Recreation & Community Services Commission

RECREATION & COMMUNITY SERVICES COMMISSION JANUARY 18, 2024 MEETING 5:30 PM MINUTES RECREATION & COMMUNITY SERVICES COMMISSION – In attendance: Jeanette Blackwell, Leslie Spatola, Dan DeConti, Harold Panciera, Rogers Pylant, Matt Fraulino, Andrea Dallas, Sowgol Zakarian Absent: Mahrang Danish, Kristen Jensen, Lincoln Everest Staff: Cathy Lechowicz, Director; Nick Dionne, Aquatics & Recreation Supervisor; Andrew Ivans, Summer Aquatics Director AGENDA: Call Meeting to Order: Meeting called to order at 5:41pm Public Hearing: No members of public in attendance Approval of the Minutes: Andrea Dallas made a motion to approve minutes from December 21st, 2023. Leslie Spatola seconded. Approved unanimously. Department Reports: Senior Department Report- Senior Lunch Program, very close to signing MOU. New kitchen equipment is incoming to Senior Center. Lunch program will start after installation to eliminate suspension of service, less confusing for seniors. Aim to start in March. Recreation Department Report- Great Toy Drive in December. Unified Theater production this week honoring Q Williams at Middletown High Theater. Next big events are Easter Egg Hunt and Fishing Derby. OLD BUSINESS: Commission appointments- All approved, Commissioners Pylant, Zakarian, and Jensen, will continue. Rec pass program- Going very well, increasing access to the rec center. Looking for ways to continue to grow and develop. Sports grant application- Applications are due tomorrow, 1/19. Will ask if you want it electronically or a hard copy in email sent later tonight. NEW BUSINESS: Veteran’s Pool: Pass Proposal - When designing proposal, recreation staff looked at how Veterans pool fits in with whole division, including Crystal Lake for summer camp, and indoor pool at rec center. Trying to solve capacity issues, have been conservative with lifeguard to swimmer ratio. We utilize 1 to 15 ratio, but we can increase ratio at Veterans to increase capacity. Possibility of changing hours, open until 2:45, changing camp swim to earlier in day. How to structure access to pool? Outdoor vs indoor pool, different populations and different needs. Increase fees for non-residents? Non-resident daily passes, extreme heat days may choose to not sell passes. Floor is open to questions: Pylant- How can non-residents find out if they can get a daily pass? Advertise at beginning of season, status on Facebook page and registration site, any other avenues are welcome to be considered. Dallas- What about specific days for residents only? Weather is #1 driving factor for use of pool. There is a question that if weather is bad on non-resident days, would there be question of make up days? Weekends only for residents, or specific days of the week for non-residents? Pylant- How much do we depend on non-residents to fund the program? There is a revenue expectation for the pool, not an astronomical figure. We could hit the expectation with just residents, but costs are increasing. The expectation may be that we increase revenue to offset increased budget needs. Extra revenue is always helpful. Director- This proposal does not have to be permanent. Last year was atypical due to many factors, this year should be more typical. We will collect and analyze data throughout the summer, and can revisit the policy at the end of the summer. Zakarian- We should not make any changes this year, due to this being the first full summer of the pool. Use it to gather data and make a more informed decision for the following year. Option 1- Monday-Friday non-resident daily passes, with asterisks that during heat waves, passes may not be sold, weekends would be residents only. Option 2- Choose a few days a week (ex. Mondays and Wednesdays, Tuesdays and Thursdays) to allow non- residents to buy daily passes, with asterisks that during heat waves, passes may not be sold, all other days would be resident only. Dan DeConti made a motion to approve option 1 for the pass proposal. Seconded by Sowgol Zakarian seconded. Ayes- DeConti, Dallas, Zakarian, Pylant, Spatola, Panciera. Proposal after discussion as follows: Residents and non-residents access available Monday-Fridays. Non- residents must purchase a daily pass, with the caveat that the recreation department has the right to not sell daily passes at their discretion due to high temperatures. Resident access only on Saturdays and Sundays. Proposal will be brought forward to the common council for the February meeting. MISCELLANEOUS: N/A ADJOURNMENT Rogers Pylant made a motion to adjourn, Leslie Spatola seconded. Approved unanimously. Meeting adjourned at 6:30 pm.