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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-10-02 - Parks and Rec Advisory Council Meeting Minutes AMENDED MINUTES MINUTES OF THE VILLAGE OF RYE BROOK PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY COUNCIL 938 KING STREET RYE BROOK, New York 10573 October 2, 2012 Convene Meeting: Chairman Jamie Schutzer called the meeting to order at 8:34pm. The following Members of the Council were present: Advisory Council Members: Chairman Jamie Schutzer, Frank Carbone, Kevin O'Neil, Brian Funtleyder, Adam Berman Glenn Brettschneider, Christopher Dutra, Jennifer Wohl, Adam Zahl Absent Council Members: None Trustee Jeffrey Rednick, Parks and Recreation Liaison Recreation Department Members: Robert Bertolacci, Parks &Recreation Superintendent Carmella Swick, Sr. Office Assistant 1. Minutes: Chairman Schutzer asked for a motion to accept the September 11, 2012 Minutes. A motion to approve the Minutes was made by Committee Member O'Neil and seconded by Committee Member Berman. The September 11, 2012 Minutes were accepted and approved. Committee Member Zahl abstained from voting. 11. Public View Points: Chairman Schutzer said at the Rye Brook Turf Field where the soccer goals are kept, there is a little piece in the ground that flips up and there is some kind of pipes in there that is covered with a wood box. The wood is all rotted out and its open and someone could step in there and get hurt. Superintendent Bertolacci said the wood box has been replaced several times. He will let the parks foreman know about the wood box. Committee Member Berman reported at the Rye Brook Turf Field at the top of the steps where the plaque is and if you walk on the grass away from the path, there is a manhole cover with a big gap in it. The kids kick it and throw rocks in it. Superintendent Bertolacci said, that is school property but we can notify the school officials of that problem area. iii. Superintendent's Report: a. Summer Camp Update: Superintendent Bertolacci reported that the Teen Travel camp had 115 children registered, up 20 from last year's number. Most of the evaluations came back positive. Residents are looking for 5 trips per week for the teen camp, but at that price it isn't feasible. if the Village Board wants to 1168377.1 increase the travel days, the fees would have to be increased approximately $200. The price for registering for the teen camp this past summer before 5/1 was $1,420 and after 5/1, $1,520. Superintendent Bertolacci reported the Day Camp registration was 142, down 73 from the year before. Two reasons may be because of lower numbers in the grades and more kids going away to sleep away camp. The day camp used Carver Center pool. One of the negatives of using the Carver Center pool was the maintenance which was not that good. They do have use of the whole pool where as they used only a portion of the pool at SUNY Purchase. We will probably use the Carver pool next year if an amicable agreement can be made like the one we had this year. Chairman Schutzer asked if we can look into the usage of the Bellefair pool. Superintendent Bertolacci said we could definitely look into that area. Superintendent Bertolacci reported the day camp went on four trips this year, 2 positive and 2 negative trips. The Fun Central and Maritime didn't work out as planned because those two places are really geared for a half day trip not all-day. They had a good time at Playland and Splashdown. If you have a suggestion for a day camp trip, e-mail Kyle with your suggestion. Superintendent Bertolacci said Crawford Park was in terrible condition this year due to cutting down their staff. Crawford outsourced their maintenance to an outside company and there are only 2 full-time staff members in the park. Superintendent Bertolacci said the day camp had a carnival at the end of camp season. There were 5 or 6 rides for the kids and games to play. The carnival was a nice addition to the end of the camp season. b. Spring Carnival/Concert: Superintendent Bertolacci said he can't find a carnival company to commit and take the risk for a weekend and the chance that it may rain that weekend. We are looking for an alternative plan to get the project in motion where the Village may assume part of the risk. if we were to have the carnival at the end of the baseball season, we would be running into the Birthday Celebration. If we combine the two events we would be offering only one town event instead of two. Committee Member Berman suggested a barbeque to kick off the season. Soccer has the barbeque every year to kick off their season and it seems to be very successful. c. Fall Programs - Update: Superintendent Bertolacci said the basketball registrations are coming in every day. Kids won't be placed on a team if their balance isn't paid up. They have until the draft dates. Ice skating numbers are still down; an e-mail went out today to remind residents. Superintendent Bertolacci said if there is less than 10 registered for ice skating, we will probably cancel the program. Bowling is currently going on with 15 registered for the program. There are 18 registered for Lacrosse which is the most we ever had for that program. Lacrosse in the spring will be held after school at Pine Ridge Park. d. Halloween in the Park Superintendent Bertolacci said Halloween in the Park will be held on October 20`h, 2012 from 6:OOpm to 9:OOpm at Rye