HomeMy WebLinkAbout2000-09-20-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
SEPTEMBER 20, 2000
Members Present: Sandra Shaw, Pam Varrin, Dick Neumeier, Rick DeAngelis
Staff Present: Karen Simmons, Brian Gilbert, Matt Casparius
Others Present: Buzz Gillis, Jack Cunha, Bob McConnell
AGENDA:
1. The minutes from June 21 and July 12, 2000 were approved.
2. Buzz Gillis, LHS Girls Tennis
Buzz Gillis came before the committee to seek approval to have a sign created and placed at the
Center Playground. For the first time in 24 years, the LHS Girls Tennis Team has won the State
Division 1 Championship. His request for the sign is a way of acknowledging this title for the
team, and also for the Town. He wants to place the sign on Worthen Road where the fence ends
and meets the entrance to the Town Pool parking lot. He suggested this location so that the sign
could be seen from the road and because it is also in an area where there really wouldn’t be any
children running around. Initially Buzz requested the size of the sign to be 24 x 48 inches long
and made of aluminum, with the following description: “Home of the Lexington High School
Girls Tennis Team Division 1 2000 State Champions.” The signs would be the same gauge
metal as the ones recently purchased by the Recreation Department.
Karen recommended doubling the gauge of the sign. She is not happy with the quality of the
signs that the Recreation Department recently purchased and feels that Buzz should request
traffic quality signs that meet State highway specs.
Rick has concerns that no one would see the sign at that location. He also feels that this could
set a precedent if we grant this request to Buzz, then other winning sports teams might request
the same thing. However, the committee did not feel that it would become an issue. Rick also
felt that Buzz needed to check on whether or not the installation of this sign would meet the
specifications of the Town sign bylaws.
1625 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE • LEXINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02420
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In considering Buzz’s request, the Recreation Committee approved an 18 x 24 inch sign with the
following wording: “LHS Girls Tennis Division 1 State Champs 2000”, which would be placed
on the corner of Worthen Road where the fence ends at the entrance to the Town Pool parking
lot. The Recreation Committee approval is contingent upon obtaining the approval of the
appropriate zoning bylaws and the Board of Selectmen. No funding was requested.
3. Capital Budget- 5 year
Karen is beginning to work on FY02 capital projects. She is schedule to submit her budget in
three weeks. Her question to the committee is whether or not we should keep to the current
schedule that was drawn up last year or do we have any critical projects that should be moved
ahead of the projected schedule.
Amory Engineering, P.C. has been hired to look at the upper pond and retaining wall at Pine
Meadows. They need to do borings next to the wall. Karen doesn’t have a recommendation for
the committee right now since the scope of the project will depend on what is found during the
study on the wall. Dick Lakutis has been hired as the Landscape Architect for the projected
improvements at Pine Meadows. The parking issue is critical, but again how soon improvements
can be made on the lot will depend on the amount of work needed on the retaining wall. When
we do fix the parking lot, we will also need a larger maintenance building. Currently some
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equipment for the course is being stored up in the woods between the 1 and 3 holes, as well as
at 201 Bedford Street.
Looking at FY02, we are hoping that we will be able to obtain finances from the Lincoln Park
Fitness Sub-Committee to build a playground at Lincoln Park. $50,000 will be requested. In a
previous meeting Don Chisholm was comfortable presenting this to the Lincoln Park Sub-
Committee.
Dick Neumeier is concerned that although Playground Improvements continue to be put into the
requested Capital Improvement programs, which should be paid for by the tax levy, the funds are
not being approved, and this year the improvements at Sutherland are now being funded by the
Enterprise Fund. He fells that we should be going to the Finance Committee to lobby harder for
Playground Improvements to be approved. Dick also feels that tax dollars should be set aside in
a maintenance fund for the neighborhood tot lots. Pam feels that it is theoretically possible to
address the Selectmen to make them aware of the dire upgrades that are needed at some of the
playgrounds.
Karen would like to clarify to the committee that when a swing needs to be replaced, it is
purchased by Recreation and installed by the Parks Department. The money in question under
the capital projects is for building a new playground or adding new play structures. Standard
maintenance comes out of the Recreation operating budget.
The Town has a history of supporting Recreation. However, as a committee we are still going to
have to advocate for the improvements that we want to see made. The capital discussion was
tabled until next month’s meeting.
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4. Marvin Park
Karen has been working with Jerry Moloney who is building a development near Marvin Park,
and he has been very cooperative. He will be providing us with a public benefit by creating an
accessible pathway to Marvin Park, as well as re-paving the basketball court and adding drainage
to the athletic field.
Karen has been contacted by Steve Hamilton, who is a developing a parcel of land on Morris
Street. He will move the guardrail along the handicapped access path that cuts into his property
at this own expense. Apparently a gate and a sign are located at the end of the current road and
he would like DPW to move them. Karen said that she would like to the see the contractor move
them with the approval of the Park Superintendent. At the time of the meeting neither Karen nor
Brian was sure exactly where the sign was placed. Karen was also trying to persuade Hamilton
to build a small picnic pavilion as a public benefit, but he said no. He has no intention of doing a
project for us. He will be creating three parking spots at the end of the road and intends to pave
the entire road. Karen will continue to monitor this with the Planning Board.
5. Recreation Report
Matt Casparius recently attended the National Playground Safety Institute sponsored by the
National Recreation & Park Association and has become certified as a Playground Safety
Inspector.
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The Annual Town Employee Golf Tournament will be held on Friday, September 29. We have
a much higher turnout for the event this year with 56 players registered.
