PALMER TOWNSHIP RECREATION BOARD

AUGUST 18, 2009

The regular monthly meeting of the Palmer Township Recreation Board was held on Tuesday, August 18, 2009 at 7:30 p.m. with all members in attendance except Worley.  McBrairty arrived later. 

MINUTES FROM PREVIOUS MEETING – On motion by Walker, seconded by Nielsen, and agreed by all, the minutes of the June meeting were approved as written. There was no meeting held in July.

TREASURER’S REPORT - On motion by Young, seconded by Walker, and agreed by all, the treasurer’s reports from June and July were approved as written.

Correspondence –

Knox read the following thank yous –

The Family YMCA thanking the township for the use of Fairview Park during their annual Firecracker 4 Mile race on July 4^th.

Team Lucky Stars thanking the Recreation Board for their use of Riverview Park which helped raise money for the Relay for Life.

A township parent thanked Jared DeGerolamo for the great job he and the other directors did this year at the Palmer Summer Recreation Program.

There were a few field use requests –

Jeff’s Gold – Tony Correia is requesting the use of Mill Race field for their season from September 1, 2009 to June 20, 2010. They submitted a check for $200 which was the same as last year.  The insurance has been submitted as well as the roster.  On motion by Young, seconded by Nielsen, and agreed by all, the Board voted to approve the use of Mill Race field for this organization from September 1, 2009 to June 2010 and they will work with our soccer league with their schedule.

Mike Webb/Wayne – requested the use of Riverview Field for a tournament on Saturday, September 12, 2009. Wayne is with the Palmer Softball Association thru a Bangor fall league and also with the co-ed league. He was asked if he had insurance and he asked about having the teams sign waivers, as he didn’t have insurance. He noted every team must sign waivers to play with the Association. This was discussed the insurance item and he was asked if he could use the Palmer Softball Association insurance.  He noted this liability insurance covers the team.  He was also told that he has to be in touch with a Recreation Board member to see the field will be okay to play on when they want it. He will also need to get port-a-potties and will be responsible for cleanup of the area.  A Board member will get in touch with Bill Raven or see if they need to get their own insurance.  Wayne stated they charge $200 which covers umpire fees and prizes.  Not making any money.  Local teams would be in this tournament.  Webb motioned to allow this tournament conditioned that someone speak with Bill Raven about this and with a charge of $50 per field per day; insurance must be submitted before tournament; need port-a-potties and no alcohol allowed on field. This motion was seconded by Young and agreed by all.

Todd Doerner – U9 program – Doerner stated there weren’t enough players for the U11 so they would like to start a U9 program. They would have sticks but no hitting. At this age they are just learning the sport.  They would need just a start up fee for basic equipment because these kids are smaller than other kids.  The season for this age group starts at a different time and they have approximately 3 or 4 games a season. There are no ref fees the coaches do everything.  He has had parents offer to coach this team.   Budget this year is under last year’s at this time.  Knox asked what happens if the numbers get higher next year.  Doerner said he has some equipment from last season that he can fix for these players.  Helmets are being recertified and need to get done every 3 years.  Young asked when he was going to start replacing equipment.  Doerner noted the equipment has been holding up nicely and they are using the green shirts.  Webb noted he thought the white shirts may need to be replaced shortly.  Young felt something should be in budget for this.  This should be put in the budget for next year.  They play at the Mill Race field and Doerner feels they will not need another field. The U9 program is an instructional team and won’t need a field. Ages would be 7 as of January 1. His assistant, Victor Schamilio was present and felt 7 is a good learning age; 6 is definitely too young. On motion by Young, seconded by Walker, and agreed by all, the Board voted to allow the U9 program as Doerner presented it to the Board.

Tom Adams was present and did a presentation for the land around the community center. He showed an aerial photo (from an overhead projector) for Fairview Park and of the girl’s softball fields and the moving of the fields away from the roadway.  Proposing to use the existing light poles and get lighting there again.  Also discussed and showed the bleachers/stands at the field.  Young feels moving to 25 is the better option.  Moving away from street is a great safety issue.  This is the cheapest way to get a field.  Years ago the teams played until 11:00 p.m. This should be modified for the neighbors.  It will definitely light up the neighborhood which may create a problem.  He also showed the new parking spaces that are proposed.  New fencing is needed. Township forces will do the majority of the work. The backstop is an older one and will need to be replaced.  Board would like to have the field done by next season.  We would need three quotes if under $10,000; if over would need bids.  On motion by Walker, seconded by Nielsen, and agreed by all the Board voted to recommend to the Board of Supervisors that this proposal for the softball field, lighting, new parking area, new fence, new backstop be started. Board also noted that the lights could be moved for community weekend. 

