Notes from Parks & Recreation Board Meeting, Monday, June 12, 2023
Posted with the permission of a member of Quincy Votes! who attended the public meeting.
There are a few references to the Friends of Ruth Gordon Amphitheater. Both departments said they were looking forward to working with the Group and for the events. The next board meeting is scheduled for Monday, July 10th.
Just a reminder, these are notes not minutes and while care has been taken in creating them, there may be some inaccuracies or omissions.
Parks Meeting: Chaired by Paul Doherty
Approved last meeting minutes
Referenced open positions in the City
Correspondence was that Quincy's American Legion did not win the hosting rights to the 2024/2025 tournament that was proposed for Adam's Field.
Pageant Field Requests:
#1 of Amy Teehan was approved. (Sat. June 17th)
#2 (change from minutes published on the website, as the July 4th request was withdrawn) for Stan Westland (custodians) for August 25th was approved. I mentioned that there is a Friends of Ruth Gordon event that night and his response to the question of "is there a conflict?" was there might be or there might not be"
#3 David Robinson of Tommy Tunes was approved Sat. Sept. 23rd
#4 Jessica Cohn was approved Saturday, Oct. 14th.
Ruth Gordon Amphitheater: all dates approved
Question: Will there be food?
Answer: "We want to work w/ Friends and will distribute more information (to this committee) as it becomes available. There may be food trucks at some events. The group is still developing what will be happening.
Question: What happens if there is inclement weather?
Answer: The event is canceled. There are no rain dates planned.
Question: Is there power and light electrical service?
Answer: No.
O'Rourke Field:
Bernazzani school request. Approved. June 20th.
Fenno Street Basketball Courts
Mayor's office wants to host a 3 on 3 basketball tournament from 8 to 4. June 24th. Approved.
No update from David Murphy on construction as he is at the City Council meeting which is reviewing budget requests.
The Next Park meeting is scheduled for Monday, July 10th. (Not 3rd!).
Other discussions:
A board member requested awnings be hung. (My note: no mention of where these awnings were to be placed).
A board member requested Forbes Hill Tower entrance be mowed and then a crew from the Sheriff's Department correction program be asked to do raking/picking up.
Plaques (I inferred of retired numbers at Adams Field (I could be wrong about this)), 3 are done, the final one should be done soon. The dedication ceremony should be within 3 weeks.
Recreation Meeting: Chaired by Michelle Hanly
Board approved donating a family membership to Lincoln Hancock PTO to be used as a fundraiser.
Positions open: in the City. Assessors 1 and 2 and Council of Aging drivers.
Reports from the Director:
Wrapped up Spring swim lessons on June 1st. 242 children were enrolled. Had level 1, 2, and 3 lessons. Used revolving accounts, charge $90 for lessons (to cover all costs). No taxpayer funds were used, and they kept lifeguards employed. Made a change: swim lessons are now 40 minutes. Feedback from instructors has been very positive, like the 10-minute longer teaching period and five-minute break between lesson groups.
Senior Olympics: over 300 participants. Very successful. Thank you to the sponsors (Linden Ponds, Gather Health, Brookdale, and the City of Quincy).
Cleaner / Greener Quincy: Lots of schools participated.
Flag Day: went well. The fireworks were great, and thankfully the rain stopped in time for them.
2024 Budget:
Asking for a fourth full-time employee. Currently has 3 full-time and 276 part-time people. Asked for an increase in budget to support all the work that the Rec department does.
Council seems supportive. Will know when the final budget is approved.
Unfinished Business:
Lifeguard Training: running classes now for applicants for summer lifeguards
The pool is now closed for two weeks so camp counselor/lifeguard training can occur.
Recreational swimming has been very popular; the new locker rooms have helped.
Recreational swimming will resume after the pool reopens.
Prevention Programs: (Shannon Grant programs)
Run at NQHS 2 nights a week
Shannon Grant field day for August 5th
Therapeutic Recreation
Have 19 campers registered for session 1 of Happy Acres (9 - 2, M-F, 3-week session)
Have 16 campers registered for session 2 of Happy Acres (9 - 2, M-F, 3 3-week session)
Have 100 requests for inclusion support at the other programs (this usually means a counselor is assigned to assist the camper needing support)
Summer Program Planning
Playgrounds will be staffed on June 28th and 29th.
