===OCR macOS Vision===
===PAGE 1===
MASS +
Town of Lunenburg
Parks Commission
Commissioners
Michael Masciarelli, Chairman
Robert Robuccio
Corinne Scouten
Tel: (978) 582-4160
520 Chase Road
Lunenburg, MA 01462
Meeting Minutes
August 28, 2014
7pm
Department of Public Works,
520 Chase Road, Lunenburg, MA 01462
Call to Order
Meeting convened at 7pm. In attendance were:
Commissioners: Mike Masciarelli, Bob Robuccio, Corinne Scouten
DPW Director: Jack Rodriquenz
Review/Approve Minutes
Minutes from 6/19/14 meeting were approved, 3-0.
New Park Commission Organization
Bob Robuccio will be stepping down as Chairman. Motion made by Bob Robuccio to appoint
Mike Masciarelli the new Chairman. The motion was seconded by Corinne Scouten. Vote 3 - 0
in favor of appointment. Mike will continue to oversee/handle items relating to the Turf field
and track and Bob will continue to oversee/handle items relating to Marshall Park and the
Town Beach. Corinne will record meeting minutes moving forward.
===PAGE 2===
DPW Director Jack Rodriquenz commented that the Town Beach program ran well this year but
there are concerns about weeds in the beach area. He suggests that we have Gen Nass - Beach
Director come in to speak with the Commission.
OML Complaint
The Parks Commission received an Open Meeting Law Complaint from resident Troy Daniels.
Mr. Daniels contends that the Parks Commission did not post notice of their Joint Meeting with
the Board of Selectmen held on August 12, 2014.
Then Chairman, Bob Robuccio, verified with Town Clerk and Town Manager that the Board of
Selectmen's meeting posting clearly specified the joint meeting of the two bodies and therefore
met the requirements of the Open Meeting Law posting process. Bob will provide a response
to Mr. Daniels.
New Parking Lot at Marshall Park
DPW Director Jack Rodriquenz offered an update on the new parking area being created at
Marshall Park. Trees have been removed on the hill area to the right of first base. Old bath
house will be demolished and entrance to the lot will be by way of the Mass. Ave. side of the
park. The purpose of the new parking is to alleviate the traffic issue caused by vehicles parked
along Chestnut St during games. The hope is that finishing touches will be complete for Spring
2015.
Abutter Elaine Mroz has been in contact with Jack regarding some trees that were removed
that she feels were on her property. Jack will be looking into this further and will report back to
the commission.
Softball Field Improvements/Marshall Park
Mark Sowerbutts who runs the Summer Softball League - The Comets - would like to see the
Softball field at Marshall re-done. Jeff Powell has offered some ideas regarding items such as
new fencing, new dugouts including moving them off of the field area (they are currently
considered "in play") and re-doing the field itself. Mr. Sowerbutts is suggesting that some
fundraising through Little League can be done to fund this project. It was noted that the field
has a sprinkler system.
Steve Chow, Little League President, has voiced concerns about erosion between the softball
field and lower Powell field and has presented a sketch to the Commission (thru Mike
Masciarelli) on how this can be corrected. Included may be an 18" wall. Would this require a
rail to be safe? Dan Proctor has also been consulted and he feels that Little League has the
funds to complete this project. DPW Director Jack Rodriquenz suggests that detailed plans with
===PAGE 3===
funding values including labor and materials be provided to the Commission for any project
being considered. Mention was made of checking insurance coverages of people working on
the fields.
Bob Robuccio reported that the pitcher's mound and sod are coming along nicely on Marshall
Field. High school field hockey will be using the outfield during the school construction project.
Greg Dupuis will be mowing Marshall. He typically mows the school's fields but will now mow
Marshall during the school's use.
DPW Director Jack Rodriquenz suggests a Weed-n-Feed or Turf Management program be
considered.
Recordkeeping/Website/Email
Corinne Scouten noted that the Park Commission link on the lunenburgma.gov site needs some
attention/updating. Schedules, links, and contact names and numbers need to be worked on.
Both concession stand and field use forms should be added as documents.
A general email should be set up for contact purposes as opposed to each commissioner's
personal address. Suggestion is parks@lunenburgonline.com
Corinne will work with DPW Admin Amanda Moore to make these updates/changes.
Turf Fee Structure
Turt Field and Concession Stand Fees need to be re-evaluated and reinforced. Since the
completion of the field, the main users - Lunenburg Schools, LYSA Soccer, and Bengals Football
had been paying a combined total of $25K in user fees each year. These payments went to the
town to help pay down the lease fees. Now that the lease payments are complete, there seems
to be no clear understanding of what fees are and how they will be collected. The Finance
Committee is asking for the Parks Commission to begin working on a plan in this area. The
pressing upcoming concern is that the turf field and track will need complete reconditioning
soon - suggested date is 2017. Estimated cost may be near $800K.
Mike Masciarelli has been researching how other area fields charge for their use and most are
an hourly type rate. How would we establish how many hours the school uses the facility?
How many hours do the Bengals or LYSA use it? Mike will speak with the Bengals and Bob will
speak with Pete regarding the school. LYSA has moved to Camp Lowe during the school
construction.
Currently there is a generator on site for night games for lights, etc. Future lighting cost will be
addressed in conjunction with the new school.
In addition to the Turf Fee Structure, DPW Director Jack Rodriquenz suggests that this
Commission begin thinking about a 5 & 10 year plan and suggest items that may need to be
===PAGE 4===
considered under the Capital Planning Budget - Example: Wallis Court has not been resurfaced
in 20 years. Jack is encouraging the Commission to consider needs at all of our
properties/parks.
Adjourn
Motion to adjourn meeting was made and seconded. Vote in favor of adjournment 3-0.
Time adjourned was 8:33pm.
Minutes Accepted on: 10/2/14
Mike Mascare on
Robert Robuccio le
Corinne Scouten
CCA