Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting: April 2, 2025

Present Members

Y Deb Faucher, Chair

Y Ed Harley, Clerk

Y-online Sherry Horeanopolous

Y Martin Sterman

N Meghan Bodwell

N Addison Barwise (Alt 1)

N Andrea Surabian (Alt 2)

Present Other Attendees

Y Walter Zawacki, Advisory Committee and liaison to P&R

Y Jake Mutti

Y Brent Fisk

Deb called meeting to order at 7:35 PM

Open Meeting and Commission Role Call

Note: Meghan Bodwell was recently voted off the commission by the Selectboard due to lack of participation and response to attempts to contact her.

Approve Minutes:

Deb made a motion to approve the minutes from March 5, 2025. Sherry seconded. All in favor.

Public Comments:

– None

Updates/Discussion Items:

Financial:

ACCOUNT # ACCOUNT DESCRIPTION STARTING BALANCE BALANCE ON

2025-03-25

01-630-5110-000000 SALARIES $20,997.60 $10,437.60

01-630-5210-000000 ELECTRICITY $3,275.00 $2,476.18

01-630-5240-000000 BUILDING REPAIRS & MAINTENANCE $15,520.00 $6,024.34

01-630-5340-000000 TELECOMM (CABLE/INTERNET/PHONE) $599.34 $599.34

01-630-5580-000000 MISCELLANEOUS/OTHER SUPPLIES $2,425.00 $2,240.24

24-630-3590-241007 FB Recreation Revolving $3,016.45 $3,016.45

24-650-3590-241008 FB Revolve Field Maintenance $7,454.26 $6,689.90

25-650-3590-251008 FB P. Park B. Ball Court Donations $137.50 $137.50

25-650-3590-251009 FB Krashes Field Mem. Donations $31.00 $31.00

25-650-3590-251016 FB Sawyer Field Donation $4,025.00 $4,025.00

N/A Goodnow Park interest via Trustees of Princeton Trusts $116.10 $116.10

 

Yearly Funds Available $11,340.10

Revolving Funds Available $9,706.35

Estimated FY25 pending expenses:

MyRec Software $2,300.00 Paid 4/2

Police Detail for Winter Carnival $360.00 Paid 4/2

TownWide Yard Sale $200.00

Ms. Patsy Memorial $250.00

Irrigation System Turn On $500.00

Electricity $450.00

Portable Toilets $720.00 partially Paid 4/2

Easter Egg Hunt Supplies $400.00

Movie License (Shared with PTA) $348.50

Soccer Nets $2,500

Soccer Field Paint $2,500

Soccer Net Sand Bags $1,120

Soccer measure tapes $41

Inflatable Movie Screen $130

Pending Approval Expenses

Pickle Ball Nets $200.00

Estimated Total Expenses $12,019.50

Events/Programs:

Winter Carnival – Final Numbers – Spent $466.53 (Police Detail $360/Supplies $106.53) Made $285 on Raffle = $181.53 total cost to P&R for the day.

Big shout out to Brent Fisk for the great work that he and the Boy Scouts did on the Cardboard Sled Derby!

Princeton Launch Day – Not too many people showed up. Perhaps it was the time of the year, or not enough time to promote. Launch is interested in offering it again, Deb believes we should try again. We really don’t have anything to lose since it doesn’t cost us anything.

Brent Fisk – Proposing a “First Friday Night Family Movie Night”

– Geared towards family and children.

– Proposed to be held at Krashes throughout the summer, once per month.

– Start time – 7:00 with movie starting at 8:00?

– Bring your own dinner and chairs/blankets.

– Proposing also having a food truck and snacks, if it proves to be successful. Ed suggested reaching out to Fire Dept which already does food for Concerts on Common.

– Each of the 3-4 nights could be themed. Luau, 4th of July, 80’s, etc.

– Drape screen over a soccer goal (although Deb would like to explore purchasing a 24’ Inflatable Screen ($130 on Amazon).

– Brent has a projector that he would be willing to loan us. Princeton has high lumen projector that may work better.

– Ed suggested that the sound system could potentially be borrowed from Denis Coughlin or John Mollica?

– Sherry proposed the town common due to fewer mosquitos, bathrooms available at Congregational Church, good slope for viewing, power at gazabo, etc.

– Deb is still waiting to hear from the PTA about our portion of the 3-year license.

– Deb asked Brent if he’s willing to be the lead on this with our support. He is willing with significant support from the committee.

– Proposed Friday with Saturday as a Rain Date. Deb suggested Jun 20th as the first date. Kids should be out of school.

– Ed moved to purchase the inflatable screen. Martin seconded. All in favor.

–

– Note: Joelle Johns of the Congregational Church is willing to work with Parks and Recreation to put on Movie Nights geared towards adults given that the PTA and the above suggestion is geared towards families and children.

Bike Safety Day

Brent is also working with the Princeton Police Department to have a Bike Safety Day. And with the Memorial Day Parade Committee to have the kids that graduate the Bike Safety program to be able to walk their bikes in the parade. At the end of the parade, they will take a lap around the common and they will be able to ride for a veteran of their choosing with a police escort.

Adult Pickup Soccer

Brent and Jake are interested in using the fields during “off times” to hold pick-up soccer games. These would be played “at your own risk”. Received 15 responses from a posting on Facebook.

– Like Adult Basketball, a waiver will need to be signed by every player.

– Like Adult Basketball, the activity will need to be added to the town insurance.

– Sherry proposed that we need to develop a policy for field use and fee structure that applies to all users/organizations. Deb concurred and said that we need to review the existing policy and field use agreement to update/revise. Ed proposed to table the discussion for tonight and hold a special meeting. Deb seconded. All agreed next Thursday, 4/10, was a good date for this meeting.

