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Home My WebLink About2020-08-26-REC-min (includes attachments) MORNS o� 1775 m Town of Lexington 4 oW Recreation Committee x z APRIL 19T" �FXIN(iT Frederick DeAngelis, Chairman Tel: (781) 698-4800 Lisah Rhodes, Vice Chair Fax: (781) 861-2747 Lisa O'Brien Ruixi (Ray)Yuan Francesca Pfrommer Recreation Committee Minutes of Meeting August 26, 2020 A virtual meeting of the Recreation Committee was held on Wednesday,August 26, 2020 at 6:30pm through the Zoom platform. Members Present: Rick DeAngelis,Lisah Rhodes, Christian Boutwell,Lisa O'Brien, and Francesca Pfrommer Staff Present: Melissa Battite,Director of Recreation and Community Programs,Peter Coleman, Assistant Director of Recreation, Chris Filadoro,DPW Superintendent of Public Grounds, and Thomas Romano, Community Center Youth and Family Program Coordinator Others Present: Eileen Jay(School Committee liaison) 1. August 12,2020 Minutes Lisa O'Brien moved and Francesca Pfrommer seconded the approval of the minutes from the August 26th meeting. The Recreation Committee voted 4-0 to approve the August 12 minutes. 2. Public Comment—None 3. Liaison Reports Lisah Rhodes, liaison to the Community Preservation Committee, and Francesca Pfrommer, liaison to the Greenways Corridor Committee,had nothing new to report. Lisa O'Brien, liaison to the Lincoln Park Sub-Committee, stated that there would be a few items up for consideration later in the meeting. Melissa Battite, Director of Recreation and Community Programs,reminded the Committee that a new liaison to the Bicycle Advisory Committee would need to be selected. Eileen Jay, liaison to the School Committee,provided the Committee with an update on the Lexington Public Schools Return-to-School Plan. The two options being offered this fall are a hybrid model and a remote learning academy. There will be a phasing in for when school will start over the first 4-6 weeks of the school year as students will return to the classroom based on cohort groups and grade. School will end one hour earlier for elementary and middle school students and dismissal at Lexington High School on Mondays-Thursdays will be 12:30pm. All students will have a half-day on Fridays. Regarding athletics, Melissa Battite stated that the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association(MIAA) is letting leagues and districts decide which sports to play and not to play this fall. Going forward, it will be essential that any and all fall field requests are submitted in a timely manner by Naomi Martin, LHS Athletic Director, so they can be added to the master fall field schedule. The conversation with the Facilities Department about having access to indoor gymnasium space will continue in the weeks ahead. 2 The next agenda item, Recreation Enterprise Fund financial update,was skipped and discussed later in the meeting. 4. Temporary Story Walk request and Bench Donation—Lincoln Park Lisa O'Brien, liaison to the Lincoln Park Sub-Committee (LPSC)presented two requests to the Committee. A copy of the requests is attached to the meeting minutes. The first request was to grant LexFUN! access to fitness path at Lincoln Park to do a story walk for children and their families leading up to Halloween. This would give families the opportunity to get outside and take pictures and LexFUN! would be responsible for the clean-up afterwards. Melissa Battite questioned whether or not this would be categorized as a special event by the Town Manager's Office. Pending the Town Manager's approval, identifying safe locations with DPW would need to be coordinated. The second request was to install a bench at Lincoln Park in memory of Shen Cai,who was a resident on Baskin Road. The preference would be to install a granite bench and the LPSC has the funding available for a granite bench. Ms. O'Brien reported that in speaking with David Williams and the other members,the LPSC is in full support of both requests. After a brief conversation, Francesca Pfrommer made the following motion: "The Recreation Committee endorses the concept of the temporary story walk sponsored by LexFUN!along the fitness path at Lincoln Park,pending the approval of the Town Manager, as outlined in the request." Christian Boutwell seconded the motion. The Recreation Committee voted 4-0 to approve this motion. Then, Ms. Pfrommer made a second motion: "The Recreation Committee endorses the installation of a memorial bench at Lincoln Park in honor of Shen Cui and to bring awareness to domestic violence." Christian Boutwell seconded the motion. The Recreation Committee voted 4-0 to approve this motion. 5. Recreation, Community Programs, &Parks Report Melissa Battite and Peter Coleman,Assistant Director of Recreation,reviewed the August 26th Recreation and Community Programs Report. A copy of the report is attached with the meeting minutes. 6. Review of Policies—this item was deferred to the September 16th Recreation Committee meeting. 