Loading...
2008-07-09 ," ~ RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES Wednesday, July 9,2008 NEXT MEETING AUGUST 6, 2008 The regular meeting of the Town of Wappinger Recreation Commission was held July 9,2008 at Schlathaus Park, 126 All Angels Hill Road, Town of Wappinger, Dutchess County, New York. The meeting was called to order at 6:45 p.m. by Chairman Ralph J. Holt. Also present were Scott Cheney, Recreation Director, Kay Yon Reyn, Senior Director and Commission Members Max Dao, Gary Trudell, Bruce Lustig, Meera Dave and Uma Satyendra. INCOMING CORRRESPONDENCE: 1. Request from Kerrie Rodgers asking for a refund for her two children at Spook Hill (extended hours). She came in the second day of camp claiming that they were bored and did not want to stay at camp. The Commission approved that a refund be made to Mrs. Rodgers. 2. CC to Ralph Holt from Supervisor Colsey informing him that Brendan McCauley of Scout troop # 2609 has received his Eagle Scout Badge. They will be honoring him at the July 14 Town Board Meeting. Mr. Holt mentioned that they would also honor Riley Finnegan for his work at Reese Park. Mr. Holt said he did a fantastic piece of work. It was mentioned that he devised a way to get the old pieces of metal out of the pond and he also installed two benches (which we purchased). He cleans the park almost daily. 3. A letter was received from the Women's Slow-pitch Softball League asking for the use of the three softball fields at Robinson Lane for a tournament to raise money for "Miles of Hope". Funds raised will go to the Cancer Society. Bill Farrell was contacted to check availability. Saturdays in October are taken up by our Girl's Fall Ball Program. Mr. Trudell will speak to Mr. Farrell about this and see what is exactly available. Mr. Holt said that he would like to approve this if it is possible. 4. An e-mail was received from Supervisor Colsey in regard to the purchase of a digital camera needed by several departments. He has outlined certain specifications in this e-mail. Recreation had put in a request for a camera early in the year and it was approved by the Town Board. 5. A maintenance application was received from Mike Skyrwanycz seeking ajob with our Recreation Maintenance crew. Copies to Bob Sheridan and Ralph Holt. 6. At the June 20th camp registration, a parent, Mr. Komlesh Patel sought to register his daughter for camp. Mrs. Manning determined that, seeing his identification, . . Recreation Minutes July 9, 2008 he was not a Town resident. He said that he did have relations in the Town but Mr. Cheney and Mrs. Manning both explained that the child must be a resident to attend our camp. He asked that we pursue this further because he owns a business in the Town and does pay taxes. In the past this was not acceptable. Mr. Holt will write a letter to Mr. Patel. 7. The following resolutions were received as a result of the Town Board meeting of June 9th, 2008. a. #2008-186 - Adopted - Supervisor given permission to sign contracts including ones for our Summer Concert Series. b. #2008-190 - Adopted - Recreations request to bring on our summer maintenance employees and their rate of pay. c. #2008-194 - Adopted - Appointing Kay V onReyn as Senior Center Director. 8. A flyer was received advertising a Certified Playground Safety Inspectors Course to be held in October. Will we need someone to fill this position in the future? Mr. Dao asked that a copy of the flyer be sent to him. Mr. Holt said that ifhis schedule allows he would like to send a memo to the Town Board asking permission for him to attend. 9. A maintenance application was received from David Cooper requesting a position with maintenance. Copies to Bob Sheridan and Ralph Holt 10. Report from Doug Haan, Safety Inspector, with last minute repairs needed at playgrounds before camps begin. We were really busy up until the last minute getting the camps ready. Mr. Holt noted that as soon as school is out the kids are out with spray cans and we are busy repainting the buildings. The swings at Quiet Acres were wound around the top bar. Of course, this keeps on all summer. 11. Mrs. Manning mentioned that a letter came in with approval to use the Sheafe Road School for summer basketball. 