City of New London Department of Recreation 120 Broad Street New London, CT Phone (860) Fax (860)

Transcription

1 City of New London Department of Recreation 120 Broad Street New London, CT Phone (860) Fax (860) PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING Wednesday, May 6, 2015 Senior Center Library at 6:30 p.m. Members in attendance: Norman Harrison- Chairperson; Robert Nenna- co-chairperson, Nancy Baude, Margaret Cotnoir, and James Diaz-Saavedra Members Absent: Mike Hudson, Nicole Dallas, Willie Quinones, and George Potts City Staff Members Present: Tommie Major-Director of Recreation; I. Call to Order Norman Harrison called the meeting to order at 6:35PM. Public Participation Alexsis Cluff is requesting Bates Woods Pavilion #1 for a party on July 4th from 1:00-6:00pm. She will be grilling on-site and no amplified music. Margaret Cotnoir, seconded by James Diaz- Saavedra, made a motion to approve use of Bates Woods. Motion passed. Charles Hylton of Abounding Grace Ministries is requesting Toby May basketball court for their annual basketball tournament. This is the church s 5 th year of doing the tournament. It will be held on July 25 from 9:00am-9:00pm. Bob Nenna, seconded by Margaret Cotnoir, made a motion to approve use of Toby May basketball courts. Motion passed. Jackie Jackson is requesting Bates Woods Pavilion #1 for a party on June 16th from 11:00-6:00pm. She will be grilling on-site and no amplified music. She is planning to rent a bounce house. She was informed that liability insurance would need to be provided by the rental company. Margaret Cotnoir, seconded by James Diaz-Saavedra, made a motion to approve use of Bates Woods. Motion passed. Lisbeth Urena is requesting Bates Woods Pavilion #1 for a party on May 23rd from 12:30-dusk. She is planning to rent a bounce house. She is aware that liability insurance is needed from the rental company. James Diaz-Saavedra, seconded by Bob Nenna, made a motion to approve use of Bates Woods. Motion passed. Mark Kehrer of Faith-to-Faith presented a proposal for a clean-up day at Fulton Park. The group is planning a CityFest on June 27 th and would like to clean the park on June 20 th as a precursor to the event. The proposal includes: trash/leaf and graffiti removal, weeding, painting of rails and basketball poles, new hoops (if can get donated), wall mural, replacing boards on stairs, and adding mulch and flowers. Margaret Cotnoir, seconded by James Diaz-Saavedra, made a motion to approve the proposal for beautifying Fulton Park. Mr. Kehrer was informed that there

2 is no water at Fulton. His organization will use their resources to acquire donations and assistance with equipment or supplies. Lori will send a copy of the proposal to Public Works for their input. Motion passed. Nashema Battle is requesting Bates Woods Pavilion #1 for a 2 nd birthday party on June 7th from 2:00-7:00pm. She plans to have a moon bounce and use the on-site grill. She is aware of getting the insurance from the moon bounce company. Margaret Cotnoir, seconded by Bob Nenna, made a motion to approve use of Bates Woods. Motion passed. Amanda Goins is requesting Bates Woods Pavilion #2 for a birthday party on May 16th from 3:00-8:00pm. She plans to have a moon bounce and use the on-site grill. She is aware of getting the insurance from the moon bounce company. Margaret Cotnoir, seconded by Bob Nenna, made a motion to approve use of Bates Woods. Motion passed. Rachel Hill is requesting Green Harbor Park Area #1 for a picnic on July 4th from 8:00-5:00pm. Bob Nenna, seconded by James Diaz-Saavedra, made a motion to approve use of Green Harbor. Motion passed. Devin Karol is requesting Bates Woods for May 17 th. Someone else has already reserved the Pavilion #1 so she is switching her request to May 16 th at Riverside from 12-5pm. She does not plan to grill nor rent a bounce house. Bob Nenna, seconded by Margaret Cotnoir, made a motion to approve use of Riverside Park picnic area. Motion passed. Lauren Gee and Tara Bernoudy are outreach leaders as part of the People Empowering People Program which is offered through the NL Youth Affairs office. They are requesting use of Williams Park to host a Family Resource Fair. They are hoping to have it on August 15 th. It would be a free event with activities, music, vendors, food. Any proceeds collected would go to charity. The goal of this fair is to inform the community of all the resources available in New London County and to give all of the respective groups a chance to promote their agency. They are planning to make it a yearly event. Lori informed them that August 15 th was also the date of the Back to School Community Block party which is a large event and is generally held at Jennings School. Lauren and Tara did not want to have their event on the same day so will look into another date. Bob Nenna, seconded by Margaret Cotnoir, made a motion to approve use of the Williams Park based upon availability. Motion passed. Jewell Jones is requesting Bates Woods Pavilion #1 for June 13 th for a surprise party but that date is already taken. It was suggested that she go to Riverside Park. Ms. Jones is a Waterford resident and was informed that the rental fee is more. Bob Nenna, seconded by Margaret Cotnoir, made a motion to approve use of Riverside Park picnic area. Motion passed. Mia Davis is requesting Bates Woods Pavilion #1 for a birthday party on July 25th from 3:00-7:00pm. She will not have amplified music and may use the on-site grill. James Diaz-Saavedra, seconded by Nancy Baude, made a motion to approve use of Bates Woods. Motion passed.

