oh where did Angela go Angela can you hear us we can't hear you we can't hear you but you can hear us so okay perfect thank you I the guess 55 is still good but I don't know what's going on right now the other two were locked the um did they change password I that I was able to walk in the guest Wi-Fi connected just SL I don't know all right 7 o'clock are we good to go yes okay all right I'm going to call the meeting to order okay so um this is the meeting of the Parks Commission Wednesday July 31st 2024 in accordance with the requirements of the meeting law please be advised that this meeting is being recorded and it will be broadcasted over lunenberg Public Access Channel and uploaded to the lunenberg access YouTube channel this meeting will be held in person at the location provided on notice members of the public are welcome to attend this in-person meeting please note that while an option for remote attendance or participation is being provided is a courtesy this meeting will not be suspended or terminated if technological problems interrupt the virtual broadcast unless otherwise required by law the agenda lists all of the topics which may be discussed at the meeting and those and are those reasonably anticipated by the chair votes may be taken as a result of these discussions not all items listed May in fact be discussed and other items not listed may also be brought up for discussion to the extent permitted by the open meeting law so I'm going to open the meeting and we have a form so we have present so we have Karen here calling here Chris here Tim Lawless our new member thank you thank you here and myself andita sharkers okay so facilities director updates I don't believe that um we have Chris Ruth present tonight he's still on paternity leave um and I didn't receive anything from him in advance that he wanted to discuss so I'm going to check that off as being no update Anita after we get done with um Angela's updates could we possibly move number nine um up because Katie white from Boys and Girls Club is on now okay perfect sure be glad to okay um I'm also gonna um number three uh the capital planning request because Chris is not here we can push that down further so I'm going to at this point skip to number four which is the recreation director updates so Angela Hi how are you still muted can you hear me you're good okay um so we just finished up with our best soccer program last week um we don't have anything running this week we do have two more weeks of programs they're both the multisports program so that will take place next week and then the following week um Beach lessons swim lessons are almost over um so this will be the final week of swim lessons um besides that the beach is of course open now um the numbers have dropped significantly so it did take us a little bit to reopen that um looking forward to the fall I'm still kind of working on dates for Mo most of the things um I did ask the school to see if I could use one of their classrooms for the fall and winter um just to hopefully make my time more useful maybe running like two programs at once running you know like pickle ball in the gym and then having the option to run like my stem programs in a classroom at the same time so able to like run more programs simultaneously so I'm hoping that pans out um but other than that plan on doing like um another resin class for youth with the arts program um an adult one as well uh I plan on doing pickle wall um hoping we get volleyball running again for fall and winter um and then last year we did have some like rentals that used the facility as well um so some stuff like that okay so um Angela can you clarify what's the last date that the swim lessons what's when do they I believe it's this Friday correct okay and the town Beach is open until what date I need to get those details from Liz it's not so much it's kind of based also on the lifeguards when we're able to keep them until um not so much that we don't have the time to use but it's just like a lot of them are in high school or college so I just have to get that exact detail I did ask Liz um the beach director to just send me a message and let me know what the final dates are available for everybody just so I can post that okay all right thanks I was hoping to you know extend it a little bit further than we normally do if possible if we have the lifeguards for it uh just because we did lose that week when the beach was closed yeah I wonder if we could close Angela um so the high school goes back the 27th I'm trying to think who's over there um we do have one college freshman two other older college kids um but I wonder if even if we had to close for you know midweek maybe we could open up for a Labor Day weekend yeah that's a thought what do we we go until when for our seasonal employment are we where we go into September so if that happened that would be okay it does go so I assume that great that's a good idea thanks okay um does anybody have any questions for Angela Angel did Jim get a hold of you for the C to 5K thing yet yes yep we're gonna work together on that I do need to send him another email um I didn't know we had most of the details settled so basically it just seems like what he would like from or us um is just to do the registrations through my um as well as just do some of the advertising stuff like that and just be a presence there for the community when it does happen yeah whenever you have anything I'm happy to publicize anything I that be great Bo your group and involve the race thanks thank you okay no other questions comments okay thank you Angela appreciate it thank you okay I'm going to at this point skip to number um nine which is the Boys and Girls Club Polar Plunge November 2024 so um Chris you want to lead us up on that discussion hi Kitty nice to nice to see you thanks for joining us yeah um previously an iteration to this board talked about talk with the boys and girls club or I had talked to the Boys and Girls Club and brought it to the board uh the commission to run a Polar Plunge at uh the town beach um as a fundraiser for the club um it didn't come fruition last year um but they did just connect um again and so I suggested maybe someone from the club join just because there's a lot of new members and kind of re-engage we had embraced it in the past but uh kind of it sounds like we might have more legs right now so want to get someone involved with the club to just at least kind of start the dialogue and make sure we're all still board you can get it okay great so Katie what can you tell us um I'm just getting started I'm I'm still fairly new at the club but nice to meet everybody um I think the idea behind um doing the Polar Plunge was having folks get sponsored to do it so I think that will be in the conversation I'll use an example of let's say Michelle so Michelle wants to raise $1,000 so that she does the Polar Plunge at the beach um so I think we're going to work out the logistics piece of it for maybe who would be doing the Polar Plunge or what that looks like but um ideally the day would be um the November 30th is what we were looking for um and then if you're on board of that I think the idea was because it's close to Thanksgiving time that there could be some alumni in the area as well so there could be an opportunity to re-engage some of the folks that maybe were at the Boys and Girls Club were um home from college during that time frame that be be interested in doing it so I think that was the goal that Michelle had in mind um just to do some a smaller scale fundraiser with that okay so um how are you going to advertise this Kitty that would be through social media um I would probably figure out with Michelle who she wants to actually have sponsored to do the polar plunge and what that would look like um and then I would assume it be within the town as well so if there's any support system that you have um if there's anybody from the town that would maybe want to do the Polar Plunge if that could be something fun for people to get involved with um to help raise some of the funds um but that would be my my idea would be mostly social media um we would do our website and those types of things we could do regular Flyers as well but I think kind of targeting more of where we're looking at um for sponsorship might be the best route for for publicizing that and then I have to talk to Michelle too about you know is it a large scale Community event or is it going to be a smaller one with something like that so um we'll have to narrow down what we plan to do a little bit more for that day okay um for the board have we ever done anything like this before we haven't but we I don't think we I don't think we have um but I know that as Chris said it had come up in past discussions and the grp that that point was support of it it just never never grew enough likes to take off running um can I ask a couple of questions to Katie while we're here yeah absolutely um Katie would you guys um well two questions one um do we are there lifeguards needed for this and if so do you have some leads on that already um I that would I'd have to ask Michelle and see I don't know like how I'm also very new to the area as well so I drive um but I don't know how deep it gets too and I don't know if it's just kind of like a run into maybe your shoulders or your waist and then come out so I don't know how much actual like swimming would be involved there would be an absolute need for a lifeguard so I would say that um a lifeguard even if it's just dipping their toes in would be a requirement from us is my guest I think that we could probably ask some of our um lifeguards that are on staff now if that's something they'd be willing to volunteer to do um and we've got some other leads um of kids that um have graduated in the past few years that are they are still lifeguard certified um and my only other comment would be to make sure you folks touch base with Chief Sullivan at the fire department okay just to make sure that they have um they have people on staff and present there in case there is um an emergency that comes up okay I think the past couple years the um sto polar plch was at the town beach um they used to go to the cape and do one um the student council from the high school or they just go in on the and so they but the past couple years they did it here um at somewhere they did I think they did it at um AR what's now arrive yeah that beach so so presumably whether it's you know the public safety or somebody has already done this here in town and right over there so hopefully they could offer us and I know Michelle said she engag with the with the fire department to make sure there was something that they would support as well I think they've done at least two years over there okay the the other thing I was thinking of was is this something that we feel that we need to have people sign a waiver to participate I I would say yeah I was going to say when I did that not I know it's irrelevant to this but um even when I did like a u Pawn skin for skiing I had sign a waiver even though it was like only up to my ankles yeah yeah I mean it just protects the town and it's you know anyone who's willing to volunteer I'm sure would have no issues with signing the waiver it's a standard waiver form that the town has so I think we should probably include that as being part of the process okay okay okay any other questions or comments on it I don't think so okay so Katie you you'll keep us up to date so at this point we're tentatively looking at the 30th yep yep that would be the tentative day I will meet with Michelle and kind of nail down a little bit more about the logistics pieces in terms of what their vision is um like IID mentioned if it's going to be a collective Polar Plunge or is it going to be like a select few that we try to raise more money to get them to go into the water um so we'll we'll figure out those pieces and then we'll stay connected um I is there a contact for the student council um for folks that have previously done it um it's um it's Don gearen oh yeah um at the high school so it's D Garen at lunet um yeah g r i n DG r i n at ver schools.net okay all right excellent yeah that might be helpful too to reach out um and just kind of see how what they've done in the past and um how it worked and all that yeah I mean I feel like they had 15 or 20 kids that did it so it wasn't just a couple of adults or something it was you know a fairly significant number of kids and with this being relegated only to residents so I guess it would depend on how um the Boys and Girls Club wants to run it whether or not they limit it to their own members participants or they open it up to the community at large they open it up to the community at large I think it would have to be I mean we've we've never excluded out of town folks from things so they would think we would be supportive of somebody from Townson wanted to do it or a grandmother from lemonster wanted wer exactly I mean I theold water true I feel like opening it up I mean it's going to be up to you guys at the club but I feel like opening it up would be fun thing to do you know depending on what Public Safety officials have to say is a you know safe and number but I feel like you know even if you just charge people 25 bucks or whatever to go people love a PO F I don't know why no you know it's not quite as bad as New Year's Day or something yeah I um it's just as great it could could be worth know what to expect um I will definitely figure out you know with Michelle I think it'd be fun to I I like the