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2008-13-10 ,. Recreation Commission Minutes December 10, 2008 RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES Wednesday, December 10, 2008 NEXT MEETING, JANUARY 14,2009 The regular meeting of the Town of Wappinger Recreation Commission was held December 10,2008 at Schlathaus Park, 126 All Angels Hill Road, Town of Wappinger, Dutchess County, New York. The meeting was called to order at 7:00 by Chairman Ralph J. Holt with the following persons present: Kay Von Reyn, Senior Director and Commission Members Bruce Lustig, Gary Trudell and Meera Dave, Max Dao and Uma Satyendra. The minutes from the November were not yet completed for approval. INCOMING CORRESPONDENCE 1. A letter was sent to Supervisor Colsey and forwarded to Ralph Holt in regard to the hiring of a Recreation Director to take Scott Cheney's place. The Town, per Civil Service, has been authorized to expand the search beyond civil service's candidate list. We have two candidates at this time, Richard Bishop and Jaclyn Smith. 2. At the Town Board meeting of Nov. 10th Resolution #2008-327 requesting the hiring of a full-time Recreation Assistant, was tabled. A final decision is pending based on the re-organizational meeting that will take place in January. 3. A memo was sent to Ralph Holt from Supervisor Colsey expressing the concerns of town residents, Mr. & Mrs. Author of39 Regency Drive. The Town property behind their house is being used by ATV's and other youth related activities. The Sheriff s Dept. has followed up by speaking to some of the local parents. The Supervisor asked Recreation Maintenance to visit the site to assure that dangerous hazards were not left by the unauthorized use. We have since discovered that the property is not owned by the Town but by another property owner on the road. 4. At the Town Board meeting of November 24th Resolution # 2008-335 was passed allowing Recreation to purchase the two smaller trucks versus the one larger one originally planned. Also approved at this meeting was Resolution # 2008-336 - the Paid Holiday Schedule for 2009 5. A letter was received from Perkins, our paper goods supplier, outlining a late fee of 1.5%. A call was placed to them by Mrs. Manning and determined that the Town has a 45 day window in which to pay our bill. A copy of this was sent to the Comptroller's Office. 6. An e-mail was received from Dawn Turpin-Orgetas, our Gymnastics Program instructor, with notification of who will be working in the program with her as well as verification that the program will begin on January 3rd as planned. 7. A breakdown of spending for the $15,000 grant for Greenway was received from Joe Ennesser. A copy was forwarded to Gary Trudell as some of this money will help toward the new trail at Carnwath. 1 ,. Recreation Commission Minutes December 10, 2008 8. A letter was sent from Ralph Holt to Andrew Cannizaro in thanks for his generous donation to our fund for the Senior Elk's Parties. The donations for our senior Elk's parties have been slow in coming in. Mr. Cannizaro was kind enough to make a generous donation to us from the Smith-Castilano fund. 9. A letter was received from Central Hudson asking for us to co-ordinate a mutually convenient time for the meter to be read at Carnwath since the gate is locked. A copy was forwarded to Bob Sheridan. 10. An estimate was received from Mid- Hudson Fence with the cost of the fence repair at Carnwath. The estimate is $765.00. 11. The Agenda for the Town Board meeting on Dec. 8th was scheduled to include: Resolution #2008-351 - Reorganization of Town Hall Staff for 2009 Resolution #2008-361 - Authorizing Recreation Chairman to seek and interview candidates for Recreation Director. Resolution #2008 - 367 - Extending the temporary Moratorium on residential development for an additional 6-months. 12. A memo was sent to Ralph Holt from Supervisor Colsey confirming the final dates of work for our seasonal maintenance employees. The seasonal employees will all be finished as of December 15th, leaving us our four (4) full time employees. OUTGOING CORRESPONDENCE 1. A memo was sent to Supervisor Colsey from Ralph Holt requesting that Joe DeRosa Sr. be paid for overtime worked on Nov. 2, 3, and 4 to open and close Carnwath. Because of a lapse in communication, Mr. DeRosa continued to open and close Carnwath on the dates stated above. Approval for him receiving pay for these dates had to go to the Town Board for approval. 2. Letters of thanks were sent from Kay VonReyn to the following: a. Mr. Shuchat of Van Wyck JHS for his help on October 28 for the Senior Tea held at that school. b. Jill Wasser of the NYS Public Service Comm. for speaking to the Seniors about energy conservation. c. Ray Fashona of the Poughkeepsie Journal for seeing to it that the Senior Craft Fair was properly advertised in their newspaper. d. Jay Verzi ofWBNR for allowing Ms. V onReyn to be interviewed on their radio station to advertise the Senior Craft Fair. 3. Letters were sent from Gary Trudell to the five students from the Oak Grove Friends School that helped with the new Carnwath trail on October 2ih. 4. A memo was sent to Supervisor Colsey from Ralph Holt in response to the problem of garbage being dumped behind #6 Amherst Lane. The property in question is not Recreation property. The maintenance crew did some clean-up there, but stopped when they noticed a pipe seeping drainage on to the property. 