Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2000-05-17-REC-min Town of Lexington Recreation Committee Sandra Shaw, Chairman Tel: (781) 862-0500 x262 Pamela Varrin, Vice Chairman Fax: (781) 863-2350 Frederick DeAngelis Donald A. Chisholm Richard L. Neumeier RECREATION COMMITTEE MEETING MAY 17, 2000 Members Present: Sandra Shaw, Pam Varrin, Don Chisholm, Dick Neumeier Staff Present: Karen Simmons, Brian Gilbert, Matt Casparius Others Present: Jack Cunha, Olga Guttag, Bob McConnell, and Barbara Chandler of the Skateboard Committee; Wendy Rudner AGENDA: 1. The minutes from March 22, 2000 were approved with the following correction: It was incorrectly reported in the minutes that Dick Neumeier would call Peter Kelly to discuss a schedule. The correct person is Rick DeAngelis. 2. Wendy Rudner was present to request that the Recreation Committee consider instituting a seasonal membership at Pine Meadows. She submitted a study of fees at a few local golf courses. She suggested the $500-700 range. Wendy would be willing to do a survey on the weekend to see how often people play during the season. She suggested running a pilot program as a trial. Don said that this issue has come up several times during the last ten years and they have never really done a full-blown survey. Karen reminded the committee that they need to look at the golf contract because the management company gets a percentage of income. We are currently operating at full capacity, almost 49,000 rounds. Karen spoke to Bill Harrison of New England Golf and he is not in support of a seasonal membership. Sandra sees no reason to offer a membership. Memberships are usually set to attract new people or for the community. Companies can buy passes for a specific amount of money for a specific number of passes. Individuals can also buy passes in bulk. Mercury Air is currently the only company that takes advantage of this program. We will be taking a hard look at the fee structure for next year. One function of performance measurement could be asking about a membership possibility. 1625 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE • LEXINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02420 2 3. Minuteman Tech Golf Team Minuteman Tech would like to exchange work done on holes 4 and 6, including a retaining wall, for course time for their golf team. They would also some planting. Their team would have practices and matches on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. The estimated value of the project including labor and materials is $5000. The Recreation Committee approved the request. 4. Old Capital Articles HARRINGTON: The project at Harrington is currently on hold. The new school buildings at both Harrington and Fiske might be located on athletic fields. Dick wanted to know if it had been officially determined where the sites would be. Karen reported that the funds would be st available on July 1 and that by September or October John Moynihan should have enough information to present a plan. If Brian finds out the specifics in September he could start the design work at Harrington. ARTICLE 31: Peter Kelley met with Karen and is concerned about the loss of field space during the school construction. We need to look at the impact of this loss over 8 years and look at alternative sites. The Recreation Committee should attend the Permanent Building Committee meetings to ascertain the consequences to Recreation. Pam asked if we could make a proposal to the PBC to take over the administration of the projects on Article 31. Brian Gilbert and Ronnie Russo are too short on both time and resources to undertake a project such as this. Karen feels we should look at hiring a landscape architect or project manager to take over this project for us and write up the specs. Jumping ahead a bit, we should look at getting the irrigation system done so the fields are in the best shape for the longest period of time. Dick will call Rick DeAngelis about the commitment he made at the February meeting to find a project manager. The Committee wants to know how they can help Karen get this done. Don inquired whether this would be a full time job for a project manager. Brian said that would depend on the level of work included each time. It would be mostly a part time position unless some other design work were attached to make it full time. Most likely they would need very detailed plans on how this would be done such as the order of the projects and the time plan for each phase. The funds have been available since July of 1999. Dick feels we need to form a subcommittee to move forward and get this project done. He will volunteer to be on the subcommittee. Karen asked if there are other volunteers in the community who would be interested and have the necessary skills. Both Pam and Sandra would also volunteer to be on the subcommittee. We should get on the agenda for a future PBC meeting. Karen will talk to Rick White to get his thoughts on this. The Committee feels that Dick should chair the subcommittee. Olga Guttag mentioned Joe Rotundy from Winchester as one possible person to evaluate the tennis courts. We should go to the next PBC meeting with what we would like to do. We should shoot for their meeting in about 2 or 3 weeks so that we have time to prepare for it. Rick DeAngelis should talk to Peter Kelly to discover the level of support from the PBC. 3 PINE MEADOWS IRRIGATION: A contractor has been hired and met with Brian and Karen several weeks ago. They created a plan for crossing the brook. Brian also met with Marilyn Nordby of Conservation and she could not find a record of a file of determination. Brian will check with Engineering and if no record can be found we will have to re-file. Karen said there might be a copy on file in Cambridge. 