idea of being kind of competitive with it too right so there's each person like oh for another 25 I'll wear a I don't know like a costume or just their you know bathing suit or something so I think that there's ways to really work um on a a good way to fund raise depending on what their their vision is for it so I'll definitely get a better idea with Michelle um aome okay so we have Katie's contact information so we can t email yeah ktie we meet the third typically the third Wednesday every month just for your purposes to to re-engage so maybe September would be good probably to so plan like third Thursday in September I'm sorry third Wednesday in September excuse me yeah um to maybe rejoin and and connect again we' be a couple months out and that would give us time to finalize all the details yep it'll give me some time to connect with you know Michelle where is the the Ritter building it's in the center of town um if you had if you were leaving the boys and girls club and you went straight through the intersection it's the first building on the right okay yeah you can almost see it from from the club okay so it's across the the intersection or not that far yeah it's it's on the other side of the intersection acoss from gotcha okay excellent I will try to be there in person okay awesome right thank you nice to see you thanks Ka all you thank you okay okay so we're GNA um jump back up so um number five actually number three let's go to three so consider Capital planning requests so it's that time of year when we need to start to think about what we're going to you know ask to be put on Capital planning for the next fiscal year and um obviously I haven't been on the commission long enough to know what process you all typically take in this um I I did have a um feedback before I took the chair position I did have feedback from the prior chair in terms of something that she had been contemplating go on the capital list um but before I go with that I just wanted to get some feedback from you all in terms of how did you all normally do this process and you know what what should we be thinking about at me yes as Chris said you're about to be sorely disappointed you really didn't have one they were just some idea ideas that had been thrown out of things um we thought would be good and like the Wallace Court was because it was a necessity um but it it we don't really have a good blowing process in this we need one but we don't have a good flowing process on us that's what I was afraid you're gonna say okay so you know typically um you know a all the different departments boards are commit in the community have been evaluating what their infrastructure is and you know improvements that they would like to consider moving forward you know for the capital plan and I don't know I am embarrassed to say I don't know how far out lunenberg goes with a capital plan some towns do just a 10 year some do 20 year we're 10 10 year okay 10 okay all right so um what that means is that when we put something out you know it's you know we have have to declare the priority in terms of that so that the capital planning committee and then the town manager can understand you know where should this potential request be placed in the priority of all the things townwide so um I in in the months that I've been on the commission we haven't talked about Capital planning um are you guys aware of anything those of you who have been on the board longer than me um are you aware of anything you guys have talked about that hasn't really been put forward before no because I think that um where we at with the Northfield where we did we have that on the list I think on list to start process of some kind or that was on the list and I don't know I don't think that made the that was a piece of land that was it's over on Northfield uh Northfield Road it's the parcel across from the um Table Rock T Ro it's it's CA property if that name rings the bell to you it's um there's a large piece of property purchased five years ago um and half of it went to I say half the one side of the property went to the Conservation Commission and they use it as Table Rock the um the other side is um um is Falls to Parks so it's an undeveloped piece of property that Falls to it belongs under us um so it was starting the process of what to do with that property I can I said it then and I'm going to say it now I don't know where my bandwidth is on being able to take on another large piece project like that um on the heels of the startings of hopefully Marshall Park coming to and that's all part of the conversation we you know we need to be realistic in terms of what we have ability to move forward and you know part of that is you know the viability of the project and you know how successful might it be in terms of getting fundings that's all part of what we need to consider so okay so Northfield approximate size of that property 30 30 how big is the parcel for Parks over where Northfield 38 30 35 46 somewhere between 30 and 50 yeah large it's a thunderstorm got a band coming through it's going to take about a half hour to I think like one of those just continues to be in my I'm gonna look it up right now my my mind I think it's a simpler it's not a from a not simple by any stretch but I think yeah yeah I I Envision it and I hope what it will be is open rectangular multi-purpose space but it is under Parks control yeah correct I don't I don't see it being a huge 961 Northfield Road 961 Northfield you guys have like a running dock that you use to track sort of like the requests that come in or the items for discussion uh terms you know minutes and then um which would capture our you know what we've talked about in the past I think that's kind of where it all and and the process is because we have a facilities director um facilities Department um we would put those to the facilities director and have him present these to the um Capital planning committee and um he and you know he obviously as you know he he's just more than Parks he's all Town buildings and you know all everything so you know it's puts a lot on him in terms of trying to these and so it's important for us for things exactly and and to really let him know what things we feel more strongly about than others so prioritization of things is really important in terms of the feedback that we give 55.7 acres is what this is the prop I had 50 in my I was thinking seemed 50 seemed high so I went back to that's a large person very large it's a very large parcel and it's um yeah it's um and it's in aide of town that we don't have Parks doesn't have anything over there um I mean there's a certainly a need for more massive more Fields but that will be a you know engineering and right everything so and so we don't know what we already have still sitting on the capital plan requests okay good question so what exists I will check with ch S's back in active mode and he I I know we've talked about this what he presents is is a prioritization of everything facilities and he can't present you know and and prioritize here are the actual building requests or facility requests and here are you know like Park request one one big thing right so that's bit of a challenge you know right that many I've got it right here um this is fy4 so MCN Park is on there and that was $50,000 and that was for um Dave MCN Park Capital planning request at 50,000 was that for a um a schematic design that was yeah that was to do up to a schematic design um so that's when that one was then we have Wham Lake and Marshall Pond treatment um originally we got the this was crazy they funded our permitting process and then they had the actual treatment further down on the list we do need to figure out how to get that taken care of the Lakes the weeds are really bad again this year the um that one is I'm sorry uh 30,000 30,000 I'm sure it's going to be higher now well right it was 30,000 yeah that it's 60,000 those are the only ones that are coming up um okay you know and here here's what I will say about um that right now is that um when we're considering stuff adding stuff we also need to keep in mind that um we need to be looking at Grants to see if there's going to be anything that we would be eligible to apply for because I know that's um that's one of the topics um that has come up recently um within finance committee is that you know we're going through these lists and you know if there's a grant opportunity we should they we should be going for it before we fund it through town money um that I was that's the gist of it right Dave I'm sorry see he justes give so I my my response to that is that I don't think it hurts to put it on the request list but we would not be doing our job if we didn't do our own due diligence to con you know consecutively also be looking into grants and if we were able to achieve a grant then we'd obviously pull it off the capital planning list um but I don't think it hurts to have it be on the radar so to speak of it being a potential Capital project so we shouldn't be you know we shouldn't be um concerned about putting something out there just because we haven't looked at grant opportunities like this was that was more my pitch to say we should be making sure when we are submitting things because usually they're not it's if it's a 10year plan and we'll you know say the send up at year seven we should do our due diligence before that year seven comes up to if there's anything that we should apply to to apply for right um so yeah I mean I I've always thought of capital planning as an opportunity for us for a town department or board to put a wish list out there knowing what are our goals in terms of what we'd like to do as a commission moving forward and what capital planning requests coincide with those goals that we're trying to achieve so if we approach it that way I think we're you know in good stad to you know say hey here's our list and and at least put it out there and have it start to be considered and reviewed okay so um so right now on we know about are the mcnell park and that was schematic design for 50k and then Willam Park Marshall Pawn treatment and that was for 30k and to that point about grants on this last one um will Lake and Marshall Pond we did actually apply for a grant through the state for this and it was um not approved and they welcome us to try again um but you know so at least we've done our due diligence on that one so you know and I have to say that there have um you know not to bring up negative things but there have you know there has been a recent death on Willam Lake you know this year um because an individual um was caught and was was um apparently was not able to swim um he was in the weeds they couldn't find him in time to save him because he was in the weeds and he couldn't be seen because he was in the weeds so it just brings to the Forefront all the more that how important it is to make sure that our town beach you know has clear view in the swimming area um you know for the for the safety of the people who are using the beach and for the you know the ease of our lifeguards that we're paying you know to try to promote Public Safety so I think that's one that we should maybe even try to put a higher priority on in terms of capital we've done our due diligence we did apply for a grant we didn't achieve it and there's a brand new you know episode that in my opinion tells us we should be ramping this up sooner rather than later um okay any thoughts on that one I I think what we've had in the past already has been continues to be I think top for what we have you know I think um you um out on Reservoir would be another place to work at you know other field Fitzgerald Reservoir is going to be another one that's going to need some that's that's gonna need some some love give me some detail on that it's the two ball fields we have out on Reser um but I just think at some point that's going to need some some attention it's going to need some attention it already does need it I mean it needs it now yeah you know I think that's always something the town struggles with is we we're always behind one nearly true yeah yeah so what groups are using it little league right now little leag okay yeah and we haven't I don't recall receiving anything from Little League in terms of the requests that it improve certain improve improv we have over the years okay nothing recent but it's um um Jenny so yes she goes I don't know how to so here's it here's reality throwing it out there trying to be as transparent as they can the property falls under the um ownership of the Conservation Commission um but we have been we've had care and control of that property for decades and decades and decades um there's also an issue with um some property lines going on in um piece of property that was sold and built on um they had in touch with um facilities um I think actually probably started with a prior facility I'm DPW director or something in those lines but there's um where the property line goes it's a it's where we're currently using some of it so it's it's it's just a bigger it's a big almost like an easement issue yeah I wouldn't even call it an easement because we don't own them the property it's clear who that they do it's not a huge of property but it does cut down the right the field that's on the right hand side so I think it's a conversation that needs to happen because again the fields need some TLC but I think it's G to it's going to be a bigger thing than just backing up with a load of dirt and spreading it out type thing okay so if I put in my notes property