HomeMy WebLinkAbout1999-06-16-REC-min
Town of Lexington
Recreation Department
Karen Simmons, Recreation Director Tel: (781) 862-0500 x262
Fax: (781) 863-2350
RECREATION COMMITTEE MINUTES
June 16, 1999
Members Present: Sandra Shaw, Pam Varrin, Dick Neumeier, Don Chisholm
Staff Present: Karen Simmons, Brian Gilbert, Matt Casparius
AGENDA:
1. The meeting minutes from May 19, 1999 were read and approved.
2. Little League Fees
Bob McConnell was not able to attend, but would like to make his presentation at the Recreation
Committee meeting in August. This was approved; however there was still a discussion about
fees. Dick suggested that perhaps Babe Ruth and Lexington Youth Soccer should pay a fee
based on how many weeks they are using the fields. The fee he suggested was $1 per week per
child. Don brought up the issue of whether there should be a cap the fee since some programs
run as long as 10 weeks and if the organizations are now complaining fees of $5 - 8 they would
really complain about a $10 fee. Pam and Brian both feel that Little League doesn’t put as much
wear and tear on the fields as soccer, so why should they have to pay equally. Sandra and Karen
both feel that trying to keep track of the $1 per week per child would be a logistical nightmare to
try and monitor.
3. Capital Articles
Karen needs to submit the Recreation Department’s 5-year budget projection to the Town
th
Manager’s office by June 30. Before she can do that she needs to find out when the capital
articles will be approved by the State. Sutherland will be the priority park for repairs, which will
push back all the other parks by one year.
Article #29- Pine Meadows Improvements
Brian had a meeting with Bob Healy who is an irrigation consultant. He will be working on Pine
Meadows, Harrington, and the Cemetery all under one project. His service will be the same as
what the engineering department would have done for us. Once he is done, he will provide us
with a cost analysis for each of these areas. Brian first has to provide him with a number of
documents about the areas, and what has been done to them previously. Brian is going to get this
1625 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE • LEXINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02420
2
information to Healy in the next 2-3 weeks. The possibility of having Bob Healy be the engineer
of the project was discussed, which would make him the supervisor of the inspections and
installation of the project. Depending on how the timing works out, the irrigation system should
be ready to be installed during the Fall of 1999. If the timing doesn’t work out, it will have to
wait until the Fall of 2000, since the course cannot be dug up in the springtime.
Article #30- Athletic Field Development
Brian contacted the surveyor, and they are in the process of setting up an on-site meeting at the
Harrington area. One of the things that Brian needs to find out is the distance between the
property and the wetlands buffer zone. If the project goes into the 100-foot buffer zone, we will
first have to get approval from Conservation, and the cost to delineate the wetlands will be ours.
The surveyor’s project will be to determine how close we will be to that buffer zone.
The second challenge for this article is for Brian to determine where the property line falls on the
Lowell Street side, at the point where the boundary is near private property. The committee
discussed their knowledge of the building that is located there. The surveyor can determine for
us if the building and part of the woods and the driveway are on private or town property. From
this discussion it was suggested that if the building is on town property, then perhaps a land swap
could be worked out with the owner of the building.
Article #31- Athletic Field Improvements
Dick shared a memo he had received from Brian McNally that discussed his priorities regarding
this article. He feels that the bleachers are a safety hazard and need to be fixed immediately.
Over the last 5 years small repairs have been made, but Brian feels that it is time to replace the
bleachers instead of just patching them. As part of the new bleachers, he would like to create a
permanent storage area for sports equipment so that it is no longer necessary to rent a storage
unit every year. Brian would like to include from this article the bleachers, track resurfacing,
Clarke fields, and Center #4 as the priority items to be completed for the summer of 2000. Then,
the following year, the focus would shift to the tennis courts and fields at Diamond.
Pam inquired whether there were a current design available which included the storage area as
part of the support structure for the bleachers. Brian Gilbert replied that the capital request was
based on regular bleachers, so the question arose as to whether or not the scope of the project (in
terms of money values and structure) could be changed after it had been approved by the State.
