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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-09-12 - 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 September 12, 2013 Convene Meeting: Chairman Jamie Schutzer called the meeting to order at 8:08PM. The following Members of the Council were present: Advisory Council Members: Chairman Jamie Schutzer, Brian Funtleyder, Scott Tillison, Frank Carbone, Adam Berman, Jennifer Wohl, Traci Erenfryd, Christopher Dutra, Adam Zahl Absent Council Members: Recreation Department Members: Robert Bertolacci, Parks & Recreation Superintendent Carmella Swick, Sr. Office Assistant I. Minutes: Approve the August 14,2013 Minutes: Chairman Schutzer asked for a motion to accept the August 14, 2013 Minutes. Committee Member Berman made a motion to accept the August 14, 2013 Minutes and Committee Member Funtleyder seconded the motion. The August 14, 2013 Minutes were accepted and approved. Committee Members Carbone and Dutra abstained from voting on the August Minutes. II. Public View Points: Chairman Schutzer said he watched the Village Board meeting and the Board reported they received another quote of$36,000 to take down and rebuild the wall at Pine Ridge Park. One member of the Village Board is strongly opposed to spending the money to rebuild the wall. Chairman Schutzer said the issue of the Pine Ridge Park wall is on the Village Agenda for the November meeting. Committee Member Tillison said he had a contractor friend give him a quote on the wall. The contractor measured the wall gave me a quote of$16,000 to take it down and rebuild it. If that contractor has to pay a prevailing wage, which maybe a town requirement, it would be about $37,000. Superintendent Bertolacci said anytime a bid goes out it has to be a prevailing wage. Committee Member Tillison looked into the possibility of a wall made of plastic for hitting tennis balls. The wall would be a 20' wall and the cost is about$5,000. Committee Member Berman suggested that Scott give Trustee Rednick the information about the options he researched. Committee Member Carbone said in the Recreation Brochure the 8t' and 9t' grade rating day is November 16th and there is a Bar Mitzvah that day and all the 8th grade boys will be attending. Committee Berman said the same thing happened last year and Janice said she knows all the kids that played for the past 5 years. Committee Member Berman said he would mention it again to Janice. Committee Member Tillison said there is a pro basketball player that goes around doing clinics for coaches. He sent me the information with prices. Committee Member Berman said we can take a look at the fees and see if it fits in the budget. 1168377.1 III. Superintendent's Report: a. Summer Camp Survey Results: Superintendent Bertolacci handed out the camp survey results. Most of the results are positive. A good number of issues raised are the use of the Carver pool. The kids don't like the pool, the atmosphere, too much chlorine, and they have to use bathing caps. There were also issues with counselors using their cell phones. Superintendent Bertolacci said the Travel Camp will travel all 5 days next year. Chairman Schutzer suggested a sports specialist come to the day camp next year. Superintendent Bertolacci said he had a sports specialist in camp this year and last year and they didn't do anything with the kids. He is going to look into hiring a sports instructor for an hour a week. Committee Member Erenfryd suggested we set up some areas where there is more shade especially on hotter days. It's like a canopy with open sides and the kids can do arts and crafts or jewelry making etc. Superintendent Bertolacci said we also will discuss a more organized dropping and picking up kids for better safety and security. Superintendent Bertolacci would definitely look into the pool issues because it seems most of the survey was addressing the pool. b. Frank's Retirement (plaque): Superintendent Bertolacci said Frank is away this week and we will invite him to our October meeting. The DPW foreman will be doing a dual role and we are hiring a full time parks attendant. c. Pitcher's Mound on Old Field: Superintendent Bertolacci said he spoke to Frank and he said the pitcher mound is flat. Committee Member Zahl said the mound is submerged below the ground level. Superintendent Bertolacci said he sent an e-mail to Paul regarding the pitcher's mound. Committee Member Carbone suggested buying a portable mound. d. Registration Update: Superintendent Bertolacci reported Tuesday's registration update as follows: Kinderplay: 22 children on BDF days and 2 on ACE days Ice Skating: 16 children; Skating will be at the Hommock Ice Rink Bowling: 13 children Floor Hockey: Kindergarten, 5children; reason new parents in the school and are not aware of the kindergarten program. E-mail was sent out. 1St Grade 20 