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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-05-01 - 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 1, 2012 Convene Meeting: Chairman Jamie Schutzer called the meeting to order at 8:30pm The following Members of the Council were present: Advisory Council Members: Chairman Jamie Schutzer, Frank Carbone, Kevin O'Neil, Brian Funtleyder Glenn Brettschneider, Christopher Dutra, Jennifer Wohl, Adam Zahl Absent Council Members: Adam Berman Members of the Public: Marc Zimmerman, Kenneth Frankel, Carey Liebmann Village of Rye Brook Trustee: Jeffrey Rednick, Parks and Recreation Liaison Recreation Department Member: Robert Bertolacci, Parks &Recreation Superintendent Carmella Swick, Sr. Office Assistant Convene Meeting: Chairman Jamie Schutzer called the meeting to order at 8:30pm 1. Minutes: Chairman Schutzer asked for a motion to accept the April 17, 2012 Minutes. Committee Member O'Neil requested the Minutes be Amended to read: innings will consist of 3 outs, or batting through the order whichever comes first. The inning will be played until 3 outs are recorded. Each team may bat the maximum number of the larger team present in order to bat through their batting order. Committee Member Funtleyder made the motion to accept the Minutes as Amended and Committee Member Brettschneider seconded the motion. The April 17, 2012 Minutes were approved and accepted as Amended. II. Presentation of Plaques to former Council Members Marc Zimmerman, Sari Jablon and Kenneth Frankel: Chairman Schutzer made the plaque presentation to former Chairman Zimmerman and former Council Member Kenneth Frankel. Former Committee Member Sari Jablon was not able to attend the meeting tonight. Marc, Ken and Sari served 4 years on the Parks and Recreation Advisory Council. The plaque reads: We appreciate your devotion to making our community great. Rye Brook is a better place through your leadership and insight. We were fortunate for the opportunity to serve with you. Signed by the Parks and Recreation Advisory Council 2012. 1168377.1 Marc Zimmerman said this is a committee that everyone likes to serve on. The reason is everyone has a connection with the recreation programs or the parks. The key to this council is to make sure you are not voting for your personal interest and to figure out what works for the community. Ken Frankel wishes everyone good luck on the committee. it's a great committee to be on. Everyone on the committee has children in the rec programs. The committee and the sub- committee work very hard and i think this council will do a great job. iii. Welcome new Council Members Christopher Dutra, Jennifer Wohl and Adam Zahl. Chairman Schutzer welcomed the new committee members and asked them to address the council and tell why they wanted to join this committee. Christopher Dutra: i have 2 boys ages 13 and 9 that are very heavily involved in youth activities in the community and outside the community. I am involved in running the Rye Town Youth Football and Cheerleading organization for about 15 years. There are over 400 children involved in the program. The reason I accepted the position on this council is I want to be involved in the sports. it's not a vested interest for personal reasons but to help the kids in all sports and activities in the community. Jennifer Wohl: I have 2 daughters, kindergarten and 3rd grade. They are very involved in the recreation programs and also other activities outside the rec programs. There are wonderful programs going on and they should continue, but I also think we should start thinking about programs for younger girls. The reason i accepted the position on this council is that i would like to represent the girls programs. Adam Zahl: I have lived in Rye Brook for 10 years. My wife is a teacher in the District. I have 2 daughters 1" and 2nd grade. They are in cheerleading, soccer, and Rookie League. i wanted to be on the committee because I know how important sports are to my family and community. I am looking forward to a very productive term. a. Chair Person's Comments: Chairman Schutzer said it is important to know what we are here to do. My viewpoint is that we are making a commitment to be more involved in recreation programs and events. We are here to support our community and it would be nice to step up and volunteer ourselves at our events. If Superintendent Bertolacci needs a helping hand this council should be available to lend a hand. i hope that this Council will be supportive and visible at our events. IV. Public View Points: Carey Liebmann, 43 Greenway Lane.....i am coaching the Minor League and managing the Major League. I have an issue with the statistics that are going on the website. Some of the numbers posted are inaccurate. You have kids that are