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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-11-05 - 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 November 5, 2013 Convene Meeting: Chairman Jamie Schutzer called the meeting to order at 8:05PM. The following Members of the Parks & Recreation Advisory Council were present: Advisory Council Members: Chairman Jamie Schutzer, Brian Funtleyder, Frank Carbone, Jennifer Wohl Traci Erenfryd, Christopher Dutra, Adam Berman, Scott Tillison Absent Parks & Recreation Advisory Council Members: Adam Zahl Recreation Department Members: Robert Bertolacci, Parks &Recreation Superintendent Carmella Swick, Sr. Office Assistant 1. Minutes: Approve the Minutes: Chairman Schutzer asked for a motion to accept the Amended Minutes of October 1, 2013. Committee Member Berman made a motion to accept the Amended Minutes of October 1, 2013 and Committee Member Tillison seconded the motion. The Amended Minutes of October 1, 2013 were accepted and approved. Committee Members Dutra, Berman and Tillison abstained from voting on the October 2013 Minutes. II. Public View Points: The Westmore News had pictures of Committee Members Erenfryed and Wohl attending Halloween in the Park at Rye Hills. Committee Member Tillison said his children thought Halloween in the Park was cool. Committee Member Berman said a resident commented that Halloween in the Park was up against both nights of Homecoming at Blind Brook High School. Superintendent Bertolacci said that someone brought their child to Halloween in the Park and was upset because they didn't think it was age appropriate and the flyer said it was appropriate for all ages. They didn't ride the hayride and was upset because there wasn't anything else to do. Committee Member Wohl suggested that we advertise it next year as a Haunted Hay Ride. Some suggestions made by the committee was maybe have a magician, face painting, paint a pumpkin, corn maze, and a DJ. III. Superintendent's Report: a. Halloween in the Park Report Superintendent Bertolacci reported there were about 500 people paid to go on the hayride over the two nights. Last year Halloween in the Park was one night and approximately 350 people attended. b. Carnival Update Superintendent Bertolacci received the RFP back from the carnival companies. Two carnival companies bid the same proposals. One company is the same one we contracted with last year 1168377.1 and the other company is the one that does the Corpus Christi Carnival. Superintendent Bertolacci said we aren't preparing food this year, it will be all vendors. We are looking at the week of April 4th or April 28th. The carnival will be held in the back of 900 King Street as was last year or 800 Westchester Avenue where the old Kraft Building was. Last year's spot for the carnival is our number 1 pick, but if the building is rented out it would not be available to us. As a back-up plan we would have 800 Westchester Avenue. Committee Member Berman suggested getting a sponsor for a food vendor at the carnival. Committee Member Berman will contact Westchester Burger to see if they maybe interested in being a food sponsor for the carnival. c. Terry Teachout Summer Basketball Camp Superintendent Bertolacci said a contract has gone out to Terry Teachout for a basketball camp to be held during the summer of 2014. Terry Teachout is waiting for a rookie from the nets to sign before he confirms the date. Superintendent Bertolacci is vying for the week of July 21't. d. Travel Baseball Incentive Superintendent Bertolacci reported that Michael Borrelli mentioned that Travel Baseball is trying to give their players in the travel league some kind of an incentive to play rec baseball by giving those players a percentage off their tuition for the season and get them to play in the rec league. IV. Comprehensive Plan Survey: Chairman Schutzer said one of the topics that came up at the Comprehensive Plan meeting was a pool as one of the biggest topics. The younger new people coming into this community are the ones that want the pool and also a community center. Chairman Schutzer said this is like a Vision Plan. Another big issue that came out of the report is the residents want more bike paths, walking trails etc. Chairman Schutzer said that this company that was hired to do the study focused on Garibaldi Park. This company thinks that Garibaldi Park is underutilized and kicked around the idea of putting turf at that field. They would like to see Garibaldi Park incorporated more into Rye Brook. V. Baseball Sub-Committee Report: a. Interleague Play with Port Chester The baseball sub-committee reported that they spoke with Chris Swallen who runs the Port Chester Baseball League about combining out baseball leagues. We are trying to offer our residents a stronger and better baseball program. Chris said it's impossible to do anything this coming year. He suggested that we have interleague play between our team and Port Chester. This will definitely increase playing time. They can play one game during the week and one game on the weekend. These games would not count toward 60% of the games played. Committee Member Tillison suggested contacting Noah from the Little League to see if the games would count being both communities are Little League. Committee Member Dutra said he would contact Noah from the Little League Organization. Committee Member Carbone said it was discussed at the meeting using the pitching machine for Minor League. We won't have to worry about live pitchers going all over the place, it will speed the game up, kids will learn how to hit and we get the fielders learning how to field because the ball will be put into play and umpires won't have to call strikes and balls. Committee Member Carbone suggested a pitching clinic held once a week for baseball and softball. Committee Member Tillison said you can teach the players live pitching much faster as they get older. 