Brian McNally also requested that the track be resurfaced with the Mondo Track surface instead
of a normal surface since it should last twice as long. However, the capital request to the State
only budgeted for the normal surface similar to what is currently there, so Brian Gilbert said he
would look into what it would cost for the Mondo surface. Brian McNally requested additional
items such as new bleachers with storage for his sports teams. Karen feels that this is not a
priority for the town and although he sees it as a priority, he should use athletic funds for the
track and bleacher upgrades. At this time, the Recreation Committee does not recommend using
part of the $1.7 million towards bleacher upgrades. Dick recommends that a meeting be setup
with Brian Gilbert, John Moynihan, Brian McNally, and one other member of the Recreation
Committee. John Moynihan is the project manager for capital article #31, so hopefully with this
meeting they can sort out priorities for exactly what and how things should be done.
3
4. Karen’s Report
Karen met with John Moynihan and Fire Chief Jack Quinlan because John wanted to completely
block off access behind Bridge School while it is under construction to provide space for
approximately 30 tractor trailer trucks to be parked behind the building. However, after a
discussion emphasizing that the Fire Department and Parks Department needed to get to the Old
Res with emergency vehicles and maintenance trucks, John agreed to leave an 18-foot space to
enable the Fire and Parks Departments to get back there. Additionally, the two handicapped
accessible parking spots will also remain in the same location.
The Recreation Department has just finished two days of interviewing for the Program
Coordinator position, and three candidates have been recommended to the Town Manager’s
office. Reference checks will be completed on those three candidates, and a job offer will be
made very soon.
The Skateboard/inline Park Committee has been slow in their progress lately due to a debate
over exact location of the stakes. The committee is trying to move closer to the softball field,
which is causing a problem. The approximate size of the Skate Park is 12,000 square feet. Bob
McConnell, representing the committee, said that he was ok with the current location. However,
the project is stalled because of opposition from one committee member. Karen wants to set up a
meeting with the entire committee to discuss the issues so that this project isn’t held up any
further.
Complaints have been coming from the kids involved in the development of this skate park
because the committee isn’t getting all the facts to them. Karen recommends that the committee
post a sign to advertise the skate board park location and request donations to show the town
how close they are to reaching the goal. Part of the new Program Coordinator’s job will be to
work with the skate park committee and move things along.
Related to this issue, the Recreation Department has been receiving complaints from the
residents on Raymond Street because the curbs were just rebuilt and the road re-surfaced, which
is attracting a lot of skateboarders to the street. Residents are afraid that someone is going to get
hurt. Police Chief Chris Casey has been notified and promises that more patrols will go through
that area.
5. Brian’s Report
The two new signs for the boardwalk at the Fitness Path just came in, but he feels that they look
too large since they are 24” x 24”. He hasn’t had a chance to put the signs up yet to see how they
look. These signs will be put on both ends of the boardwalk at Worthen Road and near Lincoln
Park.
A new sign will be posted at Sutherland Park stating that no one is allowed in the park ½ hour
after sunset till ½ hour before sunrise.
The current dry spell is really killing the fields. Brian hopes that the new seed at Lincoln field
will germinate before it gets too hot.
4
The tent frame went up at the Old Res today. This tent will be used as a rain shelter for Teddy
Bear Picnic preschool program.
Brian feels that there is a need to revisit the issue of shady areas at the pool, since there aren’t too
many areas that do have shade. There is increased use of sunscreen which is clogging up the
filters at the pool. There have been some problems with high readings at the pool, which is most
likely due to a combination of having old septums at the pool with the new marcite.
Replacement of the septums is something that is part of FY ’01 Pool Capital project. The levels
are starting to get back to normal, but in the meantime Brian would like us all to pray for rain.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:25 p.m.
NEXT MEETING
JULY 28, 1999 AT 7:00 PM
PINE MEADOWS TOUR