Board then discussed the moving of the legion field to the community center and noted that 2 more softball fields can go in that space that was shown for the legion field.   The fields have to be built with the sun in mind.  It is very difficult with the bright sun shining on the field.

CCCC - Adams then showed the existing image of the community center and the Palmer Sports Complex and what was planned when the center first came about.  The new plan which was reviewed that was submitted by the committee that was appointed to review the land was reviewed and it was noted that the band shell is not going to happen.  They added parking in this area which would be parking for football and allows parking closer to the field/concession stand and other ball fields.  They then discussed a proposed sand volleyball courts, and a walkway around the complex.  Roller hockey rink or an all purpose surface which will be utilized for more than just designating it for the roller hockey area.  Young noted there was a problem with field 6 at Palmer School this past season due to the school district allowing Lacrosse to play there.  Suggested putting a small softball where field 5 is.  This would be for minor league and could go with 180 to stay away from football field.  Fairview would have to stay baseball field – not legion size anymore.  We won’t have to depend on the school district for field 6.  Softball has increase so much this year.  Nielsen noted they could use the Kunkle tract.  There could be a field between fields 6 and 7 but you have to watch the slope. Walker asked if we could get baseball/softball people together to see how many fields are needed.  There are two all purpose fields proposed from the beginning.

Smith noted there is a stone pad behind concession stand at the Palmer Complex to use in the future.  The community center site does not allow any type of building.  What about the building next to the press box.  Have a two floor area to use for storage.  The football field was then discussed. This field has to be redone sometime.  The township did some work on it this year but it really needs work.

Dan McKinney from the Community Center stated that he feels the sand volleyball is something that would be quite a revenue generator – is a great idea.  The rest of the proposal is something that probably will take some time but is a good plan. These courts would be a great identification that this is a recreation center.  The walkway should be a 12 ft. wide macadam walkway. This is something the Board of Supervisors will have to discuss.  Smith stated there was money donated to the township for a garden area in the vicinity of the detention pond. ($225,000). The proposal/layout will come to the Recreation Board for their comments.  Part of this money will be set aside and put in a fund to maintain these garden areas so no township money will be used.  There isn’t any irrigation on the site and will have to be planned for the future.  The walking path would have to be a paved; other materials don’t work.  Young felt we need to get a list together to see what we want to see first.  There are a lot of ideas and need to be prioritized which includes the maintenance issues throughout the recreation in the township. 

If anyone has any suggestions, please give them to the committee that is reviewing the recreation.

What is being used at Penn Pump Park besides the renting of the pavilion. Young noted there are water issues during storms. It floods easily. There is a lot of land there but flooding is constant when we have rain storms.

Palmer Athletic Association – Jim McDonald, Joe Olah and Kim Smith were present to discuss the increasing of the registration fees for the spots. This increase would be $10.  McDonald stated they would like to pull their own weight in addition to the money they receive from the township.  They checked to see if an increase was necessary.  They realized it was.  The fundraising is not something they can rely on from year to year.  The money they collect now does not cover expenses.  From year to year their expenses vary.  They now have insurance that they have to pay every year plus any legal fees that they may have.  Would like to allocate a portion of the registration fee for their expenses and spoke on background checks.  The AA was in attendance of the Board of Supervisors meeting last night and spoke to them about these background checks.  

Joe Olah noted they dissolved the activity fee and no one had a problem with this.  The registration fees could be doubled with no problem.  This additional fee should go in a separate fund and have a 2-3-2 committee in charge of it.    The background checks will be approx. $15,000 and this account could cover this.  BOS did not want to have any attachment to these background checks – did not want to be involved with them. This is an AA project. Liability is a large problem.  Who would handle these reports; who keeps them; where do the records be stored?  AA hasn’t voted on anything yet; have to research this and take all comments to the body to discuss. Have to check into the third party controlling this. There was a lot of discussion on the increase and what it should be done with it and what it should be used for.

