PALMER TOWNSHIP RECREATION BOARD

JUNE 17, 2008

The regular monthly meeting of the Palmer Township Recreation Board was held on Tuesday, June 17, 2008 at 7:30 p.m. with all members in attendance except McBrairty. Young arrived late. Also present was Supervisor Robert Smith. Chairperson Nielsen convened the meeting.

MINUTES FROM MAY – On motion by Knox, seconded by Webb, and agreed by all.

TREASURER’S REPORT – Worley distributed the report and noted that everything is okay. He stated that there is a small discrepancy with baseball and it needs to be checked. He will be doing this shortly. On motion by Walker, seconded by Knox, and agreed by all the report was approved as written.

Public Comment – Nielsen read a thank you from the MS Society for the use of Fairview Park.

Dan McKinney was introduced to the Board. Board looks forward to working with him he noted he has some ideas he would like to run by the Board.

John Ballent – Present with Steve Webber to request the use of Fairview Park for practice 2 nights a week and a game either Saturday or Sunday. They will have to supply insurance, fill out an application and pay the fee. Walker noted this is a Connie Mack league from Wilson. Nielsen stated they need to have Palmer Township listed on the insurance. They are charging $30 per person. Nielsen stated they had approved this in previous years to Rich Freiler for the Longhorns which this would be the same type of games. Webber stated Wilson has agreed to pay any fees. They would like the fields August to mid October. They would maintain all fields; do all work and will supply their own bases. There has to be a contact in case of inclement weather and Board informed Webber that no one plays on our fields in rain. Jeff Young will be contact. Chris McBrairty will be co-contact. On motion by Knox, seconded by Webb, and agreed by all, the Board voted to approve the request from Steve Webber for the use of Fairview Park field from August 21 to October 25, Tuesdays and Thursday nights, and 1 weekend day; application must be submitted with insurance and $100 for the 10 weeks. Also, if more days are needed they must return to this Board for approval.

Jim Schwab stated he gave Diane a list of basketball equipment still outstanding. He will be going to the AA meeting on Thursday night and hopefully he will get more equipment. Barry Fulmer is getting price on shirts and shorts for bills to go out to these coaches for the equipment that has not be turned in. Nielsen stated it may be worth it to raise the registration fee and let the kids keep the uniforms since there is so many problems collecting the equipment and there are some teams/sports that like to have the players keep their shirts. She noted there is not a problem with soccer or football. Bob Smith stated he felt the Recreation Board should give Jim and Diane a deadline that all uniforms must be in. After this deadline the letters and bills will go out. Board feels the players should not be able to play the next sport until these uniforms are handed in or paid for. There has to be a cut-off date and it should be in the by-laws. An administrative fee should be added for Diane’s work as well as the postage. Schwab gives coaches/players forms to fill out which states what they receive and it is signed. The players/parents are responsible for their uniform and the coaches are responsible for all the equipment they are given. Knox just spoke with Todd Doerner and he will be handing in all his equipment on July 1^st.

Smith gave his report. He reported on the spring maintenance. He has bills for the following. The fertilizing of the football field for $175.21; He has bases for all the fields except the Legion and Lower Briarcliffe – $143.82 and noted that the bases were in the budget for this year. He had repaired 2 line machines and stated Young already broke the one again - $66.20; gator battery and maintenance – $66.86. He had all sorts of keys made for coaches for baseball; bathroom, press box, refreshment stand, equipment room, lock boxes, gator room, umpire room and purchased a box for all these keys with tags - $89.60. Total is owed to him. On motion by Walker, seconded by Webb, and agreed by all, the Board approved to pay Smith these bills from the maintenance fund. Knox asked if he has the seed/fertilizer for Mill Race. They will get together on this. Knox will get the workers to do this.

Smith stated he had asked the township for the exhaust field in refreshment stand, to add it in the budget. He informed the Board that this was cut from budget for 2008. Recreation Board asked him to get a price for this since the ice machine keeps shutting down. Board will see if they can purchase this after he submits some quotes.

