Board of Park Commissioners

CITY OF FITCHBURG James McGrath (Chairman) Mary Whitney (Vice-Chair) Dave Brooks Board of Mary Cringan Park Commissioners Colby O’Brien James Bunnell Director of Parks and Recreation P: (978) 829 1815 718 Main Street Ama Baker F: (978) 345 9687 Fitchburg, Massachusetts 01420 Recreation Assitant Board of Park Commissioners Meeting FITCHBURG CITY CLERK Date: Tuesday, December 5th, 2023 Feb 12 2024 3:43 pm Location: West Conference Room, Fitchburg City Hall, 718 Main Street Call to Order: The Tuesday, December 5th,2023 meeting was called to order by Commissioner Jim McGrath at 5:32 pm. Commissioner Members Present: Commissioners Jim McGrath, Mary Whitney, Dave Brooks, and Mary Whitney. (Mary Cringnan, not Mary Whitney. Amended February 6th 2024, Approved 3-0) Also Present is Recreation Director James Bunnell, DPW Commissioner Nick Erickson, Recreation Assistant Ama Baker, Alex Vera, and Myles Phillips-Wilcox. Virtually: Arthur Magun, Joann Hamburg Absent: Commissioner Colby O’Brien Public Comment: No Public Comment Prior Meeting Minutes: A motion was made by Mary Whitney and seconded by Dave Brooks to approve the minutes from the November 9th meeting. Motion Approved 4-0 _____________________________________________________________________________________ A motion was made by Jim McGrath and seconded by Dave Brooks to move the Woodland Estates agenda item to the beginning of the meeting. Approved 4-0 o Woodland Estates-JoAnne Hamber JoAnne Hamburg presented the Board of Parks Commissions with an Easement on her property of 8.5 acres. o The main reasoning is to finish building their community and this is one of the requirements: to put the land in an easement, trust, or something along those lines in order to continue building. • The city will have the right to maintain the forest and make sure it stays a forest. • This estate will be on the behalf of the Parks Commissions/Park Department • The easement will be in effect until both JoAnne and Parks Commissions sign and agree otherwise • JoAnne would have to continue to pay taxes. • JoAnne stated their lawyer and the city solicitor worked on the wording of the agreement together. Motion to approve the attached agreement, in principle, subject to review of the City Solicitor. The City, through the Parks Division, owns an adjacent tract of forest land and the Parks Commissioners would prefer to preserve the additional land described in the easement in its natural state if so given the opportunity. They specifically asked that the title of the document be changed to “Preservation Easement” as the current title of “Landscaping Easement” implies that some sort of landscaping will be required by the City. They also requested that the easement be executed in such a fashion as to make it clear that the DPW Parks Division is the holder of the easement by Mary Cringan and seconded by Dave Brooks. Approved 4-0 Department Reports: Friends of Coggshall Report: Mary Cringnan reported: • Coggshall dinner o Thanked Mayor Stephen L. Dinatale and Jim McGrath for all the support over the years • Became a recipient of a $50,000 estate by Janice Dingy who had donated to the Friends of Coggshall for years o Money was donated to Friends of Coggshall and Keene State o In account at Community Foundation and not in the Friends of Coggshall account yet o Friends of Coggshall will have a plaque created for her A motion was made by Mary Whitney and seconded by Dave Brooks to approve the report. Motion Approved 4-0 _____________________________________________________________________________________ Riverfront & Trails: Tabled A motion was made by Mary Whitney and seconded by Mary Cringan to table the report. Motion Approved 4-0. Community Development Report: • Met with Liz, Amy, and Kim about CBDG grants of prior years. • Meeting next Monday about 2024 ideas o Install electronic signs in parks like Upper Common o Use to help promote events & street closures etc. • Salvation Army has one & Lenny Laasko can update o Signage info from Jeremy Roche o Sign double-sided costs • Possibly add a shade structure to the pool & Goodrich • Parkhill & Green Street project on hold o The parks department allocated money to those projects • Parkhill o Fix courts, BMX, and skate park and also secure stream. o The baseball field needs a new pitching mound, home plate, dugouts, etc. • Phase 1 & Phase 2 of CBDG grants will cover listed above o Another project to fix playgrounds @ Mama Fitz & Parkhill • The Parks department looked to take over an “unknown park”; Appleton Circle o Arthur Binnell is on the name on the Deed o Little League doesn’t want to take over because currently backed up on water and electric bills o Little League doesn’t have the manpower or money to take over the