12. Mrs. Manning mentioned that she received an e-mail this afternoon asking any Town vehicle that has an insignia to attend a service on Friday, June 11th for Sgt. Mark Palmateer who lost his life in Afghanistan. It was requested that we RSVP, so let Mrs. Manning know who will be attending. OUTGOING CORRESPONDENCE 1. A letter from Kay VonReyn, Senior Director, to the Town Board asking permission to run an ad for additional personnel to complete the needs for the Senior Center and for Recreation. Mr. Holt mentioned that at this time he has Mrs. DeLisa and Mrs. Roe coming in to help out and this unfortunately has to come to an end. What he needs to do is to hire someone who will work 50% with the Senior Center and 50% with the administrative part of recreation. 2. In April a request for work in Maintenance came in from David Hongach. An application was sent to him but was returned as non-deliverable. A phone message was left requesting a new address but no response has been received. 2 " " Recreation Minutes July 9, 2008 3. A letter was sent to Riley Finnegan from Supervisor Colsey thanking him for his work at Reese Park and congratulating to him on the receipt of his Eagle Scout Badge. Mr. Finnegan was invited to the July 14th Town Board Meeting to accept recognition of his accomplishments. 4. A letter was sent to Supervisor Colsey from Ralph Holt explaining why the truck that Mr. Foster lined up for Recreation, in lieu of the one we ordered, would not work for Recreation. Mr. Holt said that there was some confusion as to who was going to look into the state bid. He said that information was given to Mr. Incoronato and we thought he was working on it. When we finally asked him and found out that he wasn't, we found the bid has expired. Mr. Foster, who has had a lot of experience purchasing trucks was given the information and was able to secure a truck that might suit our needs. When we received the specs on the truck, they were reviewed by Mr. Sheridan and Mr. Holt and they felt that the truck was too big and had several features that were not necessary. Therefore, they declined this truck. It would not be cost effective for us. We are hoping that we can get permission at the end of July to get s smaller 250 truck. Mr. Holt mentioned that the mower is in process at this time. 5. A letter was sent to Joe Mitchell of the Dept. of Health requesting that Jared Silverman be designated as a substitute WSI at our Learn to Swim Program as Jared Trumpetto may be called to a professional position before our swim program is over. A phone call confirmed that this set-up is acceptable and a letter would be forthcoming to that effect. 6. A letter was sent by Kay V onReyn thanking Kristen Catalano and William Halvey for sponsoring magazine subscriptions for the seniors for the past two years. She states that it is her hope that this will continue. PROGRAMS FOR OLDER CHILDREN Mrs. Manning handed out a letter received from Angela and Arthur Morales with ideas for a camp for 13-15 year old children. The letter gave some ideas which she and other parents have come up with as some possible solutions to the problem. She also attached a petition signed by several residents. A discussion took place regarding the programs that Mr. Rottkamp set up for the older children of the Town. They were short programs which lasted a week or only a couple of hours a day. It seems that these programs didn't seem to work out. We have to give some real thought to the 13-15 year olds. This is a big problem for parents with children in this age group. Mr. Cheney mentioned that he was discussing this with Jackie and Jill Smith, the summer directors and they suggested a civic minded program. Mr. Holt asked the Commission Members to look over this letter and come up with a position on it. We will discuss it at another meeting. 3 Recreation Minutes July 9,2008 MR. TRUDELL'S REPORT Mr. Trudell talked about the trails at Camwath and all the work that he and his wife have done on the trails. He also indicated that there are several spots where he would like to place benches. At one of the spots, he indicated that you can see the Chelsea Yacht Club and the Newburgh Beacon Bridge. With all the previous talk about the problems at Spook Hill on opening day, Mr. Trudell went there to help with the traffic and he felt that things went smoothly. He also said that he took a trip to Quiet Acres and the counselors said that everything was okay and that they didn't need anything. Mr. Holt asked the Commission Members ifthey had a recreation shirt to wear when they go to the camps and a lot of them said that they did not. Mr. Holt said that everyone should have one because the counselors don't necessarily know all ofthem and with all the children around we should have some sort of identification. He asked Mrs. Manning to get some sizes and order shirts. They should have "Town of Wappinger Recreation Commission" or "Town of Wappinger