Recreation & Community Services Commission

RECREATION & COMMUNITY SERVICES COMMISSION DECEMBER 15, 2022 MEETING 5:30 PM MINUTES RECREATION & COMMUNITY SERVICES COMMISSION – In attendance: Philip Pessina, Jeanette Blackwell, Dan Deconti, Matt Fraulino, Rogers Pylant, Sowgol Zakarian, Absent: Lincoln Everest, Mahrang Danish, Kristen Jensen Staff: Cathy Lechowicz, Director AGENDA: Call Meeting to Order: Meeting called to order at 5:34 pm Public Hearing: No members of public in attendance Approval of the Minutes: Motion to approve November Meeting Minutes by Councilwoman Blackwell and seconded by Rogers Pylant. Approved unanimously. Department Reports: Senior programming has been very busy. Director Lechowicz shared the newsletters. Fewer special programs in January and February. Final Early Bird dinner 12/20. Senior of the Year award last week was awarded to Nancy Clayton. Mayor attended and gave a proclamation. Recreation toy drive is in full-swing. Families are now picking up their gifts. About 300 children registered. Community has been generous with donations. Gearing up for the opening of the Rec Center in January. OLD BUSINESS: Recreation Center update – We are in final stages of the construction. Multipurpose Room floor has been finished. Gym floors are being refinished this weekend in agreement with BOE. The pool floor is starting next week. Plan to get temporary certificate of occupancy for every room but the pool. Soft opening in January. Items from storage pod are being moved in next week. Final cleaning will happen last week of December and then walk-through with architect and a punchlist will be made. Director Lechowicz does not anticipate it being a heavy list; just finishing and cleanup items. Coucilman Pessina commended Director Lechowicz and the committee members on all that they have done. The Rec Center is not an annex for Beman and not part of the BOE. We are happy to partner with Beman at times, but there must be discussion. ARPA funding – Director Lechowicz, Kisha Michael, and Ramona Burkey met with the city-hired consulting firm that are experts in grant administration. They need to adjust budget items that are not allowed, such as food and cash-value giftcards. Funding is through 2024. Dollars can be spent after that, but they must be encumbered by December 2024 and cannot change. We will lose the money if it is used for something that is not specified. Budget is being modified in line with that. Budget Planning – Directors’ Meeting with the Mayor last week. Directive will come out January 1. The Mayor will come speak at the Senior Center to educate our seniors about the Revaluation Process, which needs to be clarified. The mill rates will go down. Councilman Pessina and Councilwoman Blackwell would like to be informed when the meeting is happening so that they can attend as Commission Members. Veterans Pool – Director Lechowicz was hoping to show photos. A massive amount of work has happened. The foundation has been laid. It will be a large pool. We are on track to have it opening in summer 2023. The fee schedule will need to change. We want the pool to be accessible, but we will need to raise the fees over the historical fees. The resident fee will be as low as possible. City veterans will be able to access the facility for an discounted fee. Commission Vacancies – There was a question of the makeup of the commission and if it could be 7-4 by party. There was a Commissioner sitting in an expired term, awaiting the new appointment. Matt Fraulino has finished his second term. He has expressed interest in staying on for a third term, which is allowable under the current Charter. Two new Commissioners, Andrea Dallas and Harold Panciera, will go through in December, in addition to Matt Fraulino. Director Lechowicz will forward the legal decision onto the Commissioners. NEW BUSINESS: Sports Grants Process – Webex informational meeting happened with the previous participants. Most leagues were there. The Sports Grants Application is now live on our website. Director will send a summary email to all Commissioners. The applications will be available for the Commission as hard copies, as well as digitally. Interviews are held during the February meeting. There was a question last fall about the value of the interviews, since the sports groups are always the same, though we do have new Commissioners. We will solidify the Sports Grants Process at the January meeting. Harold Panciera was a recipient of the sports grants in the past, so his opinion would be of value. The process starts now. The reviews start in February. The awards are awarded in July. Our budget is approved by Council in May. MISCELLANEOUS: Next meeting is 1/19. Councilman Pessina sends his apologies for that meeting. He will also be away during the opening of the Rec Center opening, but will send his congratulations to the opening. ADJOURNMENT Rogers Pylant made a motion, Dan Deconti seconded. Meeting adjourned at 6:10pm.