3 Lori presented request: Sheila Hoffman of Isaac School is requesting use of Toby May for their field day on May 22 nd. Margaret Cotnoir, seconded by Nancy Baude, made a motion to approve use of Toby May. Motion passed. Lori presented request: Rinaldo Drayton is requesting use of Bates Woods Pavilion #1 on June 13 th for a baby shower. James Diaz-Saavedra, seconded by Nancy Baude, made a motion to approve use of Toby May. Motion passed. Lori presented request: Isaura Guzman is requesting use of Bates Woods Pavilion #2 on June 6 th for a birthday party. Nancy Baude, seconded by Bob Nenna, made a motion to approve use of Bates Woods. Motion passed. Lori presented request: Cathi Strother is requesting use of Riverside Park amphitheater picnic area and basketball courts on June 27 th for a birthday party from 10:00am-7:00pm. Nancy Baude, seconded by Bob Nenna, made a motion to approve use of Riverside Park. Motion passed. Lori presented request: Efrain Dominguez is requesting the use of Fulton Park from August 3 to August 7 at 4:00-5:30pm to hold the annual free basketball camp known as the Basketball Explosion. The camp is for boys and girls ages 9-13 and sponsored by Oasis of Restoration Church in New London. Nancy Baude, seconded by Bob Nenna, made a motion to approve use of Fulton Park. Motion passed. Tommie presented request: Frank Pezzello is requesting the use of Sal Amanti field on Sundays for his AAU baseball team. He will work around the leagues and pay fees. Bob Nenna, seconded by Nancy Baude, made a motion to approve use of Sal Amanti. Motion passed. II. Parks Riverside Park Conservancy: Represented by Priscilla Peabody; Priscilla submitted a request for Bates Woods trails. RPC will be hosting an educational nature walk as part of the CT Trails Weekend. Nancy Baude, seconded by Margaret Cotnoir, made a motion to support use of Bates Woods trails by the RPC. Motion passed. A clean-up of Riverside took place last weekend with the help of the Kiwanis, Mayor, his assistant, and the head of Public Works. RPC will be purchasing the dog waste bag refills. There will be a meeting in 2 weeks to plan the Down by the Riverside festival. It will probably be held on September 19 th. Priscilla will confirm the date. The $5,000 CDBG grant will be put towards replacing the fence and repairing the wall. Jim asked the status of the dog fountain. Priscilla said that a plumber s estimate is needed. Lori still needs to request the installation of a new lock on the bathroom doors. Save Ocean Beach: Margaret Cotnoir represented; They had 53 volunteers on May 2 nd for the clean-up. Dave provided a nice lunch. This weekend on May 9 th is the Mile-Long tag sale from 9:00am-3:00pm. May 9 th is also the Green Leaf Road race. The have 50 vendors with a bake sale. The Beautification Committee is doing the planters. SOB is working on a State grant for

