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1988-12-12 QUEENSBURY RECREATION COMMISS ON MINUTES OF MEETING DECEMBER l2, 1988 Minutes of the regular meeting of the Recre tion Commission of the Town of Queensbury, held Monday, December 12, 1988, at the Queensbury Town Office Building, Queensbury, New York. Chairman Granger called the meeting to order at 7:41 P.M. I I I PRESENT: Commissioners Bly, Granger, Labatore, Lettus, Simmonds, and Teti ALSO PRESENT: Councilman Montesi (8:30 P.M.), Direc or Hansen, and Recording Secretary Wilson ABSENT: Commissioner LaBombard VISITORS: None APPROVAL OF MINUTES Commissioner Bly moved to approve the minut s of the November 21, 1988 meeting. Commissioner Teti seconded the mo ion and after polling a~l Commissioners, the motion was unanimously ap roved. COMMUNICATIONS The Director reviewed the 2 items of commun'cation included in the monthly packet and a number of Commission rs requested addi- tional information on Local Law #8, which was re ently passed by the Town Board. It was explained that this law 'ncreased from $250. - $500., the amount to be charged per lot, the d veloper of multiple family dwellings. The Director reminded the Com ission that they had been instrumental in the approval of the ini ial local law in 1986. A number of Commissioners expressed conce n that the Commission had npt been consulted with regard to this incre se in fee. Chairman Granger spoke on the topic of comm nication between the Town Board and the Recreation Commission and mentioned that recently, the Commission had not been consulted n a number of impor- tant park and recreation matters. The Chairman pecifically pointed out the recreation fee increase, the Trout Unlim'ted situation, and the circumstances surrounding Hovey Pond Par , as instances where the Board has failed to communicate adequa ely with the Recre- ation Commission. Those present agreed with the Chairman and it was the consensus, that a letter explaining the ommission's concerns, be drafted. The Director pointed out that he to had not been advised -2- until the morning of the Town Board meeting, wit regard to the recreation fee increase. He relayed that he had talked with the Supervisor and had expressed displeasure on behalf of both the Depart- ment and the Commission, with respect to the lin s of communication and that the Supervisor had explained that the 1 ck of communication was an oversight. The Commission discussed this matter , including Board representation and possible attendance by Commis ioners at Town Board meetings, and a decision on the Commission's letter was tabled until later that evening. The Gurney Lane Phase II Recreation Facilit'es "shopping list", dated l2/7/88, was reviewed and discussed. The irector explained that the list had been submitted to the Supervis r and that the Board had requested that the Commission/Departme t prioritize the list. It was explained that this was necessary ecause funding for this year's capital park projects had been t ken out of the Department's 1989 operating budget. The improve ents at Gurney Lane had originally been a part of the budget in the capital fund account. DEPARTMENT CAPITAL PROJECT LIST FOR 1989 The Director explained the enclosed Departm List for 1989 and outlined the situation with re It was explained that funds from the HII account in lieu of ", would be used to accomplish the cap the Department had outlined in its 1989 budget. the 5 park locations and the items planned at ea cussed. The Commission questioned some of the p was discussion on which of the items would requi The Commission had concerns over the question of and exactly how the items would be funded throug The Chairman attempted to sum up the discus that the park project items listed in the 1989 c should be prioritized. The Director was then as about each park project item and the approximate for a proposal and/or engineering II could be issu under each park project were reviewed and after the Director outlined the following tentative ti nt Capital Project ard to funding. "recreation fee tal projects, which The Director reviewed h site were dis- ojects and there e engineering work. available revenue the HII account. ion and relayed pital project list ed specifically date when a "request d. The items listed urther discussion, e table: Gurney Lane Recreation Area: I 1 - new roadway/parking lot/new entryway bl~CktoPPing 2 - amphitheater construction - January ! 3 - ski/nature trail improvement - June/JUlt 4 - park landscaping - July/August I 5 - new water hydrant/pool fill line - Apri¡ - spring -3- Ridge Road Park: 1 - ball field fencing - April 2 - barn roof repair - January 3 - park landscaping - in house 4 - park entry sign/planter - in house 5 - phase II project development - March Hovey Pond Park: 1 - park development - January West End Park: 1 - park landscaping/reseeding/fertilizing 2 - new water fountain/piping - May South Queensbury Park: 1 - basketball court construction - spring 2 - park entry sign/planter - in house 3 - park landscaping - in house A number of Commissioners expressed concern projects and the Chairman reiterated that the co and the projects outlined were only tentative. are funds available, the Department would be abl tional park projects. The Chairman also mention works II project item, which did not exceed $7000. out. Therefore, items such as the Ridge Road ba Queensbury basketball court, and some of the par might fall under this category. Chairman Grange provide information including a cost estimate fo of a basketbal court at the South Queensbury Par . of Councilman Montesi, Chairman Granger reviewed Recreation Commission's concern over the lack of between the Board and the Commission. He mentio a number of instances and advised Councilman Mon sion would be drafting a letter to the Board det April over specific park t figure shown opefully, if there to complete addi- d that a "public need not be bid n roof, the South landscaping projects volunteered to the construction With the arrival in detail, the two-way communication ed and explained esi that the Commis- iling these concerns. The Chairman quickly reviewed the list of 1 89 park projects, including a tentative time schedule, for Council an Montesi's benefit. The roadway parking project at Gurney Lane was d scussed and the Director was instructed to draft a letter to the I Town Board detailing this project. There was further discussion on other Gurney Lane Phase II park projects and how a firm to engineet this project would be hired. Councilman Montesi mentioned that onlt the Board can hire an engineering firm, however, Chairman Granter mentioned that he hoped the