Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2001-06-13 Recreation Committee MinutesTown of Reading 16 Lowell Street Reading, MA 01867-2685 _ rr CLER etc rl ) u, 1 1 ASS. FAX: (781) 942-9071 RECREATION "&1(781) ~44~-9%75 RECREATION COMMITTEE MINUTES 6/13/01 MEETING In Attendance - Alan Beaulieu, Jack Downing, Dave Bryant, Chris Campbell, Kate Kaminer, Sudie Fay, Mark Hyson, Peter Hechenbleikner The meeting was started at 7:40 p.m. by Alan Beaulieu Everyone read through the May 9, 2001 minutes. There was a brief discussion on the minutes. Motion was made by Jack Downing to accept the May 9, 2001 Minutes/Seconded by Sudie Fay. The vote passed to accept the minutes 5 - 0. Clair Bolger came in at 7:44 p.m. Sudie Fay mentioned that Mark Hyson should call Pop Warner to make sure they play away on - Saturday, October 28 due to the Rotary Road Race and the Halloween Parade. Mark Hyson stated that he would take care of this. Town Manager, Peter Hechenbleikner spoke on the Symonds Way Scoreboard. He stated that the right field line changed and was modified. The landscape of the cul-de-sac area has changed. The field is in basically good shape. There is a streetlight going to go in at the end of Symonds Way. The field was laid out for lighting, but there is no capital money yet to put in lights. The soccer/baseball scoreboard was donated by the Friends of Reading Athletics and the Reading Municipal Light Department. The scoreboard is hardwired and the town will do the maintenance on the scoreboard. The area underneath the benches is going to be redone, maybe with asphalt. There was some discussion by the committee of their concerns on how the committee found out about the implementation of the scoreboard. The committee asked Mr. Hechenbleikner about the procedures. Mr. Hechenbleikner responded by letting the committee know that is was not intentional that they were not notified earlier in the process. Mr. Hechenbleikner stated he was going on the premise that this was part of the original plan for the field that the Recreation Committee was involved with in the beginning stages and that the scoreboard was just an amenity that was going to be put in like the fence. The Recreation Committee has no opposition to the scoreboard, just that we make sure it is high enough and bleachers are high enough to see everything. RECREATION COMMITTEE MINUTES (Con't) 6/13/01 MEETING Kate Kaminer spoke with Len Rucker about RMLD doing a survey of the lights at Birch Meadow Tennis Courts. Kate said she would get back to the committee on this issue. Mary-Ellen Stolecki arrived at 8:00 p.m. It was also stated that when Symonds was originally planned out that it was planned as a Multi- Purpose field. The field is to be used for Baseball in the spring, Baseball and Soccer in the Summer and Soccer in the Fall. Town Manager, Peter Hechenbleikner spoke on the issues the Town is having with the Contractual programs. The Recreation Division went through a Municipal audit last year and the auditors said that the Division could no longer do business with contractors the way we had been doing business in the past. All checks by participants must be made out to the "Town of Reading" and not the individual instructor. Mr. Hechenbleikner said that we are in the process of phasing into this during this summer season. Mr. Hechenbleikner also stated that the I.R.S. has a problem with a Town employee receiving a check from payroll as well as a check from Accounts Payable. Mark Hyson stated that we are currently meeting with all the instructors to iron out contracts and transitioning into the new way. Mr. Hechenbleikner stated that there are still some meetings that will have to take place to find out exactly the right way to approach these issues. Mr. Hechenbleikner and Mark Hyson as well as the Town Counsel and the Accounting Department heads will meet with the I.R.S. and the Ethics Commission to determine what the next steps are. Bernie Winne came in at 8:10 p.m. Evelyn Diorio sat in on tonight's meeting. Evelyn is interested in becoming a member of the Recreation Committee. She has been a resident of Reading for 9 years and has two children. Alan Beaulieu stated to Evelyn Diorio that she may be able to be an associate member, and Alan instructed her to see the selectman to be appointed as an Associate Member. Mark Hyson asked the Committee to grant George Hines a Special Permit for Sunday, 6/17/01 from 10 am - 1 pm for Symonds Way Field. Mark thought this was for a rained out game, but the Committee thought it might be due to the playoffs. Mark said that he would check into the situation. A motion was made by Bernie Winne to grant the permit. Seconded by Dave Bryant. The vote passed 8 - 0. The condition of this permit was to empower Mark Hyson, to make a conscious decision before granting this permit. Mark Hyson asked the Committee to grant Jane Duggan a Special Permit for Sunday, 8/19/01 from 7:30 a.m. to 12:00 Noon to use the Practice Football Field for the purpose of the Jay Jellison Memorial 5K Road Race. A motion was made by Bernie Winne to grant the permit. Seconded by Claire Bolger. The vote passed 8 - 0 RECREATION COMMITTEE MINUTES (Con't) 6/13/01 MEETING Mark Hyson also gave an Administrator's Report. This encompassed the Memorial Park Project, in which there is no capital for this year to renovate that playground. Mark did state that they have taker' out the slide and he will notify abutters about the loss of capital funds and not renovating the playground this season. Mark also stated in his report that he would like the committee to sign up to help out at the Sunday Concerts. Mark updated the committee on the Recreation Software that he is looking into purchasing for the department. Finally Mark talked briefly on maybe setting up some sort of guidelines for the Field Usage. Mark stated he would try to get the information he had from Winchester for the next meeting. Jack Downing gave a Sub-Committee report on the Community Preservation Act. He stated that they are meeting weekly. Topics have included Woodend Cemetery and Coolidge Renovation. Jack stated that if the Act had money, towns would then have a vehicle to move on pieces of available land that come up. The Recreation Committee asked several questions on this issue. Some questions were: What is the Rec. Committee needs when it comes to available land, what is the money going to be used for - will the money be used for Field improvements or to procure fields. Some ideas of things we could do with this money were suggested - More passive recreation/hiking trails, a historical trail, and easement for bikeway. Jack said the findings of the Community Preservation Act would hopefully come out in September. Kate Kaminer spoke on the Tennis Open. She thanked everyone for helping out. Kate stated that there were 194 players in the tournament. Atlantic and Walmart were two of the major sponsors. The money that was raised will possibly go to windscreens for the courts, ball machines for both the Boys and Girls H.S. Tennis teams, and the Boys Team Plaques. Dave Bryant spoke briefly on Lacrosse wanting to start in Reading. Charles Hardy who owns Hillside Florist in Woburn is involved in this. Dave mentioned that we should invite Mr. Hardy to the next meeting to discuss this further. The rest of the committee agreed and Dave will invite him to the July meeting. Alan Bealieu made a motion to adjourn at 9:26 p.m. Bernie Winne seconded the motion. The vote passed 8 - 0. Respectfully Submitted, Mark R. Hyson, CPRP Recreation Administrator