ByramTownship Recreation Committee Meeting

Wednesday, May 15, 2013 7:30 P.M.

Agenda/ Notes

  1. Call meeting to order, 7:30 PM Flag Salute, Moment of Silence
  1. Roll Call:

William Schilling / Chairperson / x
John Pappalardo / Vice-Chairperson / x
Shawn Armstrong / Member / x
Rob Earlemann / Member
Dan Lieneck / Member
Bob Nunn / Member / x
Dina Trunzo / Member / x
Alternate 1
Alternate 2
Janet Meisner / Recreation Director / x
Carlos Luaces / Council Liaison / x
  1. Approval of minutes – March Notes approved. April notes approved
  1. Key items for discussion and possible action:

Dan Lieneck submitted his resignation from the Recreation Committee as of July 1. He is moving out of town. July 1 is the end of his term. His resignation was accepted with regret.

  • Possible New Member – John Figiel –John was approved as a new member. He will be an alternate until July 1 when he will be appointed to fill the regular seat vacated by Dan Lieneck.
  • Discussion of Riverside Park –Grace Gives will be volunteering once again to refurbish Riverside Park and parts of COJ. The Committee had a tour of Riverside Park prior to the meeting. The Park is in pretty good shape and is well used by the community. There was no visible litter. We will ask if they can do as much as possible of the following: Paint the wooden boarders around the playground and the platforms on the playground equipment where the stain has worn through. Paint the picnic tables. Pull out the exposed nails in the gazebo. Prune along the walking trails. There are 3 trees down across the trail. The DPW will probably have to cut them to completely clear the trail. Weed and rake the mulch under the swings. The Committee noticed that the trail down to the river was relatively level. Would it be possible to make this portion of the trail meet accessibility standards so that anyone could have access to the river? Dina will try to find check out Accessibility recommendations.
  • Discussion of Brookwood Park – The Park looks 500 % better than it did last year. It has new fencing, trees along one side and a split rail fence and shrubbery along the other side. A few shrubs need to be replaced. Janet said that she believes that Cerbo will replace them as per their contract. There is a washout leading down to the trail. Would it work to create steps down the steep entrance to the trail? Would it be possible to make it accessible with a boardwalk sometime in the future?
  • Forest Lakes Request - Roxanne Sabatini presented an application for the Forest Lakes Swim team to host the Walkill Valley Swim Conference Championship at Forest Lakes and to use the parking lot at CO Johnson Park for families to park in. people and their stuff will be dropped off at the Lake and then just the driver will continue to CO JohnsonP ark. There will be people assisting with the parking process and a shuttle bus will be taking the drivers back to the Lake. This event was held successfully 10 years ago. The only concern was that there may still be playoffs at the park. John Figiel felt that both groups could use the park. The event was approved and the $300 security fee was waived. A Certificate of Insurance naming the Town as additionally insured is still required.
  • Other Park Use Requests –There have been several requests to use parts of the parks for families. Some minor changes to the Facility Application are needed to make it so that individuals or local families can apply to use the Township facilities. The changes were approved. There was some discussion as to potential changes for our Facility Policy. We are concerned about the possibility of for profit groups asking to use our Township fields. There is the possibility of additional wear and tear on the fields. These groups are currently just showing up and using fields in parks in other towns. Currently there is a tennis instructor providing tennis lessons on Township courts. How do we police this? Committee members will pull up policies for other towns and we can continue discussion.
  • Kids Triathlon – The proposal for the Kids Tri Harder Triathlon was presented. It was suggested that we close the entire road when the youngest kids were competing. The triathlon was approved for any date during the summer.
  1. Committee Reports:
  • Andover/Byram Chamber of Commerce: John Pappalardo
  • Board of Education: Bob Nunn
  • Buildings and Grounds: Dan Lieneck
  • Byram Day Committee: Janet Meisner – Using Waterloo Park, Have had meetings with the State Park
  • Lenape Valley Municipal Alliance: Bob Nunn
  • Open Space Committee: Bill Schilling – The Township Council approved to use some additional Open Space funds for Tamarack Park
  • Volunteerism Committee: Shawn Armstrong
  • Shared Services: Bob Nunn
  • Sports Council: Bob Nunn
  • Strategic Planning: Rob Earlemann
  • Youth Guidance: Janet Meisner
  • Council Liaison: Carlos Luaces
  • Recreation Director: Janet Meisner
  1. Any other items from the committee:
  1. Open to the public
  1. Adjournment