Park & Recreation Meeting Minutes
Meeting date:
Wednesday, January 25, 2017
Members in Attendance: Patrick Roche, Jeanne Reed-Waldron, Mike Massarelli, and Cara Cartello Members Not in Attendance: John Whalley and David DeiDolori Guests: Greg Fitzpatrick, Westfield News The meeting was opened by Commissioner Patrick Roche at 6:30 pm. The next meeting of the Park and Recreation will February 8, 2017 at 6:30pm. Public Comment No public comment Review Minutes and Bills Bills were reviewed and approved. Minutes were reviewed and approved. Whalley Park Pat Strange would like access to the rakes and field supplies to maintain the fields. Pat Roche suggested purchasing a small shed with a combination lock for the coaches to use. This can be purchased with the money from renting the fields. Jeanne suggested hiring an on call person to line the fields as needed. Alicia from the Springfield visitors Bureau will attend the Feb 22nd P&R meeting. Mike Vinsette would like to rent the baseball fields for the Southwick Summer Sizzler Tournament from July 24-30, 2017. The board agreed to $750 rental fee with a $250 cleaning deposit. Last year the trash was overflowing and the men’s bathroom was a mess. The entrance gates at the playscape are down. They were taken down when the concrete work was done to the ramps. The Board agreed to put them in storage. Pat will take them in. Bob Johnson wants to know who will be emptying the trash for the winter and since the maintenance cleaning person will not be coming back this year, who will hire a part time person? P&R has agreed since decision was made last year in a meeting with Karl Stinehart, Carol DellaGustina and Sandy Salmond that we would continue with the decision made; the trash and bathroom cleaning will fall under maintenance. Review email from Jon Goddard at R.Levesque Associates about installation of the field light at the softball field. The fence is a little short and we would like to eventually extend it. The lights should be placed so this expansion will not be affected. Pat will call Karl and Jon to further discuss. Rail Trail R&R picked up the mower for repairs. They have advised P&R that additional repairs are needed. The deck is bent and there is a leak on the side. Total repair cost will be $3,000. P&R decided to hold off on fixing as there is not enough money in the budget to cover the cost. The board will discuss with the Finance committee. The Friends of the Rail Trail would like to know where P&R stands with the two porta potties on the trail. P&R has not changed their position; they do not have funding to support the potties. We will ask the FOSRT if they would like to support this, perhaps putting out one potty instead of the two. P&R will pay for the mural restoration at the rail trail tunnel. The money will come out of rail trail vandalism budget. The FOSRT and David cleared two trees that fell on the rail trail. One of the trees was at Route 57 and one at Miller Road. New Business Cindy Sullivan from the Senior Center asked if P&R would like a senior to volunteer 100 hours to P&R as part of a program where the senior would get $1,000 tax discount off their taxes. The board agreed the Town Beach and Whalley Park are areas in need. Meeting called to a close 8:10 pm Jeanne Reed-Waldron motioned to adjourn the meeting; Mike Massarelli seconded the motion. The meeting was called to a close. Submitted by: Jeanne Reed-Waldron John Whalley Patrick Roche David DeiDolori Mike Massarelli | ||