Hills Park, rain or shine and in case of snow the date will be October 27`h Advertising signs for the event will be displayed at the Rye Ridge Shopping Center and 1168377.1 across from Ridge Street School. We are trying to display a sign at the Blind Brook School. An ad will go into Westmore News for a couple of weeks. A story is going to be told on the haunted hay ride. Superintendent Bertolacci is reaching out to various schools for volunteers. IV. Basketball Sub-Committee Report: Committee Member Berman said the sub-committee met by telephone conference and before this meeting tonight. We went over the rules for both the 2-3 grade, 4-5 grade, and 6-7 grade boys and girls. The only change was the half hour before the game for the younger kids. We discussed having a more organized drill so we don't have a disparity between the teams. Committee Member Berman said Superintendent Bertolacci will discuss with Manny Martinez either having a coach's clinic or having a list of 6 or 8 drills for the coaches to work on. Stalling Rule: At any part of the game for 2nd and 3rd grade, the referee will warn the players once about stalling and after that there will be a turnover to the other team if you are stalling too much and don't bring the ball over the half court line where the other team can pick up on defense. For all the grades we drafted an additional paragraph of conduct that parents have to sign. Committee Member Wohl drafted a 3 paragraph document that is going to be attached to the rules for all grades. it highlights: respect for the referees, hand shake at the end of the game, good sportsmanship and reiterates the 24 hour cooling off period rule. Standings: For 6th and 7`h grade because there are standings in that grade, we decided no game should end in a tie. We will have a 1 (one) minute overtime running time. It shouldn't involve other game delays. We discussed having a 3 point line added to the Ridge Street School Gym but unfortunately they are not refinishing that floor so would have to wait another year or so. We decided to leave the County Center team requirement at 60%, which means the player would have to attend 6 games. We discussed the hoop height for the 2nd and 3rd grade boys and girls. The issue was, there are 2nd and 3rd grade boys that have been playing basketball and the 8' hoop might be too low. The counter argument is that for 2nd grade it's really their first time for an organized sport for a lot of the kids. It should be more geared toward those kids. There are outside programs that the more advanced kids can participate in. Committee Member Funtleyder called around to other municipalities to ask about their basketball program for 2nd grade. Only one municipality had an organized basketball league for 2nd grade and that town used 9' baskets. Chairman Schutter said that 9' baskets would be a compromise. Superintendent Bertolacci said by making the basket at 9' you are catering to the better athlete. Recreation is not about the better athlete, it's about the entire program. Recreation's goal is to make the program a positive experience for all of the participants. Having an 8' basket is not making it a negative experience for any of the other athletes. Using 8' baskets is giving a kid a chance that may not get near a 9' or 10' basket. That kid will want to come back the next season knowing he was able to even hit the rim of the 8' basket. Superintendent Bertolacci's perspective is that you have a first time 2nd grader playing basketball that may not be a great athlete, but gets to touch the ball and maybe hit the rim. Give the kid a chance to make the shot. Committee Member Berman said you also have to consider that some 2nd graders that were born in October or November are 2 years younger than some kids on the 3rd grade team. There is plenty of time for those advanced kids to hit that shot and to develop. For a first time player this is where their confidence is built. 1168377.1 One suggestion was to have one basket at 8' and one basket at 9' at the ratings for the 2nd and 3rd grade boys. Superintendent Bertolacci said he would have both baskets at 9' to see if they can reach the 9' baskets. Committee Member Berman discussed at the meeting and at previous meetings that the basketball sub-committee take a look at the teams before the draft to see that the teams are even. Committee Member Zahl asked whether its baseball or basketball, what can the least athletic kid handle. Superintendent Bertolacci said he is setting it up to maximize the ability for most kids to have a positive experience, not everyone will have a positive experience. Committee Member Berman said rec is for learning, winning is not the objective. There are outside programs if you want to play competitive ball at whatever age that is. Committee Member Funtleyder said you don't want kids to say they don't want to play rec because it not competitive. Committee Member Berman said you won't have that situation because of the County Center Tournament. The County Center is an enormous draw for these kids and if you don't show up to the games you don't make the County Center. The kids play rec because they want to play with their friends and more important they want to have a shot of making the County Center Team. Committee Member Berman suggested that Janice, Kyle, Meaghan and Lauren do the ratings and not have any of the parents rate the kids. They know the kids because