Yeah, right now I don't need to do it. You need to do it right now. Nick, you're off mute. I don't know if you know that or not. >> Okay, cool. All right. Uh, good evening everybody. Thanks for coming out tonight for the for the meeting of of the rec
department. Uh, so I'm going to call the meeting to order. Um, but first before we begin, we need to do a roll call. So why don't you start? >> Bob Widen, >> Lauren Nun, >> Eric Bamer. >> Great. >> Melissa Poochie. Everybody
>> out tonight. >> Is that Kate Cameron? >> Lara Durgovich. Jean Capuchio. >> Got Nick Pestoro. >> Jean is not a recreation committee member. >> Yeah, sorry.
>> No worries. >> And Richand. >> Um, all right. So, our first agenda item is to approve the minutes. But first, I got to thank Larry for writing the minutes up. Very nice job writing them up. >> Welcome. >> Time was about 24 hours. So when we
nominate someone else to do the meeting minutes, >> high expectations. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> So um this minutes anybody >> there's actually um I don't know how this happened, but there's one snafu
somebody Jenna Wood's name is left off. I don't know what happened from the ones I submitted to when cut and pasted to the form that Jim has here, but and others present. On page one, it should also say Jenna Wood, community services director. >> Okay, >> that's it.
>> I will blame myself for that one. Mark, >> we need some after you read them. accommodate for the minutes. >> Make a motion to approve the minutes as amended. >> Second. >> All in favor?
All right. Sorry. >> I >> unanimous. Thank you. Uh before we begin, any who like to pick the minutes for this meeting? Have someone take the minutes?
>> I'll give it a go. >> All right. Thanks, Bob. Thanks. Um, then any public comment? >> Anybody? >> I just had a quick question. How do you >> name address? I'm sorry. >> Oh, I'm sorry. Jean Capuchio, 39 Fair View A.
>> Um, I'm just wondering how you become a board member. >> Okay, I can answer that question. Um, so you'd reach out to the town manager's office. They have a VAS committee >> that has interviews and right now, um, I can update you as well to Matthew George. He put in his res resignation
about three weeks ago. I let Rich know um just because his schedule with his kids, >> he can't make any meetings. So, there is an associate member spot that is open. I'm not sure when they will be filling those. >> I want to say it's usually in June or July potentially. >> So, if you want to reach out to the town
manager's office, um let them know that you're interested. They'll give you an application. You fill out that application. It goes to the VAS committee which is run by not sure who on the select board does it right now. And then they hold interviews for those who are interested. >> Okay. So, I can get you that information too if you want just to connect you with
uh I don't know if it's uh Maddie or um Jax over in the town manager's office. >> Awesome. >> You want to join us? Yeah, >> I do. Good. Awesome. That'd be great. >> Love to. >> Great. Um hey, before we begin, I want to recognize Jack for joining us today at
at the meeting today. He's our youngest uh person to come to our meeting, so thank you for coming out today. So, appreciate that. Uh, and Joseph, I congratulate you. You're now a full member. The board approved your u membership for the full membership. So, thank you
>> for um volunteering and being a full member. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. >> All right. So, Jim, are you taking the next item? >> I am. I share the screen. Let's see if I've gotten better at this over the years. Recal. If I minimize it, it should say
up there. share. >> Not bad. >> Nice job. >> Hold on. >> All right. So, this is a continuation of the working group of myself, Jenna Wood. Jenna is uh she's zooming in right now. Um John Sasso, who's behind me, as well
as Emily Sison. Emily had a busy day today. She had to cancel last minute. So John and I are going to walk us through this um presentation. I know we had sent out um some packet information um before we get into this. This is all draft right now. So nothing is set in stone. So if you review this after this meeting
today or if it's tomorrow or this weekend and there's something that catches your eye, please bring it to my attention and I will share with um the working group. So this is the Reading Center for Active Living Policies and Procedures. I'm going to quickly basically read what's on the board and
if there's any questions after we go through this, myself or John um are happy to answer those questions. Policies and procedures at the Reading Center for Active Living ensure a safe, equitable, and effective environment for both users and staff while also maximizing the cent's positive impact on
the community's well-being. They provide a structured framework that guides daily operations, manages risks, and ensures fair access and consistent service delivery to all members of the community. uh existing policies and procedures. A lot of these are things we currently
have that we're going to be updating based on our space. Um forms such as program participation forms, rentals for Pleasant Street Center. So these forms are kind of getting mashed into one for our one building. Um right now, as you know, we have the COA that's over at the
Pleasant Street Center and we're based out of town hall and we utilize a lot of the school buildings. So, a lot of these are kind of coming all together to make it as easy as possible for those that are using the the Reading Center for Activity Living. Volunteer forms, part-time employee applications, standards of independence, which the COA
uses, field permitting and rentals, which is mainly through recreation, transportation, scholarships, social services, financial assistant, medical transportation, lifeline, which is um transportation with the COA, other general policies we're working on, registration and payments, refunds,
cancellations, inclement weather, code of conduct. So, there's there's a lot happening right now and in these meetings, there's a lot of different things that are getting thrown around. So, we're fortunate to have a good crew uh with their eyes on them that have helped us out a ton over the last month. Um, where are we right now with all this
stuff? Forms have been drafted for COA and the recreation committee to initially review, which is what we're doing right now. Again, nothing is set in stone. Um, we had the program participation policy, the standards of independence, walking track policy, general policies. I just mentioned all these. I don't think I need to say them
all verbatim. Um, they're all up here right now. Um, we have some existing forms that aren't changed. Those are things for property tax worker, our volunteer application, recreation scholarship, um, for programming, part-time employee application, and social services intake forms. forms that
are still being worked on are our programming space policy. I know this is going to be a big one. Um and working in coordination with the CO to make sure you know they're getting the space they would like, but we're also getting space we would like to utilize as well. Um transportation policy, um forms for therapeutic recreation,
updated field permit permitting, which I'm going to talk about a little bit later in our meeting as well too. Um and our pickle ball membership program um and what that's going to look like as well. and the hours that we're going to have as well as the fees that may be
associated with that draft membership packet. We're trying to make it as easy for families to come into the the building when they get there. So, trying to come up with a packet that is going to be simple. A mom can come in there, a dad can come in there, anyone come in there and register their family and get them in our system.