line issues that's probably the best way to summarize it yeah yeah okay okay how are the little league numbers I'm just curious does anybody know stady they seem you know everything always seemed busy and they've had some good success this spring with with and going into the summer with their teams and stuff I think the numbers are good best I understand it maintaining because there's just there's a lot of fields yeah and you know and I didn't know I don't know anything about it I just know I've heard there's been a little you know sort of yeah and so was just wondering you know I don't have it in front of me um let me see if I still have it part of the issue with that too is like and it's something I learned being part of this is like it's the each level has different sizei different requirements right you know because we had that whole discussion know can't t ball play on XYZ and so forth and there's a lot there is there's there's some wiggle room that you know we've always done it this way so we don't want to change it type thing um I can tell you I looked at last week when I went in front of finance committee um I'm try to open a document that's not going to open and who runs like the sport programs or for through Parks Angela oh okay yeah and she doesn't run them she the um Fields field yeah so and like the the little league has their own board so they run their programming and we we all just try to play nice in the sandbox together um so I can say that user fees um yeah I don't want to take anything from Little Le I just how their numbers were and you know before we go and redo everything you know so Park field fees is what I think it's falling under Angela do you know if they were up to date if you're still on is Little League up to date with paying yeah they are um it just took it took a while for like the accounting to get it to go through I believe um but yeah they they they gave me a check at the end of the season season so right now I the um little we bees that I'm seeing on the spreadsheet that I was given and if this is up to date we collected $2,900 and some change in um Park field fees last year we collected $ 6300 and the years previously we were at $4,200 I think I think that's wrong you think it is I think it's wrong I'll have to look when I get back because um with our forms it literally does say like this how many kids this is how much per kid so I can tell you the total cost and how many kids are actually registered okay when you get a chance could you send us the um list of um like how many kids they paid for this year and I don't know if you still have last year's oh yeah I do and I mean the part of the difference is going to be t-ball because they shouldn't have paid for t-ball because t-ball was up at right over here right which is outside of our control correct okay thank you goodness all right um so in terms of capital issues does anyone else have any other things you you've been thinking about anyone's mentioned to you I was at the beach recently and I heard a few people being complaining about the pitch on the beach just how sloped it is and I mean I would love to do something there I know it's probably tough but it was hanging wall and with the dirt from the wall to the front even it out feel like and then they have a whole open space on the other side of the building they don't do anything with so that um two things we've looked at that that little section to the left before and that's something that probably should come back on our radar to do something with to make it into something more than just an empty lot um and we can always try on the beach side but I can say we even had a hard time this year getting conservation to agree to bring in sand um we actually had to go in front of them two or three times um and we actually had to try to reclaim the sand that was in there so um and knowing what they do with um you know private homes yeah you know and then because we're within the no touch Zone yeah um I think it would be an uphill battle that would be you know I just look over and I see the other I see these a way better Beach than they certainly do because they're they're just a nice and flat nice and flat area for sure yeah one it stinks that it's in no touch because when I was there I was looking at it and I was like man you could just put retain wall here excavate the sand from here where you're put the wall put it on this side now you're extending you're getting a flatter surface and you're getting a wall where it's holding back on know the road put some boards up so like the motorcycles that Zoom by AR like blasting the Beach Towers with their exhaust and then yes you'd have to take the trees out but you would definitely level that beach and now when you're sitting in your chair you're not facing down when you look at the Lifeguard stand and they're like can I just can I just interject real quick um so just so you know we have been using the flat side of the beach but I've only used it for Beach yoga so we were running it like an hour a week either Mondays or Wednesdays 5:30 to 6:30 um so I did use that I do have another thought there because there's a staircase that goes down and it's it's fenced off right now but there is a staircase that brings you kind of right to the water um a while back me and Chris Ruth talked about possibly getting like you know kayaks or paddle boards to rent out for people um I was thinking that if we did ever do that that might be a possible area to do it um because we don't really allow it on that slope side of the beach um I don't know where that role really came from but I know we don't really let people ring their boards or anything like that there um so just like a thought that like you know if we had the Staffing and everything like that it wouldn't be a bad idea um to maybe like look into getting paddle boards and boards and just um having one person staffed that area you know like renting for an hour long or something like that figuring out a way to block it like that um and just making sure like obviously that everybody's who is on it has like a life jacket with them so we just have to provide that as well um but that's just like another thought I had for that spot for sure yep Angel is there anything preventing us from allowing people to use that side Lot as another Beach area just when you know rather than the steeper sections not really that I know of Chris may have a better answer um for that I I honestly didn't even know it had a staircase until recently when I started using the space um it's really hard to keep that space clean there's a lot of like the knotweed and stuff like that on that side um so it's really really difficult like toay on top of that also we put picnic tables out there um are the picnic tables still over there Angela yeah there's the two like blue ones are out there I got rid of like there was a really rundown one we got rid of yeah um we put picnic tables out there a few years back and had umbrellas for them and asked the beach staff to unlock the gate um how do you get there you go the house you can't go through the house because the for some reason years ago the door was locked off um so now it's like it's a wall insided um hmer yeah well now now the problem is it doesn't meet ADA compliance so because the width um I don't think we'd be able to get something in there that would meet the the Ada um requirements but and you can't just walk in front of the house you can you can walk in front of the house and go to the gate okay um it just it never got used well I wonder if we could also knock down like I mean the the deck in the in the front area there's like a spot that we could probably just like take a rail out and add stairs in there or a ramp or something like that also so people can just go you know either into the beach house or straight through onto the other side but sounds like something it's worth looking into yeah it totally is and it's discussions that we've had in the past it's just getting the momentum yeah and getting everybody on I like the idea of renting The Kayaks and can or pad kind of need to bring a little bit more Revenue to the beach aside from just the the um membership fees too but when I go to one thing I thought too was when I go to the Benjamin Hill poool and Shirley um the lifeguards alternate between running like a snack stand and it's not like anything crazy it's not hot foods or anything it's just strictly like they have a freezer and it has pops and small little items like bag of chips or something like that people can bring or buy sorry and you could maybe do something similar at the beach I don't know maybe just to bring some more Revenue yeah and it's that's easy enough to do we Andel and I talked about that this year at one point when one of the lifeguards said it'd be nice if we could just sell a bottle of water um and it's it's no cost to the town to get the um Board of Health approval to do that kind of stuff we've done it in the past over at um the MCN Snack Shack we had opened that one here recently so it's all kind this SM executing so that doesn't sound like really a capital item just something that we could easily do you know in terms of you know Capital item wi too I mean when I there's probably a million things I could come up with and one of them would be to replace the surface of the playground over at walls Park yeah walls Park um into that rubberized surface um you know I think that might be one of those things that would be a great application for the grant that we just applied for for the Ada Grant um and there might be other ones out there other playground grants out there um but you know that that's one of the things that jump to my mind we need at some point even if the um even if we don't do a even if MCN doesn't go anywhere and it just stays exactly how it is um we tore down the um what's there's nothing over there right now for a snack house or did we just take on the second floor second floor is there something that needs to be done in order to put an announcing Booth back up there um or to bring in bathroom facilities there or you know whatever it may be um the parking over there needs to be addressed at some point it's sort of a it's just grab a dirt lot that seems to be unorganized um you know veterans might need some clean up done that's more than just the regular cleanup I haven't really inspected the papers and stuff over there some of the bricks a little bit sink okay yeah all right so this this is good um the the I mentioned earlier that the outgoing chair had shared um something that I guess hadn't been discussed by the board before but um can consideration to put a sidewalk from Lake Avenue down to the beach house can you can you all see the that you know comes from Lake Avenue by their roundabout and then down to the beach house this is something she put out there um it didn't sound like there had been much discussion by you all about it so I'm putting that out there for consideration um if it's something that we want to um um you know put on the capital plan you know for some year out if it's some you know the is the proposed sidewalk take it um so the the it would be right along here Goa it's a pretty narrow road already yep so you know it's the feasibility unknown cost not sure we'd need to work with Chris Ruth on that so it's nothing that I think you know can be seriously considered obviously for FY 26 but um you know how would that who would that fall under though good question I don't know this is I you know I she just asked us to you know consider it look at it um I think it's going to require a lot more discussion with Chris to determine you know what's involved and what the price might be and the feasibility of it but I'm putting that out there you know as something that we might want to consider moving forward actually might not be a idea because there's a ton of parking over here yes exactly if you have an Avenue to walk to the beach that might alleviate some congestion yeah because there's really very limited parking at the beach house it's kind of pedestrian traffic over there all the time I mean everywhere over there yeah you know it's definitely narrow I don't I don't know anything about the feasibility of that yeah be on I was say but if you move all the I it's unfortunate because you'd have to Lug stuff but if you the parking there then yeah people aren't parking on that street right outside the so put a sidewalk in on and just say no parking over here and parking's over there or maybe hand you know handicap or limited parking exactly yeah yeah okay so I think the way I'd like to approach this is that you know we Chris does have a deadline by which he needs to put forward you know renewed Capital requests and if there's anything of what we've discussed tonight that we want him him to more seriously push forward for the next fiscal year what are your thoughts and and it may be that we're not ready and that's that's an answer in and of itself but um I don't want to push us to make you know decisions that you know haven't been well thought out but you know is there something that we feel needs to be you know seriously considered and ask Chris to maybe ramp up prioritization I think a lot of it is like I'm I'm I think some of it needs to be the existing and to what what do we need to do to take care of our existing structures and and you know land that isn't as wellmaintained so that's where I kind of come in with the MCN and Fitzgerald sort of sort of deal um but at the same time I'm I'm GNA continue to be a huge advate for that norfield property