Director and members of the Commiss on would be involved in the process. The Director explained that he ad drafted a Hovey -4- I i I I I I Pond Engineering request for proposal and had evtluated and recom- mended the engineering firm to do that project. Commissioner Labatore again reaffirmed his esire to see the landscaping at Ridge Road Park completed, as quiþkly as possible, this spring. Chairman Granger explained the Depþrtment's list of priorities and both he and the Director promisedl_to do as much of the park landscaping as possible, prior to summer activities. I I 1989 COMMITTEE RESPONSIBILITIES ! I Thè list of current Recreation Commission P~oject committees was reviewed and Commissioner Simmonds volunteer d to accept the vacant chairmanship of the Summer Program Review Committee. Commis- sioner Labatore also volunteered to assist on thþ Planning Committee. The subject of updating the Department's Ma briefly discussed and the Director explained tha that he and members of the Commission would inte recommend to the Town Board a firm to complete t Montesi agreed with this idea, especially in lig current work load and schedule and will explain at their next meeting. I The Chairman briefly highlighted the functifn of each of the Commission committees and outlined his committeefexpectations for 1989. The Commission was also updated with rega d to the Hovey Pond project and the status of the joint School/ own lighting project. I I I I I The Glens Falls Feeder Canal project inform.tion, which was included in the monthly packet, was reviewed by the Director. The Director explained the Feeder Canal Alliance's p an and relayed that the Supervisor/Town Board were requesting i put from the Commis- sion with regard to this project. After some di cussion, the Commis- sion agreed that the project had merit and that he Town should lend its support as a contributor in order to he p underwrite a Master plan for this plan. However, the Commiss on was adamant, in that funding for this project should not be t ken from either the Department's operating budget or the special HII account. The Director was instructed to draft a letter to the Supervisor to this I effect. I I ! ter Plan was also he anticipated view and ultimately is task. Councilman t of the Town Board's his to the Board GLENS FALLS FEEDER CANAL 1989 RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING DATES The Commission reviewed the tentative list qf 1989 meeting dates and the Chairman requested to know why the Idates in January, February, April and December had been changed. ~t was explained that the 3rd Monday in each of those 4 months was either a national holiday or a school vacation and that it might b~ inconvenient to -5- hold a Commission meeting on those evenings. Th~ majority concurred and the list of tentative dates was approved by ~otion/vote, (Commis- sioners Teti/Labatore) and will be appropriately! advertised and distributed to all interested parties after the ~st of the year. JOINT TOWN/CITY SKI TRAIL PROJECT · i The Director relayed information with regar~ to a possible cooperative effort between the Town and the CitYI concerning the cross-country ski trails at Crandall Park. He e~plained that represen- tatives of the City and the Town, in conjunction! with area retail establishments and interested citizens, had met ~o discuss a number of possible cross-country ski trail related imprpvements, including additional user parking and creating/lighting a ¡'mass ski start area". Councilman Montesi provided some additiopal background infor- mation with regard to parking problems and the Y~CA' A number of Commissioners expressed concern with regard to t e legality of the Town making improvements to private property. T ere were also ques- tions regarding the funding for this project and the time frame, in that the winter season was right around the corner. The consensus was, that before a decision could be made, more planning and addi- tional information was certainly necessary. Sum~arily, the Director was instructed to include the Commission's asses~ment/recommendation of this project in the letter he is drafting to ~he Supervisor. I I Councilman Montesi inquired regarding the s~atus of the 70+ acre parcel, which was gifted to the Town by theþi Hiland Corporation, and whether there were plans to develop this par el in the near future. The Director explained that the map of ~he parcel and accom- panied deed had been received some time ago by t e Department. He also suggested that rather than form another com ittee, that the Planning Committee (Commissioners LaBombard and ~abatore) could undertake to help to develop a park plan. The Cbmmission agreed and the Director will forward a copy of the map ~nd deed to Commis- sioner Labatore in order to start the ball rollipg. The DEC fishing easement, which was mentioned in the Hiland Park property deed, was also discussed and the Director will investi~ate this and report back at the next Commission meeting. DIRECTOR'S REPORT The Director briefly reported on the status of the ongoing park projects and on the variety of winter progr~ms which were sched- uled to begin shortly. The Director relayed that the summer youth trogram report would be finalized shortly and distributed to the Comm'ssioners as quickly as possible. Thereafter, it was anticipated thai the Summer Youth Program Committee could convene a special meeting to review and evaluate the report possibly before the next Com~ission meeting. The Director reviewed the Department's wintþr program flyer, -6- which was included in the monthly packet, and th~re were questions regarding the ski trails at Gurney Lane and the ~ce area warming facility. As a final matter, the Chairman requeßted the Commission's wishes with regard to a letter to the Town Boardl on the subject of better communications. After a brief discuss~on, it was the consensus, that the Chairman and the Director dr~ft a letter on behalf of the Commission, expressing the Commiss~on's concerns and desire to improve communications between the twO¡ groups. Councilman Montesi agreed that the Commission had adequate ~mmunition in this regard and volunteered to read the letter on beh~lf of the Commission, at the upcoming Tuesday evening Board meeting. ~he Chairman thank~d Councilman Montesi, however, it was decided thatl the Commission Chairman should read the letter, as the Commissiþn's representative, at the Tuesday evening meeting. I I There being no further business, the meetin~ was adjourned at 10:06 P.M. The next meeting will be held on Uanuary 23, 1989, at 7:30 P.M., at the Town Office Building. Minutes prepared by Harry R. Hansen, Director