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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-12-14-REC-min (DRAFT) Town of Lexington Recreation Committee Frederick DeAngelis, Chairman Tel: (781) 698-4800 Christian Boutwell, Vice Chair Fax: (781) 861-2747 Carl Fantasia Lisa O’Brien Claire Sheth Renen Bassik Weiwei Li Recreation Committee Minutes of Meeting December 14, 2023 A meeting of the Recreation Committee was held on Thursday, December 14, 2023 in person and via Zoom as a hybrid meeting at 6:30pm in Room 237 of the Lexington Community Center. Members Present: Rick DeAngelis, Christian Boutwell, Lisa O’Brien, Wei Wei Li, Clare Sheth Not Present: Carl Fantasia, Renen Bassik Liaisons Present: Suzie Barry (SC), Rodney Cole (CEC/remote), Deepika Sawhney (SC/remote), Kathleen Lenihan (SC/remote) Staff Present: Melissa Battite, Director of Recreation and Community Programs, Thomas Romano, Youth and Family Program Coordinator Others Present: Meg Bucynski (Activitas/remote), Brian Kelly (LPSC/remote), Ali Lynch The meeting was called to order at 6:35pm by Rick DeAngelis. 1. Public Comments – there were no members or attendees who shared during public comment 2. November Minutes – Lisa O’Brien moved to accept the November minutes, Wei Wei Li seconded the motion and the it passed unanimously 5-0. 3. Recognition of David Williams – David Williams recently resigned from the Lincoln Park Sub Committee after almost 4 decades of leadership. The Committee would like to recognize David’s dedication to the Lincoln Park in addition to his many other Town wide Contributions. Rick DeAngelis shared “all hats off to David, who served tirelessly and effectively through his love for Lexington. Congratulations on the tremendous service you have given to the Citizens, Boards/Committees and residents of the Town of Lexington.” Brian Kelley, Chair of the LPSC shared “I echo Rick’s comments. Brian has been involved with the LPSC for many years and appreciates David and his contributions and for including Br ian in the Committee early on and volunteers such as the Recreation Committee, David made a lifelong career of volunteerism in Lexington. Rick DeAngelis added “David is an example of great people in Lexington, such as Peter Kelley and others, a long list, cut from the same cloth and mold, with love of family and love of Lexington”. Lisa O’Brien added that she will send David a note and recalls walking through Lincoln Park with David and had lots of questions, she compared David to a candy bar – Sweet and Salty. That David is a True Champion – Congratulations!’ 4. Recreation Committee Email correspondence – please see attached submitted by Renen Bassik 5. Liaison Report(s) – Lincoln Park Sub- Committee, Wei Wei Li shared that the Sub Committee has not met since the last meeting and is looking forward to the Lincoln Park Master Plan presentation scheduled for this evening. Community Preservation Committee – Lisa O’Brien shared that the committee has taken all of the final votes for Articles coming forward at the Annual Town Meeting. She reported that all Recreation requests 2 39 MARRETT ROAD, LEXINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02421 were voted unanimously (9-0) with the exception of the Lincoln Field #2 project that was voted (7-2). The Committee will be looking forward to have a 5-year outlook of projects that may be coming in future years. The Committee is also advocating requestors consider alternate sources of funding. The Housing Trust has the CPC as its primary source with all articles approved and one project in the works. Lisa shared that as more towns opt into the CPA Fund, the matching funds are reduced. A discussion followed relative to the long term plans on a state level through legislation and vehic le to ease the process for housing. Rick suggested that the CPC provide periodic presentations of “how the fund works”, and that late Winter/Early spring 2024 would be a good time. Lisa O’Brien shared that Marilyn (CPC Chair) would love this idea and is very well versed in how the fund works. Lincoln Field Project – Community Meeting- Christian Boutwell shared that on Monday, December 11th, a Community Meeting was held virtually to present the plans for the project. Christian recapped the presentation and stated that there was only one question from an attendee specific to the timing for the Athletic lights. There were 4 attendees from the public and 5 staff/consultants. Select Board – Suzie Barry shared that Annual Town Meeting will begin on 3/18/24 and that 12/14/23 was the last day to submit Citizen Petitions. All Budget Presentations have been made to the Select Board over a 3 day period and Program Improvement Requests will be presented at the next Select Board meeting. This will be a tight budget year and it is expected that there will be cuts across most departments. This is largely in part to the Capital Stabilization Fund Policy to support the LHS project in addition to the Police and Fire Contracts. Suzie shared that she had a zoom call with Kathleen Lenihan (SC) and Charles Lamb (CEC) to discuss the concerns about Article 97, concerns about a recent School Building meeting that was held that may have violated the Open Meeting Law due to technical difficulties impacting remote attendance and the meeting continued. Discussion continued and Rick DeAngelis commented that the Recreation Committee must be represented, have chairs at the table, he is very concerned as a individual and as a Committee member and that Recreation can’t be the last to know when the field replacements