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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-04-27DRYC April 27, 2016 Page 1 of 5 Dryden Recreation and Youth Commission April 27, 2016 Dryden Village Hall, 2nd Floor Members Present: Kathy Servoss (Chair), Tom Fuchs, Stephanie Mulinos, David Bravo-Cullen Guests: Mike Hattery (Village of Dryden Trustee), Shelly Lester (Tompkins County CCE Rural Youth Services Coordinator), Kris Bennett (Tompkins County Youth Services Coordinator), Nikki Nease (OURS and YOURS), Mike Murphy (Village Trustee), Susanna Van Sant, David Pettier, Kathy Wakeman Town Hall Staff: Jennifer Jones, Recreation Director Liaisons: Dan Lamb, Deputy Town Supervisor, Town Board Liaison and Jason Leifer, Town Supervisor The meeting was opened at 7:03PM. K. Servoss announced that she has accepted an offer from J. Leifer, Town Supervisor, to serve on the Dryden Town Board. She will be stepping down from her position as DRYC Chair as of April 30th Ms. Servoss was not appointed to the Town Board until June. Therefore her resignation from the DRYC was not effective until May 31, 2016. . Liaison Reports: Town Board: D. Lamb - He has talked to some folks about upgrades to Montgomery Park and the potential of some recreational facilities near the Town Hall. He reported that those he has talked to are very interested. - The Rail to Trail Task Force was established at the last Board meeting. Each of the volunteer Boards/Committees are being asked to appoint a member = 4 members and then there will be five members drawn from the public. - Pinckney Road vote on May 3rd o The use of the recreation reserve fund was challenged by some people who don’t think the Town should be in the park business o They have been fairly aggressive over the issue and gained signatures enough signatures to force a referendum which is very rare in New York State but is allowed by Town law. o It is frustrating for us (the Town Board) because they are trying to do things in an open and responsible manner taking the recommendations from the Conservation Board and this committee. o The county has passed a resolution unanimously to support the project by providing $15,000. Democrats and Republicans on the County Board supported this but when they went to pass this, what they thought was a routine manner, turned into something that the local citizens insisted on putting to a vote. o That vote is on Tuesday and Mr. Lamb encouraged everyone to vote and if they wanted more information, they should visit the Town’s website. DRYC April 27, 2016 Page 2 of 5 - J. Leifer added that he had a request for information regarding the resolution establishing the recreation reserve fund so he had the minutes from that Board meeting and a link to the Recreation Master Plan added to the information on the website regarding the vote. - D. Lamb added that he believes this vote should be important to the DRYC since the Town Board expects the DRYC to make recommendations regarding where the Rec Reserve funds is spent. If this tactic is successful, then every future decision that this group makes and the Board votes on will be subject to this maneuver; a very unusual maneuver. If we decided to help out Montgomery Park, that could be challenged again by petition. If they get success here, we will be seeing this over and over again. He encouraged everyone to get out and vote on this. He feels more folks will vote in favor of the purchase and thus show that this is the government that they want and that the Town Board is doing things in a responsible manner. - S. Mulinos stated that the DRYC offered their support for purchasing the property but there wasn’t any discussion at this level of using the Recreation Reserve Funds. o She has heard feedback that this land is being purchased without a plan and that the Town needs a Community Center o She disagreed with D. Lamb’s assertion that some folks don’t think the Town should be in the Park business. She hasn’t heard anything to support that. Community Space Committee: S. Mulinos - The “Just a Taste of Community Space” was a success and they received feedback some of which was useful o They got talking about what to do next, what do we name the place (that we don’t have yet), what questions do we need to answer… they are still in the very early stages. o They are meeting with the Dryden Café at their May 12th o They have identified several open spaces in Town that meet their criteria meeting Tompkins County: Kris Bennett - She was contacted by John Meade, affiliated with the Covenant Love Church, regarding the needs of the Dryden community. Kris shared that the Dryden area needs access to space for parks, fields or indoor gyms. She recommended a follow –up in another month. - Tompkins County is offering two training series aimed at folks that are providing programming to youth in the community o K. Servoss encouraged the DRYC members to attend at least one of the training sessions to learn more about what the people working with the youth learn - CSEC – Commercially Sexually Exploited Children – a new initiative by TC Youth Services - Youth Programming: Nikki Nease – she shared a newsletter that goes to participants’ parents and some of the teachers - The participants put together a newsletter for their program day. Please see attached. - Youth Employment – they have job sites and training dates. The first training is in the third week of June for those that have jobs. They are holding information sessions as the initial DRYC April 27, 2016 Page 3 of 5 outreach. S. Mulinos asked if the training sessions were general or job specific. N. Nease indicated the training are specific to the circumstances. Shelly Lester – Shared the budgets which have been projected through the end of the month. - They have been fund raising and writing grants for additional revenue S. Mulinos pointed out that the OURS and YOURS programs as well as Dave Hall’s