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 Thursday, February 18, 2021 A. Call meeting to order: Meeting called to order at 7:11pm by Comm Buxton. 1. Attendance: Commissioners Buxton, Bresnahan (remote), Fenton (remote), Ziemba (remote), Montemagni (remote) and Parks Superintendent Strepka. B. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES: 1. Motion for approval of minutes for the January 12th, 2020 meeting made by Comm Fenton, Second by Comm Ziemba. Approved. C. PUBLIC INPUT: NONE. D. COMMUNICATIONS: 1. Request from AJACs for field use for spring soccer at Ray Ash, Williams, and Brooks. Typical annual request from AJAC organization for field usage. Use of Ray Ash will be limited due to need for a field for COMP softball as Rivers Park not available due to ongoing work. Actual fields and time will be dependent on High School schedules. It was noted that CHS lacrosse program uses Brooks. Parks Superintendent Strepka will ask AJAC what size fields are needed and what times practices will be held. Motion to approve made by Comm Montemagni contingent on availability. Second by Comm Fenton. Approved. 2. Request from Hugo Destapado to hold pickup Futsal soccer games at Litwin Park basketball court two days a week. Motion to approve made by Comm Fenton. Second by Comm Bresnahan. Approved. 3. Request from Chicopee Cultural Council to complete a beautification project at Wisniowski Park. The project entails painting the basketball court, painting the spray park, and building a Book Nook. Parks Superintendent Strepka noted special paint needed for basketball court. Also, the spray deck surfacing is special non-slip surface and can’t be painted. Council suggested painting the comfort station. The Commission would like to see a more formal proposal/rendering of what will be painted on the building before approving. Motion to approve basketball court painting and book nook made by Comm Bresnahan contingent court painting include graffiti protective coating Second by Comm Ziemba. Approved. Painting of the building not approved at this time. 4. Other communications – i. Gold Star Soccer submitted wish list for fields for 2021 just prior to 2/18 meeting. Parks Superintendent Strepka to review and send out to Commission before next meeting. Add to agenda for next meeting. E. MAINTENANCE REPORT: 1. Brush and fence line clearing, cemetery work, snow clean-up, and equipment repair and removal. 2. Painting/patching in Front St Office. Door and window replacement planning. 3. Parks Labor Force: Current Park openings: (1) 9L – Heavy MEO/Laborer (1) 5L – MEO/Laborer. (2) 4L – Laborer All other positions are filled. F. RECREATION REPORT: 1. Adult Rec Programs: Virtual Tang Soo Do Korean Martial Arts, Yoga. Virtual Tang Soo Do has been a very successful program. Yoga program plan for the spring is being developed.  2. Youth Rec Leagues: Youth Basketball – TBD. Coaches interested in running clinic, looking to start in March. 3. Youth Rec Programs: Virtual Tang Soo Do Korean Martial Arts, Virtual Art Ventures for Kids. February Vacation – Babysitting Class Feb 17th. Babysitting class is full with waiting list. Art Ventures February 18th -19th. Both classes are full. 4. Recreation Plans for 2021 – see New Business 5. Parks Dept. looking to create Easter egg kits as alternative to the annual Easter egg hunt. Plan is to have a drive thru event where people come to park to get kit from Easter Bunny. Meeting planned with Mayor’s Office to go over details on 2/22. 6. Comm Buxton suggested adding agenda item noting recreation job openings similar to what is in Maintenance Report. G. OLD BUSINESS: 1. PARC Grant – Mountain View – low bidder. Contract is signed. Purchased fitness equipment, spray pad fixtures, and site amenities. Spray pad removal out to bid. Camera installed by IT. 2. Tennis Court Reconstruction – Contract with Mountain View Landscapes signed. Work beginning in spring when weather improves. Malone & McBroom approved submittals for posts, nets and other equipment that is needed. All set for work start. 3. Post 9/11 and Service Dog Memorial Park – Still out for Public Comment. Comments thus far have been mostly favorable. Planning Dept. did receive letter from local condo association with concerns. Planning Dept. will compile and publish a report with all comments and responses instead of responding to each comment separately. 