Um, when you're in this building, there is going to be a small key tag so that we can track folks coming in. It'll let us know who's in the building, what programs are signed up for. Um, and then with the COA, I know they get a lot of grants and things like that with the amount of folks that are coming in as well. So, it'll give us some good analytics on who's using the building,
when they're using the building, and how they're using the building. Um, have the participation policies up there, general policies, liability, consent, and sign off, not only for people using the building, but also for folks renting the building. A photo consent and sign off for any photos that
are being taken at programs or inside the building. standard of independence. That'll be for folks ages 60 plus. Um we are going to have an indoor track. So there's going to be an indoor walking track policy. Um all these forms are going to try to make them so they can be filled out online or in person. I know a
lot of folks like to use online, but there's a lot of folks that want to come in person as well. And our goal is to have a um section right near the main lobby when you come in that will actually have like a kiosk with a some type of device that folks can register there and if they have any questions, we'll have a staff that'll be right next to them at the the counter when they're
coming as well. Different things we've kind of brainstormed that have come up over our um working group meetings are different things like on the walking track, use of strollers, wheelchairs, rollolators. I'm not sure what a rollolator is. >> You have a rollator. Is there a youngest
member? Do you have a rollator? >> You don't know what it is either. >> Rolling walker. >> A rolling walker. >> Yeah. No rollolator here. >> Okay. Um backpacks, all this stuff to make sure people are safe when they're using the track up there. Um food or drink, what's
allowed, what's not allowed. I'm heavy on to just water going in there. Um we're going to have all brand new floors, there'll be some carpets, there'll be some tracks. So, we're going to be pretty strict with that. um posting schedules, making sure the community is aware of what's going on in the track. There might be some programs
for our seniors that are going to be in there. There might be a fitness program that we have there. Just making sure that we have a schedule that's accessible to everyone and they know what's happening when they show up. Um also keeping in mind veterans as well too. Um we are going to have our veteran service agent in there as well. So when
they are signing up for programs, you know, he would love to know who's a veteran right now. There's probably a lot of folks out there that were not aware of veterans that he could possibly provide some services that would help them. Inclement weather um following town hall and or school policies. What
do we want to do? Um we got to factor in snow removal. Schools are always going to be a priority with DPW trying to get them open first. So coming up with policies on when our building could potentially open um based on what's going on. And this is an emergency center as well too. So, if we do get a really big storm and there's a lot of
power outage, that will obviously shift on who's going to be taking care of what first and and how quick. I think this is where Jenna was going to jump on. I think Jenna, do you want John to take this? Or actually, I'm taking
this and John's taking Emily stuff. >> This was Emily's. >> This was Emily's. >> So, you took That's fine. >> I took Jenna. So, I did what I was supposed to do. So, now you're up, John. >> I told her we'd give her a break. So, >> there you go. Um so um someone's saying so we've so I just want to make sure so
everybody's received copies of the three package. Okay so um this is so there are three just to kind of read it we've got three packets that we put together. So each of them include a whole bunch of different things and so for the f for the fitness room um there's there's
actually the policies and procedures of using the fit fitness room and then there's application and information. Um the intention for the fitness room is that um at least at the moment there will be a fee um in addition uh to um this is a little different where there
is a fee for using the fitness room. Um and again as we talked about there's you know one of the questions is how are we going to track people that that come in and come out with the key tags that have paid for their use of the fitness room versus not. So, these are some things that are still kind of being worked out, but effectively the um the policy is
that we've had kind of questions about what what should we require? Do we need to have a an intro packet that people have to sign off on or do we need to have some sort of a orientation? Those are some of the questions that we've kind of dealt with with regards to this particular issue. Um, you know, we don't
really intend to have room supervision. Um uh so we do have to have some way for people to kind of sign off and say, "Hey, we're we're saying we're we accept the risk and the liability of using the fitness room." Um and I think that's probably the the biggest issue as it
relates to the to this policy. Um there will be some uh questions about how to deal with capacity. The room is not huge. It's I think it's like 1,200 square feet or something like that. Um so there's going to be certain equipment that's going to be in there. So, um there'll need to be some um some
monitoring of the usage of the room in terms of priorities for um whether whether there are classes that actually happen in that room versus general use because there'll be both that that can occur in that in the room. Um so that'll be something else that that'll be melded together with the regards the policy.
>> So in terms of the orientation activity, um I have a relationship with the fitness together gym in reading. I can inquire if any of their people would be interested in >> Yeah. So we had yeah we had some discussions about so other community some other communities have like a personal trainer that takes
responsibility for doing orientations. Um we kind of I won't say we decided but we thought that that may not be the right approach at least to start. Um I think there's a group of folks that are like we should have some sort of orientation and whether that's just a video that people watch to say hey this
is what the room is these are the policies this is the equipment that's in there. Um, and then do we then expand it to say, okay, maybe we have some opportunities for people to come in and do that. Um, I don't think that's necessarily the thought about the initial orientation. Um, but we not I
mean at the moment anyhow, we haven't really thought too much beyond that. I think this like some of the other policies are going to evolve. Sure. >> Um, as as the center actually opens and gets used. >> Okay. So um the third packet that you received
was the rental packet. Um this I will say was a combination of a whole bunch of different forms and procedures and policies. Some that came from internal i.e. we're renting rooms today at uh we have rental policies today at the library. We um people can
um rent out space at PS. So some of that has already been incorporated into this. Uh we then also looked at um what some of the other centers do um uh some of the some of the other peer centers. Um there is um there's also a whole bunch
of things in there about um right now there are really only three areas within this within recal that we're considering for rental. One is the multi-purpose room which actually includes the kitchen. Um two is the gym and three is
uh one of the conference rooms. I forget which one it is but there's a conference room. So, there's really currently only three rooms that are being proposed for physical rental. Um, there were a whole bunch of questions about um what can be done with room rentals. Um what sort of
food can be brought in and if you're bringing in food, can it be prepared in the center or does it have to be brought in and can you use the kitchen for warming? And if you're going to have a birthday party, you know, how does that work out? Do you need liability insurance for depending on the on the
usage of the of the room? So, there's a whole bunch of things, you know, wrapped up in that policy. And if you go through the forms, you'll see all that information kind of flushed out. Um there are differentiation for cost based on whether you're a resident, a
nonprofit, a non-resident. So, there's a whole bunch of different um applications depending on what what uh category you fall into. Um, so and then there's a there's there's general policy things about, okay, if
you're going to rent the rent the room, you know, and you're going to have kids, you need to have so many adults for children available, you need to be responsible for, you know, making sure you leave the room the way it was and include in that time the time to set up and take down. So, the whole bunch of
policy related things in that. Um all of these uh we we really do want you to take a look at and feel free to give us any feedback. Um I mean I think they're in so as I've always said these are going to be initial policies. So we'll
talk a little bit in a minute about what happens over time but um if there are some glaring things we we'd love we'd love to hear that feedback now. So um the next thing is so once we do get to the um to a point where we have a policy and procedure that we feel is
good to start. Um we will have formal policies that'll get established as part of the operations plan. There'll be a written will be written policy. Um these will be available online. Um if people want to come in and sign up you know as Jim was saying with the membership
packet they can do that in person but they'll be able to do a lot of that online. In fact, we kind of expect that we'll do a lot of online stuff up front before the center opens so that, you know, we're not waiting having people come in at the last minute to sign up to use the center and and um get we'll
process things early. Um how's the policies enforced and consequences? Um so we haven't come up with the specifics, but we will we will have um some criteria for what happens if somebody violates a policy. um this time
it's really going to be town staff's responsibility to monitor that. Um and it you know depending on the on the violation there'll be some consequence whether it's suspended membership or or otherwise. >> Um I would say the most important thing on this slide is the policy review
process. We do expect that these policies will be reviewed I would say at least on an annual basis. Um, but I do feel that I think after we get it for a few few months under our belt at the center, we'll probably have some adjustments that need to be made. Um,
so, um, so we'll definitely, um, have a process for doing that. Um, I think that's one of the things that we want to establish in the in the operational plan is a procedure for going back through and and going through policies. Um, on that note, while um we have a whole
bunch of policies that exist that we were not really intending to adjust at the moment, um, if there are any comments or questions on any existing policies, again, those would be great to take a look at now while we're doing this. Um, this timeline really hasn't changed.