programs have recently received some national attention and she feels that the citizens of Dryden need to know more about these programs. She suggested the DRYC could hold an event (an open house?) and invite all of the stakeholders. - Program Monitoring Assignments: o Moved to next month Presentations: - Multi-Use Court Facility Proposal: J. Jones o J. Jones shared a proposal developed by A. Pierce “Game Court Proposals” o The Recreation Department is waiting to hear from the Highway department to determine the costs o Yearly Maintenance costs? There will be little within the first five years. After that, the courts will have to be repainted. o S. Mulinos asked for a price per square foot for each option. o D. Lamb suggested that we could move forward this summer but probably without the parking lot and bathrooms (if at the Town Hall) o Montgomery Park is more walkable and accessible - Montgomery Park Revitalization o For more information, please visit https://www.dryden-ny.org/montgomery-park/ and see attached. o The playground is a priority in stage one because they feel that will bring the most people. They went with “Play by Design” for a couple of reasons: the community gets involved, the cost is lower and it can be localized (things that are important to Dryden can be highlighted). Play by Design is also a local company out of Ithaca. o May 24th o At Dairy Day, they will have a 3-D reveal featuring a list of materials and components. People will be able to purchase various parts for the playground (like a slide or climbing wall). is design day at the elementary schools where the designers will meet with the students. They will draw in the afternoon and then reveal the design that evening. o Over the summer, they will be gathering supplies, money and volunteers and then in October the playground will be built in 6 days, 3 shifts per day. o They need help with fundraising, spreading the word, gathering materials, skilled and unskilled labor with construction, and food and child care for the build, financial contributions and anyone with artistic ability to add a unique character. DRYC April 27, 2016 Page 4 of 5 o Montgomery Park currently has courts but they need to refurbished. o Connectivity between the Trail, the park and other Town and Village owned assets. They have contacted Design Connect to see if they were interested in working on that angle. o J. Sinicropi pointed out the potential conflict that might arise with organized recreation and open, community use o There are other inter-municipal agreements between the Town and Village and it shouldn’t be a problem o D. Lamb expressed some concern that if we invest in courts at Montgomery Park and at the Town Hall, then people on the west side of Town might have a problem. o D. Bravo-Cullen asked if the Varna Community Center had space for a court.  Most thought the area available there is not large enough o There was a lot of discussion supporting the court at Montgomery Park (the central location, the fact that it is a walkable distance for Village folks, etc) but there are a couple of reasons for putting the court near the Town Hall including parking, bathroom facilities and proximity to the Recreation Department offices. o The reason for moving with the playground first had to do with a grant that the Village has applied for. They feel other pieces of the project can be juggled and their order is not set in stone. o J. Jones volunteered to work with the Village on the revitalization plan Action Items: - Approval of minutes from March 2016 o D. Bravo-Cullen moved to accept the minutes, J. Sinicropi seconded the motion and the minutes were unanimously approved - Rail Trail Task Force o The 4 Boards/Commissions will appoint a member to the Rail Trail Task Force and then the Town Board will appoint another 5 members from the Community o After some discussion, D. Lamb stated that the member that is chosen to serve on the Rail Trail Task Force will serve as long as their membership on the DRYC is valid o The Commission had two potential candidates and after a short discussion one of the candidates backed off in the interests of sharing the responsibility. T. Fuchs moved to recommend David Bravo-Cullen to serve on the Rail Trail Task Force as the member from the Dryden Recreation and Youth Commission. S. Mulinos seconded the motion which was unanimously approved. - Community Grant Award Recommendations: o The Presbyterian Church asked for $700 and was fully funded o The Dryden Library requested $300 for Dan the Snake Man and was fully funded o The Dryden Historical Society requested $1000 and the Committee determined to fund $850 o The Dryden Café requested $1000 for Friday Night Music and the Committee determined to fund $875 DRYC April 27, 2016 Page 5 of 5 o The Varna Community Center has requested $1000 for multiple programs over the summer and the Committee determined to fund $850 o The Dryden Fire Academy requested $1000 each for their two programs (Ages 8-12 and Ages 12 and above) and the Committee determined to fund $900 each = $1800 o The Ellis Hollow Community Center requested $600 and the Committee determined to fund $300. S. Mulinos moved that the Dryden Recreation and Youth Commission offer the above Grant Award recommendations to the Town Board for consideration. The motion was seconded by ? and unanimously approved. K. Servoss has been working on the DRYC Annual Report is due for the next Town Board meeting at which time she will be appointed to the Town Board. She asked if the DRYC wants her to continue with the report or is someone else interested in presenting the information. S. Mulinos offered to make the presentation. The Recreation Master Plan updates: This issue was tabled until next month. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:10PM. These minutes were transcribed from an audio recording. Respectfully Submitted, Erin A. Bieber Deputy Town Clerk