children M. Martinez Basketball Clinics: 43 children Men's Basketball: 1 Momentum-New Program: 4 registered. e. Halloween in the Park: Halloween in the Park is October 18th and 19th from 6:00pm to 9:00pm, weather permitting. Superintendent Bertolacci asked for volunteers for both nights and to be in costumes. We need help loading and unloading children for the hay ride. Superintendent Bertolacci reached out for volunteers from Manhattanville College, Purchase College and Council of the Arts. L Other Updates: Superintendent Bertolacci met with Terry Teachout yesterday. A few years back, Terry Teachout did some of our programs. We would like to try and do some professional basketball 1168377.1 clinics at the Blind Brook High School in July of next year. That is the only week he is available to do a program for Rye Brook. IV. Comprehensive Plan Survey: Chairman Schutzer asked if the Council members received the Comprehensive Plan Survey that was e-mailed out to the Rye Brook residents. There is a meeting next Tuesday for the committee and a public workshop on October 28th regarding the survey. Chairman Schutzer said he would e-mail the survey again. V. Baseball Sub-Committee Report: Committee Member Carbone sent an e-mail out to recap what went on this baseball season. There wasn't enough publicity last year so we want to get the word out in January and February to try and up our enrollment. We discussed having some indoor baseball clinics in January. Committee Member Wohl said for the girls' softball, they had to play Rec Little League to play Travel Softball. That's the way it worked for the girls, why not for everyone else. Superintendent Bertolacci said the whole aspect of the girls wanting to play travel baseball was they wanted to play in the Little League Tournament. In order to play in the tournament they have to play Little League. The only incentive for travel baseball kids to play rec is the District 20 Tournament. Chairman Schutzer said its' not just travel baseball that is keeping the numbers down but you have travel soccer, lacrosse and now basketball has become a huge spring sport. So if these kids are playing soccer and basketball, you can't make them play baseball. Committee Member Tillison suggested talking to our neighboring towns to see if we can integrate our programs. Committee Member Durta suggested that when we have 21" Century come in our schools for a clinic invite the high school and modified coaches to come to the clinic. Chairman Schutzer said he would like to see box scores and maybe highlights of the game in our local paper or the Westmore News. Another suggestion was to revamp our web site and Kyle would be able to update the box scores and perhaps the highlights of the game. Committee Member Dutra suggested that we look into getting an I Score account. The coaches can key in the box score right on their phones and the site gets updated. VI. Basketball Committee Report: Committee Member Berman said the rules were updated last year and is on the Parks and Recreation website. He asked the council members to review the rules and if there are any comments to please e-mail them and the sub-committee can then review the comments at the next meeting. Points discussed at the sub-committee meeting: 1. For playoff purposes, it makes sense to have a 2 minute overtime for games ending in a tie during the regular season for the 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th. Grade. 2. All players must play a minimum of 2 quarters and a max of 3 t/2 quarters for each age group subject to that team having more than 5 players. 3. There is no pressing for 2nd and 3rd grade. 4. Grade 4, 5, 6, and 7, pressing is only allowed in the 1st 2 minutes of the game. We discussed having pressing for the last 4 minutes of the game because it can allow a team to come back. 5. If a team is winning by more than 10 points they aren't allowed to press. 6. Have a clinic with Manny Martinez which we held in previous years for the coaches. 7. Rec to send out an e-mail if anyone is interested in coaching to e-mail Kyle. 1168377.1 8. As we did last year, before the draft have a council member look at the team to see if they see any imbalance or inadequate rating. Next meeting we can determine what council member will go to what grade that night before the draft. 9. We will revisit the County Center Tournament selection. 10.Next meeting we will discuss if an injured player comes to the games, will he/she get credit toward County Center. 