Our intention is to um present the next step in the process which is a programming um strategy. It's the one that I think who people are probably the most interested in learning about. Um so we are actually in the process of putting that together. And um while we
don't expect it's it's not a going to be here's the schedule, it's going to be here's how we come up with programming. here's the process by which we establish priorities and what things will be covered by the programming and how often that'll happen and things of that
nature. So, um we hope to have that um for presentation in November. And questionif is that from community standpoint is that like the select board or that a November >> that is a that is so this is all wrapped
up within the what what I guess we have affectionately called the um recal operational plan. >> Okay. >> So this is programming relative to the space >> at recal. Okay. >> So for for example like we have a gym at the recal we have the the multi-purpose
room. How do we come up with the schedule for those particular rooms at recal? Um, so that's going to be the the the question, you know, who who are the stakeholders that have input to that process, who makes the final decisions, what's the prioritization, that's all
going to get defined so that there's clear delineation of, you know, what's going to come out at the other end. >> And it's by by far it's, I think, the thing that people are the most interested in understanding. Um, it doesn't mean we're going to tell you what each piece is going to be, but at least we'll have a process for getting
there. >> Sure. >> That's all we got here. So, we can open it up for discussion or any questions you may have. Now is the time to ask. But like I said, if you don't have any questions right now, when you go home and you see something, you have a question, >> Yeah. >> you can reach out directly to me via
email. We don't expect you to have gone through doing the what 40 or 50 pages of stuff that we sent for the last week or so. Um but by all means um if there are questions or comments um this is as J said this is a in process effort. Um
these are draft um and um we will uh obviously take all the feedback we can get. >> Man say thank you guys. You know all the detail that goes into this. You don't realize behind the curtain how much goes into it. You know, you think about all these policies you have to think about
in terms of the room rental to the gym to making sure people are okay about taking their pictures. I mean, there's so much detail behind it. You guys seem like you're on top of it. >> A lot of the separate things you guys do, like you, you know, for for WCK, I'm sure when you do your programs, you have
to have photo sign offs and things like that. So none of these things in some respects are >> new or different, but it's just kind of putting it all together given that we have now a new, >> you know, we're going to have a new building and a new process and approach for it. So we have to make sure we cover
everything. >> And Jenna, who I know is on this meeting, she's been kind of starting it and getting it >> absolutely >> in the paper and then from there we've been kind of picking it apart a little bit. But she's been it's been a team effort without a doubt. Great.
>> Any comments? Well done, guys. You guys are good, John. Thank you. If you want to stick around, you're more than welcome. >> Gonna try to make another >> Thank you, John. >> Thank you. >> All right, let's go to the next.
>> Yeah. Reading Babe Ruth on update us on the on the field. >> I'm gonna share. >> I do. >> If I stand Yeah, go ahead. That would be better. a few things I'd like to point out. So, >> um, good evening everyone. I'm Mike
Wendelowski. I'm a 17-year resident of Reading. Last 13 years, I have volunteered in some capacity for, uh, baseball organizations in town. Most currently, I am the vice president, field director for Reading Babe Ruth, uh, as well as the game day coordinator for Friends of High School, uh, Reading
High School Baseball. I'm also joined by Ray Blanchard who's another another board member of Friends of Reading High School Baseball. Topic we wanted to bring to discuss today is the future of Moscarella Ballpark in Morton Field. Uh for those that may not be familiar with
this field, actually maybe are you all familiar with where this field is? Okay, perfect. Um I you know I put this visual just in case obviously we're talking about this field here but um if you go to the next slide Jim I included a executive summary. I'm not going to walk through all this. I'm going to hit on
two bullet points. Um but for those that may want to go back and review this um after the presentation uh feel free to do so. The two bullet points I'm going to hit on is number one um if you're familiar with the field it is the varsity field for the high school uh
here in Reading. Um, but due to its high water table, baseball activities have been limited and other sports are rarely using this field today. And Jim, keep me honest. I think the only other uh sport that's used it was uh Reading Unified
Sports uh soccer. >> So, Reading United Soccer United Soccer in the fall. >> Exactly. Um and the thing that we're here to talk about is we believe the times now to execute on a long-term solution for this field. um to increase field usage, decrease ongoing
maintenance, and provide a new multi-use uh field within town. So, for the rest of the time, I'm going to talk about participation in baseball in the town of Reading, uh the issues that we've had uh specifically with this field, and then
finally some potential solutions. I have held time towards the end if you want to ask questions. If you want to ask questions as I'm going through the slides, please feel free to stop me. So, uh, here we'll start at Little League. Little League is, uh, from fi ages 5 to 13. What you may not be aware is Reading
Little League is the fourth largest little league in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. >> Wow. >> The average Little League in the state of Massachusetts has about 24 teams, once again, ages 5 to 13. Uh, this past year, we had 56. >> Uh, which is 568
uh, players between 5 to 13 and Reading. So, there's a very strong pipeline of youth baseball as they're going and building up um uh through the ages from >> I'm sorry, Mike. Sorry to interrupt you.
Um Nancy, can you put yourself on mute? >> Oh, yep. I can. >> Thanks, Jenna. >> Thank you, Jenna. It's good to hear from you, Jenna. >> Um so, there's a very strong pipeline coming up through Little League. If you go to the next slide,
>> Michael question. Oh yeah. What's what's number three? >> Oh, that's Lincoln Sudbury. Yes. So, Hangingham, Andover, and Lincoln Sudbury are the only ones that have more participation from a little league uh perspective in the state of Massachusetts. >> As you may know, uh once they graduate
little league at about 12 years old, they graduate to reading Babe Ruth, which is 13 to 15 year olds. And this past year, we had 150 players, that's 10 teams, all within uh Massachusetts. So, here you have individuals that may even
be playing high school lacrosse or soccer and they're actually still playing baseball at a recreation level, which is really exciting for us. Uh, and you might know that a lot of Babe Ruth programs e either have gone insolvent because they actually don't have enough players or they've actually combined
towns just to have enough players for a league. within Reading, we're able to have 150 players just within um our town for 10 teams. As they graduate further, obviously they then get to the high school ranks. Unfortunately, not everyone is able to play at the high
school ranks in Reading uh because we have so much interest that it is actually a cut sport in Reading. Uh last year, we had over 65 players that tried out. We had 53 individuals that were selected either to a freshman team, JV team, or the varsity team. And this is
at a time where our freshman team uh actually has to play multiple freshman multiple teams two times or three times because many many towns don't even have a freshman team these days. They have a JV team and they have a varsity team.
We're very fortunate that we're able to field this. And last thing, I'll put selfish plug here, but uh you might have heard that the varsity team actually made it all the way to the state championship this past year. um and came quite close to taking down uh Walpole.
Actually, we didn't, but came quite close to taking down Walpole. The reason I bring this up, uh if you just go back real quick, all 13 of these teams, right, 10 Bay Ruth, three high school, they share three fields in town. That's obviously the varsity field we're
talking about here, Morton, Washington Park, and Simons. Okay, now if you go to the next slide. Thank you. However, due to the high water table, Morton Field is very rarely able to be used. So, this past spring, what I'm
showing here is anywhere you see this light green, that's where a game that was scheduled was actually played as scheduled. Anything in the dark green means a game moved from what was supposed to be Morton and was played at a different field.
And then anything red unplayable and the blue is just washed out. So, in essence, what you see here is the varsity field in town was used to play two games this spring. Wow. >> Washington Park and Simons were able to
play 38 games this spring. So, in essence, what we're kind of looking at here is all three of these fields are obviously in the same town. They got about the same amount of rain from the same amount of rainstorms. They're taken care and manicured by the same DPW crew.
