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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-11-06 Recreation Committee MinutesOrgrg0 OAF Town of Reading EC;Eo"tic- LMeeting MeetingMinutes � CLERK �a'INCOPNOPP `�>� Vr Board - committee - Commission - Council: ie?3 CEC ?S Recreation Committee Date: 2023-11-06 Time: 6:30 PM Building: Reading Town Hall Location: Great Room Address: 49 Pleasant 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), Peter Lydecker (M), Eric Boemer (A) Members - Not Present: Kevin Leete(A), Ben Ream (A) Others Present: Jim Sullivan - Recreation Administrator Chuck Tirone- Conservation Administrator Genevieve Fiorente - Community Services Director Carlo Bacci - Select Board Liaison Virginia Blodgett, 99 Prescott St, Reading Everett Blodgett, 99 Prescott St, Reading Steven Cool- 107 Prospect St, Reading Mary Ann Devlin, 44 Estate Ln, Reading Barbara Sinisgalli - 54 Haystack Rd, Reading Judy Coltman - 18 Milton Rd, Reading Chris Giuliana - 52 Intervale Terrace, Reading Karen Janowski - 30 Azalea Circle, Reading Tracy Fitzgerald - 43 Scotland Rd, Reading Jim Cormier- 14 Willard Rd, Reading Bob Kaminer- 37 Warren Ave, Reading Chuck Webberly - Reading Youth Lacrosse President Donna Sullivan - Abutter of Washington Park Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Genevieve Fiorente, Community Services Director Topics of Discussion: AGENDA 6:30pm - 7:00pm Dog Park Discussion with Washington Park Abutters 7:OOpm — 7:30pm Discuss Pickleball Citizens Petition Article to Town Meeting— Presentation by Reading Pickleball Players Association (RPPA) 7:30pm — 7:45pm Update and Discussion of Play Local and Playtime Scheduler for Pickleball reservations 7:45 pm -8:15 pm Update on Phase II and III of Birch Meadow Master Plan Page I 1 8:15pm-8:20pm Veteran's Day -Request for amplified sound -Vote Needed 8:20pm - 8:30pm Recreation Administrator Report A.Binda calls the meeting to order at 6:32pm. A. Binda announces that the chair will be coming shortly. A. Binda introduces S. Cool to give the Dog Park Presentation. S. Cool gives the Presentation on the Dog Park highlighting two locations for the dog park of Washington Park and Symonds Way. V. Blodgett states that she is a member of Parker Tavern and wants to clarify the current situation. She states that Parker Tavern has been there since 1964 and that the leash law is not enforced. She adds that dogs run all through the property and gardens and some dog owners do not pick up dog waste. G. Fiorente answers that leash laws are under the police jurisdiction and she believes that Health also has some oversight now. She says that if any off -leash activity is occurring that the police should be called. She also says that the Recreation Committee can definitely have a conversation about it and give their recommendations. D. Sullivan states she is concerned with the entrance to the park being changed and how it would impact the existing historical monuments. E. Blodgett says that he is the caretaker and treasurer of Parker Tavern and how they plan to expand into an outside learning area. He states he is concerned about dog enforcement. S. Cool states that generally when there is a dog park that owners are good at disposing waste. He says that the major problem is the people, not the dogs. B. Kaminer is concerned that the dog park is trying to be put into a tight space. He says that having it next to the playground is not ideal. He adds that he notices people do pick up after their dogs. S. Cool says how there could be a higher privacy fence or double fence. He mentions that dog parks are not noisy places. M. Coltman states that the gateway to the park provides nice benches with seating and that the half -court basketball court is used for parents to park strollers. He says that he thinks it would be the worst location for a dog park. C. Robinson asks why there needs to be 2 locations for the grant. S. Cool answers that only one is required.and he spoke with the grantor about the situation in Reading and that they mentioned 2 locations is reasonable because you get the $25,000 for design and they give you feedback. G. Fiorente states that she heard that the Stanton Foundation may not be giving out grants anymore after December. S. Cool answers that is right. C. Tirone specifies why two areas are identified as one area may be too wet. He says both could fall through. He goes on to say that Stanton looks at both areas in the process. C. Robinson asks N it is a grant mandate to have two C. Tirone and S. Cool both indicate no. Page 1 2 A.Binda says that there is a historical wall at Washington. She states that while the idea didn't seem bad, she has to agree that seeing the dog park instead of the actual open entrance to the park would not be great. A. Binda asks if the dog park could be smaller and if there is any flexibility? S. Cool states that a small dog park could be moved to the other side of the basketball court. A.Binda says that she has been to dog parks and it is quieter and more controlled