7. Recreation Enterprise Fund financial update Melissa Battite gave an overview of the presentation that was given to the Select Board on Monday, August 24th. A copy of the presentation is attached to the meeting minutes. During the presentation, Carolyn Kosnoff,Assistant Town Manager for Finance,provided a summary of the FY2020 budget and gave an outlook for FY2021. In FY2020,the Recreation Enterprise Fund finished with a loss of approximately $455,000. In FY2021, it is anticipated that the impacts will be even greater as determining when facilities and programs will reopen and at what capacity remain unknown at this point. At this point, it is projected that the shortfall in FY21 will be approximately$800,000. Moving forward,the question that Town Meeting will need to address is how will the Town fund the Recreation and Community Programs Department in the future? The potential shortfall could come out of free cash or in the form of relief that is amortized over three years and then paid back in the future. This was the jumping off point for a valuable conversation that the Committee engaged in. Members agreed that representation from the Committee needs to be present at the Town-wide financial summit on Thursday, September 10th Rick DeAngelis, chairman of the Recreation Committee, exclaimed that the recreation assets are as important as the brick and mortar assets of other departments, such as Police,Fire, School, 39 MARRETT ROAD,LEXINGTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02421 3 DPW, and Facilities, throughout the Lexington community. Funding will be needed to offer programming and continue with the 5-year capital improvement program. Christian Boutwell articulated his strong support for exploring other funding alternatives, options that would allow the Department to operate in the black in the current fiscal year while developing a mechanism that would adjust funding models in the future. Looking at the big picture, it needs to be determined whether or not the Enterprise Fund model will continue to work in the future. The Enterprise Fund is currently subsidizing facilities that fees are not being collected for, such as playground repairs and safety netting, and how much does the community want the Enterprise Fund to subsidize the Town's recreational infrastructure going forward? Ms. Battite expressed her full confidence that the Recreation and Community Programs Department will continue to operate in the future and come back bigger and stronger after being rebuilt. With this being said, Francesca Pfrommer added that it will be beneficial to separate the here and now from the bigger picture/long-term issues and concerns. The Committee agreed that it will be important to have allies going into Town Meeting as well as knowing what the specific ask will be. While it is reassuring that no additional furloughs and layoffs are scheduled at this time,the Department should prepare for various doomsday scenarios if the pandemic spikes again in the months ahead. As the conversation was coming to a close, Rick DeAngelis made the following motion: "The Recreation Committee requests to the Select Board, through the Town Manager, to have a seat at the table for the Financial Summit that will be held on September 10, 2020 to discuss the short and long-term operating and capital budget needs and potential financial models for the Recreation and Community Programs Department moving forward." Francesca Pfrommer seconded the motion. The Recreation Committee voted 5-0 to approve this motion. After the vote was taken,Rick DeAngelis and Christian Boutwell stated that they would be happy to serve on a working group that reviews the various financial models and projections. The next virtual meeting of the Recreation Committee is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, September 16' at 6:30pm through the Zoom platform. The August 26th, 2020 meeting of the Recreation Committee adjourned at 8:40pm. Respectfully submitted, Peter Coleman Assistant Director of Recreation The following documents distributed at the meeting are attached: • Lincoln Park Requests • August 26'Recreation & Community Programs Report • August 24'FY2020/FY2021 Budget Presentation to the Select Board 39 MARRETT ROAD,LEXINGTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02421 `OVS MORN' O� 1775 tic Town of Lexington D x W Recreation Committee APRIL 19' �FXINGSO� Frederick DeAngelis, Chairman Tel: (781) 698-4800 Lisah Rhodes, Vice Chair Fax: (781) 861-2747 Lisa O'Brien rcrticncmt ( Ixingtonm .gcv Christian Boutwell Francesca Pfrommer To: James Malloy, Town Manager Fr: Melissa Battite, Director of Recreation & Community Programs Re: Temporary Installation — Lincoln Park The Recreation Committee meeting held on August 26, 2020 included an agenda item "Temporary Story Walk Request— Lincoln Park". This request has been received through LexFUN, attached is a copy of the program description. During typical times, this request would be handled with the Committee and Department. Since Special Event requests have been