===PAGE 1=== Town of Lunenburg Park Commission Karin Menard, Chair 978.582.4160 Chris Sullivan, Vice Chair 520 Chase Road Susanna Jewell, Secretary Lunenburg, MA 01462 Dave Passios, Member Ana Lockwood, Member TOWN OF LUNENBURG PARKS COMMISSION MONDAY , SEPTEMBER 27, 2021 MINUTES 1. Open Mee?ng via zoom at 7pm-In aIendance were K Menard, D Passios, C Sullivan and A Lockwood. Also DPW Director R Oliva and Interim Recrea?on Director Rob Thompson. 2. Public/Board Comments-C Sullivan wanted to acknowledge the 11-12 yr old Baseball Babe Ruth All Star Team for their winning season. K Menard asked if something acknowledging their winning the district could be put at Marshall Park. Discussion followed about signage. 3. Approval of April Minutes Mo?on made by C Sullivan to accept the minutes of April 28,2021, seconded by D Passios. Role Call C Sullivan- Aye, D Passios-Aye, A Lockwood-Aye and K Menard- Aye. 4. DPW/Town Manager/Recrea?on Director Updates-R Thompson introduced himself as the Ac?ng Recrea?on Director . He gave a brief history of his background and experience. He stated that they will be having the Second Annual Trunk and Treat event on October 30th from 11 to 2pm at the main parking lot of the High School. 20 different businesses will par?cipate with more s?ll contac?ng him to join in. D Passios asked R Thompson if he’s thought about other free events, like a weekly walk. He answered that hiking is something that could be incorporated in the programs. He would like to have a mee?ng event to walk with the community and capitalize of the nature reserves in town. A Lockwood asked R Oliva if there were any updates on the beavers or the light post in the pond. R Oliva responded that he has reached out to a couple companies for addressing the beavers. One company from Southampton will put the town on the list of doing assessments, and the original company, Beaver Deceiver, who did a preliminary assessment, gave an es?mated cost. He will wait to hear back from the Southampton Company of their recommenda?ons. He stated that the area of the light posts is too wet to drive the backhoe there and is afraid of it sinking in and crea?ng a mess. He believes once the temperatures go down they should be able to get out there. 4. Dog Policy-Final Reading and Vote.-K Menard stated that she consulted the Town Manager who issues any fines and was told that the fines would actually be in the ===PAGE 2=== jurisdic?on of the Commission. The Police Department and Animal Control would oversee and if there was a complaint any fine would come from the Commission as a whole as opposed to one Commissioner . She added that the statement about evic?on and fines can be lea in even if they don’t end up using it. She outlined the way a complaint would be handled: Anyone repor?ng a dog issue would contact either the Police Department or Animal Control who would respond in the same way as a nuisance dog report. The informa?on would then go to Animal Control and be passed to the Commission, put on the agenda and a decision would be needed if a fine should be issued. Mo?on made by C Sullivan to approve the Lunenburg Park Commission Dog Policy regula?ons with the Town Counsel edits, seconded by D Passios Roll Call Vote: C Sullivan- Aye D Passios-Aye A Lockwood-Aye K Menard-Aye. A Lockwood ques?oned if the policy should be posted at the Parks, K Menard answered yes. D Passios added that signage is need at Northfield Park that iden?fies the regula?on for off leash dogs. 6. Marshall Park Sep?c and Sewer Considera?on for Future Facili?es at Marshall Park- K Menard told that there has been discussion about expanding Marshall Park into the sewer district that it’s not included on the Sewer Map. D Passios added that adding the park into the sewer district is a step to have op?ons for future needs. The commission is pe??oning the town to add Marshall Park to the sewer district map and they’re on the agenda with the Sewer Commission. D Passios added that one round of soil tes?ng for the sep?c system at Marshall Park was completed, the old sep?c tank was found, and more spots will be tested to give flexibility on the loca?on of the system. He added that in the future a compara?ve analysis should be put together so a decision by the commission can be made with the design whether it be a sep?c system or tying in the town sewer or both. D Passios ques?oned R Oliva on the sewer connec?on and the manhole cover lining up with the park sign being an easier connec?on that going under across the road to ?e in. R Oliva answered that regardless everything will be pumped but because of the loca?on it might be a cost savings. A Lockwood asked if the Sewer Commission was suppor?ng adding Marshall Park to the district. K Menard answered that they are suppor?ng it. Discussion followed about proper?es added or denied being added to the sewer district map. K Menard showed on the screen a wriIen Ar?cle- To see if the Town will vote to amend the sewer service area map by adding the parcel known as Marshall Park/Pond, 100 Chestnut St (known as parcel id 060-0018-00) to the Lunenburg sewer service area and sewer service zone; or take any other ac?on rela?ve thereto. SubmiIed by the Lunenburg Park Commission Mo?on made by D Passios to recommend this to the Board of Selectman seconded by