Park & Rec Board Meeting 2.5.2024

A Quincy Votes! member attended the recent Park & Rec Board meeting. While care has been taken in their creation, these notes are not official meeting minutes and may contain errors or omissions. 

Park Department:

1.      Minutes of Dec. 4th meeting approved.  (January meeting was cancelled).

2.      Discussion/ Notice:  all Board members have to complete the annual Ethics and Open meeting trainings.  The Ethics training takes about an hour (it's online).  If anyone has questions, they can talk to Nicole Crisp.

3.      Requests:

a.       Veterans Stadium:   Request from Shriners All Star Football Classic to use Veteran's stadium on Friday night June 21, 2024 for Annual Shriners Charity Football Game.   Paul met w/ Jamisean Patterson to discuss the fact that the field in the spring is lined for Rugby.  This is between two Rugby games, and the Shriners would have to pay to have the field striped for Football.  Park department will reset the goal posts at no cost, but the City won't pay the cost of adding football markings to the field.   If the Shriners wish to go ahead, the Board agreed to scheduling the game for the requested date.  The approval is to give Paul the authority to grant the permit if the Shriners decide they will pay for the restriping of the field.

b.      Cavanagh Field:   Use the field May 11, 2024 from 11 to 2 PM for Annual Holi celebration.  There will be food, music, and fun. The event uses powdered (water soluble) colors that get tossed across the field as part of the celebration.  The first rain after the event will wash the colors away.  This event has been held at this location before.    Approved.

c.       Koch Complex Community Room: Quincy Police request use of the community room on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from March 12th through May 14th, 2024 for free Citizens Police Academy.    The Police department is looking to revive this program.   Approved. 

d.      Pageant Field:

i.            City Event:  Cleaner / Greener Quincy.  May 4th.  8:00 am to 1:00 pm.

ii.            Rural Masonic Lodge for a cookout on May 5th, 8:00 am to 6:00 pm.  Fee $375,  approved.

iii.            QPS:  International Food Festival.  (This was held last year at Fore River).  May 11th, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.    (no fee)  Approved.

iv.            Mary Montalto for family party.  June 1.   Fee $225.  Approved.

v.            Squirrel Run Committee, for 26th annual Squirrel Run Road Race to benefit ALS.  June 8th.   Approved.  (no fee)

vi.            Holy Trinity Parish, for annual parish cookout.  Fee $225.  Approved.

vii.            Flag Day celebration.  June 15th, 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm.  Approved.

viii.            Gloria Cooper for family party.  June 23rd 12:00 pm to 6:00 pm.  Fee $225.  Approved.

ix.            Sara Callard of Friends of Ruth Gordon requested use of Friday evenings, beginning June 28th through August 30th.   Looking to continue Fridy programming and maybe have a Wednesday movie night sometimes.  Motion is to approve Paul continuing to work with Sara and the group to plan programming.  Paul is meeting every other week with Sara to develop scheduling.  Approved.

x.            Mass Striped Bass Association for annual club cookout.  July 14th, 2024 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. This is the tenth year they have had their cookout here.  Never any problems.  Fee $225.  Approved.

xi.            Filipino Apostolate of Boston (based at St. John's in Quincy) for annual picnic on July 20th, from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm.  They also are a long term user of Pageant.  No issues.  Fee $225.  Approved.

xii.            Rich Hanlon, for family picnic on August 10th, 2024  10:00 am to 6:00 pm.  Fee $225.  approved.

xiii.            Tommy Tunes Organization, for Softball Charity fundraiser.  Sept. 24th. Have been using Pageant for four or five years.  No issues.   Fee $225.   Approved.

