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1999-08-02 AGENDA RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING AUGUST 2, 1999 CALL MEETING TO ORDER PRESENT: RJ.H., KD., S.L., lC., lE., R.F., E.K; S.M., lV. APPROVE MINUTES: July 6, 1999 APPROVED: CORRECTIONS: SECONDED: COMl\1ENTS FROM AUDIENCE CORRESPONDENCE 1. Letter from Brian Acard of Spiegel, Brown & Fichera re: Deposition on O'Leary Case Thursday, Sept 9, at 10:00 at Fishkill. (Injury at Martz on Basketball Court 4/6/97) 2. Copy of memo sent by Peter Paggito Chris Coyle of Hudson Canyon regarding resetting of the playground equipment. 3. Letter from Joseph Paggi regarding the Chelsea Blufts Subdivision - copy of Map showing the recreation lands to be deeded. 4. Letter from Arthur Romano, Community Outreach Coordinator for the Ninth Annual Amenia World Peace Festival which will be held August 21. 5. Letter from Patrick Lacy regarding a refund on the golf camp (July 20 to 23) at Beekman Country Club. 6. Letter from June Ellen Notaro, Youth Programs Analyst to Steve Lowery thanking him for meeting and discussing the swim program with her. 7. Letter from Dept of Health regarding an advisories for eating sportfish from the Hudson River and waters around N.Y.C. REPORTS KD. E.K S.L. S.M: lC. lY. lE. RJ.H. R.F. OLD BUSINESS -Ticks, Summer Picnic, Hughsonville Equipment, Alarms, Bisaccia tournament NEW BUSINESS - Set date for September meeting, MEETING ADJOURNED Halloween NEXT MEETING ~. .. i RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES AUGUST 2, 1999 NEXT MEETING SEPTEMBER 14, 1999 AT SCHLA THAUS PARK @ ~. 0 c p ~ The regular meeting of the Town of Wappinger Recreation Commission was held August 2, 1999 at Schlathaus Park, All Angels HiJl Road, Town of Wappinger, Dutchess County, New York. The meeting was called to order by Chairman Ralph 1. Holt. Others present were Kathi DeLisa, Senior Citizen Director, Commission Members Ronald Friedman, Ellen Korz, Stephen Miller and Joann Vazquez. The minutes of the July 6, 1999 meeting were approved on a motion by Mr. Friedman seconded by Mrs. Korz. CORRESPONDENCE A letter was received from Brian D. Acard, of Speigel Brown and Fichera noting that a deposition pertaining to the matter of O'Leary V Town of Wappinger is scheduled to take place on Thursday, September 9, 1999 at 10:00 a.m. at the Offices of Feldman, Kleidman & CotTey, 153 Main Street, Fishkill, New York 12524. This is the case involving an injury at Martz Field on the Basketball court which took place on April 6, 1997. We received a copy of the memo sent by Peter Paggi to Chris Coyle of Hudson Canyon Construction regarding resetting of the playground equipment at Castle Point. He mentioned that it was his impression that their crew reset the equipment in conformance with the Town Recreation Department's request and in their presence. He requested that Mr. Coyle consult with his foreman and advise Mr. Paggi regarding this situation. He also requested that he consult with his personnel regarding the damage to the slide. Mr. Holt said that the slide was over 10 years old and it has depreciated. They asked Mr. Holt what the cost of the slide was and he told them $3,500. and he was asked ifhe would settle for $1,700. and he said yes. We don't know whether we will get the money or not. If we do get the money we will use it to reset the equipment that is already there. It is really a situation of you said, I said and there is no third party. , A letter was received from Joseph E. Paggi enclosing a map showing the recreation lands to be deeded by Roger Humeston and Nick DeLuccia adjacent to the Chelsea Park. Mr. Holt mentioned that we will have to use a portion of that land for a parking lot. As soon as softball is over we will have to start working on this. 1i A letter was received along with various information on the Ninth Annual Amenia World Peace Festival to be held August 21 st. A letter was received from Patrick Lacy requesting a refund for the golf camp that was held July 20 - 23 for Mark and Megan Lacy. There was a misunderstanding of the hours of the camp and Mr. Lacy was unable to take and pick up the children at the correct times. Since the letter was received prior to the scheduled program, the commission voted to reimburse the Lacy's the $40.00. Mr. Miller asked ifthere was a policy written anywhere regarding the refund policy and Mrs. Roe said that there is a sign in her office that states that No Refunds after the Start of the Program. If someone calls and it is prior to the start of the program, they are requested to write a letter to the Commission asking for a refund and why and are told that the Commission will act on their request at the next Recreation Meeting. Mr. Miller said that we should put that information on our forms. A letter was received from June Ellen Notaro, Youth Programs Analyst thanking Mr. Lowery for spending time with her on July 19th to discuss the free