MINUTES OF THE RAYNHAM PARK & RECREATION COMMISSION
Regular Monthly Meeting, Sept. 11, 2007, 6:00 p.m.
Raynham Senior Center, 2215 King Philip Street, Raynham, MA
In Attendance: Chair Chris Bodensieck, Commissioner Chris Shaw, Director Elizabeth Francis, and Administrative Assistant/Recording Secretary SJ Blanchard.
Absent: Commissioner John Lucier.
The Chairman called the meeting to order at 6:02 p.m. Chris S. made a motion to accept as printed the minutes of the Aug. 7, 2007 Commission meeting; Chris B. seconded the motion and the minutes were unanimously approved by the two.
Cathy Donnelly of the Raynham Renegades (RR) requested that the practice times for the Borden Colony fields be reviewed, with the RR requesting the use of any free Borden Colony fields. Chris B. acknowledged that field availability is scarce at any time, and that fields cannot be used at will and taken over just because no one is on them at any given moment. He stressed that the field-use schedule must be strictly adhered to! He went on to say that if no one is scheduled to use a field at a certain time, then anyone is free to use it, but that all practices must be run through the group president and a field-use permit must be applied for and approved. It was noted that a copy of the schedule will be posted at the RYS concession stand and a copy forwarded to the local police department.
Donnelly also apprised the Commission of a situation which arose the previous weekend, when a parent and several children playing a pick-up game on a Borden Colony field were asked by RYS president Dave Caron to leave the field, despite the fact that it was late in the day and no others were scheduled to use the field at that time. Approximately 20 family members affiliated with RR were present to voice their opinions or lend support for the issue. Sue Ribeiro said that she was present and that it was her husband that Caron addressed his comments to, adding that the situation smacks of discrimination and makes one feel like a second-class citizen. The Chairman said that he will speak with Dave Caron for his side of the situation, and noted that there is a clear difference between an organized practice
and pick-up games and that the two must be differentiated.
John Ross asked for assurance that this won’t happen again and what the course of action should be if it does occur again. Chris S. said that it’s a matter of educating families, the parents and the children, about what’s expected regarding schedules and free fields.
Present were Nancy Quinton and Paul Murphy who, together with Jon Lyons, run traveling basketball leagues for over 100 girls and boys in grades 4 -8 and are encountering a problem with getting enough weekend court-time. They were assured that we will work with them where we can, but that the schools do the gym permitting and control the use of them. Jon Lyons arrived later in the meeting to inquiry about LaLiberte gym availabilities.
RYS president David Caron arrived at 6:55 p.m. and announced that he demands a written apology from Mr. Ribeiro for the foul language he expressed while Caron was asking him to leave the field. Caron insisted that the timeframe was 2 or 2:30 p.m. Saturday when 8 to 10 kids were using Burke Field. Peter Seddon corrected him that it was closer to 5 or 5:30 p.m., which concurred with what the RR parents had said. The Chairman provided a field-use schedule and explained that the interpretation must be that if a field is slated for use, others must stay off of it for that time period, whether or not the scheduled users are on it.
Liz reported on the following:
· Fields are being prepped in order to put out an RFP to lease the farmland. The land needs to be pulled back into shape in order to make them farmable, before they revert back to wetlands via their vegetation. The timeline is to have the RFP finished by the end of November with the lease to begin January 1. It was noted that the Olson’s agreement runs through the end of March 2008.
· Commissioners were provided with a financial report for all of the summer programs and reviewed it. To date, the total loss for all programs is $1,677.00, with funds still anticipated from PACE vouchers. In addition, three families have outstanding balances from the summer.
· RYS has requested that an emergency-vehicles access road be established. The Fire Chief will be asked to suggest a pattern and a fence installed.
· The sponsor banners on the Arruda Field must be removed by RYS, per Joey Arruda.
· The Raynham Renegades want to install a permanent banner at Borden Colony. The Chairman said no, one may only be displayed while they are on the field and it must be removed immediately afterwards.
· It is a requirement of the state childcare licensing regulations that individual employee evaluations be done annually (calendar year) and maintained in each employee’s file. This policy needs to be established, along with policies regarding raises for multi-year employees, and printed in the staff handbooks. Raises need to be merit-based and capped, keeping in line with the increase percentages earned by town employees. Liz will draft a policy to be voted on at the next Commission meeting.
The broken gate on the Borden Colony access road has been fixed and a lock put on it. An emergency key will remain in the soccer concession stand. Tractor-pull spectators will no longer be allowed to drive back and park there; however the tractors will be allowed through. The flying club people are concerned about access for their vehicles and being locked out during soccer season. It was decided to give the flying group a key to the gate and a time by which they must have the gate locked back up.
The following two field-use requests were reviewed:
1. The Southeastern Mass. Community Tennis Association requests the use of the Borden Colony tennis courts for 8 successive Sundays from 9 to 1, starting Sept. 9th. It was pointed out that by granting this request, it would effectively shut down the availability of half of the town’s tennis courts to residents. This request was tabled, pending Chris B’s contacting the applicant.
2. Northbrook Academy submitted a revised fall cross-country schedule, changing their dates to Thursdays. Chris B. made a motion to approve this revised application; it was seconded by Chris S. and a unanimous vote followed.
A request for one-day liquor licenses for 10 upcoming events was submitted by the Raynham Lions Club (see addendum). Chris S. made a motion to recommend that the Board of Selectmen approve the granting of one-day licenses for the 10 events. Chris B. seconded the motion and a unanimous vote followed.
The Chairman read aloud the August 2007 letter of resignation submitted by Commissioner John Lucier, citing other obligations. His resignation was accepted with sincere regret. At next week’s Board of Selectmen meeting, an interim Commissioner will be appointed to fill this vacancy through next spring’s general town election, when candidates will run to fill the remainder of this term.
Chris B. noted that the silos had been taken down earlier this day.
Chris S. opined that the field-use fee structure needs to be looked at and revised.
SJ reported that the Department has secured group tickets to the Nov. 2nd performance of Disney’s “High School Musical,” and is in the process of reserving group tickets to the Pops Holiday concert at Symphony Hall.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:00 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
SJ Blanchard
Administrative Assistant/Recording Secretary
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