Recreation Board members noted they have to go to the Board of Supervisors to discuss some issue they have as far as buying shirts, hats, etc.  Walker said we need to have better coordination on who pays for what and who maintains funds.  Going over this report that the AA distributed he feels there are things that need to be reviewed.  There are some expenses that the AA is doing and feels it should be through the Recreation Board.

Tom Adams noted in Bushkill Township they pay $35 per child for registration; then sell $35 worth of candy or do a buy-out of it for $45; a $75 work bond for 4 hours in snack bar/field work. Adams also stated that Plainfield Township fees are higher.

Young is not convinced why they need this increase. If they get $15,000 plus fundraising – why do you need an increase.  Why not put it all in Capital Improvements.  Five dollars of each registration fee goes directly to the community center for them to do all registrations for all sports; $5 goes for the purchase of hats so there is $10 right off the bat that they don’t have. 

Capital improvements list – Young stated that any of these improvements should come through this board.  Olah felt the president’s position is that all sports are taken care of. If there was an amount of money that was raised for a particular sport it would go back into the program.  Olah said it would go through the Recreation Board.  This list has to be generated together, by both boards and we have to have one priority list.  This structure needs to be set because it could be a different board in years to come. 

Young noted that there are some board members that feel there should not be a registration fee increase until the by law issues are addressed.  Walker said what the AA came back with was not a response to what they were asking.  Who pays for what; who controls it, etc. 

Olah noted that any changes that have to be made had to go before the general membership.  They asked why anything should be changed since it worked for 60 years. That was the consensus of the general membership. 

Basic feeling by Recreation Board that the AA membership does not understand that these programs are Palmer Township programs and that the AA is running them for the township, not for the AA. They are not AA programs. AA members feel both, what would we have without each other.

McDonald stated that legal issues are such a large portion of meetings now so they had to secure an attorney. They are their own entity so they had to get one for themselves. They discussed the fundraising again and noted that if they have one it is for a specific purpose/sport and they can’t depend on fundraisers to cover their expenses. There are different opinions on these background checks. Olah noted there is so much to do for these to set it up, find out all information about them. Find a third party to control the information. It may be a while before it gets off the ground. Everyone discussed the keeping of the extra funds that they are asking for. Keep in a separate account and who would be in charge of it. Walker as well as all Board members noted they are very comfortable with the present AA Board but who knows about the future. They are asking for a $35 registration fee and have $10 put into the capital improvements fund. They would have to establish a new fund for this.

On motion by Nielsen, seconded by Webb, and agreed by all, the Board recommended to the Board of Supervisors approval to increase fees and establish a committee to control this money and that the AA will start this increase with the spring sports of 2010.

Baseball – Uniforms have just been turned in. There is some worn stuff. Who decides what gets trashed or sold. This is another item that the Recreation Board has to speak to the Board of Supervisors about.

Softball – Trying to collect the rest of the junior and senior uniforms. Everything is okay with this year’s budget.

Wrestling – Signups are September 20^th.

Cheering – Nielsen noted that Lori Fulmer asked to get 40 skirts and 40 vests. Board asked if she needs them this year and was told no and Nielsen was told to put it in next year’s budget.

Football – Scrimmage tonight. Everything going well.

Playground – Nielsen reported that the year end picnic was held on July 31^st and the theme was Christmas In July. There was over $2,000 put in the account for signups for this year participants.

Development – Finegan Funeral Home – On motion by Walker, seconded by Nielsen and agreed by all, the Board voted to have the applicant pay recreation fees in lieu of land.

Northwood Center – On motion by Webb, seconded by McBrairty, and agreed by all, the Board voted to have the applicant pay recreation fees in lieu of land.

Community Center – McKinney reported that there is a tennis club that would like to hold clinics/lessons in the township at Fairview Park. They would charge $10 per child. There is so much equipment that you can get for this that this is a good way to go. Let the company come in and do the programs. It’s also a good way to get organized events in our parks. On motion by Webb, seconded by Nielsen, and agreed by all, the Board approved the use of First Serve Tennis Academy to use Fairview Park, or if there is a better court in the township, at $10 per person during the daytime hours.

On motion by Walker, seconded by McBrairty and agreed by all, the meeting was adjourned at 10:50 p.m.

Diane Grube, Corr. Sec.