maintenance  They have a grant they haven’t cashed yet A motion was made by Mary Crinigan and seconded by Mary Whitney to approve the report. Motion approved 4-0. Parks Maintenance Report • Lights up on poles at Monument Park • Took down all American Flags • 11/4/23 Nativity is now in front of Christ Church on Main St. o Went from Monument Park then Upper Common and now in front of Christ Church • Had a couple of complaints about it last year at Upper Common • Continuing leaf pick-up • Stump pick up; stump grinder broke and just got it back o 1 more stump at Coolidge o All costs covered by the DCR grant • The gazebo in the Upper Common has new LED lights that cost $1.50 to run each year o Electricity is turned off at the Upper Common gazebo and Gateway Park • Riverfront outlets are in the light post so can’t turn those off • Will look into Solar lights and a possible grant for them • DCR said 20 Ashtrees need to go o Have Emerald Ash Borers in them which is an evasive species o They will take it out and replace it. This includes 2nd round of implementation grant • Keep picking up unnecessary trash o Contractors and residents just dump at local parks • The historical Commission bench post is up o It is a fundraiser; people can choose to participate o People say it’s too expensive o Partnering with the Historical Commission • Black Friday shopping o 3 shop vacs • Youth contracts and leases for the new year going out Mary Whitney motioned to accept the report. Dave Brooks seconded. Approved 4-0 Recreation Report • Walking passes have reached 99 distributed o Walking hours have changed. o Old Saturday Hours: 3-9 pm; Now 8-3 pm o Old Sunday Hours: 8-3 pm; Now 3-8 pm • Giving Tree o The recreation department committed to include 7th -12th graders on their Giving Tree totaling 88 kids.  The department has now included 6th grades totaling a little over 100 kids. • Talked about improvements on the tags being more specific to select kids. • South Street will distribute gifts • Cheryl has donated tons of hats and socks • Black Friday shopping for Halloween activities for next year at 88% off. • Biddy league  o Currently working on Worcester District Attorney Grant to provide equipment for Biddy league. o The program started practicing the Monday after Thanksgiving and the first game is on December 14th. o Taking a different approach this year with two divisions including G-League which are 3rd & 4th graders and NBA with 5th-8th graders  Ideally would like to have 3rd-5th and 6th-8th. Based on the number of participants, this is the way it had to be broken into. o There are 12 teams with 10-12 kids per team. o All coaches have passed CORI checks. o The recreation department is in constant contact with schools and coaches to get all info and/or change notices out as soon as possible. • Raider is out and about visiting parks and different areas of the city. • Fitchburg Service Learning from FSU o Working on making announcements for parks o Creating an interactive map of all the Veteran flags around the City of Fitchburg o Will have the location, name, where they served, and more background information on the person if clicked on. • Concerts in the Common and Movies in the Park are already being worked on • Bingo is something new that the department would like to introduce A motion by Mary Whitney to approve this report. Seconded by Dave Brooks. Approved 4-0 _______________________________________________________________________________ New Business: Statement of Interest in Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Grant-DPW Commissioner Nick Erickson • Grant vulnerabilities the city faces based on natural forces o Flood, etc. o 2020 Mitigation plan laid out environmental vulnerabilities  Mitigation Ideas  Floodable field at Coolidge Park • Offline flood storage area; adjacent to the Brook • Water goes into the Coolidge soccer field area, then drain o This could possibly lead to improvements such as turf. • A second location will be looked into; a Gravel pit located off John Fitch Highway o This location is located more downstream and is also owned by DPW • Statements of the next round of funding are in 2024; steps of the process: o Submission of statement of interest to the EDA o Submit Grant o Successful grants are approved in July A motion to move forward was approved by Mary Whitney and seconded by Dave Brooks. Approved 4-0 • Meeting Dates for 2024 o See document attached A motion to approve the anticipated meeting dates was made by Mary Whitney and seconded by Mary Cringan. Approved 4-0 Old Business: • Passive Park with Peter C. to be revisited • Park Rules are being in the updating process Motion to adjourn the meeting by Mary Whitney seconded by Dave Brooks. Approved 4-0 The meeting adjourned at 7:20 pm