like it's it's it really it it's a massive Town need um soccer is debating on taking soccer out out of town in the fall those the fields the high school are all but unusable they're the grass fields they're awful awful so many games are canceled practices are cancelled they don't they retain water they the engineering those fields was terrible like it's they're just watering all the time even it's raining out I mean coach soccer for 10 years in nine years in town it's and you know they School threw dirt on it last fall you know last summer and seated it and about three weeks into the season it looked the same way it looked before they put the dirt on they just put dirt on it again I'm sure seated it in three weeks in it's going to look the same but I don't you know Lun you soers said they sent a survey out to actually get people's thoughts on taking soccer out of town to because they're not they're not serviceable and it's it's been out of town you know' yeah it's been out like my kids played in Orange I just think there's a lot of you know I see it in a couple of different scenario I mean I see it's it's a use that the town needs but I think it's also potentially a revenue stream with the land it's over there you know and the soccer t i mean soccer lacrosse field like you know whatever the you know anyone that's going to be able to use your ultimate frisbee like I mean what anyone that's going to be able to use a multi-purpose rectangular space like it's I think it's a a decent Revenue stream for for Parks as well um I'd love to see you know the amount of that's over there we We've joked about um disol type stuff and so forth there's you know with the amount of land that's there I'd love to you know something like that could maybe even go in over there too I mean I think there's definitely revenue streams there that we could you know tap into tap into for sure that was about 50 something yeah okay um absent the things that are already on the capital plan which you know I'll I'll share with Chris that we still want to move those forward um it sounds like what we need to do is have a good sitdown session with Chris in terms of capital planning um I don't want to waste anyone's time until we've You Know spoken with him and kind of discussed feasibility and priority and that kind of thing so are we okay with just asking him to keep moving forward with the stuff that's already on the list and maybe um you know this winter um we can plan a a maybe it's going to probably take most of one meeting I would think really talk about Capital planning seriously um so we can put that as an agenda item for one of our meetings this winter okay can we do that as a workshop too like it's all the same Grand posting doing everything the same way yeah everything's the same work we just I thought that was a little less um formal um because we're so formal here I mean a little less zoomy so I I don't know I don't know what the dates are that stuff needs to be due to Chris I'm wondering if we could put like I'm looking at this list now and it's not it's nothing against mcnali park I think there's work that needs to be done but I'm not sure I would necessarily at this point I'm sure last year I felt differently maybe would probably put Northfield above MCN in that that need column I suppose um so I'm wondering if we should really take a look at what we still have listed see if there's anything that I'm missing that um Chris maybe he's I don't know has he already handed anything I have no idea what he's done the deadline Dave do you know what the deadline is for Capital I've heard the date a couple times but Capital plannings meeting probably right now over in town okay all right thanks well you know it is what it is TimeWise and if we miss you know a capital planning submitt we do have things that are still already on it y um but I think more important rather than trying to rush anything is us getting very sure about what we want to put forward in the future so even if it means we have to wait to you know give things serious consideration I personally would much rather take that route unless anyone objects no I completely agree and like they won't really entertain something that we're like we don't even know where this falls under or how much it would be or if it's feasible but you can't put that on the list didn't we ask I thought we add like some of the I thought what we had on our list was like money to start that process I think I don't have when I look at the um 10-year plan I don't well fy2 it wasn't it wasn't it was below the yeah the 10 it the norfeld this is the entire list this is the entire list from this past year and I'm not seeing well this is everything that Chris submitted and everybody from police fire everybody submitted so um yeah it's just online oh okay yeah I can s it I'll send you the link okay thanks yeah okay maybe we want to try to make sure that in that 10year plan is um some money to get moving towards something that's what I thought was I yeah in my brain I remember to discussion about kind of starting that kind of the initial or maybe we need to ask move up the priority surve we didn't do anything because it's already surveyed is that what we did because it is surveyed yeah because in order to buy it we had to have it surveyed so it's survey okay so we would need to then have some preliminary feasibility in terms of what are the starting that W of process again the initial sort of this is what it might sort of whatever yeah okay all right okay I think we're good on Capital then unless you guys have anything else okay so um I'd like to go to five now which is increase hours for the recreation director it's an update so um the board knows that um through the town manager there was a request to both the selectman and to the finance committee to consider increasing the number of hours for Angela's position from 19 hours to the 28 hours and um this was approved by the board of selectman at their last meeting um it was not approved by the finance committee and it does require the vote of both um you know the one of there's many reasons why you know we were considering um needing to increase her hours um she is doing a great job in programming um and we know that there's more programming options available and there would be interest by the town to have more programming options available the other thing is as we um you know she's also required to you know deal with the um processing of invoices etc for the facilities Department um and as we move forward with phase one of Marshall Park um there will be more of that involved and that's going to you know take time away from her regular Recreation programming duties um so the you know the the increase that we were looking at um you know was um $ 37,7 159 approximately um and um I went to the selectman's meeting the select board approved it without any real questions Karen because I was not available Karen went to the finance committee meeting and there were questions and Karen could you just share with us so um I thought it was going to be quick in and out at finance committee and it was over an hour that I stood up in front of them answering questions um so I some of the questions were or and the comments were why aren't we doing this through what they would call the normal process which is through town meeting versus what we were doing there's a mechanism in place to do either or um but traditionally we have always brought it through to town meeting um so that was their first question but the next one um and it it is around our revolving accounts so originally when this position was um talked about it was going to be funded um through the OM ominous budget never say that omnius Omnibus budget um and it was pulled um for a variety of different reasons and then it never made the cut so it didn't go in front of town meeting so the proposal that was on the table um working with Town manager was that it would come out of our revolving account so that $37,000 would cover the increase in um the salary line from 19 to 28 hours but it would also cover the benefits um that would be elig the employee would be eligible for it this is where it gets a little confus using and it's something that our commissions talked about prior to all of you joining the board our revolving account is called a 53d there's many different Recreation revolving accounts but the one that we have right now is a 53d it refers to a section of law y so this 53d and you can look it up um allows for the payment of part-time salaries out of it that's great but also in that 53d line says we're not supposed to carry a balance over $10,000 at the end of the fiscal year and then anything left in that account at the end of the fiscal year over $10,000 to gets move to free cash that's has not been done I've been in decades decades when we spoke as a commission about this years ago it was you know the town convinced us to basically leave it as is so there were a lot of questions around that revolving fund the questions were things like what happens if a new interm town manager comes in and you know shuffles that money out you know because we are not Tech technically closed fiscal year 24 is just is wrapping up they could still certainly somebody could make a a poll for that um it was things like if you don't have the money next year to pay for it what happens with this position because you'd hate to have somebody brought on and increase their hours only to pull the rug out from underneath them with their benefits because they'd be under 23 hours the following year so those were some concerns that had come up and at the end of the day there were six members there and they voted it was a three to three vote everybody had valid points there every single one of them had valid points so I can't look at it and say well I didn't agree with you or I don't agree with you everybody had valid reasons why they didn't think that they wanted to support this or they weren't or they were supporting it so it's put us right back to where we currently are so are there key what were the key concerns that they shared with you that chose them chose members to say no we're not supporting if I had to choose two of them it would be the revolving account this being a 53d and it would be that this is going through this process requiring select board and finance committee versus going in front of town meeting and despite the fact that we explained to them that we had already worked with with Town manager to try to get this to go through town meeting and that wasn't y the question at that point was why didn't this funding mechanism why didn't you bring this up back in January to which my honest answer was because I actually didn't think about it back in January when we talked about it um so yes I did answer that question and when it was brought up which was you know it just not something we had thought about because it had been presented by the town manager as being able to be funded through her budget um only to be pulled you know as we worked through some very difficult situations okay so um I guess my question for the board is you know this is this is important on many different levels um Angela is doing a great job in the 19 hours a week that she gives us and well I'm going to I'm you're going to hear me say this all the time when we look to positions we don't look to the person we look to the position and what the position does but many times in my professional life I have lost really good employees because you know they need to be you know they need to you know find themselves a position which gives them the revenue that they and their family need for the year and um one of my strong concerns is that um 19 hours a week isn't enough to maintain a really good person in this position we have a really good person right now in this position so having said that Selman are on board is this something that we feel strongly enough about that we would like to go back to the finance committee and say can we please reconsider this I mean I have no problem with asking them to put us on an upcoming agenda to try to do this um it's I it's not my decision to make it's a board decision we need to you know feel comfortable with I I've always been an advocate for more hours in particular my thought was always at least seasonally more hours like in my look looking at like the vast majority of our sign from a w standpoint is summertime so like 30 hours a week in the summertime and it scaled back in the winter or what like I like I like that that that had always been in the back of my mind um that's hard to that's hard to I don't know I don't know how that all works right I mean in the back of my mind I'm like wow this person is doing you know all this programming for the summer on 19 hours a week and it just didn't it it just never made sense for me um Angel is doing more programming now year round yes than previous I mean we previous Rec directors have done so when I first joined trying to do it seasonally you when I first joined it was like we had everything in the summertime and then it just there really wasn't anything so I was like let's is there a way to say you know kind of front load summer hours or like you know like not I mean do they use the space during the I'm sure they're doing indoor Recreation right so now there's all kinds of programing and vacations like during all the school and a lot of that relies on um volunteers I know that um our previous chair did a lot of opening and closing of the building um two weeks ago um she and I both opened and closed the building for