1168377.1 Committee Member Carbone said that the T should be used in Rookie Ball. It moves the game along and it will force them to swing the bat. This will put more balls in play and the kids learn to throw the ball to the right base and the program is more instructional. Superintendent Bertolacci Suggested separating the l't and 2"dgrade Rookies, have the l't graders hit off the T and the 2'd graders have the coach pitch. VI. Basketball Sub-Committee Report: Committee Member Berman said the basketball drafts are almost done and teams were sent out to the coaches. Chairman Schutzer and I looked over the 6th and 7th grade boys' teams and it looked quite even. The committee members looked over the teams before the draft to see that the ratings were accurate and that the teams were as fair as possible. Janice and Kyle go over the rules with coaches, then the coaches' sign up for practices. Superintendent Bertolacci said Kyle will start practices the week of the 18th. Committee Member Carbone said if Kyle could schedule the same grades the same night such as 6 — 7 grade boys or 4-5 boys, those teams can practice together especially if there are kids who can't make the practice. At the end of the practice those teams could have a 15 minute scrimmage game. The games start the first week of December. Committee Member Funtyleder asked how the coaches are picked for the County Center Team. Committee Member Berman said if you want to coach you let Janice and Kyle know you are interested and the Recreation Department determines who is going to coach. Janice and Kyle have a record of who coached in the previous years and if you coached last year and someone else steps forward who hasn't coached, they should get the chance to coach. Committee Member Funtleyder asked how the County Center teams are picked. Committee Member Berman said the first 5 players are picked by the coaches. The coaches' cannot vote for anyone on their team. After the 5 players are voted on by the coaches, the Rec Department picks the other 5 players. Committee Member Berman said we can discuss the County Center and other items at the next basketball sub-committee meeting. VII. Grievance Sub-Committee Report: a. Code of Conduct Update Superintendent Bertolacci reported that the Code of Conduct is posted on our website, and it has been discussed at the drafts. When the drafts are completed, an e-mail will go out to everyone in our programs so they know how to access the code and how to proceed if they have a grievance. VIII. Old Business: a. Pitcher's Mound Chairman Schutzer said the pitching rubber on the old field is very bad. Just about every kid that strides lands on that rubber. Superintendent Bertolacci said the mound was there for girls' softball. Superintendent Bertolacci said the pitchers' mound will be fixed for next baseball season. Committee Member Tillison said on every field there is a hump right before the dirt because over the course of the season the dirt from the infield spreads to the outfield and if you don't take a broom and push it back, it starts to build up and kids are getting hit in the face from a ground ball, especially at Garibaldi Park. Committee Member Tillison suggested that the coaches and parents that are willing after each game rake the dirt out of the grass and rake it back into the field, fill in the indentions around the bases and hose it down. 1168377.1 b. Food Truck Committee Member Wohl commented that the fries she had from the truck at the park were soggy and undercooked. Chairman Schutzer said he would get a report from Anthony at the end of the baseball season. c. Dog Park Chairman Schutzer reported that at the last meeting the Village Board wants to explore other locations for a dog park. d. Pine Ridge Park Wall Superintendent Bertolacci reported that the wall at Pine Ridge Park will we taken down and a new wall will be built. Superintendent Bertolacci said we made a recommendation to the Village Board to take the wall down; we didn't make a recommendation to rebuild it. This will probably take place in the spring of next year. Chairman Schutzer said the money had been already appropriated for the wall. e. New Programs Committee Member Tillison said Kyle had asked him to tell his idea of getting parents together to watch a show and dropping off their kids at the gym for sport activities. The parents would have a night out and the rec staff would babysit the kids. Superintendent Bertolacci said we could use the high school auditorium for the show and use the gym to watch the kids. IX. New Business: a. Behavior Policy Chairman Schutzer said Kyle runs a floor hockey program which I have a child attending it. There are some misbehaved children in the program. Kyle has called parents to come and pick their children up because that child was disrupting the program. There is nothing formal to discipline these children. Kyle has had the child sit out as a time out on many occasions. There should be a policy in writing so the parents understand. If the child doesn't behave the parent gets a phone call to pick up their child. If that same child has a second offense, they are out of the program with no refund. Committee Member Berman said there should be a behavior policy in front of the Activity Brochure Book. Superintendent Bertolacci said he will draft a behavior policy. Committee Member Berman asked if we are going to have an issue with men's softball because of the lighting. We should have some options prepared for the next meeting regarding the lights. X. Adjournment: Chairman Schutzer asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Committee Member Berman made a motion to adjourn the meeting and Committee Member Wohl seconded the motion and all approved. The next Parks and Recreation Advisory Council meeting will be held on December 3, 2013 at 8:00pm. The meeting adjourned at 9:50PM. Minutes prepared by Carmella Swick 1168377.1