5. A memo was sent to Supervisor Colsey requesting the re-appointment of Gary Trudell and Bruce Lustig to the Recreation Commission. If approved their terms would expire on May 1, 2013. 2 " Recreation Commission Minutes December 10, 2008 6. A memo was re-sent to Supervisor Colsey requesting the consideration of Richard Bishop as the new Recreation Director replacing Scott Cheney. While this was on the agenda for the Dec. 8th Town Board meeting no determination has been forthcoming as yet. 7. A memo was sent to Supervisor Colsey informing him of the status of the damage done to the Carnwath gate. The estimate for repair from Mid Hudson Fence is $765.00. Lovullo Insurance, the company that insures Carnwath, does not cover the gate so reimbursement for repairs must come from the driver of the stolen car that was responsible for the damage. MEERA DAVE'S REPORT Mrs. Dave stated that she is prepared to send out certificates of thanks to those area businesses that contributed to our Halloween Parade. She suggests that they be given in a fOnn that will allow them to be displayed at their place of business. Mr. Holt asked how much it would cost to take care of those we needed to thank the sponsors and volunteers. Mr. Holt asked Mrs. Dave to proceed with the certificates. Mr. Holt suggested that we send letters to Little League and Soccer thanking them for their continued support and contributions to our Halloween and Christmas Tree Lighting "goodie bags" for the children. SENIOR DIRECTOR'S REPORT Ms. V onReyn gave her report for November. Attendance is growing gradually over last year's numbers. We were closed four days for government holidays. There were no out-of-center special events but we did have our Birthday / Soup day. Tuesday attendance, normally our slowest day of the week is now up because of the pinochle group that meets almost every day now. We also have our "Art for Everyone" with Kathi DeLisa instructing and Wii is brought in by the library now on Tuesdays as well. We sent out 10 get-well cards, signed-up three new members and lost one, Bob English. Mr. Holt said that Mr. English was remembered at the Town's Veteran's Day Service as he was with the Hughsonville Fire Co. for many years. GARY TRUDELL'S REPORT Mr. Trudell mentioned last month that he would be showing the Carnwath trail to some members of the Adirondak Mountain Club. Subsequent to their visit, Mr. Trudell received a call from one of the members asking if the property could be used to hold a winter festival in Jan. or Feb. for snowshoeing, cross-country skiing and sledding. Mr. Holt was fully in favor of the project and said that Town Board approval would be necessary and should be pursued immediately. A preliminary discussion was held outlining what Recreation would have to do to see this project through successfully. Mr. Trudell mentioned reading the Southern Dutchess News for the first time in a number of years and was surprised by the absence of the Wappinger Recreation column. 3 Recreation Commission Minutes December 10, 2008 Mr. Holt indicated that that job is normally done by the Recreation Director. However, in his place, when anything needs to be gotten out to the public, Mrs. Manning has been sending press releases as needed. She has suggested that if anyone wishes to make a contribution to the column to simply e-mail her your submission and she will forward it to the SDN along with anything she might have. Mr. Trudell was anxious to help in this matter. Mr. Holt indicated that the economy is obviously in poor shape so that any program that we pursue should be at little or no cost to the Town or pay for itself. At the last Town Board meeting, the room was filled with residents from Rockingham seeking to have the curbs in their development repaired. It was indicated that this would cost $2.3 million dollars. Mr. Holt. said that if money were to be spent at Rockingham it should be used to solve the water problems. Forty to fifty leaks have been detected in the water system at Rockingham. The Supervisor has indicated that there is no money in the budget right now to allow for any repairs to curbs, roads or the water system. BRUCE LUSTIG'S REPORT Mr. Lustig informed the Commission that the regular Soccer season is now over but the organization has set up something called the "Frostbite League" which will consist of a four (4) game season in November to allow the part-year teams (the Senior teams) to have some league play so that they may then enter the State Cup grouping. The season consists of two home games and two away games. Mr. Lustig said that the indoor season is under way. Soccer has had to layout a significant amount of money to secure the use of the Poughkeepsie Jewish Center and the Casperkill Country Club because the school district gave us next to no indoor time for practice. The schools are indicating that the building will be closing at 5:00 PM with