Yarnwork Collective – second meeting was on March 30th – about 10 people attended. Next meeting April 27th.

Easter Egg Hunt – April 19th – Addison is taking the lead. She is getting plastic eggs and the contents, roughly $400. Nicole Abady at the library will work with the Teen Advisory Board to fill and “hide them”. I have the Bunny costume at my house. Still looking for someone to wear it!

WooSox Princeton Day – April 27th – Addison

Tickets can be purchased. I’ve begun posting to our social media. Have we chosen the person to honor for the day?

Town Wide Yard Sale – May 17th – Sherry/Deb

– Select Board approved – We need to let them know which town properties we plan to use and for which hours for the food trucks, centralized yard sale tables, etc.

– We will be able to collect registration fees online using the town collection system.

– Looking into an online registration form as well as a paper copy that will need to be turned into Town Hall.

– Need double sided signs with arrows (pointing in same direction both sides), with no dates on them so that they can be re-used.

– Need balloons for registrants to put on mailbox/end of driveway.

– Maps will be available at Barn, Monti’s, Food trucks (Commons, Krashes), etc. Do we need tables at major road entries into town (Rt 68, road from FIT, etc), or just use QR code for online access.

– Monti’s and Seven Saws will hold after party, and they will advertise it.

– Congregational Church is still deciding what they are going to do. Deb is going to push a breakfast to not compete with food trucks.

Library/P&R co-Sponsored Event– Nicole Abady from the library is interested in working with P&R on an old fashioned type family day at Krashes involving things like sack races, tug of war, etc. This would be the ending event for the summer reading program and would likely occur in August.

Sawyer Field –

– There is a broken swing there. Addison checked it out and it appears that the chain is so worn that the S ring is slipping off. Martin will take a look at it.

– We should also follow up and find out about the “scrub brush” area to see if it’s possible to clear that, as we have someone who is volunteering to do so. Possibility that the recessed area is for water run-off control.

Fields & Parks

Open/Closed Status – Ben Metcalf determines the status of the fields. Alissa from town hall changes the status on the town website. Ben has given a tentative date of April 12th to open the fields.

Field Reservations – Skedda

– Deb met with Melissa Hawthorne to learn more about the process. We are making progress on MyRec, however, for now we are using Skedda. Once people give their insurance and field request form, Melissa gives them access to the system to schedule the fields.

– Renee is proposing that we open the Krashes Snack Shack for 3-4 Saturdays when the fields are booked from 1-5pm. She is reaching out to a friend who may be interested in heading the project. She suggested that each of the days be headed by a different group (PTA, PYS, Max Acuto (child in town with cancer)). Half of the proceeds would go to the group that volunteered.

– Jay LaBrack – Gibbs Little League and Kate Beverage – Brave Hearts. They are scheduling games on the TPS baseball field beginning the end of March (if field is open). They had a volunteer day and had folks come to pick up trash, prep field, and hang a new screen on the fence. The field looks great! Jay is getting some estimates to see what it would cost to have the rot taken care of in the dugout area. Paperwork has been submitted and access to Skedda granted.

– Deb will look into restoring Skedda log-in rights for Martin

– Bobby Kilgus of the Sterling Girls Softball Association reached out about the TPS Softball field. It’s in really bad shape, but they are interested in having some volunteers come to help get it in shape (likely for a break of fees).

– Martin has identified some items that we should purchase for the fields. New Goal, Sand bags, measuring tapes. $3800 total. Deb moved to make the purchases. Martin seconded. All in favor.

– John Glowik has looked at fields and identified issues with the fields (wrong grass planted, uneven due to frost heaves, compaction, etc). To fix, the fields need rolling, aeration, and over-seeding now, then loam and seeding in the fall. John has volunteered his time; equipment rental (roller) would be about $6000. He talked with a turf contractor, and their price was roughly $15,000 for the spring work and $30,000 for the fall work. None of this is currently in the budget, so more discussion needs to be had.

– Just a reminder, one of the fields at Krashes is in the DCR watershed, so we need their approval for any of the maintenance on the fields that involves the use of fertilizers or chemicals.

Other Business

– Meghan Bodwell has decided that she no longer wants to be on Parks & Recreation. The Select Board approved her recusal. Addison has a friend that is interested in joining.

– Nick Abruzzi was to meet with Sherry Patch on Friday, March 21st to go over the work that he’s done on the Strategic Plan. Deb should be getting the info from Sherry this week.

– MyRec – Deb had intro meeting with them. Deb will complete the information paperwork and submit next week. She will also submit 3 programs to setup, and the MyRec team will determine which modules to train on first.

– Pickle Ball –

o Martin is proposing that we purchase equipment and leave it at Krashes Field since there seems to be a lot of interest in town.

o Proposed using the temporary courts lined on the basketball court now.

o Martin suggested that we may consider permanent courts adjacent to the upper field at Krashes. He is looking for someone who can provide quotes on creating/building the fields.

o Deb proposed using an app (like the one COA currently uses) to track how many are using the equipment.

– Deb to meet with Sherry Patch to discuss ideas for an ADA Grant submission. She will provide more details at one of the upcoming meetings.

Director’s Update: N/A – since the position is currently vacant.

– The select board sent a modified position description. Ed and Martin provided comments. Ed motioned to approve the position description as amended. Deb seconded. All in favor

Deb adjourned the meeting at 9:04 pm.

Next Meeting: April 10, 2025 – remote special meeting for field use policy

May 7, 2025 – next regular meeting