But as you can see, there's a vast difference in the usage between these three fields. And it causes some disruption too because oftentimes what I these are just games. What I don't have on here are practices, right? So when the varsity team gets bumped from
Morton, they then use Washington. It then means that on Simons, both the freshman team and the JV team or approximately 35 to 40 players are all on one field trying to improve their skill set. Um
the other thing I'll uh point out here is uh there are were a few times also where we actually played out of town. So we rented Lasher Field up in LOL uh two different times and actually there was one time that rained out twice with Stonem that on Mother's Day we actually
decided to play a home game at Stonem uh which is another thing that we just wanted to point out. So, yes. >> Was there a playoff game that got moved to Pine Banks, too? >> Yes, there was. So, this I kind of kept to just the regular season. Uh, we were
able to, so technically you could put three here. We were able to play one uh playoff game at home. Um, however, the quarterfinal game of the playoffs, which in my opinion was one of the greatest high school baseball games I've ever seen, um, we had to move to the Pine Banks turf just to be able to play a
home game uh for the playoffs. Uh, but that is correct. Thank you. Um, so you might be wondering, all right, this is within reading. How does this compare to other fields my or other towns? Um, because obviously those towns dealt with, you can go to the next
slide. Thank you. Um, similar type of situations. So, in essence, we looked at all the different teams within the Middle Sex League. So, you know, Watertown and Lexington and Wilmington and on down the line. And you can see once again, the light green is they played the game as scheduled. The red is
game was cancelled. The dark green is they moved it to a different location. And here uh you'll see on the bottom how many home games were played as scheduled um at the various fields. Now some for instance Watertown they have a turf
field. They have 13 games and you can start going down the line and you see that most of them played eight to all the way to 13 games on their home field. Um, Burlington was four and as we pointed out before, Reading was two. So,
we're either playing at someone else's field or we're moving to a different um, field in town, which once again disrupts the program. Um, and not just our program, we're now making a call over to whatever town we're supposed to be playing and say, "Hey, you know where that bus was supposed to go here? It's
actually going here." And the umpires, hey, you know, you're supposed to go here. Now, it's going here. So, you get the point. Um, any questions so far? >> How many making sense? >> How many turf fields? >> Yeah, so uh I've tried to put it up here. So, Watertown has a turf field. Winchester has a turf field. You will
see in certain times uh move to turf turf. Um like Pine Banks, that's the turf field in Melrose as well. >> Um as well. Yeah. >> So, >> has a turf field now too. >> Arlington has a turf field too now. Okay.
So, um, >> these other towns have just one field where we have three. >> No, these other towns have multiple as well. Okay. >> Um, what I'm trying to say though is anywhere you see the light green, they're actually playing it at their
dedicated varsity field. >> Make sense? >> Okay. Um, and there are, if you were to go to Morton Field and compare it to Washington and compare it to Simons, there are a lot more amenities um, at Mortonfield, especially for the varsity
level. Things like bullpens and that you just don't get at much nicer dugouts um, at the other fields, but if you don't mind going to the next slide. So, in essence, this sets up kind of well, what are the potential solutions? Um and once again we're
looking longterm here, right? Um one obviously turf field, you know, Rich, you just kind of pointed that out. Some of the benefits and challenges obviously decrease day-to-day maintenance and upkeep. Um allows the DPW to actually focus and re prioritize their efforts on
other areas of the town. Should have much fewer cancellations of games and practices, dramatically in increase the field usage. But I know one thing that's really important for this group um as well as myself is providing multisport
usage, right? Because once again that field themselves had two games, well three I guess including the playoff game in the spring and I think maybe two to five soccer games this fall, something along that line, right? So, it's not heavily utilized and we believe that if
we were able to make this a turf field, you can get a lot more utilization out of it. Not just in the spring for baseball, but in the fall, I would imagine that the high school and per perhaps others would want to use that field. >> Leading field hockey. >> Exactly. Correct. Obviously, I'd leave
that up to you uh of the demand of it all. Um I put up here too, you know, you could potentially host tournaments to generate revenue for the town. That's for you all to decide. I just know, you know, with my kids, there's they're definitely playing at Lynfield in club tournaments and that's generating
revenue. You don't need to do it, but it's an option with turf. Usually, turf fields are looked at more favorably because there's a higher probability that the game won't get cancelled um due to a rainstorm. Now, with that said, yes, this is probably the highest cost
on this, right? But I do believe it could provide the greatest amount of benefits and flexibility to the town. The second one um is professional drainage. Um that I think does offer the potential for fewer cancellations of games and practices.
It still would be a natural uh grass uh field. So it's not going to lend itself as much to that multisport usage because I do believe the demand in town is more for turf. Um, the other thing I'm not sure on quite honestly, I'm in financial
services. I don't know a whole lot about uh wetlands and things along that land, but this is a field that is surrounded on a few areas by wetlands. And I don't know if pushing the drainage back into wetlands would probably be a the greatest of ideas. Um, but once again, I
would leave that to the experts there. Um, I do this would still be a significant cost, but I don't think you'd get as many benefits as you would for the turf. And then finally, you know, increased season maintenance. Um, if you go down there, actually right now, the DPW has
done some awesome work this fall. Um, so we really, really appreciate all they've done. My opinion is that no matter how much they try to do after a rainstorm, it's going to be very difficult because they're fighting a high water table.
Um the other thing too is if they increase their time dedicated to let's say this field that means they decrease their time spending doing something else right mowing if could be mowing the cemeteries working on a softball field whatever it might be. Um so yes this
might have the lowest short-term cost but it does solve you know it does not solve the need uh that we're trying to get at with the high higher water table. So, if I take a a step back here, um, if we're looking at the long-term solution
to this field, we believe the turf would be the best solution. The reason we're coming here is twofold. One, to start getting it on public record and get this discussion started, and then two, for you all to kind of guide us on where do
we go next if this is something that is plausible uh, to move forward. I'm I'm happy to continue this charge. >> What's the lifespan for a turf field? >> Uh, I'd say 11 to 12 years right now.
>> No, I'm not I mean I'm not a expert on this, but and I'm not a civil engineer, but I would imagine if you just go turf, that's not going to solve a water problem either. You'd still need to have proper drainage below the turf. >> I do believe that would be correct. for going turf, you'd have to do
>> those two bullet points that you had, drainage and turf >> potentially. Once again, that goes back to the fact I'm I'm not an expert, but I'd love to kind of work towards what the next steps are. >> Um because the other thing, too, is >> if we get to that next step and someone
says, "Hey, scrap this whole plan." Okay, then we need to think about plan B. >> Sure. Um because right now this is a large space in town that is highly underutilized regardless
of what the town decides to use it as. Obviously we want it to be a varsity baseball field which it is today. But I think you get my point. >> Excuse me for one second to answer your question. Part of the if you go out and have a turf company come in and evaluate your situation, part of their plan is a
drainage plan. So they devised that all and present it as part of the plan so they could show you what they would be able to do with the drainage. But to your point, you're right. You would you would be solving the drainage issue with wherever you're going to put the water where it's going to go through. >> Okay.
>> But it is part of the initial plan. >> Okay. Conservation would be heavily involved in this. >> Yeah. >> Yep. Yeah. >> How long has this been an issue? Like the the drainage and the field >> spring it was really bad. Um, I played on that field when I was in high school
as well. And I mean it it's it's the outfield that is the infield as well. The outfield it just holds water and you can't go out there and turn over grass and let that dirt dry up like you can in the infield or go out there with blowers. Like it is just so saturated
out in that left field area, center field area. So there's really not much you can do because it sits I mean it's probably I don't know six to eight inches. You've got the girls high school softball field that sits right above it and I don't think they had many games canled and it sits maybe 60 yards.
