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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-08-03 - 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 August 3,2010 Convene Meeting: Chairman Marc Zimmerman called the meeting to order at 8:35pm. The following Members of the Council were present: Advisory Council Members: Chairman Marc Zimmerman, Ken Frankel, Kevin O'Neil, Sari Jablon, Glenn Brettschneider,Jeffrey Kornblum Jamie Schutzer,Adam Berman Absent Council Member: Richard Gutner Recreation Department Member: Robert Bertolacci, Parks &Recreation Superintendent Carmella Swick, Sr. Office Assistant 1. Minutes: Chairman Zimmerman stated that the Council did not meet last month because we did not have a full agenda, so we have two sets of Minutes to approve. Chairman Zimmerman asked for a motion to accept the May 4th and June 1st Minutes. Committee Member Berman made a motion to accept the Minutes for May and June 2010 and Committee Member Frankel seconded the motion and all approved. The May 4th and June 1st Minutes were accepted. 11. Public View Points: Chairman Zimmerman asked if there were any Public View Points. Committee Member Jablon asked if we could ask for camp counselor references in a more timely manner. Kyle should not have to be checking counselor references weeks after camp starts. Parents have requested that references be checked before camp starts. Superintendent Bertolacci said that usually references are done earlier, and Kyle was following up on a couple of counselors who may not have been checked earlier upon request by the Health Department. Committee Member Frankel asked if the Men's Basketball would run as the same format as last year's program. Superintendent Bertolacci stated that the basketball program will run the same as last year. Chairman Zimmerman said there is some concern among some residents that live around Pine Ridge Park that there are large groups of non-residents playing basketball at the parks. The groups are larger and coming more regularly. Superintendent Bertolacci said that all basketball games at Pine Ridge Park are pick-up games. Whoever shows up plays and they do not exclude anyone. Without having an attendant there, there not to much that can be done. Trustee Brown wanted to at least make sure there was at least one Rye Brook resident in the game at all times. Superintendent Bertolacci said that unless an attendant is assigned in the park, there really is nothing that can be done to regulate the use. Committee Member Jablon asked if we still have an attendant to watch the tennis courts. Superintendent Bertolacci said there are attendants during the week at the tennis courts that work part-time. Their hours are 8:00am to 12:00pm and 4:00pm to 8:00pm and all day on the weekends. This is so we can control the courts and ensure that Rye Brook residents are using the courts. Rye Brook residents who don't have a tennis permit can pay a guest fee of $10.00 that can also go towards a permit. You must have a Rye Brook resident with you to play as a guest on the courts if you are not a resident, unless you have a non- resident permit. Committee Member Jablon asked why the basketball court criteria is different from the tennis courts. Superintendent Bertolacci said that the reason for the tennis attendants was to keep the non-residents from taking all the tennis time. It was a big issue in the past and that was the reason the tennis attendants came into existence. Unlike tennis, there never was an issue with people complaining about not being able to get on the basketball court. Superintendent Bertolacci said he did not think the Board is looking to put another attendant in the park. Chairman Zimmerman said the issue is whether we want to prevent non-residents from using the Rye Brook basketball courts? If the answer is yes, then we have to recommend some action. If the answer is no, then we still may need to determine whether there are there circumstances where we want to regulate use of the courts. For example, if there are too many non-residents using the courts that prevent residents from using the courts,then we have to take action. Committee Member Schutzer asked if there were complaints, as opposed to observations, concerning the basketball courts. Chairman Zimmerman said he was not aware of any complaints and that it is something that we should keep an eye on. Committee Member Berman stated that there often is a similar issue for Travel Baseball with the soccer players at Garibaldi Park. Most of the time when you ask the soccer people to leave they move away. However, if there is a problem and they do not move,just call the police and they will come right away. Chairman Bertolacci stated that we did not get many Rec Basketball surveys back, consistent with prior years. Committee Member Berman stated that he remembered one year when the coaches Rec Basketball surveys were sent out at the end of the season. This way, there is no agenda by a coach to rate a player differently from his/her ability. There was also a stern warning on the survey that if the survey was not returned, the coach would not be able to coach next year. A lot of people may take that statement seriously and return the survey. Chairman Zimmerman stated that even though we may not get many surveys back,it would be foolish not to send them out to avoid even one potential issue. Superintendent Bertolacci reiterated that he would summarize the surveys and e-mail the results out to the Council prior to the next meting. Chairman Zimmerman stated that he has heard from some residents with younger children in the camp that the summer camp is running great. He stated that, based upon his observation, the children are having an excellent summer and the counselors are doing a great job. It obviously has been very hot and Kyle has been doing a great job keeping the kids cool, entertained and busy. Superintendent said last year there was about 170 kids in camp and this year we have 260. 