ALL staff will be off Friday, June 30th, Monday July 3rd (and Tuesday July 4th).
Supervisors, Lifeguards, Happy Acres staff are being trained on CPR, First Aid, ACD, etc. on various dates starting June 21st and going through June 29th.
77 new applicants will be interviewed for staff positions. The number of open positions will be determined this week when previous counselors give their final notice of working or taking another job/internship, etc. Counselors cannot work at both the school and the camp, and some experienced counselors are opting to work for the School department.
Registration: continuing online. Park programs are walk-in.
Shannon Grant Teamwork locations are Kincaid, Welcome Young, Clifford Marshall, and Parker (with NQHS two nights a week). See my research notes below on what a Shannon Grant is.
Pickleball Programs: none at this time.
Adult Cornhole Tournament: didn't happen in May; will happen in the future. Dates TBD
Summer Special Events: Weekly "wacky Wednesday" at the rec department (with bouncy houses, etc.) and then used for "Ward Wednesday" with one site in each Ward getting the bouncy houses to be used by the community.
Want to work with Friends of Ruth Gordon Amphitheater for night time programming.
New Business
Recreational Program Planning: Added a k-2 program and it is already full.
Uniforms are in.
New Canoes and Kayaks are in.
Asked for the City Council for a budget increase from $600k to $799k for additional programming and one new staff person. Council did not push back on the request; seemed to understand the number and high quality of rec programs offered. Michelle created a document showing what the Rec Department delivers.
Council asked if money for Ruth Gordon Amphitheater was included. Michelle said yes.
Discussion if more money is needed (for Ruth Gordon Amphitheater), could go back to Council for another appropriation.
Michelle is still waiting for some line items to be approved. (I think she said salaries were one of them still not approved.)
Discussion of if/how do other towns do therapeutic camps (adaptive and inclusion programming) for 3- and 5-year-olds. Michelle will research. (Happy Acres is for over five-year-olds). Recreation currently does provide adaptive help with Kids Corner, but not all kids can do adaptive. (For example, in adaptive programming, kids need to be able to use the bathroom or change their pull-ups on their own, or a parent must come in to do that; no camp counselor will be in a bathroom stall alone with a camper helping them use the toilet.)
What is being offered and how much do the camps cost? (Below is a partial list, the discussion went fast and I know I missed some.) They are also offering aftercare (2 - 5 PM). Scholarships are available if someone asks about them (and needs them).
$40 - $65 Fee:
Baseball (3 days) $40
Jump Start $55 (first week)
Track $55
Kids’ Corner (3- and 4-year-olds, already full) $55
Swim Team $60
Softball $65
$85 Fee:
Jr. Sports
Cheerleading
Dance
Arts and Crafts
Jump Start (5 days)
Lacrosse Camps
$100 Fee:
Basketball (4 days)
Sports and More (1st week) ($80 second week)
$125 Fee:
Basketball (5 days)
Musical Theater
Soccer
TV Production
Volleyball
$120 Fee:
Leader in Training (two weeks) (this is for 13- and 14- year-olds who help counselors)
My Research Notes (NOT said at the meeting, but here because I wanted to understand more about what I heard at the meeting, and thought others might be interested too).
A subset of the Metro Mayors Coalition, the Metro Mayors CSI includes the cities/towns of Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Malden, Quincy, Revere, Somerville, and Winthrop. The Metro Mayors CSI seeks to reduce youth violence and gang-related crime in metropolitan Boston and the surrounding communities by implementing a multi-disciplinary, anti-gang strategy.
The Shannon Grant Program, funded through the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security Office of Grants and Research, supports regional and multi-disciplinary approaches to youth violence intervention, prevention, enforcement, prosecution, and reintegration services. The initiative is designed to serve youth and emerging adults between the ages of 10 and 24 living in a community that has been identified as a hot spot and who are at risk or at high risk of gang involvement.
The grant honors Senator Charles Shannon, a Massachusetts state senator who represented the Second Middlesex district from 1991 until 2005. He served as a police officer for 20 years and worked to diminish gang violence in Somerville during his time in the Senate. After his death, the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security began administering the Charles E. Shannon Jr. Community Safety Initiative.