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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-04-05 - 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 April 5, 2011 Convene Meeting: Chairman Marc Zimmerman called the meeting to order at 7:35 p.m. The following Members of the Council were present: Advisory Council Members: Chairman Marc Zimmerman, Ken Frankel, Richard Gutner, Glenn Brettschneider, Jamie Schutzer, Sari Jablon, Adam Berman, Jeffrey Kornblum Absent Council Members: Kevin O'Neil Recreation Department Member: Robert Bertolacci, Parks &Recreation Superintendent Carmella Swick, Sr. Office Assistant Trustee Michael Brown, Parks and Recreation Liaison 1. Minutes: Chairman Zimmerman tabled the March 8, 2011 Minutes for approval until the May 3, 2011 meeting. IT. Public View Points: Dr. Jeff Jablon, of 8 Red Roof Drive, congratulated the 9`h grade boys on winning the Rye Brook Tournament at the County Center. He noted that participating teams from all over Westchester came in with matching uniforms except for the Rye Brook team, which had matching green t- shirts with non-matching shorts. Dr. Jablon suggested charging the players an extra $10 to put the players in matching uniforms. Dr. Jablon next stated that he was upset to hear that RB Little League Major League baseball, grades 5, 6 and 7, is struggling to get 4 teams together. He asked why there so little participation in Spring Little League baseball. He said that Travel Baseball started off playing in Summer and then Fall seasons, but now has a Spring season. initially, when travel baseball started they said they would not do Spring baseball at the expense of Little League. With Rye Brook being a small town, Travel Baseball and Little League baseball have to work together in order to co- exist. Committee Member Jablon stated that several years ago, part of the Rye Brook Travel Baseball by-laws provided that in order to play Travel Baseball you also had to play Little League. Superintendent Bertolacci said that once Rye Brook Travel Baseball took over the program from the Village, there no longer was any Village input. Committee Member Jablon asked if we could reach out to Rye Brook Travel Baseball and explain the situation. She suggested that anyone who is that passionate about baseball would not want to see the demise of Little League baseball in our town, which is starting to happen. She stated that it is our town's responsibility to step in and not let it happen. Committee Member Kornblum stated that originally Rye Brook Travel Baseball was going to wait until Little League baseball started before they start their Spring season. Chairman Zimmerman stated that Rye Brook Travel Baseball wanted to provide a better organization that is a little more competitive than Little League, and provides more instruction than Little League because they are not limited by the number of times that they can get a team together with rec coaches. However, this year there are 8 Travel Baseball teams with an average of 13 kids per team (as compared to about 6 Travel Baseball teams last year). This year there is one 8U, two 9U, three IOU, one 1 1 U and one 13U team. Chairman Zimmerman thought there was a huge majority of Travel Baseball players who do not also play Little League. Chairman Zimmerman spoke to Travel Baseball board members about kids playing Little League in addition to Travel Baseball, and the response was that the Travel Baseball board would never take a position that a child should not play Little League baseball. Chairman Zimmerman pointed out that Little League ratings were held prior to the time the Travel Baseball teams were announced, and that may or may not have affected whether kids attended Little League ratings. Chairman Zimmerman said the reality is that many children are playing Travel Baseball and it is unclear whether those kids will play Travel Baseball instead of Little League, as opposed to in addition to Little League. Superintendent Bertolacci stated he will have a conversation with Travel Baseball either mid season this year or post season addressing Little League for next year. Committee Member Brettschneider asked if there are other opportunities for Rye Brook children to play baseball in other towns. Superintendent Bertolacci said that as long as Rye Brook has a Little League Charter, they cannot play in Port Chester. The only ones that were able to use our Charter were the ones that played Little League last year that played in a tournament. Those travel baseball kids that didn't play rec were ineligible for that tournament. Dr. Jablon also suggested that the little kids should play with aluminum bats. The only reports showing any injuries have been in high school where the ball is coming at higher speed and velocity. Committee Member Brettschneider stated that we have discussed this issue many times. We will be revisiting this topic again at our December meeting and we invite Dr. Jablon back to discuss the issue of aluminum bats further. Village Trustee asked Superintendent what his thoughts were as to whether the town could potentially lose Little League. Superintendent Bertolacci stated that his intentions are to meet with Travel Baseball mid season or after the season to discuss how we can co-exist next year. Trustee Brown stated that, unfortunately, the Travel Baseball Board does pretty much what they want to do, they have changed their by-laws, and they are running the program the way they see fit. Superintendent said we may want to give Travel Baseball the incentive to have kids play in Little League by giving them a reduced rate on the fields. Trustee Brown said that whatever we do with reference to field usage we would have to do with everyone else. They have been getting a bulk rate discount and we don't want to lose the revenue that we are getting from them if they decide to go elsewhere. Also, it hurts the residents of Rye Brook who are playing on the travel teams. We should get some ideas and different approaches and thoughts before we speak to them on how to work this out. Committee Member Frankel said if we approach the Travel Baseball board, they likely will say that the loss of Little League participation is not all due to Travel Baseball. There is also Travel Lacrosse and AAU Basketball all going on in the Spring. Committee Member Jablon said there are kids that don't have the ability to play Travel Baseball and they may not have an opportunity to play Little League baseball if it does not exist. Chairman Zimmerman said there is no question that our kids are overscheduled with sports. It also appears that we are losing Little League participation to Travel Baseball as well as other sports. If there is a way to maintain those kids playing Little League as well as Travel, that is what we should try to accomplish. 