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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-05-11 - 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 11, 2010 Convene Meeting: Chairman Marc Zimmerman called the meeting to order at 8:33pm. Chairman Zimmerman explained to the new members of the Parks and Advisory Council that this is a public meeting and whatever is said is being recorded into the Minutes. The following members of the Council were present: Advisory Council Members: Chairman Marc Zimmerman, Ken Frankel, Richard Gutner Kevin O'Neil, Sari Jablon, Glenn Brettschneider Jamie Schutzer, Adam Berman Absent Members: Jeffrey Kornblum Past Council Members Present: Debra Tempesta, Steve Schoen Village of Rye Brook, Mayor Joan Feinstein Trustee Michael Brown, Parks & Recreation Liaison Recreation Department Member: Robert Bertolacci, Parks & Recreation Superintendent Cannella Swick, Sr. Office Assistant I. Minutes Chairman Zimmerman asked for a motion to accept the Minutes of April 6, 2010. Committee Member Sari Jablon made a motion to accept the Minutes of April 6, 2010 and Committee Member Kevin O'Neil seconded the motion. The motion was approved and accepted. Committee Member Richard Gutner abstained from voting. II. Public View Points Chairman Zimmerman stated that a concern was brought to his attention from members of the community concerning peanut allergies. The rec snack bar at the King Street field is not a nut free environment. There are children who use the King Street field for rec programs that have serious nut allergy that maybe life threatening. 1 Committee Member Jablon stated that she worked during the soccer tournament and there were plenty of nut items sold. Committee Member Tempesta said, for the snack bar, the rec department can control what they sell but as far as the field we cannot control what the people are eating while attending or playing on any of our fields. Committee Member Brettschneider asked if there has been any incident reported to the rec department regarding an allergy incident. Superintendent Bertolacci stated to his knowledge, no incident has ever been reported. Chairman Zimmerman stated these kids or their parents carry epi-pens as precautionary measures for their children with allergies. Committee Member Berman said travel soccer participants bring their own snacks and the visiting teams, especially during the tournament, bring their lunch with them. There is no way to control what anyone brings onto the field. Chairman Zimmerman stated that it was not an attempt to control the field or corner off an area that is peanut free, but since we have an ability to do something or not with a rec controlled facility, is it something we should look into. Committee Member Tempesta suggested that if the concession stand continues to sell products that contain peanuts, maybe have a sign saying there are peanut products on the premises. Chairman Zimmerman stated that Committee Member Kornblum's child has allergies and that Jeff and Sandy may be able to shed some facts regarding allergies at the next meeting. In the interim we can put a sign stating that some products here may contain peanuts or nuts. III. Superintendent's Report: Steve Schoen said that at the last couple of Little League games there seems to be disconnection regarding stealing bases. Clearly, the coaches and the umpires need to have a better knowledge of the rules. Committee Member Berman stated that he spoke to Kyle about the rules and Kyle sent the rules out again to the umpires. The umpire in question said he played the whole day with the understanding that you can steal home. Committee Member Berman also understood you could steal home. Kyle stated to Committee Member Berman that the rules are in the box in all fields and it states that there is no stealing home. Also Kyle's cell number is on the rule sheet and he can be called if an issue arises. 2 Chairman Zimmerman asked the committee if there are any rules that come up consistently. It seems that stealing home and stealing in general are the constant questions. It was suggested that the umpires and the coaches go over the rules before the start of a game. Chairman Zimmerman suggested that Committee Member Berman reiterate some of the rules in question and send them to Superintendent Bertolacci and Kyle and Kyle would then circulate them to the coaches. Committee Member Jablon said that at past meetings it was discussed about broadening the strike zone for the younger kids. The kids are not swinging at the ball and they are walking the bases, which then, turns out to be a very long game. We don't even come close to the 6 innings. A lot of the kids are just learning how to pitch. Chainnan Zimmerman attended 2 rec games this past week. There are probably about 1/3 of the kids on the team that are getting on base with a walk. They are not skilled enough to put a bat on the ball, and if you expand the strike zone, they are just going to strike out every time they get up. Superintendent Bertolacci stated that there is only one way that these kids are going to get better at pitching and that is to put them on the mound and let them pitch. You will see by the end of the season the improvement in these kids if you let them pitch to the proper strike zone. The reason we have 3rd and 4th grade pitch because by the time they get to the Major League, (5th & 6th grade) they are that much better. Committee Member Schutzer suggested rather then doing 2 games a week in Rookie League that we do one day of skills and one day of games so these kids can learn the game. There