===PAGE 1=== Lunenburg Park Commission Meeting Minutes March 1, 2021 page of 51 Town of Lunenburg Park Commission Karin Menard, Chair 978.582.4160 David Passios, Vice Chair 520 Chase Road Susanna Jewell, Secretary Lunenburg, MA 01462 Chris Sullivan, Member Ana Lockwood, Member Park Commission Monday, March 1, 2021 Meeting Minutes 1.Karin opened the meeting at 6:30pm. Attendance: Karin Menard, Dave Passios, Chris Sullivan, Ana Lockwood (arrived at 6:45pm), Recreation Director Kayla Wright. Absent: Susanna Jewell 2.Chris Sullivan motioned and Dave Passios to approve of January 25, 2021. Roll Call Vote Dave Passios - yes Chris Sullivan - yes Karin Menard - yes February 12, 2021 minutes were not ready. 3.Recreation Director / DPW Director updates - Kayla updated the commission that she added a 4 week indoor soccer program since the demo classes went well. Spring and summer programs will be up within the week. Kayla asked about Summer concerts and Dave answered that Summer Band concerts were on Monday nights. 4.Revolving account - discussion and decision on moving from a 53D to a 53E1/2 revolving account - Karin updated the group that she had spoken with Karen Brochu and the Town Manager regarding moving from a 53D to a 53E1/2 and said she has gotten more information but it has left her with more questions. She said Karen Brochu had spoken with an attorney with the Department of Revenue and that he said as long as funds in excess of $10k were committed and reserved for a particular purpose that a balance over $10k can be carried forward. Karen Brochu had also asked him if the balance in the 53D could be moved to a 53E1/2 and he said no and that the funds would need to stay in the 53D and restricted for their intended purpose. Karin said that she and Dave did have a conversation with town council prior to receiving that information and his answer to that question was that yes, it could be moved but they had not run the answer from the Department of Revenue by him to see if he agrees. Karin mentioned that salaries for part time and seasonal employees could be paid out of a 53D where as full time employees non seasonal employees couldn’t be but they could out of a 53E1/2. Chris Sullivan agreed that it makes sense not to rush this just to get it on the warrant as long as we weren’t going to lose the money that is already there in excess of $10k. Karin said that Karen Brochu’s opinion the money would stay put. Karin said she had also asked Karen Brochu who in the past was approving expenses out of the 53D account. Karen Brochu had told her that in years past there was a Parks Superintendent who brought the information back to the Park Commissioners. When that changed and Parks ended up under the DPW that the DPW ===PAGE 2=== Lunenburg Park Commission Meeting Minutes March 1, 2021 page of 52 director started making those approvals. Karen Brochu had said transactions out of this account are something the Park Commission should be aware of and it could be done via a warrant system or it could be something Kayla could just inform us of every month. Karin then said that this opened into a bigger discussion about the general budget with Karen Brochu and she had agreed that the budget is something that we should be informed of as we make policy and decisions that effect that budget. Karin said she had also asked Karen Brochu about interest as on a 53D interest is supposed to go back into that account where as a 53E1/2 it goes into the general fund. Karen Brochu had told her that interest had not been going into that account and that she would look into it further. Karin let the group know that Karen Brochu is not against Parks moving to a 53E1/2 but she didn’t think it needed to be done right now. Karin asked the group if anyone disagreed with waiting and see how it goes staying with a 53D. Dave agreed and said that he thinks we need to sort out the different interpretations with counsel and DOR attorney and we wouldn’t be able to get that done in the next week. 5.2021 Beach Season discussion and decision on fees and policies Kayla had provided the group with information on beach rentals and recommended fees. Ana asked if the $25 security deposit was for damage to the property or if they cancelled. Kayla said it was for both. Ana said that she agreed with what Chris has said at the last meeting that the $25 wouldn’t cover much. Ana also asked about insurance. Karin explained that individual groups would need to provide a certificate of insurance listing the Town of Lunenburg as additionally insured. Kayla added that it would also be possible to have each participant sign a waiver and someone from the Recreation department would need to make sure that was done. Ana said that the reason for this policy is to be able to rent the beach and that it should be an easy process. Kayla said this policy was created around the way rentals are already done at our other locations. Dave added that we should also be considering a set policy for individuals. The group had general discussion over the rental rates and the various uses of the beach house and beach for rentals. The group settled on $50 per hour for the rental of the beach and beach house, $50 non refundable deposit and if lifeguards required an additional $25 per hour per lifeguard. Karin said she would work with Kayla to update the beach rental policy before the group considers it for approval. Karin recapped Kayla’s recommendations