paused during the pandemic, and this is a new request and event, I am requesting your guidance to assure decisions remain in line with the Town's reopening phases and plans. The Lincoln Park Sub-Committee has not met during recent months and has expressed their support through Recreation Committee member and liaison to the sub-committee, Lisa O'Brien. During the August 26, 2020 meeting, the following motion and vote was taken: "Francesca Pfrommer moved that the Recreation Committee endorses the concept of the temporary story walk sponsored by LexFUN!along the fitness path at Lincoln Park, pending the approval of the Town Manager, as outlined in the request. Christian Boutwell seconded the motion. The Recreation Committee voted 4-0 to approve this motion." I support this request for a temporary installation as it will provide our youngest residents with a safe, outdoor activity while promoting literacy and celebrating the season of fall and all that it brings. If approved, Recreation staff will work with LexFUN!, the sub-committee and the Department of Public Works on this temporary installation. Thank you for the consideration. Cc: Kelly Axtell, Deputy Town Manager David Pinsonneault, Director of Public Works Recreation Committee David Williams, Chair, Lincoln Park Sub-Committee 1625 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE•LEXINGTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02420 us MOg ITIS G Town of Lexington �w = Recreation Committee s V APRIL I9'" �FXINGION Frederick DeAngelis, Chairman Tel: (781) 698-4800 Lisah Rhodes, Vice Chair Fax: (781) 861-2747 Lisa O'Brien recreationcmte(o)lexingtonma.gov Christian Boutwell Francesca Pfrommer LINCOLN PARK REQUESTS AUGUST 2020 1. TEMPORARY STORY WALK Organization: LexFUN! Other activity: Literacy Halloween Walk Participants:Youth Field Preferred: Lexington Fitness Path (behind Lincoln field) Date(s) requested: We would like to host this literacy walk the week before Halloween: October 24th - 31. This will ensure social distancing. Day(s) of week: Saturday - Saturday Time (from - to):The installation can stay up for 7 days. Estimated attendance: 200 people over a 7 day period. 2. MEMORIAL BENCH Submitted on Monday, August 24, 2020 - 10:57am Comment or question: Memorial Bench in Lincoln Park. Dear Sir/Madam, We have applied to install a memorial bench in the wooded area of Lincoln park.The DPW official told us we need the approval of the Lincoln Park Subcommittee. Our friend Shen Cai was a Lexington resident who lived on Baskin Road beside the Lincoln Park. Her loved to spend time in this park. Her life was cut short by domestic violence.We hope the memorial bench will remind people to care more about the DV victims, and to make more effort to reduce such violence. Please give our request your favorable consideration. Looking forward to your response. LINCOLN PARK SUB-COMMITTEE RESPONSE I spoke with Ronda and we agreed to meet tomorrow to work out the location and details (re; Memorial Bench). Unfortunately, she has given the Town money for a wood bench which I will sort out. My Committee supports this effort. We also support the plan by LexFUN! for their plans for Lincoln Park. Please relay our thoughts to the Rec Committee. Thanks, David Williams (Lincoln Park Sub- Committee, Chair-- via text 8/26/2020) 1625 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE•LEXINGTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02420 `OVS MORN' O� 1775 tic Town of Lexington D x W Recreation Committee APRIL 19' �FXINGSO� Frederick DeAngelis, Chairman Tel: (781) 698-4800 Lisah Rhodes, Vice Chair Fax: (781) 861-2747 Lisa O'Brien rcrticncmt ( Ixingtonm .gcv Christian Boutwell Francesca Pfrommer To: Kim Katzenback, Select Board Office Fr: Melissa Battite, Director of Recreation & Community Programs Re: Lincoln Park Bench Donation The Recreation Committee meeting held on August 26, 2020 included an agenda item "Lincoln Park Bench Donation". This discussion was specific to the donation along the Fitness Trail. The Lincoln Park Sub-Committee has not met during the pandemic. The Sub-Committee members have expressed their support for this donation and Chair, David Williams has committed to working with the donor on the funding and identifying a location. During the August 26, 2020 meeting, the following motion and vote was taken: "Francesca Pfrommer moved that the Recreation Committee endorses the installation of a memorial bench at Lincoln Park in honor of Shen Cui and to bring awareness to domestic violence. Christian Boutwell seconded the motion. The Recreation Committee voted 4-0 to approve this motion." Please let me know if any other additional information may be needed at this time. Thank you. Cc: Suzie Barry, Select Board liaison to Recreation Committee David Williams, Chair, Lincoln Park Sub-Committee David Pinsonneault, Director of Public Works Recreation Committee 1625 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE•LEXINGTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02420