Baseball – Young noted in house teams are done. He gave run down on the placing of the teams noting they had a good year. He feels there is a lot of interesting the younger age groups. Saturday was Palmer Home Run Derby. The Phillies were in and did a great job with this event. There was a tremendous response from 7-8-9 boys but noted there was a conflicts with the games for the girls. This will be straightened out for next year. Smith noted he spoke with Dave Colver. There was a very difficult time getting things donated this year for the event and Colver noted he would like the Recreation Board to add $1,500 in the budget for next year’s event which will cover all expenses such as hot dogs, soda, and water. These things should be given to everyone. All the snacks are donated.

Young asked how are the batting cages used. Who has the use of them. This is the one at Fairview and the two at Palmer School. There are 4 pitching machines and he understood that the cages are first come; first serve. Board discussed this and feels they should be scheduled just like the fields. Young stated there were some incidences with the cage at Fairview Park. Walker noted they did schedule this years ago. Young noted it’s very difficult to schedule this and feels this is not a Recreation Board issue. Board feels baseball/softball have to work together. Young noted the Legion coach threw the girls out of the cage. Smith noted there is a new one in the Parks garage. Knox feels this should be put up for the girls to use. The only pitching machine for the girls is at Fairview and more girls use Fairview than boys. Put it right beside existing one. This will be done for next year as well as the batting cage being put up.

Webb reported on the tournament teams 9-10. Everyone who tried out was placed on teams and judged by a neutral person. Cost is $1,075 total cost for 2 teams. Young broke down the teams and how much each game cost and where they were playing – Williams, Coplay, Forks, Stealth. Teams A & B. He noted the uniforms, the shirts and hats were purchased by kids. Each coach will keep his equipment for these 2 teams. All regular season uniforms must be turned in by these tournaments. There are 14 kids to a team but there are never more than 12 playing.

11-12 had tryouts and 19 kids showed up for 2 teams. Since they wanted 2 teams they had to call some kids who played during the season to fill in the gap. They are all Palmer kids. If you played in season than that is the tournament age group that you had to try out for. Young broke down this age group tournament teams, the location and how much each game cost. Williams, Forks, and Bushkill noting that they can not play at Coplay. There will be times when there will not be enough players on a team and the game will have to be forfeited. Walker stated he will not agree to pay for these tournaments and have the games forfeited. Nielsen noted that Bellis stated the AA could pay some of this bill. Smith noted that is not true and that Bellis could only approve $600 for the tournaments. Bellis could not approve for half of the $2100 for these tournament games without AA Board approval. Young does not have a problem charging $10 for these tournaments noting that the hats and t-shirts cost $15 per player. Parents were asked to cover this.

Walker stated he had no problem with 9 and 10 but definitely has a problem with having to ask kids to play tournament ball when they didn’t go out for it. Knox noted there were only 3 kids and Walker noted that definitely isn’t enough. The need more kids for the teams but noted they will “sit on the bench” if other kids will play. Parents will have to realize this that the better players play. This needs to be done correctly from the start since it will set precedence.

Young stated that maybe the Recreation Board could fund one team and see how this goes. Worley noted there are still some unanswered questions and these need to get straightened out. There are not any problems with the 9 and 10 year olds.

Nielsen feels we pay half and sponsor 1 team from each age group. We need to support them. If AA doesn’t pay the other half the parents are going to have to foot the bill. Smith stated there are so many good coaches who are taking the good players out and doing these teams. Why not sponsor these teams and kids that want to play ball. Motion by Walker, seconded by Young, to pay half of the fees for 9 and 10 year olds for the tournament teams - $550. Young felt the motion should state that these teams met Recreation Board criteria and followed the rules. Walker amended his motion, Young seconded this amended motion. Nielsen took a vote which was agreed by all.

