2020-08-26-REC-min (includes attachments)

Browse Search

2 The next agenda item, Recreation Enterprise Fund financial update,was skipped and discussed later in the meeting. 4. Temporary Story Walk request and Bench Donation—Lincoln Park Lisa O'Brien, liaison to the Lincoln Park Sub-Committee (LPSC)presented two requests to the Committee. A copy of the requests is attached to the meeting minutes. The first request was to grant LexFUN! access to fitness path at Lincoln Park to do a story walk for children and their families leading up to Halloween. This would give families the opportunity to get outside and take pictures and LexFUN! would be responsible for the clean-up afterwards. Melissa Battite questioned whether or not this would be categorized as a special event by the Town Manager's Office. Pending the Town Manager's approval, identifying safe locations with DPW would need to be coordinated. The second request was to install a bench at Lincoln Park in memory of Shen Cai,who was a resident on Baskin Road. The preference would be to install a granite bench and the LPSC has the funding available for a granite bench. Ms. O'Brien reported that in speaking with David Williams and the other members,the LPSC is in full support of both requests. After a brief conversation, Francesca Pfrommer made the following motion: "The Recreation Committee endorses the concept of the temporary story walk sponsored by LexFUN!along the fitness path at Lincoln Park,pending the approval of the Town Manager, as outlined in the request." Christian Boutwell seconded the motion. The Recreation Committee voted 4-0 to approve this motion. Then, Ms. Pfrommer made a second motion: "The Recreation Committee endorses the installation of a memorial bench at Lincoln Park in honor of Shen Cui and to bring awareness to domestic violence." Christian Boutwell seconded the motion. The Recreation Committee voted 4-0 to approve this motion. 5. Recreation, Community Programs, &Parks Report Melissa Battite and Peter Coleman,Assistant Director of Recreation,reviewed the August 26th Recreation and Community Programs Report. A copy of the report is attached with the meeting minutes. 6. Review of Policies—this item was deferred to the September 16th Recreation Committee meeting. 7. Recreation Enterprise Fund financial update Melissa Battite gave an overview of the presentation that was given to the Select Board on Monday, August 24th. A copy of the presentation is attached to the meeting minutes. During the presentation, Carolyn Kosnoff,Assistant Town Manager for Finance,provided a summary of the FY2020 budget and gave an outlook for FY2021. In FY2020,the Recreation Enterprise Fund finished with a loss of approximately $455,000. In FY2021, it is anticipated that the impacts will be even greater as determining when facilities and programs will reopen and at what capacity remain unknown at this point. At this point, it is projected that the shortfall in FY21 will be approximately$800,000. Moving forward,the question that Town Meeting will need to address is how will the Town fund the Recreation and Community Programs Department in the future? The potential shortfall could come out of free cash or in the form of relief that is amortized over three years and then paid back in the future. This was the jumping off point for a valuable conversation that the Committee engaged in. Members agreed that representation from the Committee needs to be present at the Town-wide financial summit on Thursday, September 10th Rick DeAngelis, chairman of the Recreation Committee, exclaimed that the recreation assets are as important as the brick and mortar assets of other departments, such as Police,Fire, School, 39 MARRETT ROAD,LEXINGTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02421