Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting: January 8, 2025

Present Members

Y Deb Faucher, Chair

Y Ed Harley, Secretary

Y Sherry Horeanopolous

Y Martin Sterman

N Meghan Bodwell

N Addison Barwise (Alt 1)

N/A Open (Alt 2)

Present Other Attendees

Y Peter Giumette, Chair of Advisory Committee and liaison to P&R

N Nick Abruzzi, Parks & Rec Director

Y Justin Griffin

Y Ed Sweeney

Y Andrea Surabian

Deb called meeting to order at 7:32 PM

Open Meeting and Commission Role Call

Approve Minutes:

Deb made a motion to approve the minutes from Dec 11, 2024. Sherry seconded. All in favor.

Public Comments:

SPECIAL PRESENTATION – Discussion about TPS Field Dedication to Larry Pistrang (retiring) Justin Griffin requested that the back field at TPS be named for Larryin honor of his retirement. Would like to place a stone, sign, replace the old gate with a new one, etc. The Select Board is in favor of it and directed Justin to P&R. School and PTA are also in favor of it. No money from P&R is being asked for although it would be accepted if offered.

Andrea reiterated how great coach Larry is and fully supports the idea.

Sherry motioned to accept this request. Ed seconded. All in favor.

Updates/Discussion Items:

Financial: No update.

Events/Programs:

• Winter Carnival – Deb
  • Skating rink / Lights
    • Deb, Ed Sweeney, and others set-up the ice rink, minus the liner, before the ground froze.  A new liner is needed pretty much every year.  Quotes were found for $1800 (NiceRink – on approved vendor (AV) list), $900 (Backkyard Skating Rinks – on AV list), and $600 (IronSleek – not on AV list) from three different vendors.  The $900 might be a bit too small for the size the rink was built, and the $600 vendor isn’t on the town vendor list. The process to add them is fairly easy; Deb will check with Nick to do this.
      Deb made a motion to purchase a liner and complete the set-up.  Martin seconded.  All in favor.
    • Deb, Ed, and Marty volunteered to help maintain the rink by clearing snow.
  • One Day Liquor licenses – 7 Saws, Wachusett Winery
    • 7 Saws will get a liquor license that will cover both vendors to satisfy insurance requirements.  This will require 7 Saws to purchase the wine and then sell via their POS. Both parties are happy with this solution,
    • We will also need a police detail due to liquor being served.  Deb has reached out to the police chief to coordinate.
  • D.J.
    • Cost is $450.  No objections from any committee members.  Sherry suggested (and will reach out to) the Mountain Ski area to see if they would sponsor the DJ.
  • Raffle
    • Businesses that may potentially donate a gift basket, tickets, gift card, or other items were identified and split up among attendees.  Deb will send a letter head template and example letter to use, if desired, when approaching the businesses.
      • Sherry H will contact Sterling Greenery, Mountainside Café and Game On
      • Deb F has reached out to Golden Grain, Davis’ Farmland and EcoTarium
      • Addison B will contact Launch, WooSox and JC Aesthetics
      • Ed will contact Thirsty Lab, Monty’s, and Princeton Pizza.
  • Church Bake Sale
    • Sherry Patch, Sherry H, and Deb went to First Congregational Church and met with Pastor Johns.  She will likely coordinate/sponsor a hot chocolate table (rather than a bake sale).
  • Peter Giumette will help with the parking detail.  He requested that we line up additional parking help for 1-hour shifts each.  NEED VOLUNTEERS.  Peter will talk with Ben Metcalf at Highway Dept for use of their parking area.
  • Andrea mentioned that the fire department could be approached for a bonfire to keep warm.  Ben Metcalf has already volunteered to build / maintain the fire, and Deb has reached out to the fire chief for support/comments/guidelines.
  • Mike’s Backyard Barbque has reached out to Addison and they will be the food truck this year.
  • Boy Scouts are lined up for the cardboard sleds.
• Town Wide Yard Sale – Sherry
  • The First Congregational Church is interested in getting involved again.  Sherry will provide more of an update next time.