will occur. Suzie is very concerned that the impacts to Center is not well known across the community and that everyone needs to come together at one table, in order for the project to pass, the community needs a better understanding. Lisa O’Brien inquired about the timeline and timeframe of the land swap, Article 97 and MSBA. Rick shared that the Center Recreation represents multiple fields and lights. There is a fear that the replacements will be put on the back burner. A land swap is okay and needs to replace “like for like”, quality of land, planning and an open process. There is a sense of urgency and Recreation impacts a way of life to the Town of Lexington and is as important as brick and mortar. Rick cited the B elmont project as an example that post HS project are still waiting for field replacements years later. Suzie shared that prior to her role as liaison, she didn’t know the depth and breath of the Recreation Committee and Department and the services for all ages and abilities and that Recreation is a benefit. Christian Boutwell identified two components, 1- Site development with field through the design process and 2 - Article 97 – was is taken and where is it replaced. Lisa O’Brien suggested that a “one page” Article 97 be developed to better understand the process on the swaps. The Article 97 Adhoc working group has not met in over a year and Suzie plans to bring this up at the next Select Board meeting. Rick DeAngelis mentioned that Mina has a very good understanding of Article 97 and that maybe he can come to a future meeting. A motion was then made by Rick DeAngelis to have Christian Boutwell draft a letter to encourage the Select Board to bring together members from the following, and not limited to, the following groups; School Committee, Select Board, Recreation Committee, Conservation Commission, CEC, AC and Commission on Disability to discuss Article 97 as it pertains to the LHS project and what it means and to have this meeting led by Town Counsel with a Question and Answer session. Lisa O’Brien moved, Christian Boutwell seconded and the motion passed unanimously 5-0. Kathleen Lenihan shared that a tentative timeline from the OPM with an optimistic timeframe of 2026 to break ground. School Committee -Deepika Sawhney reported that the SC has had two meetings, one in Boston and one in Lexington and there was nothing specific to Recreation. 6. Lincoln Park Master Plan presentation - please see attached presentation led by Meg Bucynski of Activitas. Once the presentation was complete, Committee members shared comments specific to the sequencing of the projects, maximizing timing with the loss of fields at Center Recreation, focus on the parking lot since this is a safety concern. Discussions also focused on the proposed softball field and if it could accommodate HS teams, which it could as well as little league. Meg Bucynski also highlighted that in 3 39 MARRETT ROAD, LEXINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02421 design phases, additional shade structures, water fountains, seating and storage will be d etermined. Next steps will include breaking out the projects individually, hard scape and land scape and have cost estimates for the next presentation. 7. Old Reservoir- Melissa Battite shared an update on the current capital project including that the bid results came in over budget and requested time for staff to summarize the park use and capital project and come back to the Recreation Committee in January 2024 with so me recommendations for next steps. The Committee agreed that this is a good time to take a pause and evaluate prior to determining the 2024 season. Please see attached memo. 8. Recreation & Community Programs Report- please see attached. Additionally, Thomas Romano shared the following information specific to the Community Center • 24 students from Clarke and Diamond attended Boda Borg on December 1st for a fun Middle School Trip • The Youth Advisory Board held a Teen Movie Night and Gingerbread Decorating Night where we watched National Lampoons Christmas Vacation. 25 teens attended. • The adult mini sessions that take place just in December had over 170 registrations spanned over 15+ programs • The people counter at the Community Center hit its first week of over 4,000 visits. These are numbers that we would normally see in 2019, big milestone • December Newsletter had an open rate of 73% (9,826) • MyRec webpage had over 200 new users in the past month. • Since added to Issuu, the Winter Brochure has had over 2,500 reads with an average read time of 6 minutes. • In the first week of registration December 5-12 the department had over 940 registrations that equaled out to just over $95,000. • A winner from the first week of registration will be picked on December 19th and they will receive a $50 rec credit to use towards future programs. 9. Adjourn – The meeting was adjourned at 8:55pm 2024 Proposed Meeting Dates: January 17, February 14, March 20, April 17, May 15, June 19*, July 17, August 14, September 18, October 16, November 20, and December 18, 2024. *June 19th is a holiday and one date that will need to be rescheduled. The next meeting of the Recreation Committee is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, January 17, 2024 at 6:30pm Respectfully submitted, Melissa Battite Director of Recreation & Community Programs The following documents distributed at the meeting are attached: • Recreation Committee Email correspondence • Lincoln Park Master Plan presentation • Old Reservoir Memo • Recreation & Community Programs Report