11-12 year olds – Freiler evaluated these kids but he just put all 11 year olds on one team and 12 year olds on another team since there wasn’t enough. Board wanted to know who decided who to call. Smith thought the kids that played last year were the first to be called to fill the gap.

11 and 12 – Webb reviewed the schedule for these teams. Walker noted he can not support these tournament teams with the way they were formed and how they are now. Webb asked if this Board would fully fund the 9 and 10 year olds and not do anything for the 11 and 12 year olds. The consensus of this Board is that they are okay with this. On motion by Walker, seconded by Young, and agreed by all, the Board agreed to pay the total fee for the 9 and 10 year old teams of $1,075 since they followed guidelines and criteria of the Recreation Board.

On motion by Worley, seconded by Knox, and agreed by all, the Board motioned that if the AA funds the 11 and 12 year old teams, we will let them use our equipment.

Young stated that Mel Hodges paid his fee that was owed to the township and he received his umpire fees from last year.

Softball – Young informed the Board that tournaments are coming up. 9 and 10 year old teams and they would like to use their softball equipment. Scott Helm will coach this team. The League decided to have post season tournament. There were no 11 and 12 year old teams from Palmer. 9-10 year olds have to have tryouts; 13-14 already had tryouts. These tryouts were all unbiased. There will be 12 players per team. All kids are from Palmer and will pay for everything; they just want to use equipment. Nielsen stated if this is a league tournament why wouldn’t we want to sponsor this and let them use equipment. Helm needs to buy the hats and they are charging $15 per player. Hopefully there will be 2 teams for age groups 9 and 10 and 13 and 14. The 11 and 12 year old teams will be going with St. Jane’s team since there are not any coaches available for this age level. Knox motioned to allow the teams to use our equipment, seconded by Walker and agreed by all. Only motion by Walker, seconded by Knox, and agreed by all, the Board approved to pay $360 fee for the 9 & 10 and 13 & 14 age groups tournament teams.

Wrestling – Ordering uniforms in the next couple of weeks.

Football – Sign ups done. Practice will start 8/14.

Playgrounds – Started today. Good turn out.

Soccer – Sign ups are in the process until June 20^th. Numbers are good.

Lacrosse – Equipment will be turned in on July 1^st at 6:00 p.m.

Development – Knox reported on Fox Run Estates – developer met with township officials and stated they will be replacing top soil on the field and re-seeding it and it is at least a year away before we can use it. It already has water and sewer stubbed in. Smith noted they are trying to get money into the budget for bathrooms for next year. Parking lot is in. Smith will inform George Kinney, Planning Director, as to what is going on.

Community Center – Dan McKinney – stated he looks forward to working with this Board hoping to make things convenient and work together. He informed the Board of the sign ups through the computer system that they have. This is another avenue the township can have for sports signups and residents can use credit cards. Webb asked if it was run in-house? He noted it is run by a third party and every credit card transaction will have a charge but very minimal. He noted they can do anything from this web site such as pay pool passes. It’s a great convenience for everyone. Reminders are automatically sent out to everyone who signed up. This program can be updated constantly and can set up the program with the multiple children and the fees. Dan also stated he would like as much information from this Board and AA as possible for the center workers since they receive so many phone calls on sports. Board will forward this to the AA . Dan also noted he will be at all meetings and is always available, if needed for anything. Board thanked him for attending and looks forward to working with him in the future.

Rick Weaver race – Board discussed route. Walker noted his concern on that the runners would be traveling down the bike path and then turn around on and the runners would be traveling in both directions. They discussed this and noted Weaver reviewed the course and felt it was a good course. On motion by Knox, seconded by Webb, and agreed by all, the Board voted to recommend this course be approved by the Board of Supervisors and they should discuss it for further consideration due to traffic.

On motion by Walker, seconded by Knox, and agreed by all, the meeting was adjourned at 9:35 p.m.

Diane Grube, Corr. Sec.