4. Field Use Fees – Draft fees and groups. Parks Superintendent Strepka presented definition of group categories and breakdown of fee structure for each of the 7 groups that teams/organizations will be categorized. Recommendation to keep all fees by game for all categories, not an hourly rate. Easier to track rather than have to monitor actual time teams are on the field. Tournament fee structure still needs development. Structure as proposed will result in no or minimal change to current fees being paid. Law Dept. finishing up review and approval. 5. Other Old Business. i. Polish National CU will be invited to opening ceremony Rivers Park due to their contributions to the project. H. NEW BUSINESS: 1. Spring/summer plans with Health Dept/State Guidelines – Parks Superintendent Strepka met with Health Dept to review planned programs for spring and summer. i. Camp Opee….Health Dept. liked the overall framework of program but more detail is needed to assure adherence to the state guidelines for camps. Guidelines not yet available. Zoom calls are scheduled with State and Opee directors to confirm guidelines and get ideas on implementation. Fee structure for Opee may change based on program offerings. ii. Summer concerts will not be held in person this year. Virtual concerts will once again be taped and shown on local television, same as last year. Bands are being contacted at this time to fill in the concert schedule. iii. Fireworks are cancelled for 2021. At this time, when planning and booking of fireworks vendor is necessary, Health Dept. does not see a way to safely put on the fireworks show. iv. Pools….plan is to open Ray Ash pool this summer. State has provided guidelines and there is a plan that supports compliance. Parks staff working details of the pre-registration process. Possibility for registering through MyRec and waiver of pool use fee is being discussed. v. Spring sports got the full go ahead from Health Dept. Planning for youth sports and adult softball leagues is in process. Meetings with team representatives are being scheduled. 2. MRPA Virtual Conference – virtual conference this spring. Parks Superintendent Strepka presented MRPA program schedule. Conference sessions being held for just a few hours over several days in March. Sessions of interest are Red Cross training, ADA, camps, amongst others. City Planning Dept. wants to participate in capital planning and master planning sessions. Parks Superintendent  Strepka to submit application and provide more information on fees to participate and also see if recorded sessions can be reviewed later for those who can’t participate live. 3. 2021 Park Projects – Parks Superintendent Strepka met with Planning Dept. to discuss future projects. i. The Open Space and Recreation Plan is expiring at the end of the year and requires update. The plan expires every 7 years and is required by the state to be considered for available grants. Planning Dept interns are writing RFQ for hiring 3rd party vendor to assist with this plan which requires collecting public input on what city residents want to see in parks, input on prioritization of projects and feedback on city pools. The Open Space and Recreation Plan is the Parks long term master plan for what we want to do and how we operate. ii. Application for Fiscal 2022 PARC grant is being submitted for addressing Szot Park pool. iii. Planning Dept. looking into Land and Water Conservation Fund grant for addressing Fairview pool. iv. Community Development wants to enhance playground at Lincoln Grove. 4. Other New Business – Comm. Buxton was contacted regarding a conservation/preservation act project. She will provide an update at next meeting. Project focuses on % of tax dollars allocated towards conservation projects which the State will match. I. MEETING ADJOURNED: Motion made to adjourn meeting at 8:06pm made by Comm. Fenton. Second by Comm. Montemagni. J. NEXT COMMISSION MEETING: March 11th, 2021, 7pm___________ Documents presented at February 18th, 2021 Commission meeting: a. Parks Commission Meeting Minutes from meeting on January 12th, 2021. b. Email (dated 1/20/21) from Paul Langevin of AJAC requesting for field use for spring soccer. c. Email (dated 1/29/21) from Hugo Destapado requesting use of Litwin basketball court for Futsal soccer games 2 days a week this summer. d. Letter from Chicopee Cultural Council requesting approval to complete a beautification project at Wisniowski Park. e. MRPA Virtual Conference Schedule Minutes Submitted by: _______________________________ __________ Thomas Bresnahan Date Commission Secretary