Recreation Advisory Board

Recreation Advisory Board Meeting Minutes July 20, 2022 Call to order- Julie Called the meeting to order at 6:00pm Present: Derell Wilson, Julie Cagle, Grant Neurendorf, Peter Camp, Tara Booker, Brigid Marks meeting held at the Senior Center 1. Approval of minutes. Camp/Neurendorf Passed unanimously Public Comment None 2. Old Business A.The Master Plan which will look at the fields and facilities to determine the best use of the spaces, upgrades and set priorities is set to go out for bids. Peter requested the Rec Advisory Board have input in the vision points and that the RFQ matches the key direction of the Rec Dept. Tara will review the RFQ and reach out to Bob, the purchasing agent. B. The Tennis committee reported Tara sent an email to the contact at Gordian which is the construction company for the Armstrong courts to see if they will honor their original bid or what the new bid might be. There is no timeline to the project at this time. The committee members Fred and Pat would like to be included in all emails. Public Works has begun preparing a low impact design for the parking lot and the sidewalk that will extend down to the playground area. New Business 1. Program update Tara shared the programming data which included capacity, participation and staffing numbers. The programs revolving around school calendars are shown to be very popular. A discussion about how to best get Rec programming information out into the community. Julie voice a concern that we are not reaching our diverse community members. Spaulding Pond has had 3011 people to date and the swimming lessons have been well received. 2. Facilities Jenkins second basketball court is complete. Courts at Hamilton and McKeon are complete and Spayne is in progress for resurfacing. The well at the pond needed maintenance. Awaiting quotes for Lake Street and Stanton tennis courts and the renovations at Hamilton fields have begun. Greenville playground will use ARPA funds for its upgrade. The three courts at Spayne are in the final steps of resurfacing and are expected to be completed by weeks end. The Rec has started renovations of fields starting with Hamilton. They used the new sod cutter to edge all the grass on the infield, and will now be bringing in more clay to finish the field rehab. We are awaiting quotes to resurface the Lake St basketball courts as well as the Stanton tennis courts. Also the well at the beach stopped working and needed a complete overhaul. Almost everything but the piping was replaced in order to get it back up and running correctly. 3. Other Julie announced the Cheryl has officially resigned her position as The Norwich Recreation Manager. There was a discussion about the timeline to fill the position. Tara and Bob Kilpatrick will manage the department until there is a new hire. The committee will request to participate in the Rec Manager hiring process. It was also pointed out that Tara is also leaving her position as Human Services Director and will continue on part time until a replacement is hired. She said better tools would be helpful to do the job. Julie suggested that during this transitional time the city look at going back to the original structure where the Rec Department, the Senior Center and Youth & Family are independent departments then the Human Services department can return to dealing with its already massive responsibilities. Tara commented that the structure isn’t an issue with good division managers over each of them including Adult and Family and the right tools to manage put in place. Peter asked about reviewing the financial reserve and programming funds. There was a discussion about financial reporting of the department and the committee requested a monthly financial report. Julie was very disappointed to learn that the Community Engagement Coordinator will not be funded. There was a discussion about a new engagement tool that will be put in place to help with community outreach. Julie said besides a tool, a person to head up and be a point person to help better engage the city’s residents is needed. Grant suggested looking into volunteers or using internships to help with this issue. Other marketing efforts were discussed. The committee would like to request a report on residents’ concerns and positive interactions with the recreation department. Derell said there is a portal for this in other towns and Tara said there are also forms that are filled out that can be shared. There is an issue with non-profit youth groups booking fields and then not using them. Julie will send Tara the most recent policy on field and facilities permits. This will be addressed at the next meeting. 5. Next meeting September 21, 2022 - 6pm, location TBD 6. Adjournment 7:40 pm