PRESENT: Chairperson-Susan Goldman, Shannon Craley, Lee Morgan, Tushar Shah, Jarod Smith, Steve Di Constanzo
STAFF: Rob Blick, Director;
Also present Dick Hawks
The meeting was called to order at 7:35 P.M.
The minutes from May 22, 2006 were reviewed and unanimously approved.
PUBLIC COMMENT: There was no public comment.
LETTERS/CORRESPONDENCE: No correspondence
DIRECTORS REPORT: Highlighted items from the report will be covered under their topics.
FINANCE COMMITTEE/BUDGET: No updates.
PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION COMMITTEE: No updates.
TOPSTONE PARK ENHANCEMENT COMMITTEE: No updates.
ORGANIZATION/PERSONNEL: The Board of Selectmen were meeting with the board of finance to approve their recommendation for salary increases. We don’t have any information about what their recommendations are.
ATHLETIC FIELDS COMMITTEE: They are awaiting the report from Blades and McGoven that should be presented on the 7/18 meeting. It was explained that there would be some difficulties with the site at JRMS due to the 100 year flood plan. Those details should be quantified after the 7/18 meeting.
RCC GROUNDS COMMITTEE: Mr. Blick explained that the spring aeration was to be done this week much later than usual due to unusually wet conditions this spring.
WEBSITE: Nothing new to report other than the summer programs were posted quickly by Virtual town hall.
NEW BUSINESS:
RCC policy changes- Nothing new except the OK was given to allow reservation of a field by a family if reserved without a fee.
Georgetown Recreational Facility-
The commission discussed information about the facility in Georgetown that we had received during the meeting with the YMCA, members of several sports organizations and Steve Solar. This meeting had been arranged by Paul Degener. The commission received copies of the YMCA’s survey of Redding residents. Discussion revolved around how the developer got the impression that the town wanted a recreational facility outsourced, whether or not the survey results match the YMCA’s plans for the facility, and what we can do to steer the YMCA to respond to what we feel are the needs of the residents of Redding.
The largest of the commission’s concerns revolved around the idea that a 50 meter pool would be inappropriate to meet the Redding community’s need. It would be set at a temperature that would not be suitable for family swims, senior swims or swim lessons. We strongly feel that two 25 yard pools one for families and swim lessons and one for lap swimmer and team practice would benefit our community more.
Although the commission understood that the YMCA has stepped forward with a tentative financial commitment, they still will meet to do a feasibility study to determine if fund raising goals are attainable and business plan revenue goals are attainable. We felt that they would have a difficult time raising money and expecting membership growth when they were not taking steps in building a facility that will help meet Redding’s needs.
It was decided that the commission would take the following step to steer the development of the project:
Ms. Goldman would write a letter requesting to meet with member of the Redding YMCA Board in order to voice our concerns about how the facility would meet Redding resident’s needs.
Meeting adjourned at 9:25 P.M.
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