HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004-12-08 Recreation Committee MinutesTown of Reading
16 Lowell Street 11-D
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RECREATION DIVISION: (781) 942 - 9075
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READING RECREATION COMMITTEE MINUTES
December 8, 2004 Town Hall Conference Room
Attendance: Patrick Fennelly, Rec. Committee Chair, Nancy Linn Swain, Rec. Committee Vice-
Chair, Frank Driscoll, Rec. Committee Member, Steve Meehan, Rec. Committee Member, Rick
Shaffer, Rec. Committee Member, Mary Ellen Stolecki, Rec. Committee Member, Mary Ann
Kozlowski, School Rep., Kate Kamier, Associate Member, Chris Campbell, Associate Member,
Gail Wood, Board of Selectmen, John Feudo, Recreation Administrator
Guest: Preston Lucus
P. Fennelly called the meeting to order at 7:34 PM.
M. Stolecki made a motion to accept the minutes from November 10, 2004. R. Shaffer seconded the
motion. Motion passes in favor of acceptance of the minutes 7-0-0.
New Business
J. Feudo re-introduced the Recreation Committee to the Open Space and Recreation Master Plan.
The Board of Selectmen have asked the Recreation Committee to evaluate the schedule. P.
Fennelly recommended to table the issue until February so that the committee has sometime to
familiarize themselves with the information from the last study (150 Pages).
It was recommended that the Recreation Committee find out which of the other standing
committees would like to have input.
M. Stolecki made a motion to table reviewing the Open Space and Recreation Master Plan until the
February meeting and seek clarification from the Board of Selectmen regarding what the would like
the committee to do. F. Driscoll seconded the motion. Motion passes in favor of the motion 7-0-0.
F, Driscoll asked if the Recreation Administrator to go over the Administrators Report before the
committee discussed the item under old business. The committee seemed to think it was a good
idea.
Administrator's Report
J. Feudo mentioned that the seconded phase of the Hunt Memorial Park Playground has been
approved by the Board of Selectmen and will be instilled sometime in the Spring. J. Feudo stated
that he hopes other groups will follow suit in the future to renovate other playgrounds.
READING RECREATION COMMITTEE MINUTES CON'T Dec. 8, 2004
J. Feudo stated that even with the slow registration for Sunday Basketball in October, he expected
to surpass the previous years numbers. The program had picked up over 100 registration in less
than a month to take the total to approximately 270 players.
Travel Basketball will run a 7th and 8th Girls team and 6th 7th and 8th Boys team this year. J. Feudo
stated for whatever reasons the number of 6th graders was very low this year. Each of the other
grades had competitive tryouts. Those players that did not make the team were referred to the
Recreation Hoops program as planned. Currently, the Rec. Hoops program has 23 Boys and 15
Girls enrolled with a full schedule of Sunday Night Games.
As mentioned at the previous meeting the Ski numbers for Elementary School are down from 90 to
35. This has been attributed to Nashoba Valley mailing directly to our participants this year. J.
Feudo stated he would speak with the management at Nashoba and find out why this was done this
year. On the financial side J. Feudo stated that the program will still generate the same revenue that
it would for 3 buses as the average revenue per participant actually increases with less participants
filling one bus to maximum capacity. He also stated that the enrollment for Parker and Coolidge
were consistent with years past.
J. Feudo discussed with the Recreation Committee the topic of summer space. He mentioned with
the Fieldhouse being out of commission, the Recreation Division will need to be creative with space
this summer. J. Feudo asked the opinion of the Committee of possibly utilizing Austin Prep for the
Summer. J. Feudo stated he has had primary talks with Austin just to see how much it would cost.
Pete Moscariello's baseball clinics are too big for any other facility in Town. He may have to go to
an outdoor clinic for 4 days with the fifth being a rain day.
Kate Kaminer entered the meeting at 8:01 PM.
The Committee seemed to feel it might be worth looking in to Austin as an alternative if there is no
other possible way to keep the clinics within the Reading Public facilities. The Committee stated
they would like to see what the costs would be to use Austin Prep and then would make a decision
based on that and other factors. The Committee also recommended investigating Addison Wesley
for indoor space.
F. Driscoll went over the recommendations for the Final Report of the Memorial Park Use review
Committee. The Recreation Committee had some questions about the final report. Preston Lucas
on hand to answer questions along with Frank Driscoll. Mr. Lucas stated that the ad hoc committee
looked at the activities that occurred while the grantors were alive and what they allowed. From
there used that information coupled with the requests from the abutters to formulate their
recommendations.
Chris Campbell entered the meeting at 8:15 PM.
J. Feudo stated he expected the Winter/Spring brochure to come out Thursday of the following
week. He also gave a brief overview of some of the programs that were included.
READING RECREATION COMMITTEE MINUTES CON'T Dec. 8, 2004
Old Business
The Recreation Committee discussed the proposed policy for the Approval of Park Improvements.
A long discussion ensued about the proposed policy. P. Fennelly stated that the committee needs to
figure out where they fit into the policy. G. Wood stated that the Board of Selectmen were looking
for some feedback from the Recreation Committee for the Public Hearing.
N. Swain a recommendation to check to see if any other towns have similar policies that could be
looked at. She said she would contact Billerica Recreation. J. Feudo stated he would check with
Stoneham Recreation.
J. Feudo will work with M. Stolecki to draft a memo to the Board of Selectmen with there feedback.
N. Swain made a motion to adjourn the meeting of December 8cn, 2004. M. Stolecki seconded the
motion. Motion passes in favor of adjournment 7-0-0.
Meeting adjourned at 9:40 PM.
Respect ll submitted by: