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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2002-12-11 Recreation Committee MinutesTown of Reading 16 Lowell Street CE!V D Reading, MA 01867-2685 O~V il CLERK( ,_-DING, MASS. 2HI JAW 13 P 2'. d 1 FAX: (781) 942 - 5441 RECREATION DIVISION: (781) 942 - 9075 READING RECREATION COMMITTEE MINUTES December 11, 2002 In Attendance - Jack Downing, John Feudo, Dave Bryant, Chris Campbell, Mary Ellen Stolecki, Alan Beaulieu, Kate Kaminer, Patrick Fennely, Lorraine Salter. Jack Downing started the meeting at 7:38 PM. The Recreation Committee read over the November 13, 2002 minutes. A. Beaulieu made a motion to accept the minutes. Chris Campbell asked for clarification on two items. The phrase "defeated 4-2" was amended to with the phrase "because the minimum of 5 affirmative votes was not achieved" in both situations in the minutes. M. Stolecki second the motion to accept the Nov. 13, 2002, minutes. The motion passed by a vote of 4 - 0. Kate Kaminer entered the meeting at 7:40 PM. Jack Downing stated we would start with the first item in the New Business section. Pro-Rating- John Feudo stated that he was aware the Recreation Committee wanted to see something in writing about Pro-Rating, but he wanted to hear some discussion from the group before he proceeded. Also stated was the Recreation Division had a couple of instances come up where it seemed because we don't prorate at all, the kids end up losing in the end. J. Feudo also made the recommendation that camp would be excluded from any prorating due to it being a logistical nightmare. Dave Bryant felt that if you get into prorating it will create many people to sign up for half the class and would create problems for the administration of the program. Alan Beaulieu agreed with D. Bryant. A. Beaulieu suggested that in certain circumstances it would be O.K. to prorate. The example he gave was a child moves to town after a program begun. Prorating would be fair in that situation. Kate Kaminer stated that it should be left up to the Recreation Administrators discretion. L. Salter entered the meeting at 7:55 PM. L. Salter felt that the Recreation Division is a business and not many companies would prorate as a good business practice. A. Beaulieu agreed. D. Bryant made the motion to let the Recreation Administrator use his/her own discretion on prorating people. P. Fennelly seconded the motion. Motion passed 5-0. READING RECREATION COMMITTEE MINUTES (Con't) December 11th, 2002 Open Recreation Fee- The next topic was the fee for open recreation. J. Feudo explained to the Recreation Committee that Open Recreation has begun, but the numbers were low due to the high price for the program. With the program costing $5 and $7 for in and out of towns respectively, people could get a membership at larger workout Gym for the same amount of money per week. J. Feudo proposed to move the fee to $3 for in Town and $5 for out of town and opened it up for discussion. J. Downing posed the question of why the fee was raised in the first place. The conclusion was that the usage fees did not cover the operating expenses, so in turn it was raised. K. Kaminer mentioned that open recreation has always been a program that has operated at a loss. D. Bryant suggested moving it back to $3 across the board. He felt due to lack of participant, there is a fear that the program would die. J. Downing proposed a $4 and $6 structure. A. Beaulieu made a motion to make the fee $4 across the board for adults,, siting the wear and tear of the courts as reason to raise the fee. P. Fennely seconds the motion. J. Downing called for any further discussion. C. Campbell mentioned that there is a YMCA men's league that we may be competing with. M. Stolecki said she would like to see the hard numbers to present to the School Committee if necessary. J. Feudo stated those numbers are easily obtainable and would be glad to pull them together for the January Meeting. J. Downing called it to a vote. Motion passed 5-0 in favor of moving the fee for open recreation to $4 across the board for adults. The next issue was the waiver situation for minors at open gym. In the past parents have just dropped kids off for open gym, payment was made at the door and no waiver was signed. J. Feudo ask the Rec. Committee for opinions on what to do. J. Downing suggested using a seasonal waiver and keeping it on file. L. Salter suggested giving to them the night they show up to bring home with them and keeping a list of kids that show up for open gym on a weekly basis. A. Beaulieu suggested that verbal permission over the phone would be O.K., but feared the validity of who the child might be speaking to. D. Bryant suggested bringing it to Town Counsel to see what they say. J. Feudo agreed and asked if he should cancel for tomorrow night. The Recreation committee stated not to cancel but post it outside and inside for Dec. 12th with hopes of hearing back from Town Council about a policy for the following week. Trading Field Space for Reduction of Pool Costs at the YMCA- J. Feudo brought up the possibility of trading field space for a lower rate for pool usage for summer camp. J. Feudo mentioned that there is plenty of field space available in the afternoon at both Birch Meadow and Castine Field. Space could easily be found if needed. READING RECREATION COMMITTEE MINUTES (Con't) December 11th, 2002 J. Downing said he was all for cutting costs, but had an issue with a private enterprise running operation on public property. M. Stolecki asked how much the current pool fee was. D. Bryant stated it was around $5,300. A. Beaulieu asked to see the hard'numbers to find out what the overhead is per day. He also stated it would be pertinent for Recreation Administrator to begin talks with the YMCA, but do not finalize anything. D. Bryant made the recommendation to work out negotiations with Dan Berry of the YMCA. M. Stolecki stated the Recreation Administrator should see what the Melrose YMCA does. J. Downing suggested to also check with the N. Andover YMCA. C. Campbell added that it is important to make sure they will not be running programs on this space. The Rec. Committee agreed. Old Business- Travel Basketball is underway. J. Feudo said he has had a tough time scheduling games for the "B" teams for Boys 7th and 8th Grade. The conflict is finding gym space that works for two teams. Also, there will be no 6th grade Boys B team this year. There were only 7 kids interested and two maybe coaches to volunteer. They were referred to Sunday Basketball if they were interested in still playing. The topic of fees for the "B" teams was discussed. J. Feudo suggested giving them a reduced rate, perhaps $75. A. Beaulieu disagreed and suggested $100 due to all the administrative time put in as well as the cost for referees. A. Beaulieu made a motion to set the 7th Grade boys "B" team at $100 provided they do not have 12 scheduled games (excluding tournaments). D. Bryant second the motion. Motion passed in favor of the $100 fee 5-0. J. Feudo handed out a copy of the winter/spring brochure as well as a flyer about an error for the date of the Red Sox/ Yankees trip. Sub:Committee reports: J. Downing reported on the progress of the Skate Park. He asked the committee to check over their sheets and make any last changes as he passed them out. Committee member were told to keep the score sheet, unless they had any changes. J. Downing collected the final tabulation sheets for the location of the Skate Park from the Rec. Committee and said he would tabulate them and report results back to the committee in January. D. Bryant reported on the Aquatics Advisory Committee. He mentioned the YMCA is in the 1St stage of putting in a 2-phase system of acoustics. Also, mentioned that the pool will be closed on Dec. 21.