summer camp um but because those are hours that Angela's not she wasn't there and there's no she does there's just not enough time in the day she spends approximately 50% of her time in say in the winter doing invoicing and there's just not enough time on the day but can I a just a curiosity question if we were adding a position coming out of the general budget I can understand going in front of the select board and the finance committee but select board and finance committee have no say over how the money in our revolving account gets expended so why do we have to go to them why do we need their approval it that is a charter based okay thing I guess my question would be is there anything I'm I'm more than happy to go in front of them again I think this is important and I think more Revenue will come in if we get more programming right right but is there anything we can do that's going to address the issues that those members had because if there isn't if we can't make a change then it's just sort of wasting everybody's time and I think we need to look at what kind of it you know what can we do maybe to get this so I'm going to say again three to three vote the three that were NOS only one surprise me and I do not believe we would we would get a change of mind on at least two of those if not all three of them all of that said and it was it was Mr pasos that pointed this out at the finance committee meeting we can bring this to town meeting it's 90 93 days 93 days away oh yeah can we crawl through until we get to special town meeting and and make the request at at special town meeting for the you know for this um you know I where we have we have so many things going on right now the last thing we want to do is to really annoy finance committee with going back there and having them be like we just hashed this out and we pull you know that's right if we can't change something drastically then there's that's right I was I wasn't thinking of the special time meeting are you saying even with addressing some of their concerns the opinion would change or are you saying correct because the revolving account won't be able to be changed until um special town meeting and I think town meeting is where we should go so and is that we changing the um the type of revolving fund correct so that we don't have to keep it correct it would be going from a 53d to a 53e and a half um not E and A and the half is actually um it's very specific it's yep um so the half good a half a half a letter now it does change some things like I know way about I know way too much about these revolving accounts it um you know right now the interest that is earned on the money that we have comes back into our revolving account but at 53e and a half it actually wouldn't it would go back to the town so there's that change um it would allow us to play full-time salaries out of a 53 and a half where we couldn't do that right now even if we had a full-time employee that we wanted to pay and it allows us to carry that balance and it just like every other revolving account that has a sum of money in it at the end of a uh fiscal year it goes in front of town meeting to you know to be renewed and I remember one of my early meetings I was asking about the revolving account what you know which type of revolving account was it because I was I thought we needed to put it on town meeting warrant to get the renewal of the but it wasn't because it was not a 53e and a half it was the 53d so um and but it's very common and most communities have the 53 e and a half for all of their revolving funds and it just becomes very routine and there must be other existing 53 e and a halfs that we already have on the books well this is 53 e and a half is exclusive to Recreation so probably not because that would just that would fall under us and as far as I know we don't have any other involving account on that could be wrong wrong on many things um but I mean I think that it's you know one of the selling points for for especially one of the members was that this is we're hoping to become self- sustaining which is a model that you know it would be nice if other groups were able to follow suit in that um so to so to lead by example and getting that done um you know that was a huge selling point to that number and you know I think that we we yes so I think that if we can get something on the Warren article for um the revolving fund to get it changed I think that's going to help I think that doing it the normal way even though the other mechanism is there doing it the normal way I think um would please them all three of them have that same concern um that were the no vote well there's there's right there's a lot of um it's been a lot of public outcry about how things are done and some some I think it's baseless but you know a lot of assumptions that things are done back door and whatever and you know like you've all heard the people at town meeting you know so I do understand too that anything that gets done even if it's the right mechanism right I I you know I can understand you know you need motion on that kind of or um well if we're talking about putting you know this question of changing the revolving fund um that's a future item down here on the agenda or special town meeting warrant articles um but so I guess my my key question you know in terms of right now is I if I'm hearing you all correctly I'm hearing you say you'd prefer not to go back to finance committee at this point you'd prefer to have it be approached through a town meeting process thank sure okay think it makes more sense okay I don't need to vote for that we'll just okay all right okay and but I think the important thing is that Angela needs to know that we really appreciate everything she does and that we will continue to try to work to make sure that we get the number of hours that she needs that the position needs to do the job correctly okay awesome thanks Angel stay on she's still on I don't mind if she stays on but let see thank you guys very much the only other thing is um the um consider baseball and softball use of Marshal par um to to that degree is that is that something we need Angel no okay all right I think if we're everyone's okay we'll let Angela go Angela you guys have a good night thank you you too thank you appreciate it okay all right so um status of the skate park so we do now have the license agreement in place um between Parks Commission and the skate Park group um which gives them agency allowance to go into the property to construct the skate park you know with their own means and methods um which keeps us totally out of it as it needs to be um there was a uh press press event the other day which yet again I wasn't available to go to and Karen and colen were you able to make it too thank you for my dad called so thank you both for going there I appreciate it and because it was you know a signing event and they wanted to you know beef up the you know the community awareness that they you know this is happening and they're still doing ongoing fundraising um they were just getting out of the selectman's meeting a few weeks ago when we were getting out of selectman's meeting and they said they're still looking to um raise I think another $50,000 or so so um but my question to those of you who did attend that did they give any update in terms of timing there was no update okay all right I'll reach out to them there was no discussion it was really just a photo op okay they proved like I'm not pery that anything that's happened so far but they provided like plans or so it's um it's it's very it's a there's a line in the sand yeah we have Park commission can cross because it a privately funded project that is not falling under prevailing wage so because of that we we have to be a little more hands off than or almost completely hands off other than signing this you know making sure this um right of Entry agreement was done um so they've come to us we have seen various things we really can't we can't be like no you can't do this we want you to do this that's thing we just give them the rights to work on the land and they build how yes and then and they maintain and yeah well they don't even maintain it after the fact they signed over to us after signed over to us it get signed over us and um it'll be a gift that's exactly what happens it gets gifted to the town um and then it becomes town and if they so choose to continue to help you know in some way shape or form to maintain it you know we would certainly welcome that they're not obligated to do so and it's kind of in the core area of the of the park um near where the small little existing playground yeah is as you drive in down to the right right gota before the park okay all right well thanks for that update I appreciate it should we invite them or ask them if they can send us something for our next meeting with an update with time things like that I can ask them um they probably don't know yet I mean um right because they the last time they were here right they were talking about whether they'd be able to even do it slies or not doubtful but maybe just we could just get an email like update from yeah Anthony even if it says that there's no update that they're working on it I'll send a request for an update and I'll bring that back as um chair update the next meeting okay unless there's more specifics that we need to discuss okay um Marshall Park projects um the updates so um Karen and I have been working with the OPM um and the town manager to move ahead to advertise and procure the services for the um landscape designer firm which will finish finished the design for Marshall Park and um it's currently out there the request for proposals is out there and um you know working with scansa our OPM firm that we chose um you know we're we had a a quick site visit was it last week um and I think there were five firms that were represented at that but you know a lot of times that doesn't mean anything they'll I'm sure they'll others that will um put forward proposals even though they didn't attend but anyway so um the proposals are due August 8th and that's a Thursday um so the process here is that I'll go to town hall and get the copies of the proposal and deliver them to all of you um Thursday or Friday I'll bring them to your homes and my request is that we would use that weekend to review them um and you know to each of you try to go through your own evaluation of proposals um I'll give you the you know you'll have the scoring mechanism of you know how you kind of evaluate the different components of a proposal um Sor the weekend of the nth the weekend of the 9th yep um and then we need to um plan to meet probably two times that following week and so we were tentatively looking at that Wednesday let's see what's that pull my calendar up I have it in there for Wednesday the 14th for sure yeah so I'd be bringing the proposals around the Friday the 9th or Thursday the 8th you know I'll just I'll reach out to would let you know if it's a case I dropped them off you know on your front step or whatever um so yeah so Wednesday the 14th and then um so that would be for those of you who are part of the scoring review process for the um OPM firm we met as a committee and we you know went through all our scores and we determined our final choices in terms terms of the you know top ranking firms that we want to work with and um those then we pass that information on to the town manager or in this case I don't know if Carter is going to be here yet but or the assistant Town manager and and um we would uh set up the schedule for interviews with at least three firms hopefully with at least three firms um and that interview processess would likely happen that following week day to be determined it depends on the availability of you know the the firms Etc so I say all this because I think it's important that we need to try to make sure that you know we're all available on the 14th for that special extra meeting and um to try to keep your time open that next week for the interviews with hopefully at least three firms the way we did last time and as soon as I know more about that I'll reach out to all of you um so that we can get that properly scheduled as well how many bids do we have come in so far none yet okay it's um they're not due until the 8th um right now we're in the the RFP process allows for people to ask questions about the RFP get clarification so we're in that phase right now and um all questions have to be in I Believe by the 3 and and um like right corner yeah exactly so um you know so they that gives them five days roughly to you know will return quickly with the answers and that gives them a few days to finalize the proposals that they put forward once they get clarification answers to the questions that they themselves might have proposed or other firms might have proposed also so it's it has to be a very transparent process so they all get the same information at the same time so if you can all just kind of make sure you keep that week open I'm out of town on the 14th and unavailable okay so I asked you like I can I'll be here on the 9th I will read them over the weekend and I can send send me the feedback I'm like I won't be able to do Zoom or anything either um the following week I'm not available the 21st and everything I like kids moving back to school those two weeks so I don't know what exactly is happening or when it's happening so I'll do the best I can for that other meeting but I'm not available in the okay would it make sense to instead of dropping them off could you