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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-09-06 - 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 September 6,2016 Convene Meeting: Parks and Recreation Advisory Council Chairman Buzin called the meeting to order at 8:02pm. The following Members of the Parks&Recreation Advisory Council were present: Advisory Council Members: Chairman Buzin,Susan Gardner,Michael Keilman,Scott Tillison Absent Parks&Recreation Advisory Council Members: Emma Saghir,Jason Steinberg,Adam Zahl Recreation Department Members: Robert Bertolacci,Parks and Recreation Superintendent Jennifer Leichter,Office Assistant I. Minutes: a. Approve June 7,2016 Minutes: Chairman Buzin asked for a motion to accept the June 7, 2016 minutes. Council Member Keilman made the motion to accept the June 7, 2016 minutes and Council Member Gardner seconded the motion.The minutes were accepted and approved. II. Public View Points: a. Chairman Buzin said the Birthday Celebration was a success and that the Rec Council would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who was involved. b. Chairman Buzin mentioned the corporate sponsorship letter that Superintendent Bertolacci received from Parker Jewish Institute/AgeWell New York regarding Rye Brook Little League. The sponsor's complaint was that instead of people talking about his company they were mentioning the name of the actual team as the team names were written on the jerseys. The sponsor was correct in stating that his company sponsorship name should have been on the plaque which Superintendent Bertolacci said he could rectify. Chairman Buzin said if we can rectify it that would show good faith. Superintendent Bertolacci said he would rectify it. There was much discussion amongst the Council with regards to how to make our sponsors happier going forward, but the Council thought that the jersey with MLB team names were an upgrade over prior years and thought that we should continue using them. 1168377.1 III.Superintendent's Report: a. Garibaldi Playground Superintendent Bertolacci said we had our opening ceremony in July. He said it was not as crowded as the one at Pine Ridge but there were representatives from throughout the Village which is what he likes to see. Chairman Buzin expressed that he attended the opening and that it was a very hot night as well as it was visiting weekend at sleep away camps. He said the turnout from the north end was not great although all the kids that were there appeared to have a good time. Council Member Tillison added that he thinks that this shows us a true representation of who uses this park. b. Little League Sponsor Refer to under Public View Points. c. Village Soccer Program Superintendent Bertolacci said he was approached by a resident who wanted the Rec Department to consider running a Village soccer league outside of travel soccer. Superintendent Bertolacci said he told them he did not have the budget to do it this year. He expressed to the Council that he was not sure that he wanted to compete with travel soccer. Council Member Keilman said travel soccer is the Recreation program for this Village and the numbers are just not there to have a Village soccer league. Chairman Buz*in said he would rather put resources towards a different program than an already existing program. The Council members bounced some ideas back and forth but ultimately felt that this Village does not have the population to sustain a Recreation program when we have a travel program. d. Pine Ridge Basketball Courts Superintendent Bertolacci said the courts were supposed to be started on today but due to the questionable weather they were reluctant to start, therefore they should be starting on them tomorrow. Superintendent Bertolacci explained the work that was going to be done to the courts and that it would take about a week to complete and in the meantime we would have to stay off them. e. Day Camp Superintendent Bertolacci said he had the evaluations from both camps which he would email the Council tomorrow and then we can have a discussion at next month's Rec meeting about them. He said both camps went well and he expressed one incident of a child breaking his wrist. L After School Program Update Superintendent Bertolacci said we have a total of 47 families currently registered. He stated we have about $40,000 in revenue to date which is very good. Superintendent Bertolacci said the school has been very cooperative with us. Council Member Tillison said he thought it was great and a step in the right direction that the school and the Recreation Department were finally working together to give things to the kids. Superintendent Bertolacci said the school has given us everything including the library,the computer lab,access to the nurse's office and both gyms until PTA begins. Council Member Buz*in said this is the only way it should work between the school and the Recreation Department. 