Regular meeting: Monday, December 10, 2001 at City Hall. The meeting was held in the Derby Veteran's Community Center office as the remainder of the building was locked.

Meeting was called to order at 7:08 p.m. By roll call, members present: John Walsh, Al Felice, David Mikos, Matt Cripps, Karen Izzo and Edward Handi. Beverly Moran arrived at 7:11 p.m.

Parks and Recreation Director Dennis O’Connell was present. Athletic Director Kenneth Marcucio was absent.

Without objection, the agenda was accepted, as presented.

No one was present and the public portion was closed.

A motion was made by Al Felice and second by Matt Cripps. Move to accept the minutes of the meeting on November 13, 2001. All in favor. Motion carried.

Nothing was presented.

The Pop Warner Pee Wee team won the Regional tournament and traveled to Florida where they placed third in the National tournament. The Board of Alderman approved funding of $10,000 for the trip. The Board of Apportionment and Taxation appropriated said funding.

Registration for Biddy Basketball is finalized. The boys have 165 participants and the girls have 85 participants.

The Boy’s jamborees will be held this coming Friday evening. Pre-season games will be held and then regular play will begin.

Mr. O'Connell met will Public Works Director Gary Parker and they studied the logistics for the bathrooms/storage facility at Amendola Field. They will also be looking into the placement of the storage facility at Ryan Field Complex. One location under consideration is by the entrance to the field along side the Derby Neck Library. The City Engineer will be contacted for his recommendations. Both these projects are funded through LoCIP and have been on hold for a few years now while awaiting a decision on the recreational plan for the City.

The fieldhouse has been shut down for the winter.

At the Derby Veteran's Community Center, the new partitions have been installed and lockers are being ordered. The issue of the water heater was resolved. The Board of Apportionment and Taxation appropriated funding for this repair. Work should be commencing as soon as possible once the materials that have been ordered have been received.

As play is done on the fields, maintenance is progressing, weather permitting. The fields have been seeded to encourage early growth in the spring. The fields will also be aerated.

New soccer goals have been received. They will be stored until spring. As the new goals are freestanding, they will stand further in from the fence and this is being looked at to adjust the playing area of the field. Mr. Felice suggested that the old goals be removed now so that the area can properly compact over the winter.

It was noted that due to the favorable dry conditions through the fall, the fields did not deteriorate as greatly from the extensive use. The Little League field at this point is in very poor condition because of regular season use as well as practice use by the football programs.

Mr. O’Connell noted that he has received past due invoices from Marcucio Gardens for the fieldwork on the soccer field at Amendola field. As this expense was not part of the Recreation budget, the invoices have been forwarded to the Public Works Director.

Scheduling of gym space is tight with the many athletic and recreational programs seeking time.

Athletic Director’s Report: Mr. Marcucio was not present this evening.

Programs Committee – Chairman Walsh commended Ms. Izzo and Mr. Mikos for the recent coaching clinic that was held on November 26^th. While attendance was less than expected the program was very informative. More clinics are being planned for the spring.

At the November 19^th meeting Mr. Walsh mentioned a communication from a concerned parent. His child was advised that playing multiple sports within a season was not allowed. The Committee stressed that this is not the policy of the Parks & Recreation Commission and all coaches will be advised. Members felt that this may have been a miscommunication trying to stress the need for commitment for the program.

Facilities Committee – As the Board of Alderman has created a new Recreational Site Assessment Committee; this sub-committee will be on hold awaiting the outcome. The new committee was charged with developing two plans at a maximum overall cost of $750,000 with a timeframe of presenting these plans by the February 2002 Board of Alderman meeting.

Budget Committee – The sub-committee will begin reviewing for next fiscal year’s budget in February. Mr. O’Connell noted that no increases have been sought for many years and he suggested that the programs allocations be reviewed taking into account maintaining a reasonable registration fee for the program.

Mr. Felice felt that the Public Works Department should be recognized for accomplishing the requested maintenance during the late fall.

Mr. Felice suggested that the Ryan softball field be studied to address the surface run-off drainage that has been a chronic problem. He also questioned whether the lights had been investigated at the football field. These items will be reviewed for possible capital funding requests.

A motion was made by Beverly Moran and second by Karen Izzo. Move to adjourn this meeting at 8:15p.m. All in favor. Motion carried.

The next meeting will be Monday, January 14, 2002 at 7:00 p.m. at City Hall. If the Aldermanic Chambers are unavailable then the Veteran’s room will be requested.

Respectfully prepared,

Karen Kemmesies, secretary