are no practices for these kids who play only in the spring. Superintendent Bertolacci said there are some rookie coaches who practice on the turf field on Wednesday afternoon. That is an option for any of the rookie teams. Chairman Zimmerman said there are 6 Rookie League teams; 3 boy's team and 3 girls' team. The girls are so into the game and most of them are just as good as the boys. There are some complaints about the game not moving along because of the live pitching by the parents instead of using the T. Superintendent Bertolacci said that some of the coaches are giving the kids in the Minor League a chance to pitch. Every kid should be giving a chance to pitch at least once during the season. Chairman Zimmerman said that if a kid wants to pitch at this level, he should be given the opportunity to pitch. Kyle has sent out an e-mail to the coaches regarding pitching for the Minor League. 3 Committee Member Gutner said that if a kid wants to pitch, ask him to get another kid on the team to warm up. The coach should then say to the kid, let me see how you throw the ball, it if it doesn't work for tonight, we will work on it during the season and we will get you on the mound. That is one way of handling it. You don't discourage any kid from wanting to pitch. Committee Member Brettschneider asked if anyone read in the paper that the PSAL is going to a pitch count for high school. Committee Member Berman said that he was surprised that the Major League can only pitch two innings a game but if you have 3 or 4 games a week the same kid can pitch in every game. In the Minor League you can only pitch 4 innings a week. Superintendent said that we had changed the pitching rule to go a maximum of 2 innings which shouldn't put too much stress on the pitcher's arm. Committee Member Gutner said there is an unwritten rule for the travel kids that they don't pitch for a Little League game if they are going to pitch for Travel. Superintendent Bertolacci said there is a pitch count in Little League. For Major League, each team probably has 3 to 4 decent pitchers. IV. Recognition of New Members: Chairman Zimmerman welcomed the two new members to the Parks and Advisory Recreation Council and stated that this is a non-elected position. Chairman Zimmerman asked the new members to tell a little about themselves and why they wanted to be on the Parks and Recreation Advisory Council and what they plan on taking to the meetings for discussion. Jamie Schutzer said he has three children, one in 2nd grade, kindergarten and a 3 year old. I volunteered to be involved in the community because I will have kids coming through the programs and I think I can be an asset to the community. Adam Berman said he has two boys, 2nd and 5th grade. Adam was on the Traffic Commission and thought he would move over to the rec commission because of my children coming through the programs also. Chairman Zimmerman stated that we thanked Debra and Steve at the last meeting for all their help while serving on the council. Recognition of Past Members in Last Month's Minutes as approved: Committee Member Tempesta said that it was brought to her attention that there are people interested in volunteering to serve this committee. In the past there has not been a committee where people have stepped up to volunteer. Now that there is an interest, the Mayor has informed Debra that they are limiting the terms of the committee members to two consecutive two year terms. I have been on the committee for 6 years and had no problem wanting to continue on not knowing there were people interested. 1 4 spoke with Mayor Feinstein and told her I had no problem stepping down and letting someone else serve. This has been a wonderful opportunity for me to serve my community and serve for the betterment of our children. My younger daughter had participated in some of the rec programs but they are dancers and go outside for their sport. I had no vested interest in doing this but did it for the community and the children. I really enjoyed it and the 6 years I've seen people come and go and it has been a great learning experience. I have told Mayor Feinstein that anytime an opportunity arises and you need a volunteer to do something to please contact me. I have volunteered my time in this community through our school system and through the recreation department and loved doing it. Chairman Zimmerman said that Debbie has been an asset to this committee for as long as I have been on it and as far as I understand, as long as everyone has been on it. It has been an honor to serve with you and we are very fortunate to have done so. Committee Member Schoen said it has been an honor to participate on the council with members current as well as past. It has been a great experience and I have a greater appreciation for the job Superintendent Bertolacci does. It is a lot to keep up with and also thinking about all the programs and opportunity which allows the Recreation Department to potentially branch off and go in different directions which is great. It has been an honor to serve and I enjoyed it. As far as the basketball goes, if you want me to stay involved with that program, I would be happy to do so. Chairman Zimmerman said that on behalf of the members of the community, he wanted to thank Steve and Debbie who have always looked out for the best interest of the Village. Chairman Zimmerman questioned whether it is best to take two long standing members with their historic knowledge off the council in favor two new members, but change is also good. Chairman Zimmerman also said that Steve and Debbie have such a wealth of knowledge and who are good people this committee is going to miss. Chairman Zimmerman presented Debra and Steve with a plaque that reads; we appreciate your devotion to making our community great. Rye Brook is a better place due to your leadership and insight. We were fortunate for the opportunity to serve with you. Signed, Love, The Parks and Recreation Advisory Council. Debbie thanked the council for the award and said she would look back on the years that she has served on the committee and the many friendships that have been brought out of this. I have told Mayor Feinstein that I would volunteer my time in the event that Cannella needs to go out to see any of her grandchildren. I volunteer to turn on the tape recorder. Chairman Zimmerman asked if anyone would like to say some words about Steve and Debbie. 