1168377.1 g.Harkness Tennis Courts Superintendent Bertolacci said we will not be starting the Harkness tennis courts any time soon as the project is going to be tabled until next year's budget because the numbers coming back to resurface the courts are astronomical.He stated we are$20,000 over budget so he has to bid the project in next year's budget. h.Pine Ridge Park Playground Superintendent Bertolacci said if anyone had been by Pine Ridge Park in the past week they would have noticed there is a new addition at the playground as we installed a passive play structure for young children. The Council discussed amongst themselves that people had requested more little kids stuff and how the new equipment is getting good play as everyone who has driven by the park recently noticed a lot more little kids playing. Superintendent Bertolacci said there is another new addition to Pine Ridge as well,a permanent pitcher's mound on the old field. IV.Basketball Subcommittee Report—Mike Keilman: Council Member Keilman said he did not have much to report other than the brochure is out so kids can sign up and he confirmed that we are going with the same league as in the past,5 on 5. V. Grievance Subcommittee Report-Adam Zahl: a. Code of Conduct: Being that Council Member Zahl was absent,there was nothing to report. VI.Baseball Subcommittee Report-Scott Tillison: Council Member Tillison said he is going to put together a blueprint for what he thinks it would take to run a more successful program in baseball. He mentioned getting on top of the winter clinics now as to do whatever it takes in terms of space and instructors. Although he thought the participation was decent last year,he would like to see double this year. As a side note,he mentioned that every year for the past 4 years he has gone to the Little League World Series and he said that as soon as a kid sees this event he/she will fall in love with Little League Baseball. He said it is a magical experience. He recommended considering putting together a bus trip to the event because kids who like baseball would love it. VII. Old Business: The Council inquired about the status of the vacant staff position for a Recreation Leader. Superintendent Bertolacci said he interviewed someone today for the Recreation Leader position. He also said he has someone in mind but needs to go through the process. Superintendent Bertolacci said he is hoping to have a Recreation Leader on staff in a month or so. There was discussion amongst the Council regarding the criteria needed to hire a new Recreation Leader. The Council discussed Bob Bigelow, a former NBA Player,who is coming October 25th to the Blind Brook Middle School Gym. The mandatory youth basketball coaches clinic will be from 6pm-7:30pm and the parent/community event will be from 7:30pm-9:00pm. It was noted that if anyone wants to coach for youth basketball it is mandatory they attend this clinic. Chairman Buz*in mentioned the PTA will promote this event but declined from contributing anything financially. The PTA brought up the idea of Community Coalition. Chairman Buzin explained that the Community Coalition is made up of mostly high school parents, administrators,Village police,Janice and he also attends some of the meetings. He explained the 1168377.1 concept of the Community Coalition is to try to promote children making good choices, specifically alcohol and drugs. He said they have been around for a long time and about 2 to 3 years ago they received a federal grant of$125,000 to promote this. Chairman Buzin thought it would be a good idea for them to partner with Rec. He also mentioned that maybe they would want to kick in for Bob Bigelow as it is about youth sports and maybe we can defray some of Bigelow's costs. He said even if they do not want to contribute, he would like to get a conversation started with them about coming up with some stuff that Rec can work with them on which would enhance their program and be good for the kids. VIII. New Business: Chairman Buzin said he had a new business item to discuss as the next Rec meeting is Tuesday, October 4th which is the second day of Rosh Hashanah. Therefore, he suggested moving the meeting to another day. The Council tentatively settled on October 6th. The Council then tossed around the idea of permanently changing the scheduled meeting date of the Rec meetings going forward. It was decided it was best to keep the scheduled date as is. Superintendent Bertolacci raised the issue of particular Council Members frequent absences from the Rec meetings. He felt this issue needed to be addressed. The Council discussed guidelines for attendance and that a member is not supposed to miss more than two meetings per calendar year. Chairman Buzin said he thought it would be a good idea to handle this issue by sending a letter to all Council Members saying that we would like to reiterate the (2)meeting rule and if this is problematic for them to please let us know and we would look for someone to replace them. There was discussion amongst the Council about members' commitment to the monthly meetings. Chairman Buzin raised the idea of utilizing public access more in order to advertise our upcoming Rec programs as well as our sponsors. The Council Members thought this was a good idea. IX. Adj ournment: Chairman Buz*in asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting.Council Member Tillison made the motion to adjourn the meeting and Council Member Keilman seconded the motion.All approved and the meeting was adjourned at 9:04pm. The next meeting of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Council will be held on Thursday,October 6,2016 at 7:30pm. Minutes prepared by:Jennifer Leichter 1168377.1