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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-05-06 - Parks and Rec Advisory Council Meeting Minutes MINUTES OF THE VILLAGE OF RYE BROOK PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COUNCIL 938 KING STREET RYE BROOK, New York 10573 May 6, 2014 Convene Meeting: Chairman Jamie Schutzer called the meeting to order at 8:20PM. The following Members of the Parks & Recreation Advisory Council were present: Advisory Council Members: Chairman Jamie Schutzer, Christopher Dutra, Brian Funtleyder Steve Ketchabaw, Scott Tillison, Adam Zahl Absent Parks & Recreation Advisory Council Members: Adam Berman, Frank Carbone, Traci Erenfryd Recreation Department Members: Robert Bertolacci, Parks and Recreation Superintendent Carmella Swick, Sr. Office Assistant I. Minutes: a. Approve April 1, 2014 Minutes: Chairman Schutzer asked for a motion to accept the April 1, 2014 Minutes. Committee Member Dutra made the motion to accept the April 1, 2014 and Committee Member Funtleyder seconded the motion. The April 1, 2014 Minutes were approved and accepted by all. II. Public View Points: Chairman Schutzer said he had some residents come up to him regarding the cancellation of Little League games for the week ending April 26`h. At 2:00pm Rye Brook Travel had a game and the field was good condition. Superintendent Bertolacci said the fields were checked that day and the parks guys decided when they came into work at 7:00am that they weren't going to wait around for the rain to stop. They went home and no work was done on the fields. Kyle went to check the fields sometime during the morning and they weren't in any condition to play on so it was decided to cancel the games. The fields were wet and muddy and at that time the fields were not playable. Superintendent Bertolacci stated the situation is being dealt with in-house. Chairman Schutzer said he spoke with Glen Brettschneider and he asked again why we pay to use the tennis courts and no fee for use of the basketball court. The Village Board has decided to have tennis attendants at the tennis courts only on the weekends when it is the busiest. The fee for the tennis permits have been reduced to half the cost and for a non-resident the fee was $235 and is now $150. Chairman Schutzer welcomed the newest member, Steve Ketchabaw, to the Parks and Recreation Advisory Council. Chairman Schutzer asked Mr. Ketchabaw to speak about himself and his family. 1168377.1 Steve Ketchabaw stated that he lives at 237 Country Ridge Drive for the past 12 years, has 5 children. His oldest child Tyler is graduating Boston University; Jamie is a sophomore at Syracuse University and plays on their hockey team. Brian is an 11`i'grader at Blind Brook and next year is going to Brunswick. Evans is in 7th grade and Kayla is in 6th grade at Blind Brook. I have been involved in Rye Brook softball, football, lacrosse, and hockey. My wife Sharon and I run the Rye Rangers Club in its 22'd season with 300 kids registered in its program. Evan and Kayla are not playing baseball or basketball with recreation so I have an unbiased opinion and no personal agenda. III. Superintendent's Report: a. Carnival Recap: Superintendent Bertolacci said he would like to thank Steve Ketchabaw, for the use of 900 King Street for the carnival. Council Member Ketchabaw is the managing agent for 900 King Street. Superintendent Bertolacci stated we had 3 full days this year for the carnival. We brought in the same amount of revenue for the rides this year as last year's revenue and we had one extra day this year. Saturday night we had some rain around 7:OOpm and on Sunday around 2:30pm. We didn't sell food this year which worked out well; we didn't have to look for volunteers, buy the food, cook it or sell tickets. We received $100 for each game booth for the three days and $500 for 2 food booths. Superintendent Bertolacci reported there was one injury. There was a guy and his daughter in the cart on the dark ride and it tipped over and they were slightly injured with cuts and bruises. It really doesn't seem logical that the cart would come off the track. There is a bar that the cart is wrapped around and it is sort of tough for the cart to tip over. The ride was closed down after the incident. Chairman Schutzer asked if there is any impact on next year's carnival. Superintendent Bertolacci said the Board would probably discuss it and that incident will be taken into consideration. If we have a carnival, maybe we do it with a different company. All the rides were inspected by the state and they passed the inspection. Chairman Schutzer asked what was done to promote the carnival. Superintendent Bertolacci said the Carnival was advertised in the Westmore News for two weeks, signage was put on different street corners, and it was advertised on the Rye Brook web site. I would like to get the word out on News 12. Committee Member Dutra suggested that John Berardi put it out to all the town channels. All in all it was an awesome event for the community. b. Other Updates/Birthday Celebration: Superintendent Bertolacci said the Birthday celebration is on June 14th. We are looking for volunteers for cooking, serving, rides etc. We need volunteers from 11:OOam to 2:OOpm. IV. Comprehensive Plan Survey: Chairman Schutzer reported that the