for the upcoming beach season: limited number of non resident passes, preregistration for specific time frames (can be done day of at the beach), and pass fee options. Karin pointed out that COVID restrictions may prompt some changes to any policy as the season approaches. The commission discussed various fees. Ana said that the beach is the only area we charge individuals access for and that there may be a different revenue model that might incentivate more people to visit the beach. Karin said that our town beach salary line is $20k and we have exceeded that the past few years. Karin said that based on what she has seen what we would have to charge to cover the cost of lifeguards would price us out of the market. She said that at a minimum she thought we should be covering our overages as well as swim lessons and above and beyond that maybe some maintenance and any improvement projects. Ana suggested that we do an adult day pass with children under a certain age free. Chris motioned and Ana seconded to accept the following fee structure: Resident Rate $5 per adult includes up to 3 children 15 and under free. $2 senior/add’l child rate Non resident $10 adult includes up to 3 children 15 and under free $5 senior / add’l child rate Resident Family Pass: $65.00 Non-resident Family Pass: $80.00 Resident Individual Pass: $44.00 Non-resident Individual Pass: $60.00 ===PAGE 3=== Lunenburg Park Commission Meeting Minutes March 1, 2021 page of 53 Resident Senior Pass: $23.00 Non-resident Senior Pass: $35.00 For beach pass purposes: A family is defined as two adults and three children under the age of 18 living in the same address. Additional dependents (up to two) living under the same roof, $5.00 per person added on. A senior is defined as anyone over the age of 60. An individual is defined as anyone age 3 and above A child is defined as anyone under the age of 18. Roll Call Vote Dave - yes Chris - yes Ana - yes Karin - yes Kayla said she would be looking to keep the same hours as last year with a break in between sessions. Karin asked if she would still have that break if we didn’t have COVID restrictions and she said she would but it may be shorter. Kayla is also looking to have swim lessons this summer with lessons before the beach open during the week plus Saturdays. She said she is also looking to bring Yoga to the beach and then later in the summer some additional programming. COVID restrictions would remain as last season. 6.Marshall Park - master planning discussion including Skate Park - After a brief discussion on having the commission individually revisit the original list compiled by Kayla, there was no further discussion and we will hold for the March 29th meeting. 7.Maintenance policy discussion/vote - Ana shared attachment A with the group. Ana said she had envisioned the group starting to put together some simple policies because part of our mandate as a commission is our governance of parks. Karin said that she likes the idea of having our parks inspected so things don’t fall to the wayside. Karin also said she would like a way for the residents of town and the user groups to be able to easily report issues. Chris agreed. Ana said this is at the heart of how we govern and create rules for the parks and that creating a structure will help to build a relationship between us and those assigned to do the day to day work. Chris said this would also give transparency to what we are seeing at the parks. He thanked Ana for putting this together. Dave said he liked the format and that once we fine tuned things its going to be excellent. Dave also said it shouldn’t be just up to us to report these issues but that our paid staff should be inspecting and reporting back to us. Chris asked if it’s as unreasonable to ask the contractors who do work at our properties to come to us. Karin said that the contracted groups that we use are people that would be mowing the lawn and she thought the better way to do it was to go through the DPW director. Karin said that those contracts are going out to bid now and we could certainly ask to see what the contracted services were. Ana and Chris said they would work together to fill in some of the document for the next meeting. 8.Open Space updates - Ana said they are still on the phase of investigating to move from General Municipal to specific groups like Conservation. She said the next meeting is March 17. Karin mentioned to Ana that Parmenter Ave property is a piece of property that abuts Lake Shirley and that the Park commission in the past had said if we had the opportunity to bring that property under the Park Commission we would jump at it. Dave said he would like to have Open Space informed that we would like to be considered for that piece of property. 9. 10.Other Business a. Other business matters that may legally come before the board not known at the time of posting b. Correspondence, Announcements and Public and Board Comment - Chris said that he is working with Kayla on Cleanup Day and is collecting ideas - things that are simple and don’t require power tools. ===PAGE 4=== Lunenburg Park Commission Meeting Minutes March 1, 2021 page of 54 10. Next meeting date/agenda - Monday March 29, 2021 6pm. 12. Chris motioned and Dave seconded to adjourn at 9:14pm. Roll Call Vote Ana - yes Dave - yes Chris - yes Karin - yes ===PAGE 5=== Lunenburg Park Commission Meeting Minutes March 1, 2021 page of 55 Attachment A A.Lockwood