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2006-10-05 City of Beverly, Massachusetts Public Meeting Minutes Board: Parks and Recreation Commission Subcommittee: Date: October 5, 2006 (7:00PM) Place: Beverly Public Library Board members present: Mark Casey, Jack O'Neil, Bill Lowd, Gary Lambert, Deborah Ploszay, Mike Ralbovsky, Jeff Rubin Board members absent: Arthur Powell, Patty Adams Others present: Recreation Director Bruce Doig, Assistant to Director Joscelyn Ruelle Kersker Minutes from the September 5, 2006 meeting were reviewed and approved unanimously. Welcome to New Members: Mark introduced Mike Ralbovsky and Mike gave a summary of his background. All commission members present introduced themselves to Mike. Mark mentioned that Mike has agreed to replace Patty Adams on the Open Space and Recreation Commission. Mark also introduced Jeff Rubin when he arrived and Jeff gave a brief summary of his background. All commission members present introduced themselves to Jeff. Correspondence: Mark distributed a copy of a letter from City Solicitor Roy Gelineau to the District Attorney's office regarding an email and possible violation of the Open Meeting Law. Mark discussed this letter and the Solicitor's opinion that the email in question did not violate the Open Meeting Law. Mark passed out handout regarding the Open Meeting Law and discussed it with commission members, reminding them that emails can only be used to distribute information and cannot be used to deliberate issues. DIRECTORS' REPORTS: Assistant to Director Report - Joscelyn discussed her projects in progress report including summer wrap up info, camps and parks, a poll of surrounding communities regarding time off policies, staff handbook, and a possible CSI Beverly summer program for 2007. Joscelyn also discussed the evening enrichment programs starting 10/16 at the Senior Center and Hannah School, and other fall programs including circus tickets and an ESL program with the School Department as well as work Bruce and Joscelyn did with the MRPA Conference Committee. Bruce reviewed his Director's Report and discussed the following issues - The 7th Annual Mothers' Softball Tournament was held from 9/29 to 10/2 (delayed by rain). Bruce thanked Trish Pinciaro, Mark Casey and Gary Lambert for their help with this very successful annual event, which raises $3300 for the Beverly Education Foundation and about $3000 for other charitable organizations. The commission decided to have the December Commission Dinner @ Beverly Depot on 12/7/06 @ 6:30PM. FY 2007 BUDGET: Bruce reported that the City Budget was on track but no reports are available from the Munis system yet. The Enterprise Fund actually started FY 2007 with $159,286 (not $157,000), up from $93,507 on July 1, 2005 with a net of approximately $65,000. Bruce discussed some of the numbers on the Enterprise Fund reports. COONEY FIELD: Bruce reported that Miller Golf and DPW have completed renovation of the infield area with irrigation and all new sod. The outfield area (running track) will be irrigated and repaired in the spring. Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes - October 5,2006 (Continued) LYNCH PARK ADVISORY COMMITTEE: Bruce stated that the committee met on 9/21 to discuss possible grants and a business plan. The LPAC group discussed the wording for a letter to City Council regarding the management of the carriage house project. VETERANS' MEMORIALS at ODELL PARK! ADA COMPLIANCE: Bruce updated the new members about the proposed work at Odell Park and explained the current ADA issue with the walkway. Bruce reported that DPW is still planning to resolve the issue when they do curb cuts on Rantoul Street. HARRY BALL FIELD: Bruce explained that the new stands would be installed when DPW can layout the area and the contractor can put in the concrete pad. This work has been delayed since spring of 2005. This is starting to become an issue with the installer because of storage of the stands. BEVERLY YOUTH COLLABORATION: Bruce reminded everyone that the $300,000 state earmark funding for the McPherson Center was approved. Bruce has been working with the YMCA staff to write a Scope of Work for the state and implement the collaboration's plans. Bruce is Co-Chair of the McPherson project committee. VITALE SITE: Bruce reported that the fields should be ready by the fall of 2007. The Con Comm still has not voted to approve use of site for active recreation. There was a meeting on 10/3 to review Activities & Use Limitations document from National Grid and the maintenance plan from DPW. The commission still needs to review the maintenance plan and will take a vote on Tuesday, 10/24, regarding the long-term use of the site. The plans for the utility building have been finalized and building will be installed this year. The building cannot