4 $26,000 for trail ways. This year marks the 75 th anniversary of Ocean Beach. A big celebration is planned for July 3 rd. This year also marks the 20 th anniversary of Save Ocean Beach. NL Park Conservancy: No representative. Lori will contact them to request a monthly written report if they are unable to send a representative. III. IV. Approval of Minutes Nancy Baude, seconded by James Diaz-Saavedra, made a motion to approve April s regular meeting minutes. Motion passed. Director s Report Recreation Tommie Major distributed a monthly update from the Recreation and Youth Affairs department. The Recreation Department hosted a children s Duathlon at the Sports Complex and Bates Woods. It was very successful. Tommie would like to set up a meeting with BOE/school system before August. He is spending a lot of time on issues involving the schools. Tommie has been the one to lock and unlock the gates at the Sports Complex. The track coach has not been putting equipment away and the team rooms are being used for storage instead of using the trailers. Nancy reminded us that the trailers belong to the school, money was spent to move them, BOE staff promised to paint them and repair the rotted floor. It has yet to be done. Tommie is requesting the purchase of new lacrosse goals if the existing ones cannot be repaired. Bob Nenna, seconded by Margaret Cotnoir, made a motion to have the goals repaired for a reasonable cost. Which account would the funds come out it? Tommie said that the Sports Complex account still needs to be set up by Donna Rinehart but the money would come from that account. Motion passed. Bob Nenna, seconded by Margaret Cotnoir, made a motion to approve the purchase of new goals if existing ones cannot be repaired. Motion passed. Nancy reminded Tommie to ask Donna Rinehart if the cell tower money has been going into the Sports Complex account. Also, in the concession stand, the grease trap needs to be cleaned. Tommie is requesting money from the Sports Complex account to pay for it. Bob Nenna, seconded by Margaret Cotnoir, made a motion to approve the cost of cleaning the grease trap. It is a fire hazard and must be done. Motion passed. Tommie informed the Commission that there were issues with the restrooms. Tommie had the plumber look into it. Last year, the outside faucets froze although we have heaters on the pipes. The plumber indicated that the faucets are not of great quality and the push buttons to operate the faucets were damaged. Each bathroom (male & female) have three water buttons. It is all operational now. Parks There was no representative from the Parks department and no report available. The Commission received a playground inspection report from Sharon Bousquet. Bob asked Dave Denoia to have the turf fields groomed. Margaret Cotnoir, seconded by Bob Nenna, made a motion to send a letter to Public Works regarding the maintenance schedule of the turf fields. The letter should be addressed to Tim Hanser, Dave Denoia, City Council, and the Mayor.

5 Nancy will review the manufacturers specs and recommendations. Public Works should keep a maintenance log book. Motion passed. V. Old Business Sports Complex: Nancy Baude represented. The Dedication Plaque is being installed on Monday, May 11 th at 10:00am. Everyone is invited. Nancy will check to see if the railings got painted. She will be there on Friday with Serano. There is still the issue of dirt running down the hill onto the track during the rainfall. Tommie does not think that the grass there is capable of holding that amount of water. Bob would like to see a barrier of some sort such as curbing. Chad Frost thinks that if the grass is allowed to grow undisturbed, it will become stable enough to hold the water. Nancy will bring this up with Serano. Bob and Jim found the heat, fans, and lights on all winter. Tommie reiterated the importance of meeting with the Board of Ed. Bob will get a key for the generator from Bill Barlow. A knox box for the gate keys still needs to be installed. Bates Woods: Bob complimented on how nice the mural painting looks. The press box light is still broken. There is evidence of alcohol in the park which may be from a men s softball team that plays occasionally on Sundays (unpermitted). Community Center: Bob distributed pictures of a YMCA community center to show the various components of a community center. Veteran s Field: Earlier Chad Frost presented 3 different field proposals to the Commission. Plans B, D, or E (attached). Plan E includes: Cal Ripkin regulation baseball field, a multipurpose field, can accommodate 3 practice youth football teams, a portable fencing to be used for baseball, and a permanent backstop. Bleachers do not fit at 1 st or 3 rd base area because it would be in the safe zone. There are new safety regulations that need to be kept in mind. Tommie knows that in the past wear spots have been an issue when fields are used by different sports. Chad suggests moving equipment off the field when not in use. In order for the plan to move, the Commission will need to select a plan. Irrigation is in the plans. The next step would be to get the budget and create a priority list. James Diaz-Saavedra, seconded by Nancy Baude, made a motion to agree on Plan E. Motion passed. Chad will present the Commission s decision at the next Building and Maintenance Committee meeting. Policy & Facility Permit Process Procedures Handbook: The Handbook has been approved. Lori will make copies for distribution. VI. New Business. Concession Stands: The Recreation Department will create an agreement for the sports leagues to perform a pre- and post- check. Tommie suggests that the Parks department do the walk-thru and police it. Babe Ruth cleaned up the concession at Mercer. The mess was not from Babe Ruth but from the break-in.

6 Commission Attendance: Norman addressed the issue of attendance. We have four Commission members who have missed several meetings. We do not want to be stuck without a quorum. Some members have been ill but Norman would like to know if they still want to be involved. James Diaz-Saavedra, seconded by Bob Nenna, made a motion to send a letter to those four members to make them aware of their attendance. Motion passed. Jim commented on the bench at Mahan Park has been painted. VII. Adjourn Margaret Cotnoir, seconded by James Diaz-Saavedra, made a motion to adjourn at 8:31 PM. Motion passed. Respectfully submitted, Lori DeLucca Recording Secretary Approved by the on