Staff' on them. Someone also asked about having I.D badges and Mr. Holt said that the Town use to do these and maybe we could check on this. It was suggested we get white shirts with navy trim. Another suggestion was made to give the Directors the pictures of the Commission member in charge of their camp. We could take the pictures from the Recreation Guide. SENIOR CITIZEN REPORT Mrs. Von Reyn said that she wanted to thank the maintenance guys for all their work on fixing up the kitchen in the senior center. They did a lot of work to make the appliances fit. She also mentioned that the attendance at the center was up for both the months of May and June. Only a couple each month but it is going up. The 20th Anniversary, which was held at the Villa, was a little more expensive than the usual picnic therefore, the attendance wasn't what it usually was. Mrs. Von Reyn mentioned that the trip to Mohegan Sun was full but the trip to West Point only had 27 registered to go. Martha Petersen, the art instructor, retired after being with us 5 years and there was a little party for her. It was mentioned that Kathi DeLisa will be replacing her in the fall. "Brainiacs" has stopped for the summer. They have been complaining about the noise in the center and would like to meet at Schlathaus in the fall. Because of the things they are doing with the puzzles, they would like it less noisy. 4 Recreation Minutes July 9,2008 It was mentioned at the Wappinger Public Library brought Wii Fit to the Center twice and it was very well received. Mrs. Von Reyn said that she would like to pursue getting a game for the center. She had two speakers at the center. The United Way came in to talk about the 211 number and a representative of the Office for the Aging came in to talk about changes in the food stamp eligibility. She mentioned that she had two resolutions before the Town Board, the one which was discussed regarding a new full time person and another to purchase office furniture to accommodate the employees. It was Mr. Holt's understanding that the furniture request was put on hold by the Town Board. MEERA DAVE REPORT Mrs. Dave had no report for the meeting but asked about Community Day and whether she would be doing anything that day. She said that she might be away for the August meeting. Mr. Holt said that the work on Community Day was 90% done and her name was on the list for helping. She indicated that her husband would also be able to help out. He thanked her and said that we always need people. BRUCE LUSTIG REPORT There was no report. MAX DAO'S REPORT Mr. Dao asked about orientation as he was expecting to attend so he could get a feel about what was going on. Mr. Cheney said that it was done in a hurry and he was sorry he didn't get back to him. He also asked about whether or not he was chaperoning the trip to Lake George and Mrs. Manning stated that he was and she would have the material ready for him. RECREATION DIRECTOR'S REPORT Mr. Cheney reported that all ofthe camps opened on schedule with numbers as follows: Martz Field 142 Castle Point 37 Quiet Acres 55 Spook Hill 204 5 Recreation Minutes July 9,2008 The total registration is down from last year. He noted that there was a 30 kid drop in attendance at Spook Hill this year which was not necessarily a bad thing looking at how crowded they are. He mentioned that the camps had their first Department of Health inspection and it went very smooth. They were, however, asked to improve their counselor numbers at the Spook Hill site which was done today. The playground trip to Roller Magic went smoothly with no injuries. He also indicated that when we set up our fee schedule for this year, it wasn't high enough so that will have to be addressed. Bowling was great. He indicated that we had to cancel the first 2 trips to Reese Park due to lack of interest. Mr. Cheney mentioned, however, that he sent the Reese Park Director, Heather Berardo, to Spook Hill and Quiet Acres and it was a huge success. Heather is a full time educator at Fahnstock State Park and since it is closed for the summer (in terms of their programs) she has come to work for us. He said that the kids were every excited as she brought pelts, skulls and did a really great outdoor education. She also did a lot ofteam and community building activities. He said that if we can keep her on staff it would be a great asset. We had some weather related issues so far this summer and we had to cancel two concerts. The first was on July 3 with Johnny Dell. Since the weather was so iffy and the gas was so high he didn't want to chance driving down