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1985-10-28 ~ ~ QUEENSBURY RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES OF MEETING OCTOBER 28, 1985 Minutes of the regular meeting of the Recreation Commission of the Town of Queensbury, held Monday, October 28, 1985 at the Queens- bury Town Office Building, Queensbury, New York. Chairperson Little called the meeting to order at 7:36 P.M. PRESENT: Commissioners Bly, Granger, Lemery, Little, Martin, Teti, Councilman Monahan and Olson and Director Hansen ABSENT: Commissioners LaBombard (ex.), Councilman Morrell VISITORS: A. Fiore (Post Star), Robert H. Bowman, Joseph Bowman, Robert and Mary Grassie, Alice Bedore, Dan and Rick Singer, Sherri McLaughlin, Virginia Schies, Richard Bennett, Patricia Wells, Dick Cutting, Frank Arnold, Margaret Lucas, Howard and Charlotte Bowman, Phillip Harris, M. Tierney APPROVAL OF MINUTES Commissioner Lemery moved to approve the minutes of the Sep- tember 23, 1985 meeting. Commissmoner Martin seconded the motion which was unanimously approved. COMMUNICATIONS AND REMARKS FROM VISITORS Chairperson Little introduced the members of the Recreation Commission and the Town Board, who were present and welcomed those who were here to talk about the Ridge Road Park project. She read the Supervisor's letter regarding the purchase and development plans for the 80 acre parcel and Commissioner Granger distributed and read aloud a Post Star editorial (soon to be published), by the Commission which reiterated the Commission's position on a number of Recreation issues. The Director distributed a three page handout, which in- cluded a copy of LA Partnership's conceptual plan, a tentative time- table and cost estimates for the project. Chairperson Little briefly reviewed some of the facts regarding the property, including its re- lationship to the Department's master plan and then invited those in the audience to make comments and suggestions. P. Wells - requested to know how long the Town had been negotiating and looking at this piece of property, and how committed were we. B. Little - responded that Mr. Harris had proposed this to the Town a number of years ago. Regarding the committment, the Town was total- ly committed, however, the extent of development would depend on the available funds and of course, the grant qualifications. -2- D. Olson - added that the HCRS grant was done by professionals and that based on the rating system, the Town's chances for approval were ex- tremely high. V. Schies - wondered about the hours of usage of the park, inasmuch as softball games in the summer months at the school continue up until dark. Would this be the case at the Ridge Road site? B. Little and H. Hansen - both responded that the adult softball league games began at 6:00 p.m. and were usually over by 8:00 p.m., and that the fields at the new park were being developed for adult evening league usage, as well as other activities. R. Grassie - was concerned over increased traffic on the Jenkinsville Road and wondered about the use of Cronin Road as an alternate. Also, wondered about the use of the park by all-terrain vehicles and would the park be closed to this type of vehicle? D. Granger - responded that he hoped the park would be closed to ATV's and snowmobiles and that this type of usage was not anticipated in the park at this time. S. McLaughlin - also wondered about the increased traffic on Jenkins- ville Road and suggested that 35 mph speed signs, or lower, would be necessary. D. Granger - replied that posting speed signs was a function of the New York State Department of Transportation but a slower speed limit on all roads adjacent to the park would certainly be in order. A number of visitors - questioned whether the Recreation Commission~s meeting agenda was advertised beforehand and how long the Com- mission had been discussing the acquisition of this property. D. Granger, F. Bly and B. Little - responded that the notice of each meeting was advertised monthly in the newspaper and that the schedule was also posted upstairs on the Town bulletin board. M. Grassie - informed the Commission that most of the property was low land and that in the spring the area was heavily flooded. Had the Town considered that the softball fields would probably be under water. D. Granger - replied that the architect was aware of the contour of the property and that adequate drainage would be looked at when the engineering plans were finalized. R. Singer - summed up many concerns of the residents of the area, including drainage, vandalism, lighting and traffic problems, and asked if the Commission had surveyed the residents as to what type of facilities they wolild like at this park. B. Little - replied that based on the number of facilities that were presently being utilized by the Department for programs at the school, that the Commission opted for softball fields, basketball fields, soccer fields, etc. -3- R. Singer - pointed out that in the park by ATV's and yet for a place to localize this with this type of equipment. like to see a portion of the the Commission seemed .to be against usage the Town Board was at this time looking type of activity because of the problems Mr. Singer further stated that he would park be considered for this type of usage. B. Little - advised all those present that the concerns and opinions expressed tonight would be relayed to the Town Board and that this was the purpose of the meeting. Regarding ATV usage, she agreed that it would be nice to have a ATV area in Queensbury where proper usage and supervision could be provided. Based on the needs of the com-- 'munity and the master plan, this type of usage had not previously been considered at this location. D. Singer - presented a petition signed by 152 Queensbury Junior High School students requesting that the Harris property be made into an ATV park. J. Teti - questioned D. Singer as to how many of the petition signees presently owned an ATV and B. Little assured the young man that the petition, along with the comments about ATV usage, would be forwarded on to the Town Board. D. Cutting - spoke on the topic of ATV's and urged that the Town consider an area for ATV usage and that the activity be strictly regulated and that individuals be. trained and given instruction on the p~oper use of these vehicles. This feeling was echoed by others in the audience in favor of an ATV area. Other comments related to the meeting concerned the name of the park, drinking water quality, restrooms, hours of operation, rules and regulations, fencing and a possible Ridge Road access. In summary, it was pointed out by the Commission, that the Ridge Road Park was still in the initial planning stages and that subsequent open public meetings would be conducted in the future. Hopefully, further input from the residents of the area would be forthcoming at that time~ Chairperson Little reiterated that the Commission's main concern was recreation for the Town and that their only desire in the Ridge Road area was to be a gooq neighbor and to provide a worthwhile recreational area. After thanking those in attendance and inviting them to stay for the remainder of the meeting, the Commission moved on to other business. The Commission briefly reviewed the enclosed DirectOr's report and were dpdated by the Director on the status of the Gurney Lane Pool project and the old playground equipment donated to the Department by Queensbury School. The Commission also requested, and were given, a short update regarding the South Queensbury and West End Park winter ice rink projects. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:27 P.M. The next meeting will be held on Monday, November 25, 1985 at 7:30 P.M.