HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-10-25 draftDryden Recreation and Youth Commission
October 2019 Meeting Minutes (DRAFT)
25 October 2019 at 7:00 PM
Dryden Town Hall
Members present: David Peck (Chair), Rhonda Kowalski, Claudia Haferkamp-Wise, Diane Pamel,
Joanne Holland
Liaisons present: Alice Green (Dryden Town Board), Marty Conger (Dryden Recreation) Janice
Johnson (TCYSD), Juliana Quaresma (CCE Rural Youth Services), Shelley Lester (CCE Rural Youth
Services)
Community members present:
Meeting called to order at 7:10 PM.
Town Board (A. Green)
The budget requests from the Dryden Recreation Department and Rural Youth Services were moved
forward. The board expects to approve the final 2020 budget at their November 14.
A. Green addressed the inaccuracies and confusion from some reporting on the budget process. They
have completed their review of most departments and are working with a specific department to trim
requests.
The Board met with the firm that will be doing the comprehensive plan for the Town. That group will be
meeting with the Planning Board, who will act as the client team for the process, and she expects that
requests for meetings with the boards and commission will come out of that meeting. These meeting
will allow the team to get a sense of the different group's focus and vision. One of the ways DRYC and
other boards can assist the process is by identifying questions we would like included in the
community survey part of the process.
Results of community broadband survey indicate people would be interested in the Town creating a
fiber optic broadband network. Only small portions of Dryden qualify for grants for rural broadband.
Recreation Department (M. Conger)
Registration is open for most Winter programs.
Still waiting on a date for when the gym will be available for the adult basketball program.
Looking for someone to run the youth volleyball program because the woman who started the
program and has been running it is getting married and will not be able to run the program this year.
R. Kowalski suggested Erin Harkenrider, a Dryden grad who plays volleyball at Tompkins Cortland.
Boys and girls travel basketball programs will be participating in a league in Cortland.
Received donation of two $50 gift cards from Dicks Sporting Goods and coupons to pass out to the
kids.
Marty met with the director of the Freeville Summer Camp, who is on board if the Town does take over
running the camp. With uncertainties surrounding the Dryden summer campo, Marty is unsure about
taking on Freeville as well. We will not be able to use Dryden Elementary for our summer camp. Marty
will be meeting with Mr. Bacigalupi about Cassavant or other alternative locations.
Freeville has its own space limitation so combining locations is not an option.
Tompkins Cortland Community College and Covenant Love Community Church were suggested as
alternatives.
Senior Tackle Football will play a championship game this week.
The soccer program wrapped up last weekend.
The Dryden High School basketball teams will be helping with the Shooting Stars program.
Several Dryden varsity soccer players coached teams this year.
Marty brought up the Father Daughter Valentines Dance. They have received complaints that there is
not a similar event for mothers and sons. D. Peck commented that this is an issue we would have to
consider eventually anyway because of the changes in families. A. Green commented that we should
send an inclusive message. The Commission discussed possible alternatives and decided having an
inclusive event was the best option.
Tompkins County Youth Services (J. Johnson)
There will a training on November 14 at Hotel Ithaca entitle Talking Gay.
On December 5, Matt Kaplan from Penn State University will be talking about intergenerational
programming.
The County Legislature approved a 10% increase in the base salary for program managers.
The person who has been doing youth programming in Trumansburg is retiring. He had only been
planning summer programming, and the Town of Ulysses has decided to hire a part-time year-round
recreation director.
Newfield also has a new person, so Janice will be organizing a recreation director gathering to get
people connected. M. Conger commented on the value of getting together.
Rural Youth Services (S. Lester)
This week was the first full week of OURSNOURS programming. During a training at Robert Purcell,
they included videos of people talking about Dryden OURS. Shelley provided a link to watch the
videos.
Shelley provided a year to date budget for the Dryden Youth and OURS programs.
With personnel changes that have happened in the last few years, RYS is working with the Public
Service Center to get an understanding of how fundraising, donations, and revenue streams will be
handled going forward.
There was discussion about the YOURS fundraising schedule.
J. Johnson relayed a story she'd heard from someone at The Learning Web. One of the girls in the
Dryden OURS program has parents who are deaf, and a new family with a child who is deaf just
moved into their trailer park. Jeff Panek (Dryden OURS) and Ryan Wilcox (The Learning Web) are
setting up a paid apprenticeship for this young lady to teach the new family sign language to make it
easier for them to communicate with each other.
Other Business
A. Green discussed the idea of DRYC members doing site visits with Jeff and Dave's programs.
Dryden Holiday Celebration
D. Pamel shared some of the details for the Dryden Holiday Celebration and Tree Lighting scheduled
for Saturday, December 7.
M. Conger shared her interest in having a community art show with voting done by donating food
items. D. Pamel had also talked with Dan Ryan at Dryden Elementary about having kids make cards.
Approval of Meeting Minutes
D. Pamel made a motion that the minutes for the September 2019 meeting be approved.
J. Holland seconded the motion.
The motion was approved unanimously.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:35 PM.