1994-10-12
QUEENS BURY RECREATION COMMISSION
MINUTES OF MEETING
OCTOBER 12, 1994
Minutes of the regular meeting of the Recreation Commission of the
Town of Queensbury, held Wednesday, October 12, 1994 at the
Queensbury Town Office Building, Queensbury, New York. Chairman
Simmonds called the meeting to order at 8:34 p.m.
PRESENT:
Commissioners Auer, Carusone, Hersh, LaBombard,
Schachner and Simmonds
ALSO
PRESENT:
Director Hansen and Ass't. Director Lovering
ABSENT:
Commissioner Maine (ex)
VISITORS:
None
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Commissioner Hersh made the motion to approve the minutes of the
August 10, 1994 meeting. Commissioner Schachner seconded the
motion. There was discussion with regard to the statement about
non-resident fees at the bottom of page 2 (swim pool recap). It
was the consensus that the statement should be amended to indicate
that "in the Director's opinion" the lack of non-resident fees as
well as unseasonable weather adversely affected revenue and
attendance pool figures. The Director will make the change on the
official copy and the motion to approve the minutes as amended was
unanimously approved.
COMMUNICATIONS & REMARKS FROM VISITORS
The Commission remarked about the complimentary letter regarding
the Glen Lake youth program site/leaders and wondered if the Board
had been copied. The Director explained that all correspondence is
included in the monthly packet (agenda, minutes, reports, etc.)
which Town Board members also receive.
The Director reminded the Commission that at the August meeting
they (the Commission) had requested additional information on fire
company tax money and its restricted usage, if any. He (the
Director) explained that Town Attorney Dusek had confirmed that
once the funds were turned over by the Town to the fire companies,
that they were free to spend it for the most part, without
stipulation or strings attached. Therefore, leasing a portion of
their property (North Queensbury fire company) to the Town for
recreational development, even though it was purchased with fire
tax funds, was certainly legal.
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HUDSON RIVER PARK DISCUSSION
The Commission briefly reviewed the Hudson River Park map which had
been included in the grant application and there was considerable
discussion on the funding guidelines, the neighborhoods
feelings/input about the park and the results of the 9/29/94 public
hearing conducted at the West Glens Falls firehouse. Those
commissioners who were present at the public hearing highlighted
some of the issues which were discussed that evening and the
Director explained the details about the grant, and how and why, in
his opinion, it was selected for funding. The Director cited the
results (show of hands vote) on the park facility development
alternative questions proposed that evening and there was
discussion on how to get more input and involvement from residents
of the a~ea. He (the Director) reminded the Commission that there
were many factors which would affect the final park equation
including; Warren County's input as the property owner and Federal/
State grant park facility development guidelines and parameters
which would have to be adhered to. After further discussion it was
decided that the Chairman and the Director would meet with
Supervisor Champagne in order to explain how the Commission might
assist the Town Board in making the decisions about the project.
The Director will call the Supervisor's office to set up the
meeting as soon as possible.
The Director briefed those present on the status of Hovey Pond Park
(gazebo, electricity, warming shed, etc.), and there were no
comments.
1995 DEPARTMENT BUDGET DISCUSSION
The Department's 1995 budget was discussed and a short budget
summary sheet was distributed. The Commission questioned the
Supervisor's proposed budget figures which were approximately
$17,000.00 less than the Department had initially requested. The
Director explained that he was concerned about with the Board's
methodology for the "lump sum" reduction as shown in the
Supervisor's proposed budget. He pointed out that the Board's
comments at the 10/6/94 budget review meeting reflected the notion
that since some of the 1994 actual line item figures were under
budget and, therefore, this did not justify the increases shown in
the Department's 1995 request. Documentation and explanations were
presented by the Director and even though the Department's initial
request was 1% less than the total 1994 budget, the Supervisor's
figures remain as shown. Chairman Simmonds reminded the Director
that based on the comments at the meeting that the Board was in
favor of possibly adding funds to the Department budget for future
conferences and training. In addition, a number of commissioners
relayed suggestions by the Board with regard to sharing employees,
better utilization of Department equipment and increasing cost
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efficiently through inter-department cooperation. Overall, the
Director was positive about the budget presentation and was
confident of being able to justify the Department's request.
In response to a previous comment about the amount of the
Department's budget and staff in relation to size of the community
the Director distributed a sheet which summarized five comparable
communities/park and recreation departments. The results showed
that Queensbury was at the bottom of the scale in terms of the size
of the Parks and Recreation Department's operating budget.
WINTER SCHEDULE OF SERVICES
The Department's proposed winter schedule of services was reviewed
and discussed and there were questions regarding the cartooning,
rock climbing, jazz dance, computer fun camp and scuba programs in
terms of their value as activities offered by the department. A
number of commissioners commented regarding similar programs (rock
climbing at ACC, scuba at the YMCA, etc.), and Ass' t. Director
Lovering will provide more specific information (revenues,
expenditures, number of participants, similar programs, etc.), on
each of these programs at the next meeting.
PROGRAM ANALYSIS DISCUSSION
Ass't. Director Lovering distributed a sample program comparison
analysis sheet and after some explanation, the Commission agreed
that this type of seasonal program summary would be beneficial,
especially in the analysis and evaluation of the programs offered
by the Department. The Commission suggested some additional
information (number of times program was held), and this will be
included in the 1994 summer program report.
MONTHLY DEPARTMENT REPORT
A verbal monthly report was given by Ass't. Director Lovering and
there were questions on the final registration numbers for both the
soccer and the pigskin football programs.
There being no further business, the Commission meeting was
adjourned at 9:47 p.m. The next meeting will be held on November
9, 1994, beginning at 7:00 p.m., in the Supervisor's conference
room (#37), at the Queensbury Town Office Building.
~x~
/' Sharron L. Simmonds, Chairman
Minutes prepared by Harry R. Hansen