5 Committee Member Gutner welcomed the new members of the committee and thanked Debbie and Steve for their services. We are really going to miss Steve and Debbie. Mayor Feinstein reiterated that Debbie did say that anytime, anyplace, any committee and anything you need, to call her. We thank Debbie for all she has done for the school, the Village and the community. V. Old Business: a. Non-Sports Recreation Programming Chairman Zimmerman stated that the Parks and Recreation is associated with sports programs and there are also plenty of opportunities to do non-sport programs. Superintendent Bertolacci and Committee Member O'Neil brought up the program of Lego League which is a mixture of physics and mechanics. The participants built robots that actually carry out tasks. There are many people around the community that would devote their time to helping out the kids with this type of programming. The committee thought it would be a great idea to find new avenues where the parks and recreation can expand. Perhaps we can find some people from the community that may want to teach our children to do cooking, baby sitting and something that is fun for the kids without using a bat, ball or racket. We thought of putting out a suggestion box on Community Pass where we can get some community involvement of things they may want to do for kids and adults. We will keep this topic on our Old Business Agenda until we get some ideas. Superintendent stated that there is a blurb that goes in our brochure each time we put a new brochure on line stating that if anyone possesses a talent or skill that they would like to teach, please send a resume to our office. Chairman Zimmerman said there are people out there in the community who are willing to devote their time to the kids and also for the adults. This is a topic that we will leave on the Agenda for next month to explore. When the next brochure comes out we would like to incorporate some new and exciting ideas. Chairman Zimmerman said for example we had a Babe Ruth League and we didn't get enough kids, so we will try it again next year. Committee Member Brettschneider stated that we don't have a Lacrosse program this year. All the other towns have Lacrosse programs. I called Rye and left a message and they didn't call back. You can play there and they have a good program. Harrison, Mamaroneck and Larchmont also have a Lacrosse program. Town of Greenwich also has a program. Greenwich Youth Lacrosse has a program that is not affiliated with the town of Greenwich and is privately run and my son just joined. Of all the programs I found, it's the least town oriented and deals with a lot of clinics but it is expensive. It is the best one I found that would meet the needs of our children. 6 This program starts at the kindergarten level and they have 4 days for certain ages, Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Tuesday and Thursday are for K to 4th grade and Saturday and Sunday is K to 61h or 71h Committee Member Brettschneider said to make the people in Rye Brook aware of the program if there is an interest. If there is enough of an interest in Rye Brook, all you need is a grass area, and one goal. Superintendent Bertolacci stated that Crawford Park is currently dealing with some issues now, but they have not denied any of my requests unless there is something going on at the park. Superintendent Bertolacci suggested that Committee Brettschneider have the person in charge of Greenwich Youth Lacrosse call the Recreation Office to get some details and Superintendent would give a report at the next month's meeting. Chairman Zimmerman said he knows of at least 15 1" grade girls who went over to Rye to form a team with Rye Lacrosse. There is no reason that we can't have them do it here and start the kids at the kindergarten level and build a program from there like Rye Brook Youth Soccer did. b. Pine Ridge Park Basketball Hoops Superintendent stated that new basketball hoops will be installed at Pine ridge Park in the next week. c. Keeping Pine Ridge Park Clean Superintendent Bertolacci updated the committee that another 4 trash cans have been added at Pine Ridge Park with 2 or 3 of them placed around the basketball court and the rest around the park. It hasn't helped the garbage situation. Rye Brook now has recycle bins in all recreation parks. The blue cans are for recycling and the green cans are for general trash. VI. Adjournment: Chairman Zimmerman asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Committee Member Gutner made a motion to adjourn the meeting and Committee Member Brettschneider seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned at 10:15pm. The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 1, 2010 at 8:30pm. Minutes by Carmella Swick 7