11. Kyle suggested to Adam that there be a centralized attendance list at games so parents will know that their child has met their 60% to be eligible for the County Center. Superintendent Bertolacci said it isn't necessary to put the attendance on the website because we notify the players' way before the County Center to let them know if they didn't reach the 60%. Committee Member Berman said if there are any comments regarding our discussion to please e- mail them to him. Committee Member Tillison said to consider when we distribute the kids equally wise by talent, we have to consider their height also. Committee Member Berman said Kyle has a ruler to measure the height of the kids. Committee Member Tillison said we should have someone at the games to keep track of the minutes played for each player. If these kids are not playing the time allotted, they are not getting the experience of playing the sport. Committee Member Berman asked that before the game that the scorer calls out both coaches and the referees and go over the rules. Committee Member Berman said at next month's meeting we will have the time for the drafts and we are going to need council members to go to the different age groups. VII. Grievance Sub-Committee Report: a. Code of Conduct: Committee Member Berman asked if you can make a grievance anonymously. Superintendent Bertolacci said a grievance has to be in writing and has to be signed by the person submitting the grievance. Committee Member Zahl said he received the comments from the council members and made the necessary changes to the Code of Conduct. Committee Member Berman said in reviewing the document, he didn't think that 9 20 belonged in the Code of conduct. It reads; Protect players from sexual molestation, assault, physical abuse, and emotional abuse. Committee Member Zahl thinking was to cover all issues and be on guard. Superintendent Bertolacci stated that each parent whose child is playing is to sign off that they acknowledge and read the Code of Conduct. Committee member Tillison reported that he went on line to look at other towns Code of Conduct. They are more general and are one page. I think we should be more concise and make the document more general. This Code of Conduct was brought to our attention because of the incidences that have occurred in the past during the basketball season. Chairman Schutzer said a lot of work has gone into this policy and I think we should get it out to the parents. Committee Member Berman made a recommendation to Superintendent Bertolacci that this document be sent out as policy by the Recreation Department. Committee Member Zahl seconded the motion and all approved. Superintendent Bertolacci said he will send out an e-mail blast to the parents. VIII. Old Business: a. Food Truck: Chairman Schutzer spoke with Anthony and has some figures to report. During the spring Anthony reported that he made $700 when there are doubleheaders going on. On a day when there is not that many games, he would make about $500. If it wasn't profitable 1168377.1 to him, I don't think he would come back to the park. Chairman Schutzer said Anthony is very courteous. There seems to be no complaints from any of the neighbors regarding refuse. b. Dog Park: Committee Member Zahl said he spoke to Trustee Rednick and said there is no liability issue of having the dog park at the compost site. Another alternative spot is across from the Middle School where they are building homes which puts a dog park in a residential area. The whole point of a dog park is to keep it away from where people will live. There is no advantage to this site. Superintendent Bertolacci said there is definitely a safety issue at the compost site with trucks going in and out of the site. More space is being utilized there than before. Chairman Schutzer said he drafted a letter recommending a dog park to Trustee Rednick. The letter read that there was a motion by Committee Members Zahl and seconded by Frank Carbone to recommend to the Board of Trustees to look into the possibility of a dog park at the location of the Compost site on Lincoln Avenue off King Street. All members of the council were in favor of the motion. Therefore, I recommend that you put this on the Agenda for the upcoming meeting. We will request that the dog park be put back on the Village Board Agenda. c. Pine Ridge Park Wall: This issue was discussed and is on the Agenda for the Village Board. d. New Programs: Superintendent Bertolacci said one new program is Open Gym Nights. It is in our fall 2013 Brochure. Superintendent Bertolacci said we would probably run 2 Friday nights a month. XI. New Business: Committee Member Carbone said that the first Teen Night scheduled this year is for September 29th and the trip is to Bridgeport Adventure Park. There is a soccer game that night involving 61h 7th and 8th grade. IX. Adjournment: Chairman Schutzer asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Committee Member Berman made a motion to adjourn the meeting and Committee member Tillison seconded the motion and all approved. The next Parks and Recreation Advisory Council meeting will be held on October 1, 2013 at 8:OOpm. The meeting adjourned at 10:1OPM. Minutes prepared by Carmella Swick 1168377.1