111. Superintendent's Report a. Little League Opening Day Festivities Superintendent Bertolacci stated that the Little League Opening Day Parade is this Saturday. The parade starts at 12:30 p.m. and the kids walk from Ridge Street School to Pine Ridge Park. There will be a DJ playing between innings. Also, he is working on getting a person who makes balloon animals to keep the people entertained and keep them in the park. There will be 3 games at Garibaldi Park and 4 games at Pine Ridge and also games at the Rye Brook Athletic Field. The concession stand will also be open at Pine Ridge Park during the games. b. Little League Preview Superintendent said the Major League teams will play a 10 game schedule and finish off with play-offs. There are 4 teams in the Major League boys and 4 teams in the Major League girls, one will play 4, two will play 3 and the two winners will face off in a championship game. Each week we will post a summary of the Major League's weekly games in the Westmore News. Superintendent said the kids will see their name in the paper possibly get more participation in Little League. Superintendent reported that the last two weeks have been a nightmare in the rec department with the Major League girl's teams. Girls were upset with what teams they were placed on and so on. Some changes were made due to allegations of personality issues. Superintendent stated that as of yesterday, there will be no more changes, teams are already practicing, the parade is on Saturday and the season starts. Committee Member Frankel asked who uses the baseball fields at Pine Ridge Park. Superintendent Bertolacci stated that Minor League games are at Garibaldi Park. Superintendent Bertolacci stated that Garibaldi Park is in better shape than it has been in previous years. IV. Old Business a. 2011 Community Event (World Record Update) Committee Member Brettschneider reported that he received an e-mail from Guinness saying we haven't been approved yet. They have received our request and they have to review it and we should know whether we are approved by the middle of May. If we get approved, they will send a kit to validate the event. Committee Member Brettschneider said he will send out an e-mail as soon as he knows so we can start planning for the event if it gets approved. Trustee Brown stated that the Village has been discussing ways to get some community outreach where the village does something together. b. Pitch, Hit and Run Committee Member Frankel reported that he spoke with Coach Dakers, who is the baseball coach at the high school, and he will get in touch with Kyle regarding some volunteers to help with the event. Chairman Zimmerman suggested that Kyle send an e-mail to the council if any assistance is needed for the event. c. Teen Night Committee Member Jablon stated that she received several phone calls from Cheryl Artabane regarding the Teen Night program. Sheryl has worked with Superintendent Bertolacci and the rec department about an on-going teen night for 6`h, 7th and 8th graders. So far this school year the events have been; Halloween at Lake Compounce, bowling night, dodge ball tournament. and the Harlem Globetrotters basketball game in Bridgeport. Sheryl would like to see two events a month for Teen Night but she would settle for one night a month. Sheryl said the events have been well attended but it has slowed down or forgotten all together and is very concerned about it. Kyle and Janice have a list of events that the kids have suggested. Sheryl is asking for a calendar of events for Teen Night for the year so it can be put on a school calendar and also published in the Rye Brook Recreation brochure. Committee Member Jablon asked if it was possible to get the events for Teen Night in advance. Superintendent Bertolacci said it was possible to get a calendar of events for Teen Night in advance. We haven't done any Teen Nights recently because we haven't had the time, and there is not any time left in this school year. Committee Member Jablon stated that Sheryl would be happy to help in ay way with the planning, etc. Superintendent Bertolacci stated that more money has been budgeted for this program for next year. The kids pay for the event but what they pay does not cover all the costs for the program. Superintendent Bertolacci stated that Committee Member Jablon can tell Sheryl that we plan on having more events next year for Teen Night then we did this year. V. New Business a. Rye Brook Little League Outlook Rye Brook Little League Outlook was discussed in Public View Points. b. Outgoing Committee Members Chairman Zimmerman recognized Committee Members Gutner and Komblum, two esteemed members of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Councils whose terms have expired. Richard Gutner has been a long time member on the committee, has put in countless hours and a great deal of effort to making the town a better place. Moreover, he is an invaluable source of information concerning the council, an important resource for the council (and its chairpersons) and its efforts over the years, and his dedication to the council over his long term is unmatched. Jeffrey Kornblum has put in many hours to find ways to advance the Village's recreation programming. Specifically, his efforts in connection with rec basketball have improved the program dramatically. He is extremely level-headed and his suggestions to the committee always are well thought out and received Chairman Zimmerman thanked Committee Members Gunner and Kornblum for their contributions and recognized them for making the council and Village a better place as a result of their efforts. He invited both to attend the May meeting for a formal presentation. Committee Member Brettschneider's term also is expiring but has agreed to stay on the council for an additional term to maintain continuity of its membership. VI. Adjournment Chairman Zimmerman asked for a motion to adjourn the April meeting. Committee Member Gutner made the motion to adjourn the meeting and Committee Member Kornblum seconded the motion. All approved and the meeting adjourned at 8:45pm. The next meeting of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Council will be held on May 3, 2011 at 8:30 p.m.