PR090822 0City of Beverly, Massachusetts
Public Meeting Minutes
Board: Beverly Parks and Recreation Commission
Subcommittee:
Date: September 8, 2022—7:OOPM
Place: Beverly Public Library
Board Members Present: Mark Casey, Jan Jefgood, Kevin Hobin, , Bill Lowd, Nancy Marino, Caroline Larson
Board Members Absent: Henry Pizzo, Justin Repp, Robin DiDonato
Others Present: Bruce Doig - Parks, Recreation &Community Services Director; Jon Paddol —Assistant Recreation
Director, Valentino Eramo — Recreation Facilities Coordinator
Ca//to Order—7;OOPM
Minutes: The minutes for the 6/9/22 and 7/14/22 meetings were approved 5-0 as written, after a motion by Nancy
Marino and a second by Kevin Hobin. Since there was no quorum for the 7/14/22 meeting, the motion for these minutes
was to receive and place on file.
Assistant Director's Report: Jon Paddol, Assistant Recreation Director
August saw a hugely successful Homecoming as well as the end of the first"post-COVID-regulation"(for lack of a better
term) summer for the children of Beverly. Numbers were up for almost every metric from parking revenue to the amount
of children who partook in the Parks Program (1,004 children in '22 as opposed to 762 in 2021 and 815 prior to the
pandemic.) and Camps. We were able to host Special Event Days at Lynch Park again, where children from all 4 Camps
as well as all 11 staffed Parks came together for specialized theme days filled with games, water and laughter. It was a
huge step back to normalcy that really contributed additively to the Rec culture for the summer.
Upcoming: A busy fall season is coming up with many new and returning classes and events as well as the start of
Season 3 of the Adult Cornhole League. Most importantly, we will be introducing a great new event: The BevRec
Halloween Costume Drive to help raise money for our free Halloween event at Camp Paradise again this year. We will be
collecting gently used children's masks, costumes and accessories. On October 8th, we will host a sale of any donated
items. Kids costumes are usually anywhere from $25-$65 a pop and often only get used once or twice. At the BevRec
Costume Drive, no costumes will cost more than $10...and it's a great way to upcycle goods! All proceeds will go to The
Friends of Beverly Recreation.
This Fall we are also hoping to make some repairs to the splash pad as The Buckets, one of the more popular features,
were not in service this year.
Jon is working towards starting a fifth Bev Rec summer camp that would be focused solely on the arts. The main hold up
at this point has been finding someone who would like to oversee the curriculum and serve as the camp's Director. We
feel pretty strongly that there is a need for this type of camp. We see many children come through our programs (not to
mention the staff) who are more interested in the creative endeavors of summer than they are with playing dodgeball.
Upcoming classes and events this month include:
• Exercise for Busy People
• Chess Nights at the Library
• Building Secure Retirement Income
• Free Family Fun Fitness Night
• Full Moon Fire Release
Director's Report: Bruce reviewed the following in his Director's Report—
RECENT EVENTS:
End of Summer Camps and Parks Program — Great numbers for Parks and Camps all summer. Jon and Val kept
things running smoothly all summer with our staff. Gail and Jean did an amazing job as usual keeping us all on track!!
Many successful Special Events with kids being bussed from all of the city.
571h Annual Beverly Homecoming —August 2nd to August Ph with Lip Sync kicking it all off the night before Lobster
Fest!! A complete list of events available at BeverlyHomecoming.org.
Homecoming Pickleball Tournament— Friday, August 51" at Obear Park. Went very well
UPCOMING EVENTS:
111h Annual Harbor Fest—9/11/22 — Second year at Lynch Park.
2°d Annual CycloCross at Dane Street Beach — 9/10/22.
CORRESPONDENCE:
Friends of Beverly Recreation report for 8/31/22.
Cahill Park— In the process of splitting Cahill Park off of Centerville School property. Plan from LeBlanc Survey, Inc. is
being finalized by Planning Department. Needed to add a frontage plan due to the limited frontage for each parcel after
the split.
PICKLEBALL UPDATES:
Courts @ Birch Plains:
Task Responsible De artment Status
Funding for Design COB Finance Dept. Looking at state earmark
Design of the Courts Engineering Department Engineering is in the process of signing a
contract with a design form to begin designing
the layout and plans for constructing the 8
courts at Birch Plains.
Conservation Commission Planning Department Still working on proposed swap of land on Pole
approval of courts Swamp Lane with Birch Plains and getting a
formal license to use Birch Plains for active
recreation.
Project Bid Process Engineering/Purchasing Depts. Bids can go out when design is completed.
Construction of Courts En ineerin /DPS/Recreation
Courts @ Birch Plains:
- Build process (DPS): Fence height, parking, build up from cap
- Design of courts: Location outside 100' buffer zone without impacting soccer/lacrosse fields. N/S orientation
Courts @ Obear Park— Repainted tennis and pickleball courts at Obear with N/S orientation ($18,000 — State earmark)
Shootout Tournament—The Shootout began on Saturday, May 71" and will continue on Saturdays from 10:00-12:30
until the end of September or October. Working with Jean Decesare.
Lessons - Jon working to schedule more classes
FY2022 State Earmarks— We have been awarded two earmarks from the Commonwealth of MA ARPA funding. One
earmark is for $200,000 for improvements and renovations to the McPherson Youth Center. One earmark is for $200,000
"For construction and improvements to the many parks & recreational spaces in Beverly." Still looking at how to spend
the earmark for park improvements (court replacements, playgrounds, benches, etc.)