email them no no they're gonna big oh big big bound yeah gotcha I mean we do have them in electronic format but unless you you know have a really good system probably would overwhelm it yeah that's true okay yeah you prob can't s something like 11 15 okay so as we get you know closer I will keep updating people in terms of dates and what we're looking at for dates other than the 14th which Colleen will share her feedback but won't be present at the meeting okay um does anyone have any other questions about the um designer selection process did you see the email that came in today I did there were questions there that I'm going to reach out to Tom and figure out how to best answer them okay yeah okay um and uh Karen's referring to questions that one of the firms had about the um um notes that were taken at that site visit last week okay um considering the baseball and softball use of Marshall Park in 2025 So speaking to everybody Chris Ruth previous Recreation previous Parks Commission chair H Lockwood um OPM Karen it's pretty obvious that as we move ahead with this phase one we will not be able to accommodate um baseball and softball use on the fields next year so I know it sounds like this had been discussed before and I Anna had said Anna being the previous chairman of the commission she had said that she had notified them verbally of that but I think we owe them a more formal you know response and written communication um to let them know that yeah it's unfortunate but just it's not going to work because they just don't get used enough or no it's just that with with construction it won a safe environment actually part of the work um part of the phase one project is um a playground which really kind of skirts right on the edge of the softball park okay and so that means that definitely the softball field will not be um usable and with it also involving access into the field from you know Mass the main the main entrance um you know there's really not going to be a lot of viable parking and we can't I mean in my opinion it's it's not fair to try to overload Chestnut Street with parking any exactly can't accommodate Bas exactly so Conrad's a lot gets no love later yeah put them in there ships under ships under construction except that to get through from cont they have to walk through this it's it's there's no good way around it and I think it's across the board it's with the high school program and it's with the um little Le although that said is there is it possible at all to leave that Chestnut Street Field open even if we somehow brought in some of this like a smaller little league program to allow them to just use that for you know teams of well practices of 10 or could we keep it open for just High School practices so it's at least their the high school baseball program doesn't have to go out of town for their practices if they don't utilize the mass outside of things how did they access it this year do we know I can't imagine they parked in the I can tell you for sure that the high school practices everyone parks on chest Street yeah and the kids don't know how they're walking from school I see the kids walking with them yeah I mean if we have to close the whole thing so be it I I think that's just one thing it's just going to be a to be determined a little bit right I mean we don't know entirely well we don't want to leave the school hanging I'd love to see if if it's feasible to keep it open for practices for for baseball fine well I think we should at least let them know that for actual games it's a no but we can be a little bit edgy in terms of you know if we're able to provide a practices we'll let you know at our earliest convenience type thing yeah does that make sense oh wow yeah I've been a ren a long time that's some T parking little narrow hey welcome to a commission where you get emails from residents who are like um your program's parking on my front lawn and then they send a picture and the car is literally on their front lawn sorry about that or double Park I can't even believe the way people park over there it's crazy it's crazy um so without a doubt there is absolutely no question that that sof ball field and unfortunately the um pow field which is the smaller one there those are going to be completely offline for the um fall um or for the spring rather um so I think that's going to be a minimum I think on the the on the Chestnut Street build the 90 foot diamonds if we can figure out a way to keep it open so that they could have some practices so they don't have to bust everybody out of town I think that would be very welcome um and I think that um you know if we are able to offer some alternatives to baseball for locations for some of their other programming for example everything that I read and I haven't read the new bab Ruth because that's the league there in now pow Fields is used for minor for the majors if you look at the Little League the old dimension of little league there was actually overlap there they could have played over at at MCN if they had wanted to even though it feel a little bit smaller um so you know I think having those conversations with those folks early to say hey we we know we're closing this off definitely because we have to expend this money by the end of June there's no we some shovel is going in the ground even have have to put it in it myself um you know to start those conversations early to you know try to be able to get them on board they need time to plan for all yeah correct yeah okay so we'll um I don't think I have everybody's contact information do you have contact information I have something somewhere could you L send me okay yeah so I'm gonna with your permission I'm going to draft letters to each of these groups and let them know what's going on and what our concerns are and why we are having to say no formal use anyways okay B yeah and I'm trying to think when they schedule I know they're they're quite ahead well that and gu's budget set they but so there the school would have set their budget um for um the spring the for the upcoming school year yeah for the whole year budget they're gonna have to finagle their budget to no game scheduled in Arbiter yet yeah I would hope not not for the spring so they're G I mean they're gonna have to figure it out right probably sooner rather than in the I think they doer in the fall because the basketball schedule will be out like the winter schedule will be out soon yep and I think you know they're they're pretty significantly ahead you know it's never right it changes to the last second has schedule yeah that's what I was gonna say so the spring schedule will be it they'll be meeting you know probably early in the fall where do you see that Chris uh Arbiter live yeah there it's better on the website all right so I'll get the contact information from you right thank you okay um the next item up is the okay we've already done the um Polar Plunge so it's Grant updates um and I apologize there's a typo on the agenda on number 10 my apologies um so Karen I'm going to look to you for Grant updates I have nothing I haven't heard anything from anybody okay because the grants that are out there right now are uh the um land and water grant from the state um which they have a requirement that uh we need to provide a army Corp of Engineers permit for the wetlands related part of the work before they will provide funds but we have had our thankfully now we have the OPM they've been working with the state agency and with um fussen O'Neal the engineers that we've hired to help us you know put the permitting application together so um you know whether it's even even if we're even able to do it right now is a question because the permit requires design work which design work isn't completed because we don't have our Designer Final designer on board yet um so that's kind of up in the year and then the other um one is the accessibility Grant which was the requesting extra money so that we can put more handicapped accessible playground equipment on the playground portion of the phase one playground Pro so okay the other one that I emailed out and had more ini cuity the T-Mobile T-Mobile has a HomeTown Hometown grants for towns with less than 50,000 employees they award it quarterly um so it's kind of a an ongoing um an ongoing application process so like they do application between January March and April to June and so forth so they would close out in September December um they award up to $50,000 um um it is for what kind of projects so they fund uh Hometown Grant funds uh projects to build rebuild refresh Community spaces that help Foster local connections to your town product should be shovel ready physical builds or improvements that can be completed within 12 months of receiving the home Hometown grants funding uh they could include adaptive uses for older or hisor buildings into Community Gathering spaces improvements to out parks and trails technology products for Library um they can't be used for engineering or architectural plans or fees or salaries or operating expenses and things of that nature so this sounds like a wonderful grant that we got to keep in mind once the design is close to completion and see if we can identify what might be the appropriate components of what's designed to apply for yeah one of the things they said too which I that was and so I had the only I haven't I haven't created a login to actually kind of read the application or whatever El it kind of sound like it's full of drop down mens and things like that but it did say uh um it was more or less saying like like you don't have to identify like one thing for 50 it can be like if it's a bigger project money can go towards like just explain what portion of that is going for like it okay it doesn't need to be matching there was I think there was some that said there was no matching money okay good um no match things like that so um there's a lot of Q&A on their on the website that I sent out there there's a whole FAQ section so I started to grab some of that information just to kind of start to understand a little bit they they you're notified within 30 to 60 days at after the quarter so it's a fairly quick I think process they they're partnered with um smart growth smart growth America and Main Street America it's kind of their Grant selection panel I guess okay I'm so glad you brought that to our attention that's was from Michelle so Michelle believe at the Boys and Girls Club yeah had gotten it and she said but we can't there's nothing but she shared it with me and yeah okay good excellent I know their skate gr's like the work good for them yeah they still they're sh they're essentially shov you know they're pretty close to shovel ready and hopefully within a year they're done so it'd be a great program for them at least initially um but just you know just yeah definitely something to have on our radar for when we're a little bit close have that shovel ready piece or whatever we get to do that so awesome okay good um I'm going to go back up to the mercial park updates um the one thing I failed to um uh clarify for people is um the next steps in terms of um expectations deadlines so if we um it's expected that we would get a designer on board in early September they would start design work in September and we would have um design completed in December and um start going out to bid for construction so that we would have a Contractor on board in you know early 2025 suitable weather time to start exactly so like with maybe a February start time so that's the anticipated time frame when things winners global warming might work on our favor this year but um so I just I forgot to mention that part so I just wanted to go back to that okay um okay so town meeting special special town meeting warrant articles um so we've already talked about that in terms of the revolving fund you know looking to put an article in there to change the existing revolving fund from the 53d to the 53e and a half and you right by the way it's not 53e and a half isn't just Recreation 53d is just yeah that's what I thought yeah because I mean I've been past communities I've worked in there's many different departments that have revolving funds that fall under that okay so um so that's part of it and I'm I think we also if I'm you know heard everyone correctly we're also considering putting on an article specifically looking for the additional you know hours for our Recreation director and I'm putting this on to this agenda because um it's just opening up for us to start you know putting paper work in for more articles for this a deadline I got to double check it um I was sent for the information I read it but I forgot the DAT but it's coming up so um I wanted us to vote these tonight so that we could start putting these things forward okay um and so then in terms of other things um there had been talk when I first came on board there was talk about putting a war article to get lighting for the fields for Marshall Park that would be separate from what's funded you know by the Marshall Park project itself and so I'm not remembering it that way think it's discussion about it but I don't I thought it was something that we could do down I thought we had talked about doing down the road so I think the plan right now is to make sure we're like part of the part of the construction phase would be to make sure sure we're not necessarily wired but prepared to wire we have the infrastructure there to be able to do that but I don't think we were I don't know I don't think that's anything we need to tackle are there