than some may think. A.Binda goes on to say she doesn't object out of hand but she is not a fan of the dog park right at the main entrance. M. Coltman asks why not at the Town Forest? S. Cool states that there are no sidewalks, there are coyotes and the area is remote. M. Coltman asks if the town is developing lot 5. S. Cool answers yes. R. Hand asks if they are taking a basketball court away at Washington Park. S. Cool answers it is just the half court. E. Boemer says that there seems to be a chase for money without a formal plan. S. Cool states that F. Maltez applied for this grant and built the Chelsea dog park with the same process. He also mentions that M. Wetzel did the same. B. Weiden asks if this is something the Select Board wants to pursue. S. Cool replies yes. C. Bacci states that the Select Board supports a dog park as long as it is the right location and has support from neighbors. He says that S. Cool came to the Select Board and that no formal consideration was made at that time. K. Kaminer says that she supports the effort to build a dog park in Reading but not at Washington Park for the following reasons: - dog park is a smaller area in comparison to other towns - dog park is too close to the children's playground - parking issues S. Cool states that dog park participation is scattered and that he hasn't seen a parking pinch at other locations he has visited. C. Robinson says that he has coached baseball for several years and can attest to the lack of parking. G. Fiorente says that the consensus seems to be that Washington Park isn't the best for the dog park and asks S. Cool if he can just focus on Symonds Way? C. Robinson adds that he does not think the Town Forest location has been vetted enough. A.Binda says that there seems to be a general consensus that is in support of a dog park but not at Washington Park and she hopes it moves forward with the right location. Page 1 3 M. Devlin presents the Reading Pickleball Players Association (RPPA) petition to Town Meeting in which they are asking the town for $200,000 to come out of the Burbank Ice Arena Revolving Fund. Conversation ensues about the $100,000 anonymous donation mentioned in the presentation. K. Kaminer asks since the $100,000 donation is coming in, can you raise the remaining $100,000? M. Devlin states that they need the location to fundraise more. K. Kaminer asks what is more difficult? Do we need the location or the money? E. Gaffen says that the $100,000 donation sounds promising but we do not know details. He says that organizations typically come forward with donations to the Recreation Committee and there is a process that follows. M. Devlin states that she thinks this is solid. C. Robinson asks is this $100,000 going toward temporary courts or permanent courts because the understanding is that the discussion right now is for temporary courts. M. Coltman states that he doubts the anonymous donor would fund temporary courts. K. Janowski states she is a member of SWEC and COA and mentions that pickleball is an important opportunity to reach all citizens especially those who are 60+. C. Webberly introduces himself as the President of Youth Lacrosse and says that he thinks that Symonds Way is a good site for pickleball. He adds that he is very opposed to the fact that certain groups were encouraged to leap frog the process of SWEC. He goes on to say that the area would be losing a great amount of parking with temporary courts. He also states that Burbank sits on town owned land and anything built in that area would need to be bid out. E. Gaffen says that one question would be who would update the courts. He states that it sounds like the town would. He adds that this would need to follow process through town procurement. E. Gaffen asks N the town had a sense of what they are ready to bid out? A. Binda says that she has seen the presentation by RPPA and it has changed several times. She states that FINCOM voted 3-6 against the courts because of the lack of process. She states that as a Recreation Committee member and Town Meeting member she is upset to hear of all the competing interests that have not been addressed. E. Boemer states that when passion gets in the way of decision making and process than there is a problem. He says that he would not vote for it. B. Walden states that this is a town meeting decision and makes a motion to end the discussion. K. Kaminer seconds. Short discussion occurs. E. Geffen says that he would like to give everyone the opportunity to keep talking and would hate to end the conversation. B. Weiden rescinds motion. Page 14 T. Fitzgerald says that pickleball is a wonderful outlet but states that there is a large need for fields in this town. C. Webberly says that he agrees and that there needs to be a comprehensive look at the site. He states that organizations cannot get on the fields until late at night after the High School and in the fall, there is a loss of daylight. C. Bacci states that the ice arena would not be in favor of a field where the temporary