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Board -Committee -commission -Council: eGn DEC 14 M B 33
Recreation Committee
Date: 2023-09-11 Time: 6:30 PM
Building: Reading Town Hall Location: Berger Room
Address: 16 Lowell Street Session:
Purpose: General Monthly Meeting Version: Final
Attendees: Members - Present:
Michael Coltman (M), Bob Weiden (M), Melissa Pucci (M), Angela Binda(M),
Chuck Robinson (M), Rich Hand (M), Kate Kaminer (M), Eric Gaffen (M),
Kevin Leete (A)
Members - Not Present:
Eric Boemer(A)
Others Present:
Jim Sullivan - Recreation Administrator
Genevieve Fiorente - Community Services Director
Tim Hill - 7 Green Meadow Drive, Reading
Nancy Puleo - 80 Bancroft Ave, Reading
Barbara Sinisgalli - 54 Haystack Rd, Reading
Paul Sinisgalli - 54 Haystack Rd, Reading
Judy Coltman - 18 Milton Rd, Reading
Michele Williams - 31 Melbourne Ave, Reading
Nate Williams - 31 Melbourne Ave, Reading
David Swyter - 98 Harshorn Street, Reading
Chris Dehmen - 34 Oak Ridge Rd, Reading
Steven Collins - 65 John Carver Rd, Reading
Kerrin McGuire - 405 Franklin St, Reading
Ben Ream - 972 Main St, Reading
Eileen Manning - 75 Riverside Drive, Reading
Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Genevieve Fiorente, Community Services Director
Topics of Discussion:
AGENDA
• 6:30pm — 6:35pm
Discussion/Approval of Meeting Minutes
• 6:35pm — 6:40pm
Public Comment
• 6:40pm—6:55pm
Presentation/discussion by Steven Cool on potential Dog Park locations
• 6:55pm—7:10pm
Select Board, SWEC & RECALC liaison Reports
• 7:10pm-7:20pm
Pickleball Reservation/Open Play Update
• 7:20pm—7:35pm
Potential Town Meeting Draft Article for Birch Meadow Phase II
• 7:35pm — 7:45pm
Recreation Administrator Report
E. Gaffen calls the meeting to order at 6:31pm.
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M. Coltman makes a motion to approve July meeting minutes. R. Hand seconds
M. Pucci suggests an amendment to page 4 to state "no access to technology".
Original meeting minutes do not pass 0-7.
A.Binda makes a motion to approve the meeting minutes as amended. M. Pucci seconds. Vote
passes 7-0.
E. Gaffen opens up public comment. D. Swyter states the Recreation Committee has seen his
"SeeClickFix° requests and he tells the committee if there are any questions to please let him
know.
B. Ream and P. Lydecker introduce themselves to the Recreation Committee.
J. Sullivan states that there are no changes being made to the pickleball policies for play right
now. He goes to say that he has not received any complaints recently. He states that there is a
plan to possibly implement open play from 10am-12pm and to change the time you can register
from 6:00am to another time. He explains that there is not a plan to roll it out now since the
outdoor season is nearing the end. He says that he will overcommunicate to the pickleball
community if any changes are to be made.
J. Sullivan mentions that he received the pickleball post cards and passes along one of the
cards for the committee to view.
Pickleball players make the following comments:
Michele Williams states she has been involved in pickleball for several years. She says it is the
best sport in town and a great way to social.
Eileen Manning states that it caters to a different demographic
Carlo Bacci states that he is speaking as a resident and asks now that Sturges is resurfaced,
can Spring Tennis go down there.
J. Sullivan states he will speak with the current tennis instructor, Gregg Luongo.
J. Coltman says she thinks that people are now aware the difference between playlocal vs
playtime scheduler.
G. Fiorente asks who the president of Reading Pickleball Players Association (RPPA) is?
M. Coltman states he is the president of RPPA and there is a Board of 6 members.
J. Sullivan asks where the postcards are coming from?
M. Coltman states he handed out postcards on the courts and there were many people he did
not know.
There is a brief discussion on the wording of the post card, specifically the word "now".
S. Cool gives a presentation on dog park locations.
K. Kaminer asks who determines the final site for the dog park. S. Cool states the Select Board.
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B. Weiden states that he thinks there would be pushback from baseball for the Washington Park
proposed location.
E. Gaffen states he thinks Birch Meadow students play in the area proposed at the Birch
Meadow location and that Stephen should consider speaking with the school committee, PTO
and principal.
A.Binda asks S. Cool if he has researched how other towns maintain the dog park. S. Cool
answers the DPW.
A.Binda states that when S. Cool presented to the Select Board that there was an option for
Symonds Way for the dog park. A.Binda goes on to say that S. Cool was supposed to present
at the Symonds Way Committee (SWEC) but it is cancelled due to lack of quorum. She adds
that SWEC wanted to consider this opportunity since there is grant funding available. She says
that it seems advantageous and mentions Symonds Way is a discreet area.
S. Cool states that the downfalls include that it is far from the center of town and that a gun
range is in the back area. He mentions that there is a possibility to build further up by the
Symonds Way Arena entrance to be away from the gun range.
R. Hand mentions that the grant is due by December 31a' and asks if there are other grants
available? S. Cool says none at this time.
