HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005-06-21Dryden Youth Commission
is June 21, 2005
Minutes
Present. Tracy Kurtz, Kristen Blackman, InShik Lee, Eric McConnell, Kris Bennett, Nita Baldwin, Cooperative
Extension staff: Linda Schoffel, Dave Hall, Tom Archibald and program participant Estelle Waterman
Tracy called the meeting to order at 6:32. Introductions were made.
Program Reports — Cooperative Extension — Dave distributed copies of his program report. All his school -year
programs are completed; one program of note blended Dave's participants with Enfield program manager Beth
Bannister's. Plans are in place for summer programs. A new site this summer will be at Congers Trailer Park (in
response to a local request); he'll hold Wilderness Alive there. Jr. Police Academy will expand in length by Y2 -1
hour this summer. He's also holding a program in McLean.
Dave gave some details about the April Primitive Pursuits trip to the Stillwater Reservoir area in the Adirondacks
and shared a photo collage. The trip was grant- funded. 10 youth and 4 adult went; the youth were carefully
hand - picked for their maturity, leadership, positive attitude, responsibility and cooperation and did journals while
on the trip. Estelle was one who went, she is entering 91h grade in Sept. She said as a result of her involvement
with Primitives she and Lily have summer jobs as counselors at 4H Acres. She said all the kids got along really
well. They chose the site for camp and all pitched in to build debris shelters (no tarps or tents on this trip). Dave
said the leaders "disappeared" during set up time so they could observe the group dynamics, They brought food
with them. The weather was great! When asked what she gained from Primitives, Estelle said an appreciation for
nature and an awareness and thankfulness for everything she has. She said it also makes you get a closer to
® yourself'. All thanked Estelle for coming to share her experience.
This was Tom Archibald's first DYC meeting since being hired several months ago. He is enjoying his work a lot.
Having overlap with Bridget helped the transition so he could meet students and Dryden staff. He also did
"shadowing" with other CCE program managers to get ideas as part of his orientation. He hopes to grow
enrollment in his programs. When asked if girls were signing up for his programs, he said "yes" though some girls
who had been in Bridget's programs have not continued in his. Bridget's Green Thumbs program was expanded
to include Green Thoughts, adding science, ecology and habitat exploration. He's discovered kids need a chance
to do something active right after school and has created related games to start the program. Kids also journal in
this program. In Culture Club, youth did crafts, made masks, jewelry and a statue, They were able to talk about
racism and Africa, too, though this was not the prime focus. He spent significant time recruiting for Youth
Conservation Corps; 5 girls and 18 boys applied! He sat in on interviews with the IYB. Two of his summer
programs are filled, will be offering 7 programs in all. Linda Schoffel suggested that next year YCC recruitment be
one of Tom's programs; it take significant time.
Linda first congratulated Eric on winning a prize from Cooperative Extension. Each year CCE's volunteers' names
are entered for a drawing; members of local commissions are considered to be volunteers and this is how Eric
won. She next shared a budget update; things are mostly "on track" though program expenses are a bit high and
the classified ad to advertise Tom's position was expensive (though cost was shared with Newfield which was
hiring at the same time.) Donations are also up which is good. The first year of their program evaluation is
winding down (tied to the school year); more details will follow, both on Dryden programs and on Rural Youth
Services in general. It has been very useful and will be a good long -range planning tool,
Membership update: Tracy reported that Deb Holtz is unable to join at this time as a V. Dryden rep, Kris
Y la 1 ry �
talkedlmailed info to two people who'd inquired within the last several months but neither has gotten back to her.
Eric talked to one person and asked for a copy of the annual report to share. Tracy will also contact a couple
possibilities, There are 2 open seats at this time.
Minutes: Minutes from April and May were approved.
Recreation Updates: Kris reported first on several meetings she organized to discuss the Freeville /Dryden
summer rec. programs. Freeville is unable to host its annual program because of school renovations and is
therefore not using funds it has allocated from the DYC, the United Way, the Dryden Youth Opportunity Fund and
New York State. Several discussions and meetings were held; the following attended one or more of the
meetings: Kris, InShik Lee (DYC and Freeville Community Council); Linda Schoffel (CCE); Kylee Potter (V.
Dryden camp director); Reba Taylor and Deb Marrotte (V. Dryden); Lotte Carpenter and Stephanie McConnell (V.
