REGULAR MEETINING
MONDAY, AUGUST 13, 2007
MOREHOUSE FARM PARK
“Amended Minutes”
The regular meeting of the Weston Parks & Recreation Commission (“WPRC”) was held Monday, August 13, 2007. Present were: Carl Bernstein, Vice-Chairman Nancy Babyak, Marc Butlein, Chairman Dave Juneau, Carlos Mello and Bob Uzenoff. Absent: Pat Kane. Public: John Clevenger and Skip Goldberg. Staff present: Dave Ungar and Gloria Sundlof.
1) Call to order: Chairman Juneau and Bob Uzenoff met with Dave Ungar and did a field walk of MFP. Chairman Juneau then called the meeting to order at the pavilion at 7:32 p.m. and bypassed reading the Weston Code section 2-62.
2) Approval of minutes of July 9, 2007: Minutes of the July 9th meeting were approved with no amendments. Marc moved motion Bob seconded, 5-0-1. Carlos abstained.
3) Public Forum: John Clevenger of Weston Little League stated the Selectmen have accepted the gift of the dugouts at BSP to the town from L.L. subject to a decision from the WPRC. Mr. Clevenger stated he would like to get the Commission’s approval on this tonight and if accepted, would need to present the plan to several other boards for approval. Nancy stated she had visited various baseball facilities within the area and found the majority has block dugouts. She stated she would like to find out why block is more commonly used. President of Little League, Skip Goldberg spoke about the great fields at BSP and would like to make them better for the children. Dugouts will help contain the children, focus on the game and keep them in order. He spoke on health and safety issues with dugouts. Temperatures are up in the spring and summer and dugouts provide adequate shelter for children. Providing dugouts for safety reasons would help keep foul balls from hitting children. Mr. Goldberg stated the dugouts would be a legacy that L.L. would give to the town. They will be built by Weston resident and contractor Mike DeMattio who built the original dugouts on field #1. The BOS had approved subject to the acceptance of the WPRC. The Conservation Commission has accepted, Planning & Zoning has given their approval and Joe Fitzpatrick of the Building Committee approved with wood being a good solid construction. Mr. Goldberg stated the dugouts on the North House field are wood and in 20-30 years they may need to be re-built at that point. Mr. Clevenger distributed an updated Bisceglie Scribner Park field dugout construction plan for fields #2 and #3. He spoke on some concerns of the Commission regarding wood and concrete dugouts and stated Wilton has some dugouts made of wood and concrete combined. Nancy stated she had researched New Britain which is concrete and said there is little cost impact by having half concrete and remaining wood. Mr. Clevenger remarked one concern voiced at the previous meeting was the dugout appearance. The inside framing and durability issue; players may damage interior. Ideal situation would be to sheath the inside with half inch plywood including the roof for protection. Sheathing is beneficial by being more durable and does not damage. The cost of this would be $4,000.00 - $5,000.00 additional. Dave J. stated the original intent from L.L. was to have concrete on field #1 and wood dugouts on fields #2 and #3. The Commission discussed how wood rots and questioned this issue for the future. Mr. Clevenger stated this happens when wood is in contact with the ground. Two things to solve this would be to have proper drainage so there would never be standing water near a dugout to prevent an erosion issue. A second solution is the plates which are part of framing would be made of pressure treated lumber. When using pressure treated lumber it is used with safe chemicals and only used near base plates. The dugouts will use a full foundation. Mr. Clevenger stated asphalt would be the foundation not clay or soil surface. Bob questioned the excavation of this projection and could possibly use the town’s many machines and back hoes. Mike DeMattio will check into the cost decrease but stated that special equipment will be required since the dugouts would be built on a high slope. Bob stated the Beautification Committee said it is not mandatory but a concern of Jim Jameson would be the maintenance and would like a material to reduce rotting. Mr. Jameson stated that plastic, wood or concrete is all acceptable forms. Nancy stated three months ago L.L. came to the Commission with the intentions of concrete dugouts. She spoke again regarding her concern on cinderblock and not wood. Joe Fitzpatrick of the Building Committee stated it should not be very costly with stone and wood. Dave J. stated the Commission would prefer concrete but would like L.L. to go back to the Building Committee to finalize the design. Carl stated he would prefer wood. Marc stated the Commission should be concerned with the aesthetics and would like all dugouts to look alike. The Commission questioned the upkeep of these dugouts and whether the town is responsible when they accept this. Mr. Goldberg stated as a legal matter it is a gift to the town. When fall is over L.L. will winterize the dugouts and will upkeep them with painting after each season. They are durable for twenty years and after that they can be knocked down and rebuilt. Nancy stated when she did research on wood and concrete dugouts the contractors donated their time and materials. Dave J. stated it is not logical to build half wood and half concrete. The Commission can approve this based on contingency. Bob stated possibly building dugouts without walls similar to the North House may be an option. He stated he would like to see concrete dugouts. Mr. Clevenger remarked the fall season of L.L. will be starting in three weeks and will end the end of October. He stated he would rather see dugouts built with safety with approval from the Building Committee. After discussion, Carl motioned the WPRC accept the gift that Little League presented with respect to construct new dugouts out of wood. This is subject to the approval of the Building Committee where as they will tell the WPRC that these are adequate for the purpose of safety. Carlos seconded motion and passed, 4 - 2. Bob stated he would like to have each page of the plans signed by Dave J. and Skip Goldberg. Mr. Goldberg and Dave J. did this and signed the plans.