swim program. She mentioned that she found the paperwork for the program to be in order; however she requested that a copy of the recreation flyer be sent to her for her records. She mentioned that she was happy that we separated the swim program from the camp program this year and as a result she felt that it is better organized and is operating satisfactorily. A letter was received from the Department of Health regarding an advisory tor eating sportfish from the Hudson River and waters around N.Y.C. We will copy this for Mr. Ennesser. They would like to put up signs along the Hudson River and Mr. Holt mentioned that he felt we would have to go to the Town Board for approval to place these signs on Town property. OUTGOING CORRESPONDENCE 1. The program application for the YDDPlRecreation for the Year 2000 has been submitted to the Dutchess County Youth Bureau. 2. A memo was sent to the Town Board regarding the Dutchess County Classic's request to close Robinson Lane on September 19th for their race. 3. A memo was sent to Supervisor Smith regarding the vandalism incident that took place at Airport Park. 4. A letter was sent to Patrick DeHaven regarding approval for the Dutchess County Classic to be held at Robinson Lane on September ~ 8 and 19th. 5. A memo was sent to the Town Board regarding the bids for the construction of the access to Rymer Property. 6. An accident report was received for Heather Crawford, Counselor at Martz Field who sprained her ankle. 7. A memo was sent to Supervisor Smith inviting her to the end-of-summer picnic. 8. A memo was sent to Supervisor Smith requesting immediate action be taken to approve the grant for Schlathaus Park improvements sin~e we have a deadline of November. 2 " i 9. A memo to Ralph Holt from Joe Ennesser regarding the re-installation of the playground equipment at Castle Point. 10. Memo to Supervisor Connie Smith and Town Board members informing them that the last addition to the Chelsea Dock has been completed. 11. Letter to Susan Lorenzini stating that her request for a refund has been approved. SENIOR ClTITEN REPORT Mrs. DeLisa handed out a report on the Senior activities for the month of July. This report is attached to these minutes. She specifically noted that the Office of the Aging is offering a Senior Injury Prevention Program. This study is funded by a NY State grant. The study includes an exercise program to prevent injury, osteoporosis and more. Mrs. DeLisa noted that she along with Maria Borges, and Eileen Manning will take the training to conduct these exercises so that after the 6-month study is finished they can continue the program. RECREATION DIRECTOR'S REPORT Mr. Lowery was unable to attend the meeting but sent in the following report: 1. Playgrounds are in the final stages and will end next Friday, August 13. 2. There have been minimal problems this year. 3. He has scheduled the last concert to take place' on Friday, August 20 from 7: 15 to 9:15. He is looking for a Commission Member to attend because he will be on vacation that week. All that is involved is opening up the house and turning the field lights on around 8:00 p.m. It is very easy. The Klassics will be the band. 4. The trip to see Beauty and the Beast on September 12, 1999 has been canceled. They are closing the theater. It is a shame since the trip sold out in 10 minutes. People wi11 be called and refunds made. 5. The trip to Saratoga next Thursday is filled. 6. Sign ups for Radio City Music Hall's Christmas Spectacular Show will begin this Wednesday Night. We have 2 buses going to this trip which is scheduled for November 14th and costs $32.00. 7. He would appreciate any new ideas for Bus Trips for next year. Please get any ideas to Mr. Lowery asap. 3 . . . 8. The end of summer barbeque is scheduled for next Tuesday, August 10th. Attached is a flyer. If anyone can help it will be appreciated. 9. He has applied to Media one for information regarding Public Access Television Programming requirements. regulations etc. He is thinking about producing a ~ to 1 hour once a month public access program which will feature the Town of Wappinger Recreation. Program would include: News and happenings, trip updates, slide presentation on our events, (summer playground, concerts etc.) anything else of importance. He plans on turning this into a community service project for RCK Seniors who need community service as a requirement for graduation. Mr. Friedman mentioned that he felt that Mr. Lowery was doing a great job as Recreation Director. Everyone agreed stating that his new fresh ideas are great. Mr. Friedman asked Mr. Holt ifhe had heard anything regarding the workshop on the naming of fields. Mr. Holt said that he has not heard of any date set for this workshop but we will ask the Supervisor. Mr. Miller mentioned that he has to call Supervisor Smith tomorrow and will ask her about this. Mr. Holt mentioned that Mr. Friedman we be acting chairman