lights there right now um but I think the big one's going to have to be the fun are we going to try to go forward for the remaining funding for the Marshal Park project yes so that was the big one here so um you know the I did the update to the board selectman last week or so and you know I think that they had all really seriously wanted me to tell them what we were planning to do for requests for additional funding and you know we're just not there yet um but I think we need to decide tonight that we you know do we or do we not want to put that article on to ask for additional funding and to the degree yet to be determined we have time to decide what that dollar amount is going to be but I need to know are we G do we want to put an article on the warrant for the additional funding for Marshall Park thanks I mean I assume we're gonna have sports programs playing after Dusk and sever from the lighting yeah the lighting will have to come later but we need the funding everything right I mean that's got it and you know um there's decisions as we um get the designer on board the designer will you know we'll start working to you know try to determine the um upfront costs of the phase one and then the remaining phases and you know it's my understanding um and correct me if I'm wrong that what had been considered was requesting money that's needed for all the remaining work at this upcoming fall town meeting what that dollar amount is yet we don't know um but the the you know the OPM knows and the designers um who you know it's clear in the RFP document that the designers know that they've got to help us get that dollar amount figured out and they also have to help us provide information session to the public to help the public understand what that dollar amount is and you know why we might be asking for it so are we good with putting forward a article on special town meeting warrant for the remaining funds for the project yet amount yet to be determined yeah okay I'm going to actually take a vote on this in a minute but I just want to talk things through first okay and then the other concept was um and this came from the you know the discussion that had taken place about the the um the cave that's you know underneath that edge of Marshall Park um there had been mention of it might make sense to ask town meeting you know do we want to move ahead with renovation of the cave historical commission as you may recall had said that you know they were going to look to try to have it be designated as a historical site and that may or may not impact what we're you know what we do with the park itself um um so let's let's give Tim a little bit more feedback on this sort of thing with the door no so it's um if if you're on chest Street facing um if you can you do me a favor we don't talk we don't want to put the location out cuz so there's a cave there it's secured now is it secured now okay then go for it if it's been secured it hadn't been the last time I would yeah I I yeah that's that was going to be an update that the go for the facilities manager was able to secure the site so it's no longer a safety haard the way it was before um but anyways to the left of the field um there is a really cool cave um and da actually knows a lot about this and he you know if he's willing he might explain it better than I can but it was built back in the 40s as part of the we PA projects thank you and it's you know it's just like a cavern entrance W Cavern and like um a main room and then smaller area and it had been used Years Ago by the town you know as kind of just like a gathering place and you know different organizations went in there and used it for different things and unfortunately over time it became more of a dra the Drew to the wrong cow well that and and you know what what we call an attractive nuisance in Municipal language and it became a liability more than anything and the town actually tried to collapse it I think through gpw efforts or whatever which made it even more of a issue so um but you know it is a historic feature and there um a group in town you know is is seriously looking to see if it's something that we can you get restored and have it you know be part of Town's history so which you know cool concept whether you agree with it or not um but you know it's it's there under Marshall Park um not not deeply into it but right on the French and so um there had been some discussion about do we want to put some sort of town meeting vote um asking the voters if they want to fund this renovation thought being that if the town really cared about it they would say yes if they don't really care about it they would say no problem here is that we have no idea what it would be what it would cost for renovation right so you know if we're going to do it I think it needs to be more of a referendum type question where it's providing guidance to the town in terms of do we want to restore this feature or not would it would impact is it the um the walking the walk Walking area right so it doesn't really impact the 90 foot diamond or anything right but it would impact where that board walking trail goes right and here's where we have Dave our expert you would you be will to speak to it I may youin you opinion um yeah so the impact to the cave area for the present design from what I can understand from the facil director is that it is outside the footprint with the exception of the walking path would still cross right over the main room basically the way the track does now and has for since 1939 or something like that so from one perspective there's no rush to do anything in that particular little area um because as you just said you're going to have to have some engineering work done and a basic design before you even take it to town meeting unless it's a referendum right because you're not going to have a project you're going to have a thought yes you know a pie in the sky thought I will make one comment and for circumstances I won't go into right now I was appointed to the historical commission and then had to refuse the position um but they have already stated that as far as they're concerned that is an historical structure that is more than 75 years old so it comes under their def um actually the 75 years probably doesn't matter because it's not in the AP District but it is a substantial historical structure that will come under demolition delay if they are correct which is 18 months but if there's no but if there's no demolition intended if you just work around it for now that's what I was gonna ask yeah if you work around it and don't damage it then we don't have to restore it we could just work around it and not damage it and then there's understand until a group comes forward with number one within the next year there's going to be a full inventory of historic location in lenberg done the historical commission already has the grant money it has to go out to uh bid for a consultant to do it and that's they're guessing that process is going to be about another 12 months that puts all of the historical locations on the Massachusetts historical register I believe is what it is over the nation one of the other or both once that's there then that site and many others will be eligible for all kinds of historical Grant Mark so if you can stay away from it and not trigger the demolition delay designation then it can wait just like the lighting somewhere down the road when it's more so can we just as we go forth you know to get the actual design and whatever just indicate that we have to work around that the same way they're going to have to go whatever whatever it looks like it's going to be over it or through it or whatever is and I think you guys should have conversation with your fac directive because I think I think he's already got a thorough understanding of how we how you can work around it yeah yeah should should not delay this and to not impact that to everything because it doesn't make any sense for anybody to get money when there will be Grant probably grant money available you know it's right but we also don't want to delay yeah and I have been in the there it's in amazingly better shape than I expected because of all the attempts with back hos to collapse the tunnels and so on and so the fact that you went in and you're sitting here you came back out a six-year-old a 12y old and a 16y old as well as a year and a half two years ago uh it's a 16 by6 square uh room has a stone bench at least on one side it's been filled in with silt and dirt from washing in and knocking in uh originally had an 8ot ceiling it's about a six or seven foot ceiling right now it have to be done but it also has and I didn't remember this until I got in there but off of one corner of the room and I remember being able to come in through that walkway and into the room but it goes out about six or eight feet turns right goes about the length of the room turn turns left turns left again turns right turns right there are four zigzag tunnels before it gets to where the entrance used to be Co now I got to check this place out you can't see anything right now one thing about it also is that the stonework is as beautiful underground as all the stone walls at at Marshall Park especially that big long that runs along the outside of the track there because that that was all built at the same time and one thing to mention to you although historical commission will probably go with this is that the fact that it was built by all women workers for the WPA there are specifically federal grants out there for projects that were built by women over the decades I it's it's a really unique thing and I'm sure I me a lot of people say yeah so it's a it's an underground room so but it's more than that it's a history aot more than the the Boy Scouts used it it it's kind of shady the description of how the room was used and if you think think back to the early think attached to it and everything and um it gets a little shady in the description pretty C so thank you unless you have any other questions I'll start thank you da I appreciate it okay so all right so let's go back to this concept of the articles that we want to vote to be included on the special town meeting warrant so I guess at this point what I'm hearing is that changing the revolving fund from a 53d to a 53d and a half is a yes yes yes um additional hours for the rec director is a yes yes and then for um remaining funds to complete the Marshall Park project is he yes okay can someone want to make a motion on that I will make a motion to draft Warren articles for the three items just mentioned is that enough you want going to go into more detail that that's fine as far as I'm concerned I'll second that okay all in favor I I I okay so so are you gonna I'll work through the details on um the revolving account and wording for um increasing the rec director position okay um do you want to work through the funding how much that's going to be what it's going to look like and and the the good news is um you know the actual warrant article is very vague it's the actual motion that happens for town meeting that provides the details of the money Etc so um yeah they don't want the dollar figure for for the warrant article not for the warrant article itself no you sure they're not going to push that cuz that's been a b of cont I felt like that's been a Hot Topic when the numbers ared until time you're not required to put it in the article itself okay that does not remove us from our obligation to let the board of slman know let the finance committee know let the public know as soon as we know what that dollar amount is going to be and I would add that if we want this to pass the sooner we can get that information out to the public the better and we have the um the OPM and the design firm that will help us provide you know information for the the public session or sessions um you know that we can you even record it and it can you know be there on yeah so they'll have an opport public will have an opportunity to see that absolutely it's it's you know it's it's just that's one of the things that it's going to just be the design that gets chosen needs to know that that's something they have to really start working with us right from day one almost which is you know going to be hard but you know the number that we put out there um you know in early info sessions may not be the final number um but the sooner we can get any information out to people the better so yeah okay when is the special time meeting I thought I had on myal it's I don't know if the official dates been Haven seen the DAT it's definitely going to be before Thanksgiving because this year Thanksgiving is like the 27th or something of oh and it has to be in November right it's the 28th of November um it's typically the second Tuesday of November so I think it's going to be somewhere around the 12th of November with my guess it's not what's that it's not a um no it's a Tuesday it's a Tuesday before that's veteran day I don't know so maybe it'll be the 19th since thanksgiving's the following it could be yeah so as soon as we know that I'll let you all know because that's obviously something you know be important for all of us to be present um because you know we will have to do a a good presentation at town meeting with it and we'll have to work to put PowerPoint together Etc you know to try to get all the you know important facts out there for people to see during town meeting so okay but that we'll be obviously be talking about that more okay in the weeks to come okay chair updates um so I was