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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-04-25Dryden Recreation and Youth Commission April 2018 Meeting Minutes (DRAFT) 25 April 2018 at 7:00 PM Dryden Town Hall Members present: David Peck (chair), Claudia Haferkamp-Wise, Paula Klaben, Stephanie Mulinos, Diane Pamel, Chris Sidle Liaisons present: Kathy Servoss (Town Board), Kris Bennett (TCYSD), Janice Johnson (TCYSD), Marty Conger (Dryden Recreation) March Meeting Minutes S. Mulinos made a motion to approve the minutes of the March 2018 meeting. P. Klaben seconded the motion. The motion was passed unanimously. Town Board update: K. Servoss Camp Earth Connection is expanding their camp. There will be a public hearing on May 17 regarding the special use permit. Rural Youth Services program use the site during the summer. Recreation Department: M. Conger Andrew Pierce has started working full-time. Summer programs, camps, and field trips are all scheduled and open for registration. Lacrosse (36 participants) is practicing and plays games on Sundays. Track (35 participants, 3 volunteer coaches) will be participating in the Junior Olympics. The Easter Egg Hunt was successful and well attended. Karate is still going on. As of today, there are 47 people registered for the Color-a-thon. Wegmans and Tops are donating water and recovery snacks for after the race. This summer there will be art, archery, and Frozen dance camps, basketball, soccer, and football clinics, and adult dance classes. Yoga classes in Ellis Hollow on Fridays at 5:45 start May 11. Three field trips have been planned. (Rumble Ponies game, a play, and a zoo trip) Staff will be getting a refresher on the RecPro software that runs Drydenrec.com. C. Haferkamp-Wise asked if the site can be used to provide program information. The Town of Dryden web site is difficult to read, has broken links, and has limited information. M. Conger clarified that the town page provides basic information. The plan is to get the Drydenrec.com site looking the way they want it to look and then promote that site as the place to go for programming information and registration D. Peck stated that the Rec Department page on the Town of Dryden web site has more static information, and links to Drydenrec.com for more dynamic information. J. Johnson shared that is how Lansing does it as well. Tompkins County Youth Services: K. Bennett Shared the Camp Guide publication Have been doing trainings. M. Conger attended one on camps. J. Johnson will be the liaison to DRYC now that Kris is retiring. Rail to Trail Commission: C. Sidle The money from the Recreation Reserve Fund has been made available for the town's portion of the matching grant. There was extended discussion at the last Rail to Trail meeting about a significant problem regarding dog waste pick up. S. Mulinos noted that people use the bags from the bag stations but then leave the bags on the trail. C. Sidle has seen the same. The RTC's plan is to increase the number of disposal stations. J. Johnson mentioned Cass Park has gotten veterinarians to sponsor disposal stations. Some land on Pinckney Road has been donated to the trail. Trail clearing work is ongoing and there will be another pick up/clean up day. C. Sidle suggested someone reach out to D. Peck to solicit DRYC volunteers for this. D. Pamel noted the issue with horse droppings on the trail. D. Peck agreed. RYS Program Updates D. Peck noted the reports that Dave Hall and Victoria Kulwicki sent about their programs as well as the note on Victoria's report regarding her resignation from the Dryden OURS position. Dryden OURS Program Discussion D. Peck shared that he had passed along to Shelley Lester the recommendation from S. Mulinos that RYS review the OURS program. He noted that while Victoria's reason for leaving was not program related, the turnover in the last few years is a concern and that it is problematic on the Cornell side for the YOURS program not to have continuity. S. Mulinos noted that it's common when there is turnover or issues finding qualified candidates to review the process and job and not to keep doing the same thing. The group discussed the reasons for some of the recent Dryden OURS departures, the applicant pool from the last two rounds of hiring. K. Bennet noted that the first choice from the previous round of interviews turned down the job due to the, schedule, which is something the TCYSD and RYS have been working on. One issue is balancing when Cornell volunteers are available with what would be an attractive schedule for potential RYS staff persons. Shelley Lester had worked with the former Dryden Superintendent J. Johnson shared that Shelley Lester had met with the current and incoming presidents of Cornell YOURS, which recruits student mentors for the OURS program. Both understand the issue and believe they can recruit volunteers for an earlier program time. An over -target request has been made to the County Legislature for a full-time assistant whose time would be split between assisting Shelley and coordinating the OURS program. K. Bennett noted we won't know the outcome of that request until the end of the county budget process in the fall. There was discussion of the funding for this position and the county's role. There was discussion of the division of time between OURS and Project Lead. J. Johnson noted that if a suitable candidate was not found for the open position, CCE could have use temporary coverage for the Project Lead program this summer. K. Bennett noted that there was a good framework in place so that a skilled college student could run the Project Lead program. D. Peck provided an update on the current candidate search. J. Jonson noted that plans for end of the year OURS programs and celebration were in place so students would not miss out on those things as a result of Victoria leaving. D. Pamel asked if Shelley was doing the youth employment part of the program. K. Bennett said she would ask Shelley about that. K. Bennett suggested that any discussion about the whether to continue the OURS program in Dryden should include Shelley Lester, the president of the Cornell YOURS and even some of the students and parents of students who benefit form the program. S. Mulinos noted that it is an amazing program that has even gotten national attention. Before before any discussion of the future program is had that we should make sure that we've explored every creative idea to continue the program given the challenges. D. Peck stated that he thinks the Dryden OURS program is an excellent program and that he doesn't have any desire to see it end. We want to support Shelley and RYS to overcome any challenges and keep the program successful. D. Pamel asked if OURS serves the Little Creek Mobile Home Park. K. Servoss stated OURS serves Hanshaw Village, Congers, and Beacon View. D. Pamel noted that they're geographically isolated and it would be nice to see OURS serving more than just the three parks. S. Mulinos noted that the program used to only serve Congers but was expanded by a previous coordinator. It can happen with the right person in the role. J. Johnson noted that using school buses for transport could help with expanding the program. The school recognizes the value and was happy to of the program. DRYC Promotion Discussion D. Peck brought up last month's discussion of communicating the value of DRYC and recreation and soliciting programming input. We had discussed having an open forum meeting for people to provide input. P. Klaben noted that she is planning to do this on June 16 at the Ellis Hollow Chicken Barbecue Annual Meeting. She is on the agenda and will be sharing about DRYC and recreation programs offered, and asking what people want to see offered. C. Sidle introduced Kenny Carr, one of the fire chiefs in McLean, who suggested doing this at the upcoming Happenings in the Hamlet, May 10-12. M. Conger noted the struggle of scheduling time at the Ellis Hollow Community Center. P. Klaben stated most of the available time is taken up by the local boy scout troop. K. Bennett discussed the survey the Joint Youth Commission did recently. They surveyed kids and adults. We might find their survey helpful, and she will share with us. There was further discussion about opportunities to solicit input at events around the town, the struggle with scheduling coverage, and ways this can be done without having to have a dedicated person staffing a booth for the whole event. Kris Bennett Retirement D. Peck expressed the DRYC's appreciation for Kris Bennett and all that she has done for our group and the youth of Dryden and Tompkins County and wished her well in her upcoming retirement.