while he is on vacation August 13th to September 10th. Mr. Friedman asked if the Town Board had responded to our letter regarding the Special Olympics and Mr. Holt said that it was approved. SUMMER PLAYGROUND END OF SUMMER PICNIC. The end of summer picnic will be held at Schlathaus Park on Tuesday, August 10th starting at 10:00 a.m. This year Mr. Holt has requested that the theme of the picnic be "safety" and has requested Mr. Lowery to see ifhe could get representatives from the New Hacksensack Fire Co., Sloper Willen and the State Police to come and speak with the children about safety. Mr. Lowery has put together a flyer which will be sent home to all parents about the picnic. See attached. After they do that, they can continue to do the lip sync etc. Mr. Holt has also asked Supervisor Smith to attend and introduce the people. Mrs. Korz mentioned that everything at Quiet Acres was going smoothly for the playgrounds. The only complaint was that the Porta-johns were not clean. Mrs. Roe mentioned that she has contacted the company about this. Mrs. Roe mentioned that she has also received complaints from Evans regarding the condition of their porta johns and a couple of complaints from soccer about the ones at Airport Park. We have also had some problems with the bees at the various parks. 4 Mr. Miller mentioned that he has been in touch with Wappinger transportation and that the estimated bill we received was the worse case scenerio. The drivers would not be there for the full time between taking the children and picking them up. He did say that if it is a 15 minute ride we wi11 be charged for the whole hour. We did not have a problem with this. Mrs. Vazquez mentioned that she had visited Castle Point and received a few requests from them such as a basketball court (hoop) and some mats to be put on the ground. The mats were immediately sent down and Mrs. Vazques was told that we will have something for basketball for next year. Mrs. Vazquez mentioned that they only wanted something on the building and Mrs. Roe said that she had talked to maintenance and they said that they couldn't put it on the building because of the type of siding. We will look into this for next year. Mrs. Vazquez also mentioned that everything at Martz Field is running smoothly. The bathrooms are clean etc. Mrs. Roe mentioned that several people have called and complimented the counselors etc. Mr. Holt mentioned that he has written a letter to the Town Board requesting that we use the money from the playground sign up to purchase mats for each of the playgrounds. By having these mats the children could use them instead of sitting on the ground with the ticks etc. We have also requested a medical kit which will hold everything together and can be carried over the shoulder. This addition would be a lot easier on the directors to carry all the necessary items when they are on a field trip. They have to take the medical kit, permission slips, medical information for each child and emergency numbers. CHAIRMAN'S REPORT Mr. Holt mentioned that we have been having trouble getting various vendors to do some of our work i.e. A-I Fence, Blacktop work etc. Mr. Holt mentioned that he has met with the tick spraying firm from Norwalk, Conn. and they visited 4 recreation areas ( Airport Park, Rockingham Park, Robinson Lane and Schlathaus Park). They discussed the chemical that they would use and how they would treat the parks. They have a very good reputation in Connecticut and have done the Wilton School District and said that 95% of the ticks have been killed. He recommended that we go 20 feet inside each of the parks, around all the fence lines and under the bleachers. They do not recommend that we do the middle of the field. They will put together a plan and cost for this. They recommend that we do the first spraying in August and another one in October. We would then have them come back in the Spring to do another spray and at that time determine whether we will have to go to a 2 or 3 spraying each year. This company said that we have to close the fields for at least one hour when they are sprayed. We have another company coming in on Thursday or Friday to give us another estimate. 