4.      Old Business:  None

5.      New Business:  Next meeting:  Monday, March 4th, 5:30 PM.

6.      Project Updates from Dave Murphy

a.       Most crews are working on "tree raising".  (From discussion, I think it means pruning back branches on sidewalks and streets to ensure clear passage). 

b.      Work continues on the Golf Course.   They are upgrading the water infrastructure, and the area should see some improvement in water (not sure if he meant water quality or water pressure).   They are adjusting the drainage plan to preserve as many trees as possible, although Dave is sure that some residents will want to see even more preserved.   Working in such a tight site is a little difficult.  

c.       On Faxon Park:  the new picnic pavilion has been ordered.  It should be installed by summer.  They are working on the plan for bathrooms (similar, but smaller than what is at Pageant). (There was no mention of dates for bathrooms to be built).   Also, there was some significant vandalism at Faxon Park.  They damaged the baseball fields.   There is a team already working to remediate the damage.  It will take labor and time to fix, more than cost of replacing anything.  Work began on fixing it as soon as the department learned of the damage.  Dave and others have been meeting with Richard Ash (new City Councilor for Ward 2) to bring him up to speed on prior public meetings regarding Faxon Park.

d.      There are four Community Preservation Committee (CPC) applications created.  (This is a process, these probably will be reviewed by the Council in May / June).  (Next CPC meeting is Thursday, Feb. 8th, 5:30 PM (34 Coddington Street, School Committee Room)

i.            To address lack of dedicated pickle ball courts, three sites have been identified to get new courts.  (Tennis courts are well used, so there is no desire to convert tennis courts to pickle ball courts).  The thinking is, to avoid congestion, and provide access to courts in various parts of the city, it is best to spread the court sites throughout the city instead of making one large set of courts somewhere.

1.      Faxon Park  (Dave mentioned "old high school site" which was not part of the original park grant.

2.      Fenno Street, behind the tennis courts.  No lighting there now, but Fenno Street's lighting will probably have to be redone in 2 to 5 years, and when it is redone, the pickle ball area will be lit.

3.      Old Fed Ex site on Commander Shay Blvd.  

ii.            Squaw Rock.   The park has concrete pads and other remains from prior uses, so they will have to be removed.   There is working being done to create a master plan for Squaw Rock.  Discussions are underway with the Massachusetts Tribe for a permanent home for them.   (No timetable was discussed about when the master plan would be ready)

iii.            Brill Park Street Hockey rink.   Needs repair, and it was never designed to be flooded in the winter for an ice rick.  This project will do over all repair and allow it be used in the winter for ice hockey.

iv.            Ruth Gordon Amphitheater:  changes to address accessibility and drainage.   "They" are meeting with Sarah Callard.  (Not sure if the "they" is David and/or others.)  There has been some work done in house by the mason to do repairs and add railings, but more needs to be done. 

Recreation Department:

1.      No need to approve minutes, they were approved in the first meeting.

2.      The bicycle commission did not have a meeting in January.   Council on aging did meet, and there notes and newsletters were available for review.   Correspondence:  Two requests for donations were reviewed.

a.       Central Middle School PTO:  asked for a donation as part of a fundraiser for 8th graders trip to Gettysburg.  As Central is the site of the Volleyball Camp, board agreed to donate one gift certificate for someone to attend a Volleyball camp.

b.      An U12 Baseball group asked for a donation to support taking the team to Cooperstown.  That request was not approved.  The Rec department usually only donates to Quincy Public School organizations.

3.      Reports from Director/Commissioners:

a.       Winter Vacation Week Program:  extended the gym programs to Tue - Friday, 9:00 to 3:00; offered Parents Night out (which also was popular) and extended the hours on the outdoor rink.   All were very well attended.

b.      Elks Hoop Shoot Program:  45 participants, six winners (3 girls, 3 boys who represented different age categories) went to the next round in Marshfield.  One Quincy girl won in Marshfield and continued onto State Championships.  The Quincy girl won the state championship and will be participating in the New England Regional event in Portland ME.   (The winner of that will go to Chicago for Nationals).  (Name of the winner and details will be in the Quincy Sun). 

c.       2023 Shannon Grant.  (All funds have been spent; in 2023 we received $33,313.)