5. Skateboard Committee Jack Cunha said that a lot had been happening since the last time he reported to the Recreation Committee. Engineering has gone through the design plans and approved them. The committee feels that they are ready to excavate and pour the concrete as well as install a couple of events. This is all part of their Phase I planning. They have received $40,000 in kind donations and $17,000 in cash. They have spent $2200 on design, $2000 on engineering, $300 on insurance, $240 for fundraising and supplies. Currently they are soliciting businesses to buy events for the park. Hopefully Thunder will buy a half pipe. Phase II will include more events as the funds come in. Mike Saccone will do the excavation and pour the concrete. Jack is just waiting to hear from th him about the schedule. They hope to finish Phase I by July 4. $5000 is still needed to purchase the events. Businesses can elect to sponsor smaller events in general or one specific event. They would like to leave it open to attract businesses to sponsor a specific event. Part of the initial construction includes a 100 ft. grinding wall which is automatically created due to split level of the park. Phase I will also include re-seeding the grass area around the base. They want to make sure the park looks good with a minimum amount of maintenance. Don asked if there were any specific plans for watering to make sure the grass grow. Bob McConnell said that Little League and Senior Softball were combining with the Skate Park Committee to run a line for a water bubbler to Center #2, which would also include a spigot for water. Parks does not have enough staff to do the seeding now. Sod would be an option to consider since it grows quicker. Olga Guttag thought a fence would be one option to separate the park from Center #2. The Recreation Committee members prefer plantings to delineate the area. There is also a safety concern regarding the balls that can be hit into the area. If we know it’s a safety issue and we choose to ignore the situation it would raise the Town’s liability. It’s different from just a participant watching since we are putting it in a recreational use area. Center #2 backstop needs to be put on priority to get done. The difference is that it is being used as an official facility rather than unofficial use. The construction of Phase II will depend on how the funds cone in. They just got $1000 from Boston Volvo. John Carroll agreed to have a day at Stone Meadow where he would donate half the day’s proceeds. They will have two tables at Discovery Day including raffles. A variety of other fundraising events are also in the works. They hope to raise $45,000 total for all events, $10,000 for grass and touch ups. Phase III would target $10,000 for a maintenance fund. They currently have $11-12,000. Don feels that the maintenance fund should be higher on the priority list. 4 The Skate Park Committee is confident that they will get all the events in. Once Phase I is completed, they expect donations to come in easier. They haven’t solicited residents yet. They st would like to complete Phase II by August 1. As a liability concern they will have to post the rules and regulations. They plan to post a list of sponsors on the other side of the sign. The Recreation Committee will need to approve the signage. There is also room on the back of events themselves. There was concern about signs being posted the side of events. Other suggestions include blasting names onto the bricks around the walkways. Brian questioned whether or not the issues raised by Engineering on the grading had been resolved. Drainage has been changed and the grading shouldn’t change that. There will be a small gravel strip along the ground between the park and Center #2. With this system the area should be dryer than before. The architect worked directly with Engineering. Brian will need to talk to Engineering because he would prefer to do a strip drain. Either that or a French drain will clog up over time. A strip drain is more expensive, but is easier to clean out. Don also raised the issue of the water table in the area. The excavation is 4 ft. When the lights were put in recently, the water was 2 ft. down. This question should be put to the contractor. Olga will be providing copies of the engineering plans and specs to Brian and Karen. Then a pre-construction meeting will need to be planned. The Skate Park Committee would like to have colored concrete, possibly green or earth tones. The product has zero maintenance and does not have to be painted. The obstacles will be san- colored. The Recreation Committee voted to approve the progress that has been made. 6. Recreation Report Asbestos has been removed from the Recreation Department office and new ceiling tiles have been installed. The equipment stored in the closet in Cary Hall will be moved to the basement in Town Hall until November or longer. Karen thanked the members of the Recreation Committee for their support on the presentation of the Capital Articles. The funds for Article 8i- Sutherland Playground will come from the Enterprise Fund instead of the tax levy. The Enterprise Fund will also support the $100,000 appropriation for the renovations at the Town Pool, Article 11, and the $25,000 appropriated for access at the Old Reservoir, Article 12. Karen has spoken with Ronnie Russo regarding the projects and expects to have a contractor and builder ready for the fall. They also expect to have the ramps in place at the Old Res. for next summer. Don thanked Matt Casparius for his help on the presentation for the Capital Articles. Karen and Recreation Committee volunteers confirmed the schedule for Discovery Day. Pam Varrin reported that she had a call from Diane Blyer of U.S. Youth Soccer regarding the TOPS Program. This is an integrated soccer program, structured as an adaptive program 5 whereby the younger players learn from older kids who serve as junior coaches. Pam observed the program in Winchester. It is a coed program with a wide age range, but mostly kids ages 6 – 10. Lexington Youth Soccer would like to sponsor the program but would need the help of Recreation Department. They already have the population to draw from for the junior coaches. If we partner we can advertise the program in our brochure. The committee thinks it would be a great idea. 7. Parks Report Brian reported that he is seeing the toll the budget cuts are having on DPW and Recreation programs. The Recreation Committee has to realize that his department just does not have the resources. He is hoping to gain 4-5 employees that are missing. The meeting was adjourned at 10:00 p.m. NEXT MEETING WEDNESDY, JUNE 21, 2000 7:30 P.M. ROOM G-15