$250,000 state earmark for Birch Palins approved.
FY2022 BUDGETS:
Enterprise Fund — Planning to receive some of the ARPA funds allocated to the city to replenish this fund for revenues
lost in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID. ARPA funds will be used to replace the main parking lot at Lynch Park.
Work to be done in the fall ($300,000).
ARPA funds will also be used to rebuild the McPherson Teen Center by 2024.
City Budget— Service level funded for FY2023
Park Signage: The $100,000 earmark from the state was intended to pay for the new park signage in every park,
estimated at approximately $114K. We are working to get updated quotes and move forward with the work.
FIELDS:
NO CHANGE: Cooney lights need to be replaced. Estimate from MUSCO Lighting for $400,000-$425,000 just for the
lighting equipment. Installation could cost an additional $150,000 or more. More lights are not working at Cooney this
season.
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PROJECT PIPELINE:
Recreation Department-
- Lynch Park Carriage House: NO CHANGE
o Garage Wall Replacement / Installation of windows
■ NEED TO GET AN ESTIMATE TO MOVE FORWARD!
■ Use private donation funds?
o Upgrade Concession Stand — Complete renovation needed to make the concession stand area a more
professional facility. There are a lot of deficiencies right now. Making these renovations will open the
door for more bids and higher revenue from the concession stand. We will start designing and planning
for this work this summer.
■ Use private donation funds?
- Pete's Park- NO CHANGE
o Still working on a few areas to complete project:
■ NEED TO MEET W/ PROJECT TEAM TO DISCUSS FINAL PLANS
■ Add bike racks for the large number of kids that are coming to the park daily.
■ Railings for ADA walkways - Still need to be bid out unless paid w/private funds.
• Still waiting for 5 signs for LWCF educational criteria to be installed.
- Basketball/Tennis Court Repairs: (Court Inventory updated w/recent data for all courts)
Applied for another PARC grant from the state for$400,000.
o SporTek conducted survey of four courts & provided estimates for repairs (Between $80K&$100K each)
o Currently estimating up to $1.5M to fix all courts including six that just need new paint and backboards.
o Met w/Mayor Cahill to discuss priorities and new PARCgrant funding, The proposed list of
courts to be repaired as part of the FY23 PARC grant project include;
■ Bartlett Gardens Basketball(Pulverize and repave,paint, new backboards&rims)
■ Holcroft Park Basketball(Pulverize and repave,paint, new backboards&rims)
■ Carratu Park Basketball(Pulverize and repave,paint, new backboards&rims)
■ Hellard-Hubis Basketball(Pulverize and repave,paint, new backboards&rims)
o This PARC project will cost about $700K. The goal is to receive a $400,000 PARC grant, David S. Lynch
Trustee funding ($80,000) and possibly some private donations. This project will need to be designed,
estimated and then bid out to determine the actual cost and scope of the total project. If the FY23 PARC
grant is awarded, the announcement will probably be at the end of 2022 and work will be completed
after 7/1/2023.
o Hope to patch and paint 6 other basketball courts and replace backboards and rims ASAP
(Bessie Baker, Femino, Vittori, Obear,Ahearn& Gillis), Will need to use general budget,
Enterprise Fund or state earmarks, to pay for these upgrades. Estimates for these courts
vary from$9,000 to$20,000 each,
2019-2020 CPA Pro'ect: Round 7
Park Pro'ect CPA Re uest Comments
Gillis Park Restoration of stone stairway leading $22,635 Quote from Murray Masonry for $17,450.
from playground area to Pleasant Quote from Roger Tremblay for $9,900
View Beach. Concerns about ADA accessibility to beach?
Working with Historic Districts RDA approved by Con Comm.
Commission to review scope of HDC wants review the materials and
work and materials. scope of work. Hopefully start work
b October.
2020-2021 CPA Project: Round 8
Park Project CPA Re uest Comments
Wentworth Tot Completed installation of new APPROVED Still need to install the new bench and
Lot equipment on 6/23/22. $20K repair the fence.
Playground is open for use!!
2021-2022 CPA Project: Round 9
Park Project CPA Re uest Comments
Replace 3 Replace tennis courts @ Cahill and $250K Looking for additional funding to
Tennis Courts Cove Parks. move ahead. CC approved CPC
budget.
Need to put this work out to bid.
Purchase 2 Purchased 2 vacant lots at 14 &34 $200,000 Closing for the BHA lots was on 6/10/22.
Simon Street Simon Street from the Beverly Will be working with DPS and
Parcels (14&34) Housing Authority. Planning to make improvements to
the sites after the purchase. Applying
for a FY23 PARC grant to help fund
these improvements.
2022-2023 CPA Project: Round 10
Park Project CPA Re uest Comments
Holcroft Renovate Holcroft Park on Gage TBD in next Working w/ Councilor Crowley to
Park/Gage Street with some new equipment, funding create a wish list. Looking for grants,
Street benches, tables, picnic areas, court round???? business sponsorships, private donations,
Playground improvements, etc. etc. Additional funding from PARC/LWCF
grant?, Lynch Trustees & POY budget line.
Parisella family- $5000+ donation in
memory of Ralph and others
Commission Reports:
Beverly Golf&Tennis— Bill Lowd - Still estimating costs for renovations
Community Preservation Committee— Nancy Marino - Next Round begins with pre-applications due on 10/27/22
Meeting adjourned at7;52PM. Motion by Kevin Hobin and a second by Nancy Marino was approved 6-0.
Respectfully submitted,
Bruce Doig, Director of Parks, Recreation &Community Services