no janitors in the building beyond that time. This may force us 'to raise the enrollment fee at the next registration. COMMISSION CHAIRMAN'S REPORT Mr. Holt began by stating that the first Senior Elk's Party and the Town Christmas Tree Lighting were both very successful. We were able to fill both Elk's parties to capacity thanks to the area businesses' donation. Santa greeted about 150 children which is up from previous years possibly because it was held on a Saturday instead of a Sunday. Many volunteers allowed the Tree Lighting to go smoothly. Mr. Lustig asked if the Town Board was looking into any Inter-Municipal Agreements to try and consolidate and save money. Mr. Holt said that this was not the time to approach that situation but it is something that may be considered in the future. Mr. Holt indicated that the Town Board is fully involved in the re-organization process at the present and he is not aware of anything definite that will effect Recreation.. 4 Recreation Commission Minutes December 10, 2008 Many rumors have been heard but the bottom line rests with the Town Board and Supervisor. Mr. Holt stated that we are still searching for a new Recreation Director and that Jac1yn Smith's name will be put before the Town Board for approval in January. The new lawn mower has been delivered to the barn and is ready for the mowing season ahead and the paperwork for the two small trucks is being prepared for order and delivery as soon as possible. Going into 2009, Mr. Holt stated that all of our Recreation Programs, with the exception of the Summer Playgrounds, should pay for themselves. We are, in essence, already at that point when an average is taken of all our programs combined. Mr. Holt indicated that the Board was considering a raise in the fee for the playgrounds. Mr. Lustig indicated that this decision must be made before the Recreation Guide goes to print. Mr. Holt said that hunting has been reported on the Carnwath property. Mr. Trudell said that he did find a deer carcass at Camwath and is fairly certain that it had been shot on the property. The DC Sports Museum has asked for the use of the Chapel at Carnwath from May to Dec. and received approval from the Town Board to do so. The Chapel will be set up with displays including an ice boat and seminars will be given in conjunction with the Quadricentennial. Mr. Holt sent a letter to the Supervisor requesting that Gary Trudell and Bruce Lustig be re-appointed to the Recreation Commission with an ending term date of May 1, 2013. This request has been approved. Mr. Holt stated that Little League has elected Gary Mensching as the new president and Chris Schoen as the new vice-president. He is hoping that Recreation's involvement will remain the same as in previous years. Weare still willing to put the SCAG mower back at Robinson Lane to be used by them to cut the infields when necessary. In years past the managers used to be responsible for lining the fields and raking the pitcher's mounds. In more recent years Bill Farrell took care of setting the fields up for the games. Mr. Mensching indicated to Mr. Holt that Little League did have someone to take care of the fields as Mr. Farrell has done in the past. Mr. Mensching asked for information regarding the lights on the fields. He would like to have the company that installed them come out to the fields and look at the lock that controls the lights and wants to investigate the possibility of a key to control ONLY turning off the lights so that they do not stay on beyond when they are actually needed. As in the past, there is a line in the 2009 budget for clay for the fields. The Town Board has tabled the request for the work to be done on the water at Robinson Lane. The proposal from the engineers was not what Mr. Holt had originally 5 Recreation Commission Minutes December 10, 2008 planned and he has not heard back from the engineers with a price for the original plan. The money for this project will come out of the Parkland Fund. Mr. Holt informed the commission that John "Fred" Youngman fell off the back of the bucket truck at Schlathaus Park while he was putting up Christmas decorations. He was not in the bucket, but it is expected that he may have had the "muck" from the geese on his boot which caused him to slip. He landed on his shoulder and head and was taken to the hospital by ambulance. He was released the following day. He will be on disability until further notice. Mr. Holt said that there has been no further news on the "Rail Trail" but he will be attending a meeting tomorrow and may have further news soon. Mr. Lustig questioned the status of the repairing of the Tennis Courts. Mr. Holt said that Bob Gray, the Town Engineer, has a proposal for the complete renovation of the four (4) tennis courts on Pye Lane but was unable to present it to the Town Board because of illness. Our original estimate of $200,000 has been cut virtually in half to $100,000 dollars. Mr. Trudell asked if any headway has been made on the roofs at Carnwath. Mr. Holt said that nothing has been done on this and doesn't think that anything will be done any time in the near future. Eileen Manning Recreation Secretary 6