going to tell you about the um the cave having been secured so we already know about that now um and the other updates were regarding Marshall Park and where that those you know that process stands so I think I'm done with my updates how about committee updates anything from um so Master planning is just having a hard time meeting Quorum so our meeting was canceled five minutes before the meeting last week because we suddenly didn't have a quum so we have not had any meetings recently okay and open space we currently do not have a representative so that brings us to the next agenda item which is assign a new Parks Commission representative to open space so um Anna Lockwood had been our previous representative to that committee and um what it does is you know that that committee is responsible for um you know viewing open space um that's available in town or that could be available to acquire in town and in similar to a capital planning process they prioritize um you know what they would like to do in terms of um improving or adding to open space in the community it's um you know that that might involve you know looking to purchase land from families in town that have extra land or if there's you know um Parcels of land that have been agriculture that um uh that they no longer want to go through the agricultural tax exemption that town has right of first refusal to purchase that as open space land or you know land for the town so you know they get consideration of that um they meet roughly six or eight times a year depends what's going on um there's no you know there's no specific date of when that happens um so I'm looking to see who might be interested to be the representative for the next year or so don't ask speaking with us can make one other comment about that you did a great description of how they when they meet and so on for the most part mostly have a special project they're working on uh in recent months they've been all 100% okay interesting good good point thanks D so Donal speaker I'm involved with a 300 aniversary might be busy be willing to kind of maybe partial participant share it with somebody or something may share it with someone what you say I can you know depending on what it is like I'm going to be like really unavailable in September but and some of the rest of the fall but um if it's if they do it remote I can they are remote I can tell you that their next meetings are um August 14th which US would be at even if we assigned somebody and then September 11th brother is what they're currently planning and I've been on this committee I don't mind taking it back if nobody else wants it um you know and looking at their schedules they must had they had like January they had two meetings back to back February the same thing like one week then the following week then they were in March then they didn't meet again till May then they didn't meet again till July and they had two in July one on the 10th and one on one on the 30th so not they sort of spread out a little bit but I'd be interested in that the open space it's a it's a fun one the um for a variety of reasons it's fun but they have a nice group of um nice group of um I know nothing about it but that's okay it's it's a good one to be on in terms of getting to know more about other you know committees and how they all relate in town okay so you're interested yeah all right somebody want to make a motion I will make a motion to point to the open space committee second okay colen seconds all in favor problem Tim I do think you may need to go back to town hall and swear at the clerk because I had to be I had to do that for um Master planning and I didn't real that realize that so you may just want to shoot over a message I'll let her know after this sure as the clerk of this group that we appointed you why would Happ but so I'll send her over a message to let her know as well as um this that committee actually falls under planning so I will um make sure everybody that needs no nose so you might just want to check in with her and ask her if you I think you have to do it for like almost everything to do the each appointment yes you do not have to do the conflict of interest tring I have to redo so if anybody else needs to I had just checked off like the you done it last year I must have just done it when I got on every two years I keep getting emails I minutes and I click and it was like open uped it click and he's like you're done I was like sweet great great okay awesome so now minutes we have minutes of of June June 25th okay I did not print the not I apologize everybody okay does anyone have any edits or concerns about motion to approve minutes of June 2 2024 second second all right all in favor hi okay thank you okay upcoming meeting dates we talked about this a little bit already um so we know that need to meet 8:14 if for some reason that changes I'll let you all know can I probably have a quick thing on that agenda for um remember you said to me earlier in the week do you have anything for the beach and I'm like yeah I'm not going to have anything that was it came in the um for signage stuff y so I just want to throw it in front of the so signage at beach house yeah yeah yeah we can put that on before we start the yeah and somebody had reached out and said they might be interested in paying for it so I'll follow off with him before that next meeting that's we'll see I don't know if he fully understood the pricing of it on it so I just want to touch Bas with them and see if there're still interested and then if not it'll be coming back to you guys to sort of figure out if we all agree that to take it out of our involving account to pay for it um do we have an estimated price right now um somewhere around $800 I've gotten two quotes from two different people um and they're two totally different types of signs um so is a matter of you know sort of picking one and yeah um you know better than what we have up there right now okay all right so I'll add that to the 814 agenda okay um so then after that um we the following week date to be determined um I'd like to also still plan to hold a regular meeting I know that's going to be a lot to ask in August we don't need to hold the the regular meeting if you know there's nothing you know urgent um that needs to be addressed but we can at least put it on so that we're so that would be the 21st so if we can have everybody put that on your schedule um I will tell you already I'm not available on the 21st okay have it in the chat okay and so you know it's there like I said there may be another meeting in there for interviews um or it may just be that it falls on the 21st we don't know yet but um I at least want to have that one um set I assume that's at 7 7 all our regular meetings are at 7 you know I think when we did the interviews last time we met earlier and it may not necessarily be here depends you know um but all all to be determined and I'll reach out to everybody information you want um you want a zoom link for um the 14th yes ask for the 14th and the 21st yes please and if we have to you know if we need to just put it off we'll let them know but at least we know we haven't y okay all right and then hopefully then you know in terms of um September meeting will be back to normal for September 18 but we'll know more at our next meeting or so okay um other business um this is where you know we have board comment public comment any announcements I have no correspondents for us to consider so are there any other board comments that we need to address right now anything I didn't mention uh there is a cardboard cardboard boat race um is August 17th 5 o'clock information registers on my was shared today on the lenberg school Community page on Facebook I think Angela sent an email there was an email that went out about it too okay we just so that's out there for public it's a good time I think there was love to see more votes out there this year okay anything else I'm just out because we been add committee I'm being told you don't need to be sworn in but will you just double check that with yeah Kathy yep there uh Friday they not in on but just send her an email okay yeah Monday through Thursday and Tuesday is their late night okay it's now so okay um public comment thank you for the paper of probably not at all um basically two issues did pass W student6 sorry wow after 2,000 times doing that how did they forget um actually a third thing that I just wrote down have a question and you may not have the answer for it but I'm just wondering Parkland grants when can you apply again for Parkland Grant you can apply there's nothing that says you can't apply in the next round which is next spring this fall anyway I just want to plant that seed and I think you guys have talked about that yeah so would be so yes it would have to be most likely a different project than than Marshall Park um couldn't be a different phase of it because you had to identify exactly what you were doing with that money possibly possibly what we didn't get on the trails Grant like did so yes that's um I'm just trying to plant a seed that's all I'll leave it at that what you guys think about it um Marshall Park um your announcement about shutting off the baseball fields for the construction of phase one uh the other piece that concerns me is that you're going to have a skate park that is probably going to be finishing construction a month or so after you break ground over there you also going to shut that off you're going to have a brand new skate park with no access to it yeah it's an unfortunate reality yeah well I have my feelings about that and I say that if they had not been delayed 18 months by the town and and uh that process which never should have taken that long and I've said that in a previous meeting they would be finishing up on construction late this summer early fall while at least they would have had a half a season um water under the bridge at this point but it is what it is um the other thing that seriously concerns me and it's why the question was asked at the select board meeting Anita when you were there um is that I'm disheartened and I understand some of the reasonings behind it but phase one was supposed to include all of the parking improvements from massav in um only doing the enhancements in that area that is going to gobble up parking is going to leave you with even a worse situation once you finish finish phase one and at this point there's no at least nothing's been out publicly as to what phase 2 3 4 or whatever it's going to be right because like I said one of the big pushes for this whole project was to improve parking both on Street and um parking for the added uses on the mass out side so I see that as a real problem and uh know let you guys try to figure out a way to work it out I I know most of it's dollars and cents and the fact that you have to use the park with money up within a certain period of time exactly yeah you know and if if we're a fortunate to you know get Town meetings approval of the additional funds needed it can all happen more concurrently it won't be an issue right but yeah and again you're going to be Excavating in from massab all the way in to do what you're doing in phase one so you're going to dig up that whole area already you you know what I'm saying y we leave that Al but the excavation once done we'll still leave it to be the gravel area as it was is now so yes so it'll be back to gravel parking um one other thing to replant the seed and Karen and I worked on this a few years back when you start looking again at mcow don't forget about the Water District's properties their building sits on 86 acres and the piece the rectangular piece across the street from it sits on 1.72 acres and to my knowledge we were told by this water district superintendent that if they choose to give that property up I don't know if it's both Lots or only one of them it reverts back to the town they cannot sell it outside of or or one the towns that we schedule first for of refusal on it that we Absolut you know for that and then the property that the how the building is on I think they red that for a dollar from the town so I think that goes back to the town also um that's it and uh MCN just for your reference the total property owned for the MCN property is 2.4 acres and there is quite a bit more there than what's being used right at the moment and those connect to each other well that's it thank you thanks Ste I had one a question actually did was there a resolution on the Lake Shirley um no v no there nothing so it's something that we're going to need to push forward for next summer it's too late in evening yeah some what meeting I was just having a meeting someone like mentioned it too there a woman there from like big CH was like hey come over with your boats are free and yeah I don't know if it's finalist yeah no not that I'm aware of yeah there was a lady I can reach out to the chair again the lady was I don't some Facebook discussion too I feel like I saw somebody post somebody saying oh you can just go over to like I reference that it was like you can come over with your paddle boats and non-motorized Deals and come into drop them in Shady Point yeah I mean it was it was a great offer and it was you know for the Selectmen to be the ones to that agreement and so last I checked that was before the change of chair yeah so okay all right any other board comments or whatever okay if it's not then I will take a motion to adjourn motion to adjourn at 9:12 pm. second second faor okay all right thanks everybody appreciate it