Comprehensive Plan will go before the board and be adopted. V. Baseball Sub-Committee Report: Committee Member Dutra asked about the pitching mound that was discussed at the last meeting. Superintendent Bertolacci said we will be looking into getting a pitching mound this week. 1168377.1 Committee Member Dutra asked if the Little League night games are going on as scheduled. Superintendent Bertolacci said there are 3 games scheduled and the first one was played on Friday night and it went well. Committee Member Dutra asked if the umpires are Little League umpires because when questioning the rules the umpires had no idea of the rules. The question was there were 2 518 bats being used. The coaches have no idea what our Little League rules are. We use to have a coaches meeting to go through the rules and I think we should definitely do that again because some dad's may not know the Little League rules and the details on the Little League side. As far as our rule regarding substitution and if you bat a full batting order and player leaves, it's an out. There should be no questions and they are stopping for 10 minutes to discuss it. The 518 bats was a big issue and it happened for 3 weeks before it was addressed. Committee Member Tillison asked why we start the games at 6:15pm and is it possible to start the games earlier to get in more innings. Superintendent Bertolacci said the school has a curfew at 6:00pm and can't start an inning after 6:00pm. Committee Member Tillison said the parents like the pitching machine because the game actually moves along. The kids are all hitting the ball and making a lot out of the game. They are getting a lot out of the games. There are parents who are saying that our pitchers are going to be behind. Committee Member Tillison said we need to do something to get the pitching clinic going. Superintendent Bertolacci said he is waiting for the proposal from Hardball. First they said no but would reconsider if it's just baseball. They can't get the women's coach to help out with the softball end of it. Superintendent Bertolacci said he tried the women's coach at Manhattanville with no success. Committee Member Ketchabaw said he would get in touch with the pitchers from Manhattanville and see if two or three of them can come out to help out the kids. They are very big on Community Service. They can run through the basics and the kids would love it and the cost is nothing. Committee Member Tillison suggested having a playoff for the minor league which may get the kids to come out to more of the games. Sometimes there are 5 or 6 kids and we end up having a scrimmage. Committee Member Tillison asked if we organize a fundraiser to help pay for a portable pitcher's mound. Chairman Schutzer said maybe Rye Brook Travel Baseball would help defray some of the cost of the mound. Committee Member Dutra said there is a hole behind the front rubber on the old field. Committee Member Tillison asked what the amount is in the town budget for field improvements. We have a lot of baseball games to squeeze in a short amount of time. The better the fields are constructed to handle the rain, more games will be played. Superintendent Bertolacci said the Pine Ridge Park new field has a drainage system, the old field has a slit trench drainage system on it, Garibaldi Park is built on a quarry and the water goes through quickly. There isn't much more we can do. Superintendent Bertolacci said our clay is mixed with sand and it's the same mixture everyone else uses. Committee Member Dutra said the problem is the speedy-dry. You need to soak up the water with the speedy-dry and remove it from the field. There also is a hole on the first base line in foul territory on the old field. 1168377.1 VI. Basketball Sub-Committee Report: There is no basketball report. VII. Grievance Sub-Committee Report: Committee Member Dutra said there is nothing on file or any report of a grievance. VIII. Old Business: a. AED Signage: Committee Member Tillison reported the AED sign at Garibaldi Park is broken. It's from the soccer ball hitting the wall where the sign is located. Superintendent Bertolacci said it's a public park and nothing can be done. The police were notified. Chairman Schutzer asked if any additional signage was discussed for the Rye Brook Athletic Field. Superintendent Bertolacci said with the carnival going on he hasn't looked into AED additional signage for the athletic field. The more signage you have, the better especially for the visiting teams that are playing on our field. Superintendent Bertolacci said he would have an answer by the nest Meeting. IX: New Business: a. Lights at Port Chester Middle School: Superintendent Bertolacci said one of the poles on the first base line at the Port Chester Middle School blew out. The lights have been fixed. There are six lights on the pole and now 4 of the lights out of the six are now working. X. Adjournment: Chairman Schutzer asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Committee Member Funtleyder made the motion to adjourn the meeting and Committee Member Zahl seconded the motion. All approved and the meeting adjourned at 9:30pm. The next meeting of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Council will be on June 3, 2014 at 8:15pm. The meeting adjourned at 9:30pm. Minutes prepared by Carmella Swick 1168377.1