees with both points.
M. Coltman makes a motion to rescind the request made by the Reading United
Soccer League since they said that the 3 week timeline to get to the Select Board
would not work. J. Parks seconds. Motion passes 5-0.
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M. Coltman asks about the possibility of using the field by the Town Forest. G.
Fiorente states that there is an issue with parking over there. R. Hand says that this
was looked into in the past as well.
R. Hand makes a motion to adjourn at 6:55pm. M. Coltman seconds. All in favor 5-
0.
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