• Fields/Parks:
  • Bike Park update – Ed
    • The Wachusett Trail Collective gave a presentation to the Select Board requesting a signature on the form to move forward with the Mass Trails Grant application that is due Feb 1.  Full / Final approval of the project would occur after another presentation in April.  There were a lot of questions and concerns raised in the public comment section after the presentation, some by the select board and many by Calamint Hill Road neighbors.  The hardest issue to address is parking.  The Select Board has taken all under advisement and intend to provide their decision at the next meeting in two weeks.
  • Ice Rink – see update in Winter Carnival
  • Goodnow Park – Frisbee Golf Course – Martin
    • There are still some signs, poles, and other small things on trees that need to be removed.
    • Open Space has volunteered to help with clearing out these items and may have already started.
    • Martin will reach out to Rick Gardner and coordinate efforts to complete the activity.
• Other Business:
  • Strategic Plan due by May
    • Nick has been actively working on this and should have a first draft on Sherry Patch’s desk by first week of Feb.
    • Deb proposed a P&R Survey to test theories in the strategic plan once it is available.  Martin volunteered to lead the survey efforts, although he wasn’t sure what contents of the survey would be.  We need to wait until we have the Plan document.  Sherry suggested that we may also need to include some open-ended questions to explore other areas we may want to expand into.  This discussion will be tabled until the draft Strategic Plan is provided by Nick. We would need to have feedback by the April meeting so that we can finalize and approve the Strategic Plan in time for the May deadline.
  • Nick’s Resignation: Nick has indicated that he will be turning in his resignation effective Feb 7.
    • This was a difficult decision for him, but the position wasn’t what he had envisioned, and he found that it was too difficult to work full time in Leominster, and part time in Princeton along with his other teaching responsibilities.
    • He also stated that 15 hours was not enough time to do what the job requires.
    • He has put some pieces into place that will hopefully put us in a better position than we he first arrived.
      • He has completed the budget
      • He will get the MyRec system in place and running
      • He is going to have a draft Strategic plan on Sherry Patch’s desk in early February.
    • We wish him well, and we will figure out how to move forward from here.
  • Committee Town Report
    • It is due by Feb 28 and needs approval of all members prior to submittal.
    • Ed will put together the first draft of the report and distribute for review and comment.  This needs to be done in time to vote on it at our Feb 5^th meeting.
  • Monthly Meetings
    • Time of meetings.  Consensus was the 7:30 time slot works; Sherry would prefer earlier.
    • Virtual or In person w/Virtual?  Consensus was virtual at this time of night and especially in the winter.  Perhaps in person periodically when the weather is warmer and darkness is later.
  • Memorial event for Captain Sullivan – January 18th
    • The Memorial Day work-group has been pulling this together.  They want to use the Needham Fieldhouse Kitchen as a “warming” space for a few musicians that are participating for the ceremony.  Phil Connors will set-up a few electric space heaters for heating purposes.  They will also probably relocate a couple of the park benches at Krashes Fields up near the Memorial site for family seating.
  • 5K Memorial for Patrick Cumming, former EMT – March 16th
    • They want to hold a 5K in him memory. They are requesting use of bathrooms and the kitchen in order to sell Hot Chocolate. CiCi Kelly is the requesting person.
    • The restrooms are not currently functional.
  • Use of P&R facilities
    • Deb didn’t feel we should be charging for these events.  All committee members concurred.
    • Sherry said that we need to create some guidelines for use of the facilities: what events are allowed, what events will be charged a fee and which will not, etc.  ll agreed this was needed and should be worked on this spring once the Strategic plan is available.
  • Andrea Surabian has applied to be an alternate on our committee. For those who may not know Andrea, she has served as a volunteer on many committees including the recent Lights in Common event held in early December. Deb would like to send a recommendation to the Select Board so that she can officially join our committee.  All committee members concurred.

Director’s Update: Nick provided an email update since he wasn’t able to attend the meeting.

• The Facebook page has been locked for months with no department access. I was able to gain access over the weekend and changed all of the administrator passwords for future use. We have over 700 followers so this will be helpful moving forward. I will share the log in info with Deb and Sherry H.
• The strategic plan is moving forward, and I will hopefully have a draft to give to Sherry Patch the first week in February.
• Working with MyRec Software as our new provider of program registration, field reservation and database management system. Melissa and I met with the merchant services person yesterday to coordinate the credit card systems tie in between MyRec and the town for customer purchases and registrations online. We are also working with their onboarding team to get our MyRec site opened up and customized for the Town of Princeton. We hope to be able to go live first or second week in February.
• In conjunction with field reservation software, updating the field request information and getting that ready for when spring groups begin to seek field availability.

Deb adjourned the meeting at 8:54.

Next Meeting: February 5, 2025