and setting up when he might not get the concert in. Last week was a joint decision with Steve Schultz as his band waited until 6 p.m. and it didn't seem like the rain was going to stop. Even ifit did the ground was so saturated it wasn't worth it. At the swim camp, we still have Jared Trumpetto and Jared Silverman was approved by the Health Department to be a co-aquatics director. The staff at Cross Court which usually only works half a day are now going to the playgrounds in the afternoon to increase our coverage there which is a positive move. All plan on staying since they can get a full days work. He mentioned that there have been four (4) withdrawals from camp due to "boredom". Mr. Cheney said that he can't believe you can pull a camper after only a day and a half because of boredom. He felt that there were other issues involved. Mr. Cheney said that there have been a couple of staff discipline issues this year. We had one counselor fall asleep on the job at Spook Hill. A letter has been placed in his file and this is one strike on his record. We also had a counselor at Spook Hill release 2 children to a parent not on the release form. Again that situation has been addressed. The counselor has been dealt with and a letter is in his file. In light ofthis, all 4 playgrounds and swim personnel have had a second training on releasing children which includes checking J.D. Yesterday, the counselor who made the mistake had to sit at the table with the directors as we went thru the closing procedures as we closed early due to the storms. This is a mistake that will not be made again. We also had to reassign 6 Recreation Minutes July 9,2008 a director because he made a huge mistake by taking a child on a trip to Roller Magic when the child did not register for the trip, didn't pay and the parents expressly indicated that he not go because the child is autistic. Needless to say the director has been reassigned and since this isn't the only problem we have had with him, we will be watching him closely and there is a question as to whether he will be hired next year. Mr. Cheney said that we have 5 directors who are experienced and who are very, very good. They have grown up going to the Town camps. They have indicated that they will not return next year because they can make more at the mall. Mr. Cheney feels that it will be a serious loss to the program. He noted that these 5 directors are teachers and that since their school year has been extended, they jump right into camp as soon as school is out and then back to school. They have no time for a vacation. He suggested that we shorten the camp to 6 weeks and keep the same fee and it will be a win-win situation. It would give them a week before camp starts and the Town would get an increase. Mr. Holt said that when we do our budget for 2009, we should work on the salary plan. He asked for input from all Commission Members and if they need more information to please ask. Mr. Cheney mentioned that when we hire another Director, he should understand just how many hours the job entails just for the summer. There are no days off. He said that for his $15,000. annual salary he works about 55-60 hours during the summer which relates to approximately $4.25 an hour. On top of this he averages 120 miles every 6 days in travel among the camps. Mr. Holt asked Mr. Cheney ifhe was putting in for mileage and he said he hasn't yet and he questioned the reimbursement rate which Mrs. Manning stated as $.32.5 a mile. Mr. Holt said since gas etc. is so high, he will bring this up with the Supervisor. Mr. Cheney mentioned that the Arts & Crafts program is very volatile. The director is a very nice person but he felt that we could save money by putting the arts and crafts back in the hands of the counselors and directors. He felt that the money should be divided between the camps and they would purchase the craft items. He also mentioned that a lot of them are teachers and very capable of performing this task. Mr. Cheney went over the "Delayed Opening and Closing Procedures" with the Commission Members and said that if they approve it will be forwarded to the Town Board for their approval. A copy of each is attached to these minutes. A suggestion was made to institute an automated calling system. It was mentioned that it could be utilized for all programs including the seniors. Mr. Cheney said he didn't know how it worked but Mr. Incoronato might. Mrs. Satyendra mentioned that she has good computer skills and would be happy to help in any way. TENNIS COURTS Mr. Lustig asked where we were holding the