pickleball courts are being proposed. C. Webberly answers that a small field could go in that area that would benefit several organizations. He states that Burbank Ice Arena is violating the term of their lease and that they cannot sublet it. He goes on to say that we do not know what would be best on this area of land and the town should have released an RFI. K. Kaminer asks if there is a member of the Ice Arena on SWEC. G. Fiorente answers that there is not. E. Boemer asks who approached the RPPA about the idea. J. Coltman states Carl McFadden. C. Giuliana says he has been here for 30 years and sees the fields empty a lot. He states that this is not just a senior citizen issue and that people of all ages can benefit from pickleball. E. Gaffen says that this has not been identified as a senior citizen issue and agrees that pickleball is great for people aging in place as well as everyone else. He goes on to say that he thinks everyone on the Recreation Committee supports the idea of pickleball at Symonds Way but there is also an emphasis that process is important as also stated by FINCOM. M. Coltman states that pickleball has been in the Town of Reading since 2012 and the community has been advocating for courts since then. He says that pickleball has grown every year and now with Birch Meadow out of the picture, there is no place to go. G. Fiorente explains the current Capital Plan and how several other parks, playgrounds, fields and courts have not been prioritized for a long time. She says that many organizations have come forward with donations to improve fields and parks. C. Webberly says that Reading Youth Lacrosse has come forward a few times to donate to the Town. C. Webberly also states that Reading Youth Lacrosse pays field fees per child to the town and needs to abide by the resident policy and submit rosters. K. Janowski asks what the Recreation Committee is trying to do. A.Binda states that SWEC should finish their work and make recommendations to the Select Board. She says that she thinks the process should play out with the RFI and that it is too problematic right now as discussed at FINCOM. C. Robinson states that he spent 9 years on FINCOM as advisory to Town Meeting. He says that just because FINCOM doesn't recommend it doesn't mean people will not vote for it. J. Cormier states that pickleball is growing at Memorial Park and he plays with his two college aged kids. J. Sullivan states that he started back in May and that residents had approached him about not being able to get on the courts. He says that this has been discussed in prior meetings and he Page 1 5 has also continued his research with playlocal and playtime scheduler. He goes on to say that he has reached out to several other towns who have eliminated playtime scheduler because of the amount of non-residents who were coming to the court. He goes on to say that most surrounding towns just offer open play without the option to reserve. J. Sullivan discusses data he was given by the playtime scheduler staff that shows that an overwhelming majority of non-residents book on this app. He shares a visual graph with the committee. M. Coltman says that there are people who make reservations on playlocal but do not book on playtime scheduler. He says that half of the reservations are probably just playlocal reservations. C. Robinson says that the data presented is very concerning given the presentation that was just given by RPPA. A.Binda says that there needs to be an understanding between wants vs. needs. She states how she is able to go on playtime scheduler and sees that the same people are booked on multiple days for multiples hours at time. She asks for a better understanding of the expectations of play. E. Boemer states that these are horrific numbers and even if they were down slightly, it is still really bad. R. Hand asks what the next steps are. J. Sullivan states that he plans to come up with solutions and rely a lot on other towns experience. M. Coltman asks to be a part of the conversation since he knows things that could be important in regard to pickleball. G. Fiorente presents a request for amplified sound on Saturday, November 111" for the Veterans Day Ceremony from 1 1:00am-1 2:00pm. R. Hand makes a motion to approve the amplified sound request for Veterans Day as presented by G. Fiorente. A. Binds seconds. All in favor 8-0. G. Fiorente gives an update on the Birch Meadow Master Plan Phase II presentation that will be presented at Town Meeting. J. Sullivan gives an update on the Recreation Division. He says that the Downtown Trick or Treat was a great success and that programming is taking off. He says he is in the process of also collecting Fall field fees from organizations. E. Geffen asks if there is a WI grade boys team. J.Sullivan states how Recreation has never had a 5" grade boys team before. He explains how he and E. Shambo were trying to coordinate something for a few who had reached out. A.Binda makes a motion to adjourn at 9:50pm. C. Robinson seconds. All in favor 8-0 Page 1 6