Freeville); Jen Staton (T. Dryden Rec.); Georgian@ Purdy (pending Freeville rep. to County Youth Services
Board). There was discussion on several possibilities: 1) having Dryden camp add a CIT component, using funds
from Freeville and hiring Tom Archibald to work with the kids in the morning 2) reallocating funds to Dryden to
hire more staff to meet demand because of more campers 3) scholarships or transportation for Freeville families
to participate in Dryden camp. After an agreement was reached, Kris discussed with Steve Trumbull what she
should submit to the Town Board to request a reallocation of Freeville's funds and she then prepared the written
request. The Town Board denied the request; some members had heard rumors that the Dryden camp wasn't
being offered either and they wanted to make sure "all parties were on board" before voting to reallocate. Jeri
Staton did not clarify the matter at the Town Board meeting. So Kris spoke with the 2 mayors who sent letters to
the Town and Kris drafted a second request to the Town Board. Steve Trumbull called an "emergency° town
board meeting to address this and it passed. $3000 in funds is being transferred to V. Dryden camp for the hiring
of additional counselors. $710 was reallocated to Youth Conservation Corps for the hiring of one additional youth.
V. Freeville is holding the balance of its funds and intends to hire a local youth to assist the village historian.
Kylee has decided not to add the CIT component this summer, camp enrollment is already high and it's too short
notice to add this new piece this year,
Tracy reported that concerts in the park begin this week. Dryden Rec. ordered 1000 plastic cups with the concert
schedule printed on the side; cups were filled with sno -cones at Dryden Dairy Days. Dryden Rec. is planning to
increase its visibility and will participate this fall in local fairs and festivals with a display of its offerings. Tracy
suggested having CCE do the same; Kris said that would be considered "work time" for them and time away from
offering programs and suggested DYC members could do this, we could develop a 3 -fold display about the DYC
and all the programs. More discussion on this next time. Kris also suggested that we make sure to invite elected
officials, including Town Board members, to summer functions like Police & Community graduation and YCC
picnic.
Updates from program liaisons: Kristen agreed to be reassigned to YCC (she was liaison to Freeville summer
jobs). Kris will provide her with contact info, and ask Megan -Mack to keep Kristen informed about their work
schedule so Kristen can schedule a monitoring visit. Eric clarified the dates of the Brooktondale program so he
can visit. Tracy and Alan have not yet written the letter to V. Dryden about DYC's concerns about Police and
Community but will do this soon.
Goals: Tabled until a future meeting because of time.
Other: Kris distributed last year's request for funding application and cover letter and asked whether DYC had
any suggestions and whether to advertise for new applicant or only invite current funded programs to apply. The
group decided to invite only current programs since funding is likely to decrease rather than increase. Kris
suggested adding a sentence reminding programs working with youth employment that minimum wage will rise
DYC Minutes Page 2 June 21, 2005
again Jan. 1, 2006 to $6.75/hr and again Jan. 1, 2007 to $7.15/hr. This has a significant effect on the youth
municipal jobs programs, fewer kids can be hired with the increase. Kris also explained that there used to be a
"training wage" that could be paid to youth employees in the first 90 days of employment, she's not sure whether
that's still an option. Tracy suggested asking the Town for an increase for this purpose if we can sort out how
much the difference is. Kris said the County Youth Services Board is asking for an "over target' request in its
budget for 2006 to address the youth employment/minimum wage issue and that if approved Towns would be
expected to increase their contribution to match the County's. CYS is also requesting an OTR to increase.the
base salary level of CCE program managers. This came after Dave Hall's request for a raise (but DYC isn't
Dave's boss, CCE is). CYS researched salaries for comparable jobs and determined that CCE salaries are low
and need to be increased. The request would boost starting salary levels by $1500 for a FTE position. The
County Legislature has directed County Depts, to submit a budget request the same as for 2005 so we'll see how
these OTR's are received. Kris also reported that her department is applying for an ACT for Youth Grant (ACT =
Assets Coming Together). If approved, it would be a 5 year, $100,000 grant to work countywide to increase youth
voice and empowerment for 10-17 year olds, help them develop leadership, do a countywide resource inventory
and help with local forums and needs assessments, and connect with adults in positive ways such as serving on
boards, etc. Kris will let all know when the awards are made.
Nita reported that the Town has not yet closed on the land for the new Town Hall. She hopes it will be soon.
The next meeting will take place on Tuesday, July 19 at 6;30 PM. These summer camps will be asked to attend
to share an annual update with the DYC — Brooktondale, Coddington and Dryden. Program liaison should contact
the camp ASAP to arrange this.
0 The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 pm.
DYC Minutes Page 3 June 21, 2005