C Sullivan Roll Call Vote: A Lockwood-Aye C Sullivan-Aye ===PAGE 3=== D Passios-Aye K Menard-Aye 7. Marshall Park Track Updates- D Passios has done a walk around of the track with Mark Burst. He believes there is more work to upgrade it than originally thought and that he feels it should be addressed in the Master Plan and have a final decision on the configura?on of the track, whether it is staying or going to be completely rehabbed or moved. The poison ivy will be treated along the edge of the track. A Lockwood asked R Oliva if he got the request on the invasive water plants at Town Beach and Marshall Pond. R Oliva answered that he did get it and reached out to the ConCom administrator for some guidance on past history of work and a place to start. K Menard asked R Over to talk to MaI Merro if he knows of a weed puller to hire to remove weeds at Town Beach. Discussion followed on what can be done like in the town lakes. 8, Marshall Park Marshall Planning-K Menard went to the Assistant Town Manager who made some adjustments to the proposal. Anything is yellow, some dates need to be changed based on when it goes out, so doesn’t need aIen?on from the Commission. Anything in red is the adjustment that she made. She changed the restrooms, the square footage of the skate park of 5,000 to 7,500 square feet. Not knowing what the Commission is going to choose, K Menard suggested 10,000 square feet and added that Skate Park is coming to the mee?ng next month and will talk about square footage. She con?nued that the biggest changes are the deliverables, task #1, the Site Analysis and Schema?c Design, was kept in and task #2 and #3 was taken out. R Oliva stated he’d like to see task #2 lea in. A Lockwood added that she recalled that task #2 was going to be simplified not eliminated. Discussion on a modified task #2 followed to which K Menard added that at the second of the public mee?ngs the firm consultant will present and discuss two conceptual plans and cost es?mates which will possibly touch on task #2 but probably not the finer details. D Passios asked R Oliva if there was any reason for going with two conceptual designs and he found that it could confuse the issue and take more ?me. R Oliva answered that it provides different op?ons and weighs out the pros and cons of different layouts and maybe come up with taking a liIle from both plans. K Menard added that at the next public mee?ng both conceptual plans will be discussed and the commission will select their preferred at that mee?ng. D Passios doesn’t think that a decision on a plan that night gives the Commission enough ?me to go over and decide aaer they’ve been explained by the architect engineer . Discussion on the language being removed on the Commission deciding on task #1 with any changes, who they are communica?ng with to come up with their conceptual designs. A Lockwood would like to have it an open mee?ng to get more input from other boards and the public can par?cipate. C Sullivan asked if more needs to be said on the restrooms, K. Menard answered that just saying the proposals shall include a unisex restroom and if we want to connect to the sewer . She described her answer to anyone asking why this Master Plan is needed which was that no one on the Commission or DPW has experience laying out a park, someone is needed to look at the parcel so that they are u?lizing in the best way, for a pavilion, parking, and field use and other recommenda?ons. Discussion on number of parking spaces should include and whether it’s private ci?zen parking or event parking. K Menard asked R Oliva if fields should be men?oned in the primary ac?vity zones sec?on and possible recommenda?ons for changes be made. He answered yes, how they are using the fields, manner and type, should be addressed. C Sullivan asked if the Skate Park, at next month’s mee?ng is giving us an answer on the loca?on they’re looking at and if it should be added to this proposal. K Menard thinks that is premature because anything can happen in the mean?me. D Passios would like to push this forward Discussion followed on including the Skate Park in the proposal. ===PAGE 4=== K Menard what should be added to the primary ac?vity zones within the park envelope, but men?oned another change to the proposal, an area with sta?onary pavilion that can be used for picnic areas. She would like to add (s) to pavilion. C Sullivan commented that the primary ac?vity zones for the park should include the wording athle?c fields. Discussion followed on the wording and pukng that in front of parking. D Passios men?oned the spots that needed picnic tables. K Menard summed up the changes to the proposal. Going from 5,000 to 10,000 square feet on the skate park, the sta?onary pavilion and other areas to be used as picnic area and the addi?on of athle?c fields. A Lockwood doesn’t think that adding too much wordage is beneficial. K Menard asked if the board was comfortable, with the correc?ons, to send this proposal to Assistant Town Manager to be put out to bid. D Passios voiced he was uncomfortable with somebody on the Commission not pukng eyes on the final draa before it goes to bid. K Menard volunteered to do that. D Passios wants to change the wording of athle?c fields to athle?c facili?es and adding to the wording picnic areas