HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004-04-14 Recreation Committee MinutesFAX: (781) 942 - 5441
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RECREATION DIVISION: (7-8 j 941 - 9075`
READING RECREATION COMMITTEE MINUTES
April 14th Town Hall Conference Room
Attendance: Bernie Winne, Rec. Committee Chair, Claire Bolger, Rec. Committee Vice Chair,
Mary Ellen Stolecki, Rec. Committee Member, Barbara Faso, Rec. Committee Member, Mary Ann
Kozlowski, School Member, Rick Shaffer, Rec. Committee Member, Jack Downing, Rec.
Committee Member, John Feudo, Recreation Administrator.
Meeting Called to order at 7:32 PM.
The Committee was asked to review the minutes from the March I Od' meeting.
J. Downing made a motion to accept the minutes from March loth . M. Kozlowski seconded the
motion. Motion passes in favor of acceptance of the minutes 5-0-0.
R. Shaffer entered the meeting at 7:45 PM
J. Feudo presented a special permit request from RYS to use the Street and Lighted field beginning
at 9:00 AM on Sunday, May 23rd. This request comes based on RYS losing a Sat due to Reading
Friends and Family Day. B. Faso made a motion to approve the request and grant RYS a permit for
a 9:00 AM start on Sunday May 23, 2004. M. Kozlowski second the motion. Motion passes in
favor of granting the special permit 6-0-0.
J. Feudo presented a special permit request from EMWSL to start early on Sunday, April 18d', 2004
at Collins Field. J. Feudo stated he asked the organization to begin early to help accommodate other
organizations in the afternoon. The game would begin at 9:00 AM. J. Downing made a motion to
accept the request of EMWSL to begin at 9:00 AM on Sunday, April 18, 2004 at Collins Field. M.
Kozlowski seconded the motion. Motion passes in favor of granting the special permit 6-0-0.
Arbitration of Reading Youth Lacrosse and Reading United Soccer Club at Collins Field.
J. Feudo presented both sides need and purpose for the field. B. Winn stated that it seemed to him
that soccer was out of options and Lacrosse seemed easier to move around. R. Shaffer asked if the
soccer team was mostly Reading Kids. J. Feudo stated he had been led to believe the 3 teams for
soccer had a composition of approximately half Reading players.
A suggestion was made about moving Soccer to Symonds Way for a two-time use. A lengthy
discussion ensued.
M. Stolecki made the motion to have Recreation Administrator John Feudo attempt to
accommodate both RYLAX and RUSC by the following processes:
Town. of Reading
16 Lowell Street
Reading, MA 01867-2685
READING RECREATION COMMITTEE MINUTES CON'T
1. Find out the Definite date of the Practice FF and Tennis Court Field Construction.
2. Check the availability of Symonds Way with Babe Ruth for Soccer.
If Soccer can move to Symonds Way, Collins will be used for Lacrosse, if not Lacrosse would
move to the TC Field or Practice Football field and Soccer would use Collins. M. Kozlowski
seconded the motion. Motion passes in favor of the stated procedures and contingent decision
6-0-1.
Formalizing Business Items
Recreation Chairman B. Winne stated he would like to entertain some discussion on formalizing the
process by which business items. There had been some ambiguity about walking in and attending a
Recreation Committee meeting versus getting on to the Agenda. B. Winne felt the Committee
needed a policy or procedure.
The Recreation Committee decided to table the item until next month and advised that the
Recreation Administrator work with the Chairmen to develop a motion to bring back to the
Committee in May. Also, to check with Town Manager to see if this would conflict with open
meeting laws.
Increasing Contractor Percentages
J. Feudo stated that the last item on the Deficit recovery plan was to raise the Independent
Contractor's percentage to 20% from 16%. J. Feudo handed out a breakdown of the gross income
brought in by the Recreation Division. He stated the approximate gross income for 2003 was
$223,000. Each percentage point is valued at about $2,000. The Committee discussed some of the
options. The Reading Baseball program was discussed as a program that may need special
consideration due to the fact that there is little program administrator done by the recreation
division. The overall feeling of the committee was to not build policy around the programs the
Recreation Division is offering.
J. Downing made the motion to raise the percentage from contractors to 20% payable to the Town
of Reading. M. Stolecki seconded the motion. Motion passes in favor of raising the percentage
from contractors to 20% payable to the Town of Reading 7-0-0.
Administrators Report
J. Feudo asked the Recreation Committee for some guidance on how to issue Sunday permits for
Practices. The consensus of the Committee was to allow the Leagues or Organization to contact the
Recreation Division and issue a permit when requested. M. Stolecki pointed out that it might be
important to know how people actually used Sundays as an alternative.
J. Feudo stated the Recreation Division had an exceptionally good registration day on April 10th.
He thanked those that helped out as the day was a huge success. The Division brought in $55,000
for the day. That is approximately $14,000 more than the prior year.
READING RECREATION COMMITTEE MINUTES CON'T
Camp numbers are better at this point in April this year than they were last year in May. The hope
is registration will continue to grow.
J. Feudo stated he and Dan McGrath were looking for other creative marketing ideas to keep the
word out about Camp. Some of the ideas include a tri-fold to the elementary and preschools,
RCTV, the Rec. Web-site and Pizza boxes at Capri and Dunkin' Donuts.
J. Feudo reported that the Egg Hunt was a huge success this year. Over 600 people attended the
event. The Division will continue to look for ways to improve this event next year. B. Faso
recommended not giving away small toys in the future.
J. Feudo stated the Principle Clerk, Luisa Tremblay had given her two week notice and would be
departing on April 13th. A search will begin immediately to replace the full time position.
Sub-Committee Reports
None
M. Stolecki made a motion to end the meeting of April I4th. C. Bolger seconded the motion.
Motion passes in favor of adjournment 7-0-0.
Meeting adjourned at 9:55 PM.
espectfull ubmitted by:
~ohn eu o
Recrea ion dministrator