Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-06-01 - 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 June 1, 2010 Convene Meeting: Chairman Marc Zimmerman called the meeting to order at 8:33pm. 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, Jeffrey Kornblum Jamie Schutzer,Adam Berman Trustee Michael Brown,Village Board Liaison to Parks&Recreation Council Recreation Department Member: Robert Bertolacci, Parks&Recreation Superintendent Carmella Swick, Sr. Office Assistant I. Minutes: Chairman Zimmerman tabled discussion of the May 11, 2010 Minutes until the July 6, 2010 meeting. II. Public View Points: Committee Member Gutner asked Superintendent Bertolacci for an update on the replacement basketball hoops for Pine Ridge Park. Superintendent Bertolacci said the work will start tomorrow morning. Two new baskets will be put up with acrylic backboards. It should take about a week for the work to be completed. Committee Member Frankel asked if there is any room on the court for another 8 foot basket. Superintendent Bertolacci stated that there is no room for another basket. Committee Member Kornblum stated a request for soap in the bathrooms at Pine Ridge Park. Superintendent Bertolacci said there will be a soap dispenser put in the bathrooms by the weekend. Committee Member O'Neil asked Superintendent if Recreation was renting field space from SUNY Purchase. Superintendent stated that we only rent the pool from SUNY for our camp. It was suggested that a recycle bin be put at the Rye Brook Athletic Field near the steps coming down from the school. Superintendent Bertolacci stated that we will purchase more recycling bins. Committee Member Berman stated that another baseball related issue arose in the Major League. If the team that is batting bats through the order,the rule says the last batter can't be walked. The umpire was confused and said that if the last batter is pitched 4 balls, it wipes out all the strikes, and becomes, in effect, a new at bat. Committee Member Berman said that was not the rule and if it was, what is the incentive for the kid ever to pitch a strike in that instance. Additionally, if the kids are having trouble pitching, and can't get the ball over the plate, you could be there for an extended period of time. Superintendent Bertolacci stated that there is one more week of the baseball season and suggested that since baseball evaluations will go out at the end of the week, we table this discussion for post season comments and memo to file. Committee Member Schutzer said someone asked him why the 3rd and 4th grade Little League plays with a softer baseball. Chairman Zimmerman said that he understood that the 3rd and 4th graders use a softer ball to avoid a greater risk of injury from a harder baseball. III. Superintendent's Report Superintendent Bertolacci stated that baseball surveys will go out at the end of the week by e- mail. Everyone that played in the Little League program will get one. In the past, we received very few surveys back, usually from people who felt strongly about the program one way or the other. The surveys we get back are usually positive. The parents in between generally don't take the time to fill out the survey. Chairman Zimmerman asked if the survey going out would be the same ones that were sent out last year. Superintendent Bertolacci said he will e-mail the survey out to the Council Members so they can review the questions on the survey. Superintendent Bertolacci said the Birthday Celebration is coming up. It will be held on June 19"' from 12:OOpm to 4:OOpm. Donations are becoming harder to get each year. For the first time this year, there will be a nominal $3.00 per person charge for food. Superintendent said a post card would be sent out to Rye Brook residents and an ad would be placed in the Westmore News. In response to a question concerning whether the celebration had been cancelled, Trustee Brown stated that, during the budgetary meeting, we decided to put the item back in the budget. When we approved the budget,we allotted money for the birthday. Superintendent Bertolacci stated that we are going to sell tickets for a 50150 raffle to raise some additional money. The celebration generally will be similar to other years. IV. Old Business a. King Street Concession Stand Chairman Zimmerman stated that it was brought to the Council's attention that the concession stand at the Rye Brook Athletic Field was not entirely nut free. It was discussed at last month's meeting whether to take a position on issue, including whether to make the entire area nut free or whether to not sell items that contain nuts at the concession stand. Chairman Zimmerman said that Committee Member Kornblum has a child with a nut allergy and might be able to add some perspective to the issue. Committee Member Kornblum said the elementary school in Rye Brook does not sell any food that may contain nuts. Since the concession stand at the field is small and doesn't sell a lot of different products, it would seem to be easy to have the same policy as the school. Committee Member Kornblum said he spoke to Superintendent Bertolacci,who said he would take out all the items that contain nuts at the concession stand and going forward,he would not buy any food that contained nuts. He believed there are few items remaining that contain nuts, and once they are gone,he will not buy those items. Committee Member Jablon asked Superintendent Bertolacci if he would tell people using the concession stand, like the soccer club, to adhere to the peanut rule as well. Superintendent Bertolacci said that would have to be Village Board policy. The Rye Brook Soccer Club is the only group using the concession stand during their tournament. Trustee Brown said the school has a list of what they are selling,which is the best place to start. Committee Member Kornblum said you can't control what people bring onto an open field but you can minimize it by not selling it. What you buy in a supermarket is scaled and packaged. If my son goes and buys a hot dog at the concession stand and someone working at the stand was just eating M&M's,there's contamination and that could be a severe issue. Trustee Brown said either you can maintain a complete peanut free zone and do it appropriately, like the school has done or you simply can be peanut friendly. There are liability issues that need to be discussed. Chairman Zimmerman said that no one was suggesting that the RBAF had to be peanut free. The key is to minimize the situation or the potential risk to whatever extent you could. If part of minimizing the risk is to say we are going to sell items from an approved list,then that's a logical step. b. Non-Sports Recreation Programming Update Chairman Zimmerman said it would be a good idea to send out an e-mail which states we are looking for ideas for recreation programming for the fall session and that if anyone has ideas, contact the Recreation Department with your suggestions. Chairman Zimmerman said we would just keep this on the Agenda for next month. c. Lacrosse Committee Member Brettschneider spoke to Pat Jackson at Greenwich Youth Lacrosse and he said he would call Superintendent Bertolacci in a couple of weeks to see if their program would fit in what our needs are. Committee Member Jablon asked Superintendent Bertolacci for an update on Movie Night during the summer. Superintendent Bertolacci said there would be two Movie Nights, one in July and one in August. The dates are in the brochure and we will be sending out postcards with the information. Committee Member Gutner asked if there could be a third Movie Night. Superintendent Bertolacci said there was only money in the budget for two Movie Nights. Committee Member Jablon asked if we ever talked about bringing in money by selling Rye Brook T-Shirts or similar items during Movie Night. All the Blind Brook sporting events sell different items and they make a good amount of money. Superintendent said the only drawback is if the items don't sell we are stuck with them. Committee Member Jablon said perhaps someone could make a prototype for us and we would just take orders and we wouldn't be putting up any money. Committee Member Jablon said she would be willing to work that night and take orders, this way you're not putting out any money. Superintendent Bertolacci asked Committee Member Jablon to come into the office to discuss the idea. Committee Member Jablon said that she would have a sample t-shirt made up. Superintendent Bertolacci stated that he is trying to get sponsors for Movie Night so he can save money and put it towards buying the equipment use for Movie Night instead of renting it. It cost about $900.00 for the copyright and the rental equipment. Committee Member Brettschneider said he may have someone who would sponsor Movie Night. VI.New Business: Committee Member Brettschneider said he was considering a new event called Wally ball. It is volleyball played on a racquetball court, and would like to see if there is interest for the sport in the community. VII. Adjournment: Chairman Zimmerman asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Committee Member Gutner made a motion to adjourn the meeting and Committee Member Berman seconded the motion. All approved. The meeting adjourned at 10:10pm The next meeting of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Council will be held on July 6, 2010 at 8:30pm. Minutes prepared by Carmella Swick