be used as a concession stand due to Article 97 restrictions. Bruce stated that the City Council has placed the order to name the Vitale Site "Wenham Lake Watershed Park" on hold. There appears to be much opposition to this order. Other ideas for naming have been discussed by several people. FIELD COMMITTEE: Bruce reported that this group will begin meeting this fall to discuss plans for a new artificial turf field in Beverly and the long-term use of the Vitale Site and other fields. Bruce had a conversation with AD Jon Longley yesterday and he indicated that plans for a new stadium at BHS may be part of the overall plan for the school renovations. Bruce will continue to work with Jon Longley to stay on top of this issue. PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT UPDATES! ADA ISSUES: All Parks: DPW still needs to spread 270 yards of wood fiber at about 12 parks. Bruce sent an email to the school PTO contacts and has received some positive feedback. This will require coordinating the delivery of the wood fiber to each park prior to the dates decided upon. Dane Street Beach: Bruce reported there has been no word when the Edwards School equipment might be installed. Bruce did receive an email from Councilor at Large Paul Guanci stating that someone is very interested in donating money towards purchasing new equipment for the park. Work on Lothrop Street is nearing completion. Lynch Park: Bruce reported that he spoke with Mike Bouchard from DPW last month about the commission's plan to install the new swings near Woodbury Beach. This will be on the list of projects to be completed, including all of the ADA and safety issues that need to be resolved, when DPW resources are available. Wentworth Drive Tot Lot: Bruce reported that the neighbors raised over $600 with a neighborhood yard sale. The group has decided to use the contractor who estimated the cost of the new fence at $1100 and fund the balance through the Friends account. Neighbors installed some new landscape timbers at base of fence to eliminate some gaps. The fence will be replaced and wood fiber replenished when resources are available. There was a discussion about options to complete the ADA and safety work at the parks if DPW resources are not available. Bruce explained that Enterprise Fund money could only be spent on revenue-generating programs and facilities. Bruce will discuss the projects with Mike Collins again. Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes - October 5,2006 (Continued) Other Director's Report Items: Bruce reported that the City Council is discussing Order 168 regarding the adoption of MGL Chapter 39, Section 23D, the Board/Commission Members Attendance Leeway, which states that board or commission members cannot vote on items before their commission if they missed the meeting to discuss issue and they did not review the discussion minutes and related reports and materials. Gazebo @ Dane Street Beach - Bruce reported that there has been no word from Chase Clements about his plans for the gazebo or other projects. Additional Agenda Items: Dog Policy Update - Mark presented an updated draft of the ordinance regarding dogs (Chapter 4B- Animals, Article II, Section 4B-26). The commission discussed the draft ordinance and agreed that it should be distributed to all commission members along with the full proposal presented to the City Council. This will allow new commission members to better understand the necessary ordinance changes. The commission will discuss this again in November. This topic will be discussed again by the Legal Affairs Committee and City Council this fall. Time Off Policy - There was a brief discussion about the Time Off Policy to update the new members. Bruce & Joscelyn again reviewed and discussed the policy with the commission and reviewed documentation about the policy that Joscelyn compiled, including results of the survey of 10 other communities. The commission decided Joscelyn should email out the policy and related documentation for all members to review prior to the next meeting and continue discussions at the November 2, 2006 meeting. Budget - Gary Lambert suggested that the commission spend some time at the next meeting reviewing the Enterprise Fund and discussing ideas for investing money into Recreation Department programs and facilities. Goals & Objectives - Mark briefly discussed the long range planning that was started several years ago and the need to continue that work with the current commission. This work was delayed by the dog park discussions over the past few years. Mark will distribute the planning documents at the next meeting and allocate time to continue planning goals and objectives for the commission and department. Meeting was adjourned at 9:00PM. Respectfully submitted, Bruce Doig Beverly Recreation Department