111. Superintendent's Report: a. Little League Baseball Survey Superintendent Bertolacci said there were not many baseball surveys returned. Superintendent Bertolacci stated that he would get the surveys from Kyle, summarize them and e-mail the results out to the Council Members. The surveys went out to all the families through Community Pass. b. Rye Brook's Birthday Celebration Recap Superintendent Bertolacci stated the celebration went well. The attendance was lower than normal. Superintendent Bertolacci reached out to Mayor Feinstein and asked her to reinstate the Birthday Committee. The reason is to help plan the day, help to fund raise and most importantly to gain support from the residents of the Village. When the budget was approved, the Birthday Celebration initially was not budgeted, but after consideration; the Village voted the event back into the budget. The Birthday Celebration was advertised via an e-mail went out to all who are registered on Community Pass and the Westmore News two weeks before the event. c. New Basketball Hoops at Pine Ridge Park Superintendent Bertolacci said the new basketball hoops at Pine Ridge Park have been installed and seem to be a big draw to the park. Superintendent said there was no major difference in the bidding for the acrylic hoops. All agreed that the hoops look great. Committee Member Jablon asked if there is a new flag pole with a banner underneath it at Pine Ridge Park near the tennis courts. Superintendent Bertolacci said the flagpole is new and the banner reads for P.O.W.'s. Committee Member Jablon asked if someone paid for the flagpole. Superintendent Bertolacci said it had been planned for a while because we do all of our ceremonies there and there was no flag within the vicinity of the New Field. IV. Old Business a. Non-Sports Recreation Programming Update Chairman Zimmerman stated as fall approaches, we need to send e-mail out through Community Pass for suggestions for the winter programming. Superintendent Bertolacci said that one of the new non-sport programs is a cooking class for adults on Friday night and a class for middle and high school students on Saturdays. The class will be held at D'Agostinos and a chef from Doral Arrowwood will be the instructor. Superintendent Bertolacci will meet with D'Agostinos to finalize the details. Committee Member Berman suggested a parent and child cooking class. Superintendent Bertolacci said he would like to get the cooking class for the adults and the class for High School and Middle School children started first and go from there before adding any other classes to the program. Superintendent Bertolacci said there will be a crafts class for Pre-K children on Wednesdays at the Posillipo Center and a craft class for Kindergarten thru 2nd grade at Ridge Street School. A new instructor will run the classes. Superintendent Bertolacci said a Lacrosse program will be held at the Ridge Street School baseball field for boys Kindergarten thru 5ffi grade on Thursdays and for girls in Kindergarten thru 5ffi grade on Tuesdays. Peter Corbin of Corbin's Crusaders Club will run the program. Committee Member Berman suggested a Lego program which was talked about at previous meetings. It may be an alternative for the younger children in the winter. b. Sale of Rye Brook T-Shirts etc. at Recreation Events (e.g.Movie Night). Committee Member Jablon had 8 T-Shirts made up and the cost to us is $5.00 a shirt with no tax. The maker would take orders in any size for children and adults, he would print up as many as one at a time and have them done in two days. Committee Member Jablon suggested making up a form to take orders. V. New Business a. Bees at Rye Brook Athletic Field&Pine Ridge Park New Field Superintendent Bertolacci stated that the park was sprayed for bees the next day after receiving the e-mail from some of the council members. They will also spray again tomorrow. Superintendent Bertolacci said if the spraying does not work to get rid of the bees, he will call an exterminator. The King Street Athletic field was also sprayed for bees. b. Brush Trimming at Pine Ridge Park New Field Chairman Zimmerman said there was some concern about the detention basins, and the issue was answered in an e-mail prior to the July meeting. Chairman Zimmerman said brush trimming is all on a schedule and the planting that was done in the spring will be trimmed in the fall. Superintendent Bertolacci said the reason for all this was the coyote issue. Superintendent passed around the most recent actions the Village is doing regarding the coyote issue. The Village will be putting traps in Rich Manor Park and Rye Hills Park as part of a hazing program to try to scare the coyote outs. VII.Adjournment: Chairman Ziminerman asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Committee Member Berman made a motion to adjourn the meeting and Committee Member Kornblum seconded the motion. All approved. The meeting adjourned at 9:30pm. The next meeting of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Council will be held on September 14, 2010 at 8:30pm. Minutes prepared by Carmella Swick