>> Yeah, there's been times I've been pumping water off this third baseline with a hand pump and the girls are going crazy playing a varsity game right there. >> Um >> and and I want to give kudos to DPW as well. I know we had met down there. I want to say it was probably late May, early June towards the end of the
season. And they were out there every single day turning over that infield, bringing in new clay, trying to get this field playable so these kids could get a few varsity games, especially the seniors on there before their times up here. So they did start going up there, I want to say daily, but it would they were getting pulled away from all these
other fields. >> So no, it was established that it was a problem this year, but how many years like has this been a problem like the entire time this field has existed or just like the last two years? like how how long has this been a problem? >> So, I've only started been I've only started to play on this when I say play
coach on this field. I wish I could play uh for the last four years. It's been a problem that entire time. I've been involved with Ready baseball 18 years and been a problem at least 18. >> Okay, that's what I was looking obviously depending on the winter you
get is the spring you're going to get, right? So, we can tell how our baseball seasons go by the winter. We had a lot of snow, a lot of rain, we're in trouble. You know, you can easily anticipate what's going to happen based on the weather. So, but it's been a problem for a long, long time. I think
my first two years here, been two years with spring. Um, I believe maybe the first time on the field might have been the first game. They weren't even practicing on this field before they had an actual varsity game on there, which makes it difficult. >> Yeah, that happens more year than not, actually. >> Yeah.
So, has this field just been like bumped for other projects and and just not has anybody tried to fix it? >> So, I believe this is part of phase three. Jenna, correct me if I wrong about phase three of the Birch Meadow master plan where they were looking at um this field as well as the softball
fields that we see above and the Coolage Middle School. >> So, I believe that's part of phase three where we're looking at this. And I think there's been a ton of iterations of what this may look like. And I know I think initially it was shown as turf and that might have been 5 years ago as well as
all those softball fields as turf as well as coolage being turf. So >> there's a lot of turf. >> Is a ton of turf for sure. Um but like it's going to change. So once we're done with birch metal phase two, then it's, you know, going to town meeting potentially to see if we can get birch metal phase three and what that
involves. I mean it's going to be up to the community. So I think you coming here at this time makes a lot of sense just to get it on the radar. similar like pickle ball, you know, they came and they came and they came. You got to start somewhere, right? >> And I would agree there is >> things need to be done um to that field.
>> What's the rules involved? >> Sorry, >> was that? >> Yeah, I was going to ask like uh when I was playing sports back in like high school and stuff, turf was like relatively new. It like seemed like uh we just turned our football field to gra uh to turf. Um what's like in like that
in our league in our varsity league what's the percentage of turf compared to grass and does that kind of give you benefits like you know if we have a home game and a team's used to playing on turf and we have the a legitimate diamond with dirt and conditions and we're used to practicing in that does
that give us an advantage or do you turn to a turf team where traveling turns into a less we're less competitive? Uh, I mean, I've played on them both and I I I think you get more true or hops and you got to learn how to slide differently because you slide a little further. Um, I mean, do you have an
advantage if you practice on it and you play on it? >> I think so, for sure. I mean, any natural grass fieldielder is going to have >> issues with divots and lips and, you know, dirt that's a little more dusty. This is just everything is natural. The ball skips a little different in the outfield. So, yeah, you definitely have
an advantage. But, I mean, I don't think Reading High School's looking for an advantage to get on teams. I think he's looking to play. >> Look like he's looking for an advantage. >> Yeah, I want the advantage. >> Just just on another note, another another huge advantage to having a Tur field is um this the season starts the
second week of the third Monday of March. Teams that have tur fields are literally outside that day. >> Yep. >> You think about what comments made a couple minutes ago. We're lucky in Reading based on the winter if we can get out there the day before our first game. M
>> so you're practicing in the gym which is entirely different than playing on a baseball field. There's a lot of things you can't do in practice because of the gym. So it's a huge advantage to have a field that you can walk in and mod based on weather obviously and just stop
playing baseball. That's one of the huge advantages. >> Yeah, that that basically answers my question now. So thank you. I was just asking um way back in the day my daughter was softball and we had the
issues with um just logistics on that field and getting it up to date. uh she didn't end up playing in high school and I remember there was some level of involvement of the coaches and reading softball all getting together on the
proposals and the high school was like yeah we need to do this collaborate how much is the high school in on because you know surf and the football that's that's our domain and I remember
back in the day being like well high schools using it. Well, it's rec committees. You see where I'm going? I'm like, okay, so this is another layer of how we can involve them to or schools to
>> have you met with Dr. Milichesky or principal Clark? >> I have not directly know. I don't know if Dave has or >> I think Dave had but yeah, I don't think just coach you know discussions. >> Yeah. So, you've had discussions with a coach from the high school.
>> Yeah. So, coach Jade Blanchard, he's not here tonight, but he's also on the Friends of Reading High School baseball board. He's had a lot of discussions also with DPW, the athletic director, um I guess uh the superintendent as well. So, I think this is all on their
purview. I think the biggest thing is trying to get organized and kind of what's the best way forward because in my old time as president of running little league I figured out okay well if I can follow all the procedures of the
town and check off those boxes you tend to get to a point where you're like oh okay we can move forward this is a much larger project than I've ever been involved in so I just want to make sure we're checking those boxes correctly because I hate going to one place and say, "Well, you didn't."
>> It's like, "Well, so if you can provide some type of guidance from a town perspective of where we should go next, happy to do that." Um, and take this discussion there. Yeah. Go ahead, Bob. >> Do you have a figure as what turf is going to cost? >> I think you should a number with me.
>> Right now, it would probably be close to $3 million >> just for the ball field. How do you guys plan on raising that? >> So that's gonna that's going to be something that would have to go through
town meeting >> for sure. I unless you guys are holding on to something we don't know about. >> We couldn't contribute that much. We're happy to fund raise a portion but it's not going to be in the seven figure. >> A lot of canning
>> and like I said it's a conversation we're starting right now. Um, and there is a phase three to Birch Meadow and potentially a phase four. So, it's kind of targeting what's most important right now. So, I mean, I think this is a good start. Um, I can speak with some higher ups and see if we can start putting a plan together to see if we can expedite
this by any means, but I said it could be two years, it could be three years potentially. Um, in the meantime, I think we just got to have DPW focus on, you know, doing what they've been doing. Um, and just keeping eyes on it, which I think they did a really good job last year when it was brought to our attention. um how much this field need a
little bit work whether it was infield making sure it was cut short enough. We got so much rain that the actual infield came in and they couldn't hit ground balls to their short stop because the grass was just swallowing all the balls. So they had to actually cut the grass a lot shorter. Um I think in previous years they said they didn't change anything. So shorter though just staying
on top of this field and >> hoping for dry spring and a very mild winter I suppose would help right now. But a long-term solution is something we got to start, you know, looking at for sure. >> Yeah. And that's what this is all about. Regardless if it's one years, two years,
three years, I'm a firm believer that if you don't get started, you never get done, right? So my hope is that today we're getting this discussion started at least on a formal matter and we can go from there. Um, and I'm happy to go forward, but I also want to keep you all on time. I think I'm four minutes over.