Looking at the summer as a whole, despite repeated rainy days it was a pretty good summer over
all. Registrations for Youth and Teen programs, Sports Clinics, Youth and Adult Tennis, Camps
and Adult programs were all up somewhat this summer compared to last year. Attendance at the
Town Pool was down by approximately 6500 visitors, and at the Old Res by approximately 1300
visitors.
Space issues are still a major concern. Lately it has been pretty much a day-by-day basis with
space requests. For example, the School Department was interested in having more after school
programs, particularly for middle school children. Matt set up a Cardio-Kickboxing class for
that age group and received a verbal okay to use the gym at Diamond Middle School. Then a
week and a half before the class was to begin, Matt was informed that the space was under
construction and unavailable. The school was unable to assist us with another location and as a
result the program had to be canceled. This is disappointing because we had 16 teenagers
registered for this new program. We have also been informed that our Evening Drop-in Gym
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program might not be able to start as scheduled on October 30. Rick suggested contacting Joe
Berlandi at the Masons to see if he can help us out with any space.
Evaluations- Matt sent out program evaluations to all participants in our summer programs and
of the responses received, 92% rated the quality of our programs as good or better.
Pine Meadows- Calendar year our revenues are down 9%, although looking at the fiscal year we
are down only about 3% (or approximately $20,000) form last year.
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Karen wanted to thank Pam Varrin for assisting Cheryl Ozolins with the Old Res boardwalk
project. We should be ready to order the materials soon and it will be installed in the spring.
Skate Park- Bob McConnell and Jack Cunha of the Skateboard/Inline Park Committee presented
an update on the skate park development. A hole was dug three weeks ago by MDR
Construction, who was originally supposed to return in a week to put in the gravel.
Unfortunately the deal with the gravel company fell through, and they now want $12 per yard for
the gravel instead of the original quote of $3 per yard. Yesterday they were able to find another
company willing to sell for $7.25 per yard. They are looking to go back to Perkins, the original
company, to see if they can talk them down any farther. The Skate Park Committee has decided
that they will raid their treasury if necessary in order to get this project finished. Money is
starting to come in, although they have not yet followed up for funds from the larger companies
in town. F & S will be pouring the concrete as well as setting the forms and re-bar. It will take
two pours with a minimum of 180 yards of concrete (18 truck loads). Tom Noble will start
building temporary ramps for the park. They have not been able to get a gutter for the drainage
system yet. The builder didn’t like the original design, so the committee is looking at a concrete
gutter now. They are hoping to have the gravel for next week and a temporary park finished in
the next few weeks, assuming that things don’t get held up any further. Brian still has some
concerns about the maintenance issues and things being cleaned. Jack mentioned that the kids
are very committed to keeping the park clean. Another $50,000 is needed to complete the
project as originally approved.
6. Parks Report
The Town received a number of applications for the position of Parks Superintendent. The
committee interviewed four applicants, and two of those were outstanding candidates. The
Town has hired David Pinsonneault, who was the top choice. He holds a B.S. degree in Forestry,
and currently is the Superintendent in South Kingston RI. He has been working in a smaller
system than we have in Lexington, but has done everything that the job requires. He will start
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October 2, and there will be some sort of welcome party for him at some point.
Pool Rehab- The pool filter septa units are scheduled to be recovered and will be shipped out
today or tomorrow. Dick Lakutis has been hired as the landscape architect to plan and oversee
the construction of shade pavilions at the pool.
Old Res- The design for the boardwalk does not have to be bid out publicly now due to changes
in the procurement laws. This will be installed in March/April.
$1.7 million facility improvements- One company, Geller Sport, has submitted a letter of
interest. They had an impressive presentation and will now submit a proposal. Initially the track
and bleacher projects were going to be separate, but it has been decided that it would be easier to
keep them as one project. Karen and Brian are working on getting the geo-technical reports from
Clarke, and hopefully will have the information next week.
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Harrington- Brian has no information about anything going on at Harrington School. We need
to get a commitment from the School Committee for what is planned at that location. The
School Committee has said that they should have the approval of the sitings for October.
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Pine Meadows- Brian went before the Conservation Committee on September 19 and they
have given us the approval to move forward on the pond/retaining wall project by issuing an
order of conditions. It should take about two weeks. We have not yet received the contract from
Lawhorn Irrigation. We did receive approval for emergency conditions to conduct borings on
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the retaining wall. On Saturday, September 16 Karen and Don Chisholm did a walk through at
Pine Meadows with the Conservation Commission and answered questions from the members of
the Commission. Also present were Joshua Swerling of Amory Engineer, P.C., to answer
questions regarding the retaining wall and upper pond, and Bob Kuriger of W.E. Kuriger
Associates, the wetlands delineator.
Other business- We have recently been presented with a dilemma regarding water bills for
irrigation. Karen has looked over the meeting minutes from the past few years and found that no
formal vote was ever taken as to who would pay for the water bills at Adams. From the past
meeting minutes, Karen reported that it was stated that LYS would pay, and other times it looked
like Recreation would be responsible for payment. Dick feels that it is the Town’s responsibility
to have a maintenance fund to pay for the water bills. Brian and Karen are going to meet with
Dick Thuma of LYS next week to discuss the issue. Karen also wanted to clarify the
committee’s understanding of the issue. It is the committee’s understanding from when this was
first brought up that LYS would pay for the water at Muzzey. Rick feels that we should ask the
Water Department for an abatement or at least a cut in their profits. The issue of irrigation
should be put on a future agenda.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:00 p.m.
NEXT MEETING:
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2000
7:30 P.M.
ROOM G –15