B. Weiden states that abutters should be notified if the proposed location is near a
neighborhood.
K. Kaminer states that there is not enough room in the town for humans to recreate and people
utilize the fields to play with their dogs currently.
K. Leete adds that there is no off -leash option anywhere.
K. Kaminer states that it was a great presentation but it doesn't appear the proposed locations
of Washington Park and Birch Meadow do not seem like they could support a dog park. She
adds that she is an abutter of Washington Park and doesn't see a need for R.
J. Sullivan points out that dogs should not be using the existing ball fields as dog parks.
G. Fiorente states that it doesn't seem like the committee fully supports the locations as
presented. She suggests S. Cool reaches out to the school committee and PTO for support at
Birch Meadow and if a location was to move forward, abutters should be notified. She says that
S. Cool should continue to consider Symonds Way.
A.Binda gives an update from the most recent Symonds Way Committee Meeting. She was not
able to be there the last meeting but watched the meeting later. She stated that she suggested
to specify that the town wants some control and priority of outdoor facilities.
Angela explains the prior RPPA presentation that was given at SWEC on July 20 to put
permanent pickleball courts on town land but that would require reopening the lease with the
Select Board and the Burbank Ice Arena. She explains how G. Fiorente and J. Sullivan were
there. She also adds that there needs to be an exchange of the parking lot that would be lost.
She goes on to say that they are still wading for the return of the RFI and generally SWEC is
supportive of building courts and that Symonds Way could be a good place for it. She closes by
stating that there are several other proposals that have been made and that SWEC could not
commit to a recommendation at that time.
R. Hand asks what the timing of SWEC submitting proposals
Page 1 3
A.Binda states the RFIs are due at the end of September but there a lot of moving parts as
RECALC Is also exploring Symonds Way at this time.
E. Gaffen states that he agrees that there needs to be a distinction between private vs public
partnerships. He comments that he is avid that Reading maintains use of all of the space. He
goes on to say that it is important that Reading Residents have priority and that he has heard
horror stories of other towns who go into the private/public partnership. He states that he would
fiercely advocate that the language benefits Reading Residents.
A.Binda states that the conversation would happen during the contract discussion.
Brief conversation occurs with the swim team space at the YMCA and how that contract has
changed over the years to not favor RMHS students.
E. Gaffen mentions that given the length of time it could take to get pickleball at Symonds way
that pickleball should reconsider a temporary option over a permanent option.
M. Coltman states that Reading Pickleball Players Association (RPPA) is working on temporary
courts and they wanted to present at the meeting tonight.
G. Fiorente answers that the request to the committee was a presentation on permanent courts
that was already given at SWEC. She adds that the Recreation chair and Vice -Chair as well as
staff were under the impression that SWEC was still waiting on the return of the RFI and that
things were holding until more information was presented. G. Fiorente also asks if RPPA has
reached out to the youth organizations that utilize the rink and the outdoor space about the
possible loss of parking.
M. Coltman states that C. McFadden spoke with St. Athanasius and that there parking lot could
be utilized on busy days at the rink if courts were to go up.
A.Binda asks how many spots are behind the rink and how many spots pickleball courts would
take up.
M. Coltman states pickleball would take up about 50 spots.
M. Coltman gives an update on RECALC and states that they are focusing on transportation,
programming, finance and the feasibility study. He states that an RFQ is going to go out for
Design Services and that he wishes SWEC had more feedback for them at this time. He
explains that the company will focus on exploring options for a building at various locations.
A.Binda asks if RECALC is only focusing on a community center.
M. Coltman states that he thinks both is what is needed and says he personally thinks making it
multigenerational would help financially as well as garner more acceptance from the community.
G. Fiorente asks the committee if they had a chance to look at the draft article for Birch Meadow
Phase II.
K. Kaminer asks about the funding request for Rise Preschool and if the public has access to it
G. Fiorente states that Rise Preschool is operated by the schools and has no public access.
E. Gaffen mentions that there is a cost savings to the town to do it at the same time.
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B. Walden adds that it states in the warrant that they tried to put out a bid and no one got back
to them.
K. Kaminer states she would like to see the courts at Bancroft Ave be resurfaced
M. Coltman asked how much that would be.
J. Sullivan states $150,000.
M. Coltman says that there are a few cracks at Memorial as well
J. Sullivan gives other Recreation updates:
-Introduces Ed Shambo the New Recreation Coordinator
-Gives an update on Birch Meadow Construction
-States that the Sturges Park resurfacing project for the tennis and basketball court was
completed
-Fall Programming kicked off with Saturday Night Lights Flag Football with everything else
starting this week
-Mentions the upcoming event to the Red Sox Game on September 27' which will be the first
combined Social Event with Rec and the YMCA for children with disabilities. He states that there
will be a bus with volunteers including himself, John Feudo and Ed Shambo and that each
person will receive a free water or soda and a hot dog.
M. Pucci asks how they marketed the event.
J. Sullivan states that J. Feudo reached out to his school contact and Ed Shambo created a
flyer.
E. Gaffen mentions the Fall Market on September 1r from 10am-2pm.
M. Coltman makes a motion to adjourn at 8:30pm. R. Hand seconds. All in favor
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