Parks Commission

CITY OF CHICOPEE Department of Public Work PARKS DIVISION 687 Front Street Chicopee, MA. RECREATION OFFICE 413-594-3481 413-594-3486 (fax.) _________________________________________________________________________________________ Benjamin Strepka Sean Carroll Superintendent Assistant Superintendent Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting Minutes Tuesday, May 12, 2020 A. Call meeting to order: Meeting called to order at 7:00pm by Comm Buxton. Note, meeting conducted by videoconference. 1. Attendance: Commissioners Buxton, Bresnahan, Fenton, Ziemba, Montemagni and Parks Superintendent Strepka. B. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES: 1. Motion for approval of minutes for April 14th meeting made by Comm Fenton, Second by Comm Ziemba. Approved. C. PUBLIC INPUT: None. D. COMMUNICATIONS: 1. Email from City Solicitor Marshall Moriarty regarding the removal of trees in parks. Proposal offered to approve the Chicopee resident’s request to remove tree from parks grounds, next to their property, contingent on tree being removed at homeowners expense and assumption of liability. Motion to approve proposal made by Comm. Montemagni, second by Comm. Fenton. Parks Superintendent Strepka noted proposal follows guidelines typically used for Chicopee residents removal of tree from any city property. 2. Request by Patrick Graham for field use by Hampden Charter School of Science-East for boys’ and girls’ soccer at Bowie and Rivers Parks this fall. This is annual request from HCSS for field usage for Fall sports. Recommendation made to table request at this time and revisit later when state guidelines on schools and parks re-openings are available. 3. Other communications i. Parks Superintendent Strepka introduced one additional communication which was request from Carol Kruser, Principal of Chicopee High, for use of Szot Park on May 12th and 13th for CHS graduation ceremony. Motion to approve made by Comm. Montemagni, second by Comm. Bresnahan E. MAINTENANCE REPORT: 1. Mowing, closing off playgrounds, basketball / tennis courts, skate parks, etc. Busy with Cemetery. Preparation of baseball diamonds has also begun. 2. Parks Labor Force: DPW Minimum Staffing. Current Park openings: (1) 9L – Heavy MEO/Laborer (1) 5L – MEO/Laborer. (2) 4L – Laborer All other positions are filled. F. RECREATION REPORT: 1. ALL RECREATION ACTIVITIES SUSPENDED UNTIL AFTER MAY 18TH. WAITING FOR STATE GUIDELINES. 2. Trips: Boston Red Sox Trip May 22nd, Red Sox/Cubs June 18-21st, New York Yankees Trip August 8th. All trips pending continuation of MLB season. 3. Adult Leagues: Softball – Postponed. Season on hold pending release of state guidelines. It may still be possible to play shortened season if play is allowed to resume.  4. Adult Rec Programs: Yoga for Everyone, Tang Soo Do Korean Martial Arts – Canceled. Parks Superintendent Strepka has been in contact with yoga instructor and just waiting for guidelines as to when to resume program. 5. Youth Rec Leagues – Baseball / Softball – Postponed. Resume if guidelines permit with shortened season and limited teams. 6. Youth Rec Programs: Tang Soo Do Korean Martial Arts, CPR Class, Babysitting. Reschedule in Summer/Fall. Art Ventures Online. 7. Aquatics – Lifeguard Training Class – Canceled. Reschedule in Summer/Fall. If guidelines permit, will look to resume training ASAP to support summer pool openings. 8. OPEE – Revised sign-up procedure. Meeting with school officials next week. Waiting for State guidelines. Parks Superintendent Strepka met with Health Dept. to discuss possible modifications to the program. Only 20-30 children signed up at this time. Recommendation made to revisit viability of program and cost of program based on services rendered if allowed to restart. 9. Community Garden – working to set up under safe guidelines. Community Garden Committee developing strict guidelines for gardeners including a limit on number of people in the garden at one time and restrictions on sharing of tools. 10. Aldenville Summer Concert Series –Tuesday evenings beginning June 16th 11. Fireworks – Postponed. Possible fireworks display to be held in conjunction with Downtown Getdown in the Fall. 12. Summer Movie Nights – July 10th, July 24th, August 7th. All movie nights will be funded by Parks Dept.. Not seeking sponsors at this time in this uncertain environment. Suggestion made for a drive-in movie option. Currently waiting for quotes that have been requested. 13. Park Clean-Up Day – Reschedule to Fall? G. OLD BUSINESS: 1. PARC Grant – Carolyn Cooney & Associates continuing design work.. Survey work is complete. Design work is continuing. Preliminary drawings received on 5/11. Parks Superintendent Strepka to reach out to state for guidance on meeting requirements on community engagement and public input/feedback. 2. Tennis Court Reconstruction – Milone & MacBroom continuing design work. Survey work is complete. Design work has been initiated. Contract to be finalized week of May 11th. 3. Lincoln Grove CDBG Project – Spray park components ordered. Construction to begin once MountainView receives order. Some work is expected to be delayed due to backlog of certain components at the supply company. Parts expected in early June and installation will then take place. 4. Resident / Non-Resident Policy. Parks Superintendent Strepka reviewed department policies and noted current pavilion policy identified a resident organization as made of 75% of city residents or is a city based business. A review of the resident/non-resident policy as it applies to both sports teams and facility/site rental will continue. Policy revision will update both the fee structure and group prioritization listing. 5. Other Old Business – NONE H. NEW BUSINESS: 1. Park Tree Removal – reference Communication item#1. 2. Budget Reductions for FY 20. Mayor issued spending freeze with only essential items allowed to be procured. Mayor requested plan for 20% budget reduction. Requested both the standard budget submittal and the 20% reduced budget for fiscal year 2020. Parks Superintendent Strepka worked with DPW Superintendent Botelho to develop plan for Parks and Recreation Dept. Plan includes not filling open positions but also not having any cuts in current full time staff. There will be no increase in special services budget. There will be reduction in seasonal hiring and seasonal hours of operation. Daily hours would be adjusted to 10am-4pm daily, instead of 9-5. Also, plan includes reduced number of weeks of summer parks operations including reduced park ranger hours on duty. 3. Other New Business  i. NONE. I. MEETING ADJOURNED: Motion made to adjourn meeting at 8:02pm made by Comm. Fenton. Second by Comm. Bresnahan. J. NEXT COMMISSION MEETING: Wednesday, May 27th, 2020 7:00PM___________________ Documents presented at May 12th, 2020 Commission meeting: a. Parks Commission Meeting Minutes from meeting on April 14th, 2020. b. Email (dated 5/4/2020) from City Solicitor Marshall Moriarty regarding the removal of trees in parks. c. Letter (dated 5/6/2020) from Patrick Graham of the Hampden Charter School of Science-East requesting field use for boys’ and girls’ soccer at Bowie and Rivers Parks this fall. d. Letter (dated 5/11/2020) from Carol Kruser, principal of Chicopee High School, requesting use of Szot Park for CHS graduation on May 12 & 13. Minutes Submitted by: _______________________________ __________ Thomas Bresnahan Date Commission Secretary