HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-11-09-CCPAC-min `pus moo?
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Town of Lexington
o Lexington Community Center Program Advisory Committee
APRIL 19'
S FX INCIII
Nancy Shepard,Chairman Tel: (781) 698-4870
Nancy Adler Fax: (781) 862-2747
Alessandro Alessandrini
Daniel Palant
Lisah Rhodes
Archana Singhal
John Zhu
Community Center Program Advisory Committee
Minutes of Meeting
November 9, 2017
A meeting of the Community Center Program Advisory Committee (CCPAC)was held on Thursday,
November 9, at 7:00 p.m. at the Lexington Community Center, 39 Marrett Road, Lexington.
Meeting Attendees: Members - Alessandro Alessandrini, Nancy Adler, Dan Palant, Lisah Rhodes
Ex-Officio Member Attendees: Charlotte Rodgers (Director of Human Services), Christine Dean
(Community Center Director), Doug Lucente (Board of Selectman)
Unable to attend: John Zhu, Archana Singhal, Nancy Shepard (Chair), Melissa Battite (Director of
Recreation & Community Programs)
The meeting was called to order at 7:02pm.
1. Minutes of June 222017
The minutes from the July 13 and September 14 meetings were reviewed and unanimously
accepted.
2. Citizens and Other Boards
A question was posed to clarify what Citizens and Other Boards represents. There were no
citizens or other boards present at this meeting.
3. Community Center Director Updates
• New Yamaha Littles Musicians (6months-3years) and Yamaha Youth Guitar Class began.
• 15 Families (max)showed up and played Family Bingo on September 22
• 196 responses to the New Brochure Layout, scored an average of 3.25 out of 4 in the categories
of"Easy to read""Ease of finding a specific program" and"Overall Look"
• A survey was sent out about new fall programs and 681 people responded. This effort drew
attention to the program offerings and in turn, 18 programs were at minimum enrollment weeks
before their start date.
• The CEL(community Endowment of Lexington) grant for the CPR/First Aid/AED course was
full with 8 people enrolled and a waitlist of 25+. Another class will be offered in either April or
May. The teacher of the course is Peter Ricci,of the Lexington Fire Department
0 The LABBB Boxing group had 14 participants this session.
• Thomas Romano, Youth and Family Program Coordinator, attended the National Recreation and
Parks Association Conference from Sep 25-29 in New Orleans.
• The LCC is undergoing a lighting project to replace bulbs and fixtures which will result in an
annual savings of$11,454.
• LHS SADD Club and Human Services helped to sponsor the Community Center Haunted House
on October 2Th. We went into Friday evening with approximately 100 individual child
registrations and had an additional 73 sign ups that evening by phone or drop in. It was so fun to
be a part of this community event that hosted an estimated 500 people. We look forward to
providing this tradition for years to come!
• 20 Kids registered for the Half Day of Fun. They participated in a Yamaha Ukulele group, martial
arts with Charlie Crayton and Zumba kids with Renae. They also played bingo, ate lunch with
seniors and wrote cards to veterans.
Doug Lucente asked for clarification about the survey in which 681 people responded. This is a
great response and indicates a good support for the building and department. Dan Palant opened
discussion about the response to the CPR/First Aid and train the trainer classes. The positive
response illustrates the need for more low-cost training. Doug Lucente suggests finding money to
fund the dummies that are used during the class.
Charlotte Rodgers presented an update from the Human Services Department,including
LexConnect taxi vouchers (over$37,000), Lex Eat Together,the upcoming Narcan training, and
a production of"The Teen Bedroom."
4. Recreation and Community Programs Capital Update
The Community Center campus expansion project will be split into three phases(FY2019-
FY2021) rather than two phases as initially proposed (FY2019 and FY2020).
5. Community Center Expansion Update
Mr.Alessandrini asked if the carriage house would be included in the overall planning of the
property, which was confirmed. Ms.Adler stated that she had attended the override meeting that
morning. She stressed that private funding is going to be important moving forward,that we will
need to create a mechanism and opportunity to raise money, perhaps a friends system. 681
responses to a survey shows that there is support and interest. How do we go about forming a
partnership with other departments,the Town Manager's Office,and the Selectmen? Michelle
Ciccolo was the chair of the committee to create the community center and a network was formed
but nothing happened at that time. She suggests creating a group of interested people who will
become advocates for the expansion. Mr.Alessandrini notes that there were 500 people at the
Haunted House,which again illustrates an audience. He suggests making it an agenda item for
December,to create language to bring to Recreation and then forth to the Selectmen. Ms.Adler
suggests checking with the library to see how they build financial support. Ms.Rhodes stresses
the importance of having the data to backup the need for expansion. Mr.P alant suggests using
the brochure as a place to request a constituency that will advocate. Ms.Adler adds that the
board should make sure that they are as representative of the community as they think we are.
Are there specific contingencies that we should be reaching out to? The charge is broader than
the committee name may suggest. Mr.P alant stresses the need to let people know about the
programming that taking place at the community center. He adds that a suggestion box is an
important tool and perhaps the computer at the front desk could be used to take comments. All
agree that they would like to see the results of the survey.
6. Liaison Reports
Mr.Palant reports that the Youth Services Council has become dormant. Ms.Rodgers explains
that with the growth of the Coalition for Youth, services are becoming redundant. Although it is
not a Town recognized committee, there are duplicated services which dilutes what is done in the
town. Ms.Rodgers adds that in 2015 the Human Services Department lost a social worker from
their staff to the Recreation Department. She states that one of the best tools in prevention is a
strong recreation department. It was suggested that there be a Teen Advisory Board at the
Community Center;have the teens connected to the programs they want to see here. The library
has an active group. There are 35 youth in the Youth Commission which currently meets at the
community center monthly.
Ms.Rhodes,Vice Chair of the Recreation Committee, gave a review of the September joint
committee meeting where the tiers of priority of use were presented.
7. Closing Comments
Members from the Field and Garden Club came to the Community Center on November 31 to
volunteer their time working in the garden beds. Pruning, edging and raking were among the
accomplished tasks.
Mr.Palant questioned the appropriateness of Our Revolution meeting at the community center.
Currently, politically focused groups are allowed to use space so long as they are not actively
campaigning, soliciting or fundraising on site. This illustrates the need for prioritization so that
these types of requests can be triaged and charged a fee when appropriate.
The next meeting of the Community Center Program Advisory Committee is scheduled to take
place on Thurs day,December 14th,2017 at 7:OOpm in Room 237 of the Lexington Community
Center.
The November 9, 2017 meeting of the Community CenterProgramAdvisory Committee adjournedat
8:45pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Christine Dean
Community Center Director