going to strike out every time they get up and these statistics are going on the website. This could be a potential problem. Can Kyle just give the highlights of the game? Superintendent Bertolacci said the purpose of putting the stats on the Little League website is to give the kids something to look forward to and get them into the program. If the negative stats are a problem, we can eliminate the strike outs. Our aim is getting a kid to go on the website and being comfortable with the information. They can check game cancellations, stats, next game 1168377.1 scheduled etc. Our contract with the website allows us to just plug in the information in their existing template. Chairman Schutzer said enrollment in the Little League program has decreased and speculation as to why the decrease. A baseball sub-committee was formed and we are trying to rebuild the program and one of the ideas was to create the website. Superintendent Bertolacci said the whole purpose of the Little League website is to have people talk about Rye Brook Little League. If they are talking about it, they know it exists. That is why we have the Rye Brook Little League name on the scoreboards and on the players' shirts. Committee Member Carbone said you could take the strike outs off the website. There are no pitching stats on the website. If the strike outs are a negative issue,just take it off the web. Marc suggested putting players of the week on the website. This could turn a negative into a positive. Chairman Schutzer said to let Kyle know not to record the strikeouts, add highlights of the game, and game summary. Also, tell the coaches when sending the stats to send the highlights of the game. Marc said there have been some injuries from sliding on the dirt on the Pine Ridge Baseball old and new fields. The pitchers mound on both fields has a divot that the kids are pitching from. Committee Member Dutra said the rubber itself is low and when the pitcher digs in they are pitching uphill. Superintendent Bertolacci said it will have to get fixed in June after Little League. Marc said last year the fields were in fantastic condition and this year there is a softer infield. Superintendent said new clay was put down this year and sometimes you get good clay and sometimes it is not so good. Ken said Kyle was a little overwhelmed this year with the Pitch, Hit and Run. I don't think he expected that many kids to participate. There was a lot of waiting around to get to the next round, and there were not enough volunteers. There was also a controversy with parents doing some of the timing and I think that next year we should eliminate parents from keeping the time. Chairman Schutzer made a comment about the coaches plaque outside the recreation office. There are coaches that have 3 or more years of coaching and their name is not on the plaque. Superintendent said the coaches' plaque will be updated after the Little League season. Committee Member Carbone asked how we can get pictures and highlights of a winning team to the Westmore News. Can parents submit pictures or highlights of a game to the Westmore News? Superintendent Bertolacci said a parent can submit pictures or highlights of a game to the Westmore News and they will print it. 1168377.1 Committee Member Wohl was told that there is no Lacrosse program for younger children in Rye Brook. My daughter is in a Lacrosse program in Rye and there is a big overflow of kids and next year they probably won't take Rye Brook children. I know there was a one day Lacrosse clinic held for younger children, but is there a program we can have so when the kids get to the high school they would have had some instruction. Superintendent Bertolacci said we have a Lacrosse instruction program in the fall and in the spring for kindergarten girls and boys through 5th grade. it's an instructional program run by an outside contractor. In the spring the program takes place at Pine Ridge Park and in the fall at Ridge Street School. i don't think with all the programs going on in Rye Brook that we would be able to have a Lacrosse League. V. Superintendent's Report: a. Rye Brook Little League Opening Day/Parade Update Superintendent Bertolacci reported that the parade took place on April 20- The Little League Baseball and Rookie League players walked from Ridge Street School to Pine Ridge Park. It was followed by Pitch, Hit and Run followed by two Little League games. Observations for next year: 1. Superintendent Bertolacci said next year he would hire a DJ because the PA system is not loud enough for anyone to hear. 2. Also, we need more help for the barbeque. We never had that many kids march in the parade. We had over 300 kids walk from Ridge St. School to Pine Ridge Park 3. We need to hire more staff for Opening Day. b.Pitch, Hit & Run: 1. Hire more