to picnic/ memorial areas. Mo?on made by C Sullivan to approve the RFP as discussed with the added edits this evening barring a final review Chair and Vice Chair reading the proposal before it’s sent out, seconded by D Passios. RolL Call Vote: D Passios-Aye C Sullivan-Aye A Lockwood- Aye K Menard-Aye. 9. Other Business-D Passios reported the portable toilet has reappeared at Marshall Park, and the dumpster is s?ll being filled with residen?al trash and a flat screen TV . K Menard gave some history on the portable toilets. Back in July or early August the Commission approved the policy for portable toilets and dumpster that was sent to the president of the LiIle League. The BOH also passed policies that had a list of things they were asking of the Commission similar to the Commission’s own policy with one other caveat which was making sure that the disposal person hired was permiIed. She added that some?me in the last week or two a portable toilet was brought to Marshall Park without the Commission knowing. The LiIle League did not provide any informa?on that was required of them or the BOH required. R Oliva contacted them with no response as of yet. A Lockwood wanted discussion on this. K Menard read our policy for both toilets and dumpster . They have not provided a copy of the service agreement with the service provider and any licenses, didn’t give a no?fica?on of delivery, and the loca?on of the toilets did not get approval of the Commission. A Lockwood recommended R Thompson send the LiIle League an email or wriIen no?ce that they have x number of days to comply with the policy or both the portable toilet and dumpster would be removed at their expense. D Passios commented that with the short ?me that’s lea they might wait un?l their season ends to remove them. Discussion followed on ways for compliance. K Menard added that the ini?al no?ce of policy and discussion with the LiIle League was six weeks ago. She read the BOH regula?ons on their policy. She added that R Thompson sent an email on Friday to them and did not get a response. C Sullivan did get a reply within the past 2 hours to an email to LiIle League about the signage for the park. He added that he think the Commission should take a hard stance since now we’re being asked by the BH to provide informa?on that we don’t have which could result in jeopardizing the ability of the Commission to add portable toilets in the future. ===PAGE 5=== Mo?on made K Menard that R Thompson send an email with copies of the park commission policy and the BOH policy tomorrow morning, Tuesday, September 28th, reques?ng a response by 9am on Thursday morning from the LiIle League providing the required informa?on. If he doesn’t hear back by then he can then call the number and have the port-a-poIy removed, seconded by A Lockwood. Roll Call Vote: D Passios-Aye C Sullivan-Aye A Lockwood-Aye K Menard-Aye. K Menard talked about the dumpster not being locked and the outside trash being dumped. There needs a stern reminder sent that it needs to be locked. She added that it definitely needs a warning that the Commission is on the verge of having the dumpster removed. D Passios went to a School CommiIee mee?ng in regards to community use of their fields and Park Commission use of their fields. He talked of the draa by A Lockwood about what the policy commiIee reviewed in regards to field use and Park’s programming poten?ally being charged by the Schools for use of the field and the problems of prior months with having to cancel programs because of the fees by the Schools exceeding the Commission’s revenues. He went on the say that there is s?ll with the school athle?c department with the exchange of use of Marshall Park’s ball fields for use of the fields on school proper?es. He believes the policy basically accomplished it but thinks it needs to be a separate document between the two en??es that memorializes that agreement. He thinks there might be some use that Parks is looking to do that the school will say is not included in this verbal agreement. He men?oned that the School Department’s protocols are no in place in a draa and is going before the full School CommiIee. K Menard believes that having it in the Commission’s policy would cover it but some finer details could be worked out. D Passios, at the close of the School CommiIee mee?ng, asked for verifica?on that the policy they had just reviewed does not cover the use of the Passios building that is under the care and custody of the Board of Selectman. D Passios stated that the field use fees go away but all of the other peripheral charges such as the cost of a janitor and those type of things are s?ll in there and wondered if there was any nego?a?ons of that. C Sullivan read the policy regarding the costs and K Menard men?oned that the wording of other related costs is concerning. She will try to get clarifica?on. 10. Next Mee?ng/Agenda-Wednesday, October 27th, on the Agenda will be the Beach Coordinator for a season recap, the Skate Park, and an invita?on to LiIle League to join. K Menard asked if R Oliva would aIend because of the fields. Mo?on made by A Lockwood to adjourn at 8:45 seconded by C Sullivan, Roll Call, D Passios-Aye, C Sullivan-Aye, A Lockwood-Aye, K Menard-Aye. Respecnully submiIed Dawn Pavone Minutes Secretary