they see them all the time. It's never going to be a perfect system. Superintendent Bertolacci said if you have the same set of people rating both times, it will work out, but the problem is it doesn't work out that way. Chairman Schutzer said we will use 9' basket for the ratings, if they can't hit the basket, we will lower the baskets to 8', have the rec staff do the ratings to make it more uniform, and we will still reserve the decision of having a sub-committee member take a quick look at the teams for parity and equality. V. Old Business: a. Village Field Usage: Chairman Schutzer said at the previous meetings the committee discussed having an on-line permit for use of the Rye Brook Athletic Field and the number of persons permitted on the field without a permit. Committee Member Zahl suggested that we look at other municipalities to see what fees are charged for the use of their fields. Committee Carbone said if the number of persons allowed on the field is raised to either 7 or 9, you will have so many groups out there on the field because it is so big. Committee Member Berman said if I am paying for the field and obeying all the rules why shouldn't I be able to print a permit for the Rye Brook Athletic field if it's not being used at that particular time. 1168377.1 Superintendent Bertolacci said the school is involved because they may have an event going on and we use their parking lot. Superintendent Bertolacci said when the field was built a committee was set up by the Village Board, the committee members are; The Village Administrator, Athletic Director and myself. Committee Member O'Neil said you may want to promote permitting people because that promotes revenue and presumably people are going to have right of refusal on the fields. There is no way that technology should hinder this process. Committee Member Brettschneider asked if this field would revert back to Rye Brook or would it always be Westchester Legacy. Superintendent Bertolacci thought that after the bond from the county expires, 15 or 20 years it reverts back to the Village. Committee Member O'Neil reiterated that we are going to look at like facilities and get an update, look into the technology, permitting processing and adjust the number of people admitted on the field without a permit. Committee Member O'Neil asked if we would change the number permitted before we have the comparative facility feedback. Also discussed at the meeting was the police department has access to the existing schedule in their cars and at the station and forcing permitted residents and non-residents to return to the police station after or during their event should not be required. Superintendent Bertolacci said he would provide information on other municipalities regarding their fee structure for the usage of fields. Also, Superintendent Bertolacci would provide an update from our IT company regarding an on-line permitting process. Committee Member Berman made a motion that we recommend to the Village Board that we increase the number necessary to require a permit from currently 6 to 8, simultaneously the recommendation would include a comprehensive review of the permit processing including the possible abolition of the committee that reviews permits or modification due to possible implantation of IT facilities to facilitate a on-line permitting system. Chairman Schutzer asked for a motion to second the recommendation. Committee Member Brettschneider seconded the motion and all in favor. b. Concession Stand at Pine Ridge Park: Superintendent Bertolacci said he spoke briefly with one deli and they don't want to invest any money into construction costs. They want to hear what kind of agreement we come up with for them regarding what there fees would be to use our facility. Committee Member Berman said maybe Home Depot would be interested in helping to construct the building. Maybe they would be willing to donate some material to subsidize the cost. 1168377.1 Superintendent Bertolacci said he would reach out to Marini's Deli, and Firehouse Deli to get more information. c. New Programs: Some of the suggestions for new programs are: mini golf, once a month have a 3 on 3 basketball tournament, ultimate race, a ping pong tournament, dodge ball tournament for adults. Committee Member Berman said there would be a problem finding the ping pong tables and transporting them. Committee Member Berman said he spoke with the owner of Sportech and he has 4 ping pong tables in storage and he wants $60 to $75 to transport them. Committee Member Carbone said there are a lot of Rye Brook kids going to a program at the Rye Y. It runs on Saturday night for 3 hours and they pay $5.00. There is something different going on every Saturday night. Superintendent Bertolacci said he would add an adult dodge ball tournament to the winter brochure. V. New Business: a. Review Policy for County Team Eligibility: Chairman Schutzer asked if maybe these kids stay for '/z of a game. Apparently some kids show up for 1/4 of a game so they can get their 60% in and take off. Vi. Adjournment: Chairman Schutter asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Committee Members O'Neil made a motion to adjourn the meeting and Committee Member Berman seconded the motion. The next Parks and Recreation Advisory Council will meet on November 6, 2012 at 8:15pm. The meeting adjourned at 10:05pm. Minutes prepared by Carmella Swick 1168377.1