staff for the Pitch, Hit & Run, or maybe not make it part of Opening Day. Having more teams play a game on Opening Day is more beneficial because we are getting more kids involved in Opening Day. 2. An idea to discuss is to have the Pitch, Hit&Run in the morning before the parade. Chairman Schutzer asked if there was any coverage from Westmore News or The Journal News. Superintendent Bertolacci said there was a reporter from Rye Patch taking pictures at the parade and the barbeque. Committee Member Dutra said Westmore News will not cover an event, but you can submit an article or picture to them and they will publish the picture or article sent to them. c. Scoreboards: Superintendent Bertolacci said the scoreboards are being used for all games at Pine Ridge Park Old and New Field. d. Movie Night in the Park Superintendent Bertolacci scheduled 4 Movie Nights in the Park. The first Movie Night is Friday, May 18th at 8:00pm. The movie is Zookeeper and will be shown at Pine Ridge Park. The other movies are Spy Kids, Scooby Doo and Dolphin Tail. The movies will be shown once a month. If it rains the movie will be held at Village Hall. e. Rye Brook Birthday Party: 1168377.1 Rye Brook turns 30 on June 16`h. Superintendent Bertolacci said we are looking for volunteers and we are currently soliciting local merchants for donations. The celebration is from 12:OOpm to 4:OOpm. Superintendent said he would like to make this birthday special with some different kinds of food and entertainment but it would depend on the donations we get. Vi. Old Business a. RBLL Update Committee Member Carbone said the rules went out to the coaches 3 times and some of the coaches didn't read the updated version, but now all the coaches are good with the rules. Everything is going well, games are close and the kids are having a good time. Committee Member Wohl said she thinks the 3rd and 4th grade girls softball team needs some extra help. Superintendent Bertolacci said Janice has two softball clinics scheduled. Committee Member Wohl said when her daughter was in the Rookie League she had a little more instruction, more drills and more practices. Committee Member Carbone said the difference with the travel program in the summer is the drills are handed down to the coaches and they have to do those drills. in Little League the coaches do what they can as far practices and drills go, and its all according to how much time that coach can put in. Committee Member Dutra suggested that each team has to have so many practices before the season. Committee Member Funtleyder said at the last meeting we discussed that the game during the week would be practice first and a 45 minute game to follow for Little League Baseball and Softball. VII. New Business: a. Rating Process Chairman Schutzer said we talked about the rating process for basketball and baseball. The rating is based on a scale of 1 to 5. My opinion is 2 1/2 would be average. if you have different coaches or parents rating the kids on different nights, it is never going to balance out. One of my thoughts is if you are going to be involved in rating, that coach or parent would have to be at whatever number of sessions there are for that age group whether it be baseball or basketball, this would make the process consistent. Superintendent Bertolacci said what happens is you have two coaches that coach a team, one coach come one night to the rating and the other coach comes the second night. Neither one of them rates the same and that is where the unbalance comes in. Committee Member Dutra said the ratings should be a little more detailed rather just 3 ground ball, 3 fly balls etc. Committee Member O'Neil said there are two issues here: ratings and the skills the kids are going through.....throwing 1Oft. vs. throwing across the gym. The other is consistency for some common guidelines for people to follow what a 2 rating is or a 3 rating. Committee Member Carbone said the rating process would have to be revamped next year for the Majors because kids are staying with their team and you are just filling in with kids that are coming up to 5th grade. 1168377.1 Superintendent Bertolacci said there will be a draft and the weakest team out of the league will pick first. We may still do an entry level rating for the incoming 5t" graders that are coming up from the Minor League up to the Major League just in case a coach doesn't know the kids. VIII. Adjournment Chairman Schutter asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Committee Member Brettschneider made a motion to adjourn the meeting Committee Member Funtleyder seconded the motion. The meeting adjourned at 9:55pm. The next meeting of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Council will meet on June 12, 2012 at 8:30pm. Minutes prepared by Carmella Swick 1168377.1