>> Well, it's good presentation. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you all. Good. Thank you. Reach out to me with any questions. Awesome. >> Is there anything for for Mike in terms of like he talked about checking all the boxes in terms of where to go next or just check number one now and then mentioned that he came in and we uh follow up with him. I've talked to Mike
for the last year or so um just on different updates. So just staying in touch with me and seeing what the plans are and where we stand with >> um phase three of Birch Meadow. There's a lot of money kind of coming in and going out of town right now. Potential override as well too. So, the budget is very tight, but we got to start planning
ahead if we ever want to see something happen. So, >> appreciate you coming in. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thanks, Mike. >> Stick around if you want. >> Do you want to join us? >> Thanks again coming in. Appreciate his
presentation. >> Did you sign in? >> Oh, nope. If you want to sign in and then it's sign in. What is the timeline on phase three? >> Great question. Gonna finish phase two and then it's right here about phase two.
>> Yeah, I know. >> You get the next item, right? >> Where lost my agenda. >> Project updates. >> Did that pickle ball and birch metal phase two? >> Yeah. So, we went through recal. I can just give you a quick little more on recal. So right now recal is 90% done of
the design phase. Uh this past actually last Thursday went on a field trip to Seapport. Took a wreck band went out to Seapport in Boston and um went to the BH plusa headquarters and they had all of the I guess inside kind of furnishing
things outside of chairs and stuff whether it was the tile, the floor, the wooden floor in the gym, the fixtures on the walls, the paint colors. It was overwhelming. We were in a room probably three times the size and it was just laid out with every material um imaginable. So they were showing us some
different options trying to get a pulse of what we thought would be good. Um the assistant town manager came and we kind of told him our ideas and we came up with different things whether it's the water faucets you know where you know do we want the ones with the handles and it was quick like I don't want the ones
with the handle because the child's going to go in there turn on that handle it will never shut off. So, making sure it's one of those spring activated ones that will come up or it's one of the ones with the batteries that are electrical if we can wire them in. I don't like the ones that a lot of them do have batteries and you constantly replacing those batteries. Um, so wired
in I'd love those maybe in the staff bathrooms. They're the ones where you turn on and turn off because a little more responsible than a >> no offense over there who may leave some water running. So now what they're going to do is they're going to put together some
renderings with the different styles and different things and when those are available I'll certainly share those um with everybody. So are you taking like any ADA like is there anybody that gives you guidance what would be adaptable for? >> So I think part of the with BH plusa
they have to follow all that stuff but if you have different things and you want to share with me nothing is set in stone right now. If you want to share certain things that you know you've seen in buildings um everything is ADA compliant. Yeah. what that exactly means I guess could vary a little bit but
>> if you have any input on any anything you may see once we start showing you these renderings please let me know. >> Yeah. So the only thing I just because I go to a lot of different senior centers >> like they have these entrance I I think the design of the building might have already been done. I'm not sure how much
input you have to that but entering and exiting bathrooms that actually don't have doors. It's just kind of like a little walkway and it's like a little bit of a zigzag into the bathrooms is just a lot easier for people if they are using a rollolator or if they're using um
>> wheelchair >> like an airport. >> There's no actual It sounds weird that there's no drawer but like a little bit of an >> Yeah. Jim, are you guys coordinating with permanent building committee is because
the last meeting we had um the one of the I can't remember on the recount presenters was like hey that's totally separate >> and I was like I was like okay >> they're involved they're involved maybe with them has been going to meetings
CPDC >> so they are involved any building they are heavily involved >> well I know and I can imagine from our standpoint because it almost seems like it's is it council on aging's lead or is it reading lead? Is it a whole
>> It is the community service department lead which recreation COA and veteran falls under and Jenna is the community service department. >> There you go, Jenna. All right. >> Under Jenna's lead. >> Any questions on recal? We're going to continue meeting weekly with John,
Emily, Jenna, and myself to go over the the policy. So, if you do have anything, please send them our way. Even if you think it's something that, you know, you may think makes sense, doesn't make sense, throw it our way so we can discuss it and have it. Um, we did meet with DPW to talk about things about snow removal, who's going to
maintain the sidewalks, who's going to be cutting the grass, who's trimming the bushes, who's picking up leaves, how long can the snow stay in there, who's picking up the trash, how many recycling bins. So there's a ton of moving parts that are happening right now. Um Jenn Yep. >> Sorry,
>> doesn't pertain to us, but DPW can barely keep up with the schools. >> Yep. So in our discussions, there was potential talk of potential >> staff, maybe potential more staff just because they are at a shortage right now that they could be utilized only in winter, but then they can go over to a
field and help out, catch up on other things, too. So that was brought up with our parks um director, Mike Hannerford, last week. So whether it's seasonal more seasonal employees that come in or I think they're looking for actually two full-time employees, that's going to be a big area. And then we have the pickleball courts as well to keep in
mind those eventually going to have to get blowed. There's going to be things that are going to be trimmed over there. So that has been discussed. Um pickle ball, not a ton of updates on pickle ball. One big update was at the CPDC meeting. Um there was a verbal
agreement for shared parking with um the Burbank Ice Authority in the town. The town manager and Jane Wil Wellman, the assistant town manager, have been working with Carl McPaden with the Burbank Ice Authority and there was a verbal agreement for shared parking um that was made at the public meeting. So
they are working on the details um of anou and a lease agreement right now. Don't know all the details. I don't want to say something that's not right. They're still working on it. So, I'm not going to comment on what it involves right now um until everything is hashed out and is presented um to the Burbank
Ice Authority, but there was a verbal agreement for shared parking for our pickle ball courts, which is great and it will keep us on our timeline of moving things along so that prices don't escalate by things getting stalled. Um I got a meeting with RPA on Thursday to
talk about the transferring of the funds that they've raised for the pickleball courts. um and to make sure we're all on the same page as far as what those funds are going to be used for and what everything's going to look like. So, I'm meeting with them on Thursday with Jenna and um the assistant town manager.