5 The Fall Little League program has seen a very good registration and may have to turn some children away because they don't have people to coach and manage the teams. They have 9 or 10 Little League teams with about 13 kids to a team They need clay to go around the fields because the fields have taken a beating with this dry weather. Mr. Holt mentioned that he received a telephone call stating that Mr. Peter Kennedy has received a significant award nationally for his contribution to soccer. Mr. Holt said that he has heard that Mr. Kennedy has spent at least 20 years or more working with soccer. Mr. Miller mentioned that he will speak with Jim Kennedy about this and get more information. If it is a national thing maybe the Town should do something. Mr. Friedman mentioned that in Beekman the National Organization helps to pay for new fields. Mr. Holt said that he thinks that Wappinger United has applied for something but we don't know what. . Mr. Holt mentioned that Mr. Endress' wife is seriously ill and has been given a short time he therefore will be taking some time off A letter has been sent to the Town Board to approve the bid for the entrance to the Rymer Property. We have also sent a letter asking the Town Board to approve that the Engineer to the Town to draw up a plan for the roadway going into the park. If the bids for the roadway are approved, we will have some funds left from the $20,000.00 which was already approved by the Town Board for the roadway construction. Since Mr. Holt and Mr. Ennesser have to meet with the Town Board on September 13 on the Senior Center proposal and the lights for Robinson Lane, it was decided that the Recreation Commission Meeting will be held on the 14th. We are still having trouble with vandalism and at Spook Hill and it was noted that the lights have been ripped out. The date for the Elks Christmas Parties have been set. So far the dates for all the Christmas Paries are December 2nd for the Senior Villa Party, December 5th is the Town Center party, and the 8th and the 14 are the Elks Parties. We will have to arrange for Santas for these parties. On September 1 st the Office of the Aging will be holding their Senior Barbeque for 500 of the Town of Wappinger Seniors. It was suggested that we order 4 portajohns for this date. We will be providing the tables and chairs for this. Mrs. Roe said that she had mentioned this to Mr. Farrell. Mr. Holt said that the tents and chairs will be put up the night before. We should look into security for this area during that night. We will have to mention this to Supervisor Smith. 6 . ' . . TENNIS Mrs. Korz mentioned that the tennis tournament went well and everyone had a great time. They gave out trophies and tee shirts. They were excited and want to do it again. Mrs. Korz mentioned that a special award was given to Henrietta McDonald for participating, Even with the heat this summer she made every lesson. AU in all, it was a fun time, They would like to do this for the participants in the second session. EQUIPMENT AT HUGHSONVILLE A decision has to be made regarding the playground equipment at Hughsonville Firehouse. Mr. Holt mentioned that he has spoken with Al Roberts, Attorney to the Town, and told him that the equipment is quite old and if we have to remove it we will have to restore everything that is there. We will have to remove the pea gravel, bring in top soil and reseed the areas. It will cost us more than $800. to do this work. Mr. Roberts said that if Hughsonvil1e wants the equipment we can charge them a $1.00 and they can have it. ALARM SYSTEMS We will have to talk or write a letter to Dynamark about the alarm systems. It seems that whenever we lose power and it comes back on the alarms go off Mrs. Roe mentioned that she has spoken to Centurion Security and they told her that when there is a power surge the alarms will go off She also mentioned that when the alarm went off last Sunday, the people called Centurion Security and not Dynamark Centurion's office is closed during the weekend and it is Dynamark that actually monitors the system. She also mentioned that if the alarm goes off accidently that it can be reset. You can push the reset button, close this system and put the code back in. Mr. Holt mentioned that maybe we should put a note on the wall about calling Dynamark Security when the alarm is accidently activated. Mr. Holt mentioned that we are not certain at this time when the Bisciccia tournament will be held. Mrs. Roe said that she had spoken with Kathy Smith today and was to be held the first weekend in October (the 2nd and 3rd). Mr. Holt asked how many fields would be needed and Mr. Miller said that they would need about 6 or 7 fields. There was a discussion about whether we charge this group and the determination was that ifit is run under the auspices of Little League that we would not charge them. It would be looked at in the same way as the Castellano Tournament. HALLOWEEN Mrs. Korz mentioned that she will speak with Mr. Lowery about the entertainment for the 7 . .. . '>" Halloween Party. She mentioned that she is starting with the letters and needs more letterhead and envelopes. Mr. Miller mentioned that we should contact Splashdown since we give them a lot of business during the summer months even though they will be closed for the season at that time. We will just have to make sure that the coupon is good for a year. If anyone has any ideas of businesses to contact, please let Mrs. Korz know. They should be geared to children. The date for party is October 24th. The meeting was adjourned at 8:40 p.m. on a motion by Mr. Miller seconded by Mr. Friedman. Peggy Roe Secretary 8