4) Unfinished Business:
a) Review of action items:
07-14. Dave U. spoke with Phil Shaner President of Weston Soccer Club regarding the storage shed issue at MFP. Dave U. stated the Scouts would like to do another project and has someone that is interested. The Scouts can stain the shed but can not re-roof it. Dave asked if the Commission had a stain preference for the shed. The Commission would like the esthetics to tie in with the pavilion. Bob suggested contact the Beautification Committee. Dave U. will speak with Cynthia Williams on suggesting a stain for the shed for the Commission’s approval.
07-15. Carlos is awaiting input from Dave J. and Ellen Uzenoff on the status of the pool boiler issue. Dave U. stated it is a shared responsibility of the pool. The pool maintenance is the P&R and the boiler is the responsibility of the BOE. Dave J. stated it is fine to fix the boiler but in the long run more money will be spent on this. The Commission discussed the issue of having a contract to cover this issue. Carlos will report back next month.
07-23. Dave U. called David Allon regarding the turf program at the Rolling Hills Country Club. He stated we have already invested money into our turf program at MFP. Dave U. will get a soil sample and awaiting this meeting. He will give the Commission numbers for the turf replacement funds from the user groups.
07-24. see above
07-26. Dave U. emailed reports of July 4th to the Commission. The Fourth was underwritten by Fairfield County Bank for a donation of $12,500.00.
b) Soccer Club Shed @ MFP: see above
c) Weston Little League Dugout proposal: see above
d) Other unfinished business: none
5) Reports of standing committees and resulting motions:
a) Administrative Committee: Dave U. distributed reports from BSP pond sales and attendance. Responses were very positive on the new playground.
b) Aquatics Committee: none
c) Fields Committee: Dave J. stated the crabgrass is an issue at MFP. Bob asked about the draft specifications. He stated this should go out to bid this winter for start of spring season. Commission would like perspective bidders to see while the grass is still green. The Commission would like this to go out soon. Dave U. will get an RFP out no later than October 1st. The Commission will review this at the Sept. meeting. Dave J. asked the Commission if they would like to see a scale system. He stated if a field starts to slide the contractor is not living up to their responsibility. Bob stated he would like to see Dave U. be responsible for this. Dave J. stated he will put this on the agenda for next month’s meeting. The Commission discussed having a consultant come in and check the fields three times a year to take pictures with visual memory of what the conditions were then and now. They discussed possibly expand and go to every park and aquatic facilities for future records.
d) Programs Committee: Dave U. reported on the status of the summer soccer camps. Camps are held at the turf field and MFP. Dave reported on the drainage on fields are great. Back fence will be replaced on turf field by the H.S. soccer and lacrosse clubs. Dave. J. asked if boosters club is falling behind with the turf replacement cost. Bob stated we are only about 50% where we should be now and if the fields should be addressed before budget season.
e) Parks Committee: Carl stated he has received positive comments from the upgrades at BSP from residents which they enjoy using.
6) New Business:
a) Other new business: Carl stated Michael Carter asked to draft a petition for lighting on the football field. Carlos has offered to help with this along with the Weston Sports Committee which will then go to the Selectmen.
7) Correspondence: Dave J. reported he and Marc attended the Sports Man of the Year meeting results of which have not been made public.
8) Announcements: none
9) Adjournment: Marc moved to adjourn meeting at 9:30 p.m. Dave J. seconded motion. All in favor 6-0.
Respectively submitted,
Gloria Sundlof
Adm. Asst.