tennis camp in lieu ofthe courts being in disrepair and Mr. Holt said that they were going to use the 2 courts by the 7 . , Recreation Minutes July 9,2008 barn. It will take between $5,000. and $10,000. just to fill in the cracks to make it safe and decent. Mr. Holt said that 2 of the 4 courts on Pye Lane are in terrible shape. They are the two closest to where the water comes in and they are the two way in the back. He mentioned that possibly if the Town doesn't have the funds to do all 4 courts, we could rope offthe back two and spend $20,000. to fix up the front courts to buy us some time. Mr. Holt said that the Engineer to the Town Bob Gray is putting together a plan and will present it to the Town Board. CHAIRMAN'S REPORT Mr. Holt went over the status of the roofs at Carnwath regarding the bids and the plans the Engineer to the Town has presented to the Town Board. Mr. Holt said what he thought should be done would be to fix up the roof for $40,000. and buy some time. He thought that we should bring back together the "Friends of Carnwath" committee which includes lawyers, doctors, engineers and craftsmen. We have to come up with what we are going to do with the building and it would have to be something to make money. Mr. Holt said that the Town legally has an easement through the Baisley property. Ifwe had a problem there, we could easily take a truck through there. Weare not ready for a concert at the Camwath property. There is too much up in the air and we are already working on Community Day. The Sports Museum is having a big event at Carnwath on September 13th. They will be showing off the museum, they will be using the Chapel, there will vendors there selling soft drinks and food. Mr. Holt mentioned that Reese Park is different from the other parks where we hire a person to open and close the gate, raise the flag, clean the rest rooms and pick up the trash. Since Reese Park is a walking park with no roads, the gate is kept locked with only an entrance way. We found that ifthe gate were opened, the people would drive in there and deposit their garbage and then maintenance would only have to clear it away. He mentioned that Supervisor Colsey and Highway Superintendent Graham Foster looked at Castle Point as potential soccer field. Since the lower field is not being used for softball, they thought it could be used as a smaller field for soccer. Mr. Holt said that he has been trying to get in touch with Mr. LaPerche to go down and check it out. He also noted that his predecessor had determined that it was too smalL 8 Recreation Minutes July 9, 2008 Next week Mr. Holt said that he would hold a meeting with the full time and part time employees regarding Town policies which include vacations, sick time, personal time and overtime etc. He mentioned that we have already used up almost the entire overtime budget for maintenance. This was used mostly on Carnwath opening and closing the gate during the week and on the weekend someone goes up and has to check all the buildings for problems with the water, heat etc. It is something that has to be done. He hopes to speak with Supervisor Colsey to come up with some type of solution. At the present time, there is no overtime unless previously okayed by the Supervisor. Mr. Holt said that bottom line, the recreation budget will come under budget. As soon as we get the paperwork for the 2009 budget, Mrs. Manning will make copies for everyone so that their input can be reviewed. Mrs. Von Reyn will be doing the senior budget but the rest of the budget is open to comments from all members. Mr. Holt said that he will be on vacation on August lih for the end of summer picnic and Mr. Trudell and Mr. Lustig will be sitting in for him during that time. He will be gone from August 8th until after September 3rd. He said that he has spoken with Mr. Sheridan about picking up the food at Stop & Shop. Mr. Cheney mentioned that he has a call in to a DJ for the picnic and that Ryan Dutcher will be doing a magic act. He also has a call in for the inflatable (bouncy house). Mr. Holt mentioned that we had a really great party for Skip Rottkamp recently and he would like to set something up for Mrs. Cito. It has been our policy to have a party for each person when they leave. Mrs. Manning or Mrs. Kovalsky will look into this for sometime after Community Day. Mr. Holt has talked to a gentleman, Richard Bishop who is interested in the Recreation Director position and has written a letter to the Town Board. He said that the man definitely has the qualifications. He is requesting that the Town Board interview