HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-05-14 Recreation Committee MinutesTown of Reading
16 Lowell Street RECEIVED
Reading, MA 018
FAX: (781) 942 - 5441
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RECREATION DIVISION: (781) 942 - 9075
READING RECREATION COMMITTEE MINUTES
May 14, 2008 -Town Hall Berger Room
Attendance: Nancy Swain, Rec. Committee Chair, John Downing, Rec. Committee Member, Frank
Driscoll, Rec. Committee Member, Bernie Winne, Rec. Committee Member, Mary Ellen Stolecki,
Rec. Committee Member, Mike DiPietro, Rec Committee Vice Chair, Beth Claroni, Associate
Member, John Feudo, Recreation Administrator
N. Swain called the meeting to order at 7:10 PM.
N. Swain asked the Recreation Committee to review the minutes from the previous meeting.
Comment on April 9th minutes - strike out "but a tier system would allow this" in the 3rd paragraph,
last sentence.
B. Winne made a motion to accept the minutes for the April 9th meeting as amended. B. Winne
seconded the motion. Motion passes in favor of accepting the minutes as amended 5-0-0.
J. Feudo went over the comments from Town Counsel regarding the new financial assistance policy
and discussed the highlighted changes. He stated that the new policy would take effect in FY09 or
Fall season. J. Feudo stated that he would be preparing a letter to all families that have requested
some type of aid over the past two years to alert them to the change.
New Business
MRI Report:
J. Feudo presented the finding from the MRI report that were relevant to the Recreation Division.
Despite the lack of applicable recommendations, the Rec. Division will be developing its own
master plan for programming and administration.
T-Ball and CORI Issue
J. Feudo stated that he received a call from the Reading Police Department regarding a complaint
that they received from a concerned parent of the "Reading T-Ball" program. Apparently, this
program does not conduct criminal background checks on their coaches. J. Feudo stated that Sgt.
Segalla was working directly with the Attorney Generals office to look at the law.
READING RECREATION COMMITTEE MINUTES May 14, 2008 Con't
This subject needs to be considered on a number of levels. First, is there responsibility by the Town
to require that all organizations conducting business on public property complete these CORI
checks?
Second, was considering possible "what if' scenarios:
-What if they have to shut down?
-What if they cancel the season?
-What if the T-Ball program turns to the Rec. division for help? And so on.
B. Winne asked if the Recreation Committee charter could be checked to see if the committee was
supposed to be more of an advisory board or if the charge was to be a policy maker. J. Feudo said
he would look at the charter. A long discussion ensued.
F. Driscoll made a motion to have the Recreation Division require that all organizations working
with children under the age of 18 conduct CORI checks on staff and volunteers in a manner
acceptable to the Recreation Administrator prior to issuing permits for field use.
B. Winne seconded the motion.
More discussion took place. The question came up about the ability to audit whether or not an
organization had completed the CORI checks. The committee also discussed the process by which
they would like to see the organizations certify that the checks had been done.
F. Driscoll made a motion to table the issue until the Rec Administrator heard back from the
Attorney Generals office or Sgt. Segalla regarding the T-Ball issue. The committee agreed. This
The Rec. Committee decided that in the case that the "Reading T-Ball" program is unable to
continue its operation that a subcommittee comprised of B. Winne, M. DiPietro and F. Driscoll
would work on the committees behalf to make decisions on how to continue forward with the
program under the auspice of Reading Recreation if need be.
Administrators Report
J. Feudo went over the numbers for camp. He was particularly happy with the consistent numbers
for jr. camp. This program has had a hard time filling over the year. The overall numbers for
Summer camp were strong. Registration day went very well with over $44,000 of business done on
that one day. Thanks to Mary Ann, Mike D and Eric for helping out.
J. Feudo stated Legion was looking for an early start on May 18th at Morton Park at 9:00 AM to run
their tryouts.
J. Feudo gave an update on the Tennis Courts at Bancroft Ave. The project is on schedule.
J. Feudo stated that the Parker Middle school turf project will be back on the June 30th Town
Meeting warrant for extended debt. The pricing came back higher than anticipated.
F. Driscoll made a motion to adjourn.
B. Winne seconded the motion.
Motion passes in favor of adjournment by a vote of 5-0-0.
Meeting adjourned at 8:30 PM.
Respectfully submitted by:
John A..
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