4.      Unfinished Business:

a.       Red Cross is changing their Life Guard Training.  We have until September to update our certifications and training to meet the new Red Cross standards.   The Rec department will run classes both weekends of April vacation (instead of their usual schedule of doing it in February vacation).   Other aquatics notes:  Life guards are asking to guard the swim meets.  This is a good thing.  The family swim schedule will be modified to eliminate Friday nights and add Saturday morning, starting March 1st.   This is because few life guards want to work Friday night but many more are available Saturday morning.

b.      (no notes taken)

c.       Therapeutic Recreational Programs:  Buddy basketball is very popular with the kids.

d.      Pickleball Programs.  Have both morning and evening programs in three locations.  Programs run on Monday, Thursday and Saturday.

e.       Adult Volleyball and Basketball Programs:  Saturday at NQHS.   Proving popular, is coed, but mainly men attend.

f.        Women's fitness program:  held at Fore River Club.  Low attendance.  Information about the program was sent to female senior Olympics participants letting them know the program exists and has room.

g.      Instructional Ice Skating: both sessions sold out.  

h.      Winter Gym Programs:  numbers are through the roof at most locations.  Wildly successful at Lincoln Hancock and Merrymount.  Still having the same fights with Qcares.   There are gym programs at every elementary and middle school, some multiple times a week. 

i.        Quincy Rec League Basketball: still popular. Four sites on four days.  It's going well.

j.        Outdoor Skating Rink:  It's been an adventure.  Needed December to figure out details (like how many staff, what hours, how often to resurface the rink, how many people to let on the ice, when to restrict for Quincy only, etc.)  Now that they have that experience, things are running smoothly.   There are definite lessons' learned that if this is done again, would want to incorporate into the contract.  (Mentioned was ice skate sharpening; the tool they gave us is really old, and there was no training on how to use it, so none of the skates are being sharpened).  On a positive note, we have gotten dozens of ice skates donated to us, and it's been especially beneficial when they are the smaller (little kid) skate sizes.  This is being paid for by District Improvement Funds (DIF) not out of the Rec department budget. 

k.      FY24 Shannon Grant Application:  Application submitted.  Requested $64,000.  Was granted $33,313 in 2023, so hoping to at least get that much.

l.        Winter Special Events and Programs:  Rec department supported tree lighting and Mayor and Councilor Inauguration event.

5.      New Business:

a.       February Vacation Week Planning:  Surveyed staff.  Will be expanding gym program, will extend ice skating hours, will have a swim program.

b.      Mass Recreation and Park Association

i.            Michelle was nominated as Secretary (again; she is currently the Secretary).

ii.            There is a March 2024 conference planned.

c.       Spring Planning Events:

i.            Spring Recreation Programs:  Will be starting volleyball; Will bring back outdoor recreation at the schools starting May 1st.

ii.            April Vacation week:   will have boys and girls Lacrosse clinics

iii.            Cleaner Greener Quincy:  May 4th

iv.            Senior Olympics:  May 6th to 23rd.  Will be starting planning soon.  

d.      Summer Planning and Programs:

i.            Registration dates will be set.  Board approves the same fee schedule as last year.  ii.            Marketing Plan (no notes)

iii.            Fee and Refund Policy:  Discussion:  we currently charge $10 admin fee if you cancel more than a week in advance, and we charge 50% of fee if you cancel with less than a week, and no refund if you cancel and the class has started.  This puts a lot of stress on the staff as they deal with working the wait list to see who can attend, and then chasing down the fees for the wait listed person.  We also get charged for every transaction:  meaning when we post a refund, we pay a fee too.   There are a few people who book everything and then just before, call and cancel and we are left with spots that go unused.  Also, charging $10 for a $30 dollar program and $10 for a $125 dollar program doesn't seem fair.   Board approved new Refund Policy:  20% of the registration fee is the non-refundable admin fee.  There will be no refunds after June 15th.  (The Rec department always allows "transfers" to different weeks at no charge, and exceptions will be made for medical reasons if a child cannot participate in a camp.) June 15th was picked because that is the date where staffing and programs are set based on registrations.

e.       Rec will be running the Quincy Track club.