him. Mr. Holt went over the plan to fix up the tennis courts. We fixed up two of the courts and we have a cost of $136,000. to fix up the other 4 courts and the Engineer to the Town estimates it will be closer to $200,000. to do the job. Yesterday, Mr. Gray gave him the run down on what to do. Mr. Gray said that he is trying a different approach and ifit can be done it might be under $100,000. He will pitch this to the Town Board. Weare so close to having bad water at Robinson Lane. Robinson Lane is a patchwork of piping for the water. Little League met with the Supervisor and Mr. Gray to discuss what could be done. The proposal is for digging a new well for drinking purposes and using the current one for watering the fields. The plan calls for new lines to all the fields. Hopefully, this work can be done when baseball is over in October. 9 Recreation Minutes July 9,2008 Mr. Holt also noted that Saturday is the Mamas and Papas walk/run which will start from Town Hall. Pete Sanfilippo is coordinating the event which will be approximately 2 % miles. Weare estimating between 60 and 100 participants. Mr. Holt said that he had procured water for the event. Mr. Trudell mentioned that he was glad that the theater group was using Carnwath and asked if they were still there. Mr. Cheney said that they are meeting at Ketcham this week because they needed access to a stage. The weeks that they are doing a performance they requested using a school for the stage. This week's performance at Ketcham will be at 7 and 8:30 and they are performing "It's the Woods". Two weeks later they will be at the Wappinger Jr. High and will be performing "Once Upon this Island". Mr. Holt mentioned that we have had some difficulties at Carnwath with Mrs. Fenton. The maintenance guy goes up there to close up and to make sure everything is okay. The class is suppose to end at 3 p.m and he is there until after 4:30 which is unacceptable. There has to be more discipline and Mrs. Fenton should be more responsible. We have also gone in there and found the bathrooms overflowing. We have to be more conscious of where we are and be more responsible. Mr. Cheney mentioned that one of her weeks overlapped the July 4th holiday and to make this up to the parents she extended each day by an hour. She did not tell anyone at the Town about this so therefore we ran into the overtime hours for the maintenance men when the Supervisor had cut off all overtime. Mr. Trudell mentioned that he is at Carnwath quite a bit and would be glad to close up if necessary. Mr. Holt thanked him for his offer and said that he thought everything has been corrected. The meeting was adjourned at 9: 15 on a motion by Mr. Trudell seconded by Mr. Dao with all in favor. Peggy Roe For Eileen Manning Recreation Secretary 10 . . TOWN OF WAPPINGER . J CHAIRMAN RALPH HOLT SUPERVISOR CHRISTOPHER J. COlSEY RECREATION DEPARTMENT 20 MIDDlEBUSH ROAD WAPPINGERS FAllS, NY 12590 (845) 297-0720 TOWN COUNCIL WilLIAM H. BEALE VINCENT BETTINA MAUREEN McCARTHY JOSEPH P. PAOlONI Town of Wappinger Recreation Delayed Opening ~ Closure Procedures Throughout the summer, there is the ch.ance that inclement weather may impact the opening of the Summer Playground Camps. If inclement weather is forecast between the hours of 7:30am and 9:30ani, the Delayed Opening Policy may be utilized. Policy: If inclement weather is forecast and/or occurring' between the hours of7:30 and 8:30ain and the storm appears to be brief and/or fast moving, the Recreation Director will use his/her discretion to employ the Delayed Opening Policy. If the Director enacts a Delayed Opening, Camps will open at 1 0:00am. Extended Day Campers at Spook Hill and Martz Field will arrive no earlier than !0:00am. Extended Day Camper pick-up will remain the same regardless of the Delayed Opening. If inclement weather is forecast and/or occurring bptween the hours of7:30 and 8:30am and the sterm appears to be extensive in time and ;-ercipitation, the Recreation Director will use his/her discretion to employ the Closure Pmcedure. If the Director enacts the Closure Procedure, all camps will be closed for the day. Camp Directors must report to camp. * Policy Exceptions: Playground Camps attending an indoor field trip on an inclement weather day will report to camp at 9:00am. The busses will leave camp at 9:15am. This policy exception only pertains to trips to Roller Magic, South Hills Cinema, and HoeBowl. Trips to Reese Park and Fun Central will be cancelled if a Delayed Opening occurs. "Directors must remain at Camp until 9:30am for parent notification & sign posting.