>> Questions on pickle ball? >> When do you think they'll start to break ground? >> Pickle ball, we hope to start breaking ground in late spring. >> Late spring. Okay. >> Yeah. So, a lot of moving parts coming up in the next three months. Next metal phase two. I actually put together some
pictures for this one. So, I'm going to share my screen. Has anyone been down there? Has anyone checked it out? I put pictures together by >> So, what's the All right. So, this is where we started
and this is our end goal right here. This is down on Bank A. It is the new playground formerly known as the tot. And then it's two new basketball courts with existing pathways and lighting that will go around there. Those basketball courts will be lit. So, I want to show
you kind of my progress photos. I try to do a good job getting out there every single week. Try to get photos. I am out there probably two or three times, but sometimes I don't take photos. Um, so this is actually the first thing that happened. This happened in early June. This was the Rise Playground. This was part of it. Um the schools jumped on
board with us because they had tried to go up to bid before but it was such a small project nobody bid on it. Um so they put it in with this not only for the cost savings just to get someone to bid on it. Um so this was our first step. This took about I want to say it
took about 5 days. There was a little disruption in the summer programming that was there. The kids couldn't utilize this playground. I want to say it was four or five total days missed. So this is the resurfacing. This is going on top of the old porn play. So, the colors the schools picked out, the schools picked the blue and this bright
fire engine red. Um, the process of watching this, it was it was pretty fun. Me and Ed were out there and I I literally could have watched this all day. It was very um I forget what the kids call it, aesthetically pleasing or something like that. But, um, it's a pretty neat process. And this is the same forum play that will be going on um
the new playground that was formerly known as the tot. That was them starting it. >> This was the completion completion of it. Um, and it came out really nice. The kids were out there, I want to say two days. I think I had to have 48 hours of cure time, and they were out there
running around, playing, having fun, and not scraping their knees up, which is great. >> So, that was finished. This is our old where those asphalt pickle ball courts were. That's where the two trucks are sitting on. And then beside that is the two basketball courts. This was the demo. Demo happened extremely quick. I
want to say this was demoed in about two days. This was back in believe early June. Um, this is them clearing the entire land and trying to get it to the grade level they need to. I'm going to go through these pretty quick. This is them prepping their artillery to roll
this out and flatten it all out. This is the I want to say it's gravel asphalt. This is them prepping for the post-tension concrete path. So, this is all gravel that they laser level, get it as close to flat as they can before the um post-tension concrete comes in, which
this is it. They put up the forms. I'm probably using wrong construction terms. I apologize if you want to teach me something terminology. >> So, these are the forms here. You see these bars that they look like they have a green hue on them? So, those are post
tension rods. Um it's a like a binder that goes on top of them that allows the concrete to go on there and it allows them to pull it while the concrete is starting to set. And what that does, it it acts almost like an elastic. So when you pull an
elastic, you pull an elastic, you release it, it pulls everything back together. >> So that concrete, it does look huge right now. >> It looks really big. Um, >> so this is the process of them prepping for the concrete to come in. And this is the concrete trucks coming
in. We had 17 concrete trucks come in on one morning. I think they showed up at 8:30. We did do a red uh I forget what a red alert out to all the neighbors letting them know they would be coming. I think there was 17 trucks that came and this was the opening day of school which was not ideal. They initially
wanted to come over by the rise playground but we had to shift um and they c did come down um bankrooft avenue. So this is the trucks coming in putting it down. There's actually a machine that's on the far side. You'll see a better picture of it. It's a selfleing. I don't know what it's called, but it's
going off of a laser and it is self-leveling all of this concrete. There's not someone out there on the edges. There's someone out there using their hand. But this machine will self-level the concrete and have it at the perfect angle so that all the water is going to pitch off to um that back right corner. It was it was a lot of
money sitting on that site um when they were doing this. Um again, there's that big machine on the right. It looks like a giant squeegee. It's reading off of that sensor of the tripod right there, knowing exactly when it has to lift, when it has to go down, when it has to move. >> It was pretty amazing to watch. It's
very expensive machine. >> Um, and this is after it was all poured. You see these swirl marks there? There's another amazing machine. Um, the man in the back right over there, um, sitting on a lawn mower that basically has blades that look like fans that is spinning around and just smoothing out
the entire surface. It's almost like a hovercraft, um, out there. So, those quarts are extremely smooth right now. And this is where we're looking at the drainage. This is what you want to see. So, it rained out, so I went up there to make sure that the quartz were doing what they're supposed to be doing and
not puddling. So, the drainage and the Cultex infiltration system sits on that backside. There are um little drain edges all the way around the court. The goal is to get all the water to go down there into that infiltration um system that sits under the dirt and the gravel on that far right side over there. So,
this is exactly what we want to see when you do have courts. That water is not pooling. It is all going off of the court. So, that was nice to see. See the poles going in, basketball hoops are going in. Uh local contractor Peter Seabold won
the I think he was the contractor for the fencing. So, he does a great job. He's done a number of um fences around Reading. Poles going in. These are our Muscoll lights that arrived. This is the base that they had to dig way down. Um, under there was a large rock that was
sitting right next to where they needed to do this. I think they had to just shift it a little bit up or back, but it's still centered where it needs to be. Those came in after the concrete was poured. Those are what the lights look like. They're not monstrosities, which I think is nice. They actually kind of blend when I went down there to check the courts. I didn't even realize the
lights were up until I was leaving um because they weren't even noticeable. And this is the lights on the other side of the court. And those lights are going to have a timer. So, if it's raining out on a cool Thursday night and it's 6:30
and nobody is outside, those lights are not on. So, there's signage that will be on the that pole on that side, there's going to be an outlet that's going to be like one of those hot tub timer things or a button. They push that button, it stays on for 30 minutes. When it's getting ready to go off, there's a small
little orange light that just shows a little flash. It's not going to disrupt the neighborhoods. It'll just let you know that in 5 minutes the lights are going to shut off. Just hit the button. I can set those to stay on for an hour once they're activated. I could do 15 minutes. Um, but that was one of the things the neighbors appreciated and we
might be one of the first courts that are that are getting it that I've heard of. So, I brought it up to Musco and they said, "Absolutely, we can do that." So, it'll be nice. It'll be a cost savings for the town. We pay for all the lighting. Um, the tennis courts wish we could do it with the tennis courts, but we can't because if you shut one bank off, it's going to affect play over in
another court. So, that'll be a nice feature. And there'll be signage on there letting folks know that they need to push the button if the lights aren't on. um and they want to utilize them. This is the fencing going around. And this is just the first coat of the the vinyl paint they put down. It's black.
It's um supposed to be black. The court colors are going to be that green um that you saw in the beginning. It's a green and a darker green. I think it flows well with this park in this area. It blends well. I didn't want something overly bright. I kind of like the natural colors. So, those are the colors um we want with that. And it's going to
match well with um the playground. This is the Caltech infiltration system. So by putting this quart there, that means we were taking away some area where water typically would go. So we needed to replace it with basically some holding tanks so that we would not flood
out the neighbors. Um so this is where all that runoff water is going to go and it will hold in there and it will slowly go out. But this will hold I don't know how many Coltech systems are in there. There was a bunch that were delivered. Um, but there's more than enough so that the neighbors aren't going to be seeing
any more water than they ever have. >> They go about 200 yards to the left towards the baseball field. >> I mean, that's something they probably would have to do if when they do it's going to be a similar system like this where they're going to have to do that. >> Um, this is the backside. This is the
start of the playground. This is the last thing they started on. They started this about two weeks ago. It does have a concrete um sphere that goes around there. That's where the the poles go in just so that they don't if you go to the baseball field, you see those poles were just sitting cement. Now those baseball field fences are starting to pull away
from the ground. So those are never going to those are never going to budge. Um here's a closer look. This is them prepping. It's a giant egg shape. It is bigger than the the playground that was there before. Um there's room all around it so that the pathways can come in. Um
there's going to be I look at this and I see the quartz. The quartz look huge. It makes it this look small, but there's going to be a lot of playground equipment in this space. I can promise you that. And I'm still curious how it's all going to fit in there, but it's got all the appropriate fall zones and everything that is required um with the
playgrounds. So, the next step is tomorrow. The delivery of the playground equipment was supposed to come. I got an email about 5:00 today. That's delayed. So, I don't know how far that's going to push that um back. Remaining work left. I may have left some stuff out, but this is things I
thought off the top of my head. The painting of the basketball courts and the rim installation. Um, getting the grades all appropriate where they need to be for the receding and all the new plantings that are coming in. We spoke with conservation to make sure we have the appropriate plants that they're looking for. installation of the
pathways, the pathway lighting, fixture screws, which will blend with the ones that we currently have over towards the pavilion, benches and trash receptacles, playground equipment, equipment arrival, not Tuesday, October 28th to be determined. And then Compan um will
begin installation upon their delivery. And then the the biggest thing is this playground surfacing. It needs to be done um when it's not too cold out. That's going to be the biggest thing that could slow this project down. If they don't get this equipment in in time, that may mean that they're going to have to wait till the early spring
and a few warm days to come in to finish that playground area. Um, and then installation of signage. Signage will include wayfinding signage that vary all around Birch Meadow area, showing where the ball field is, showing where the tennis courts are, showing where the
basketball courts are. Um, the park rules and regulations, and then better put on here, um, signage for the playground. We are going to get a communication board. Woodend has one right now for kids who can't verbalize what they want to do. Um there's a local um speech therapist that I've been
talking with and she's going to recommend um some signage as well that's become standard across the state going into these playgrounds. Wood end has a really nice one. So um it'll be something similar to that. >> Questions?
When do we hope we'll be done? >> I have some questions about the basketball lights. >> Yep. So, typically if there's a court, I feel like it's lit up when you can play and then the lights go off and you're supposed to go out. You can't be here.
And >> so, if somebody goes up to turn those lights on to play basketball at 7:00, great, cuz it's dark. What happens if somebody goes up to turn those lights on, they push the button at like 11:30 at night? Does the lights happen? >> They don't go on. >> The hard cut off at 10:00. >> Okay, perfect. That's what that's what I
wanted to know. And then the other question I had was the pathways through that area. Are those lights on all the time at night? >> They should be. Yes. So those are all on a timer. >> You're trying to find >> So nobody has to like push a light to like walk. I'm just worried about like
or not worried but wondering, you know, I don't want somebody to fall and get hurt because it's >> No. So those are the uh this one may be a different electrical box. Um, but the ones at the pavilion, those are set on timers that I adjust every fall, every
spring that they pop on at 7:00 in the spring and then when it gets in the fall, it might be a little earlier, 5:00. So, we're constantly adjusting those and they're on throughout the entire night until the sun has built. >> Okay. Yeah. But then, so, and then on the courts, the light won't turn on when
you're not supposed to be there. >> Correct. That would that would not make me look good. Well, it might make the neighbors wouldn't like it playing basketball. >> There'll be some education. There'll be kids showing up or folks will show up if they're not familiar with it, like where they're going to show up being like, "Why aren't the lights on?" You know,
we'll try to get as much signage as we can there. >> Um, so people know that you need to push the button. And then I'm sure there'll be kids that are just on their bike and it's not going to be on. They're going to go by and just give it a push just to see them come on. Again, if they're on, they're on. But it's those days where
it's really cold and no one's out there and it's raining out that we're going to save a lot of money. >> Yeah. >> Jim, can you remind me where the parking is? Were they adding some spots like on Bra? >> Um, so it's a good question. >> There's already some spots. >> Answer for you right now. Um, they
didn't get rid of any spots. I know that. And um, one of the big things was we were going to add a bunch of spots where it's showing number three is right now. And when we had the community um eating, it was made clear to us that it's not a parking problem there, it's a people problem. So, they were worried
about bringing more parking into this area would cause more issues um than what's already going on down there. And they were nervous about extending the parking closer down to where that playground area was or even where that intersection um is going to be. >> Yeah. And then there was initial talk of
putting more parking up where the new um modular classroom went, but that was extremely expensive. I think to add an additional 10 spots, I forget what the cost per parking spot was just because of everything that was underneath it. I want to say it was close to like $20,000 per spot. So 10 spots would have cost us
$2,000. Might even been higher than that. I don't want to. >> So is there handicap accessible parking in in that parking lot? >> Yes. So, I think you can kind of see where one is up over here. I want to say there's two or I think there's two there and there's one that's got the van
accessible um area so that doors can open and you can get out. >> Okay. And that that walkway there's going to be some grass in between that walkway like a little bit of a buffer from that street because I think that was one of the concerns. >> Yep. So, there's going to be there'll be
trees. I know right now they had rocks that were there. I know DPW did save those rocks that they put over there as well, but there's >> like between three and four. >> You're talking like right >> between bankrop and the >> Oh, yeah. >> So, to access those parking those
parking spots, you take that little pathway there. >> Mhm. >> And concern always was that street and people going down that street and safety next to the playground. >> There's a stop sign here, but it's not utilized. So, there's a new crosswalk getting put a little further north and then it's going to come over here and then cross over there. This is the area
where people are constantly blowing through that area. >> And we just recently got a S. There was never a stop sign last year. >> That's right. That's that's >> But people still roll through there and then even during pickup, you'll see parents, they'll sneak down there and they'll park there. They'll park in the middle of the crosswalk and their kids
will walk over and and get over there, too. I've gotten a number of photos from the neighbors there. I've reached out to the police department who've been out there a number of times to potentially ticket folks who aren't following the rules. But that whole street, it says no parking on that left side, but during baseball games, one
person does it, one does it, they all do it. >> Any questions on that? So, we're hoping that this project will be wrapped up. We've always been shooting for right around Thanksgiving. Again, it depends on the weather with this foreign play if we can get it in in time. But each week
I'll give you updates and if you want me I can I'll bring a better picture to show where those parking spots are the the accessible parking spots and show that kind of crosswalk area next time. >> You want to keep on going for the um >> update and then
>> 7:43 we're over an hour. Where's my cheat sheet? All right. Here's the birch meadow. Uh, lights at Driscoll Field. I don't know if anyone jumped on and saw that we had three polls.
>> I saw them. >> Oh, >> over at the Driscoll softball field that happened on Monday. I think it was October 13th that day. >> I think it was a noraster. Um, it was windy. It was rainy. >> It was Columbus Day, right? >> Yeah. Nobody was out in the fields
thankfully. Um, and it was about 10:30. Um, one light pole fell. The first one that fell was the one that was closest to the street softball field. That one fell from the bottom. And then there's a like guide wire that connects to the other one. So once that one went down, it pulled the second one down. And then
the third one, um, which was a little stronger, just snapped from the very top. 3/4 of the way that fell down. So was out there on Monday. DPW came out. We got some tape around it to keep folks off of it. There was glass everywhere. And then on Tuesday, DPW was out there
and by 10 o'clock, they had that entire area cleaned up. Uh I went out there and Jenny was out there too. We took photos of everything. Um reached out to the town's insurance um company, Maya, and they went out there to check the damage
that was done, even though I told them it's all cleaned up because I didn't want to leave shattered glass everywhere and light poles on the field. Um so I sent them photos. They got them this morning. The town is covered to a point. I'm not sure how much it's going to cover. So, that'll determine what we do
right now. Having those lights offline, it's definitely hurts. Soccer utilizes those field. Um, youth football will utilize that outfield. The band event this weekend, we were fortunate enough that four of the poles on the backside that weren't damaged or didn't have
anything pull on them. Um, RMLD was able to get those back on. So, they were able to utilize those for that big event this Saturday to practice prior to competing. So, if we can get them replaced, I would love to. Um, but I know lighting of that area also is on birch meadow phase 3,
but I don't want to wait and wait and wait because we're not sure when that will happen. So, if we can get them replaced, we will certainly do that. As far as every other telephone pole that is on park or town property, I want to say park um property, it's getting
inspected by um a certified company. They do a resistorraph test where they take a drill. It goes into the bottom and lets you know if there's any rotting going on or if the poles are in danger of potentially being a hazard. That's getting done um this Thursday. That will
involve all the poles that surround the Cassie ice skating rink. There's one pole over at Morton Baseball Field that doesn't have any lights on it. I think it's just a connection and then all of the other poles that are around um Driscoll softball field. Um we did remove one. I just wanted it down. There
was one that was over the left field fence. It was just leaning very hard over the fence and I couldn't have slept at night if that was not brought down. That was one of the poles. Um I did see a video of it that was it was bouncing when the other ones went down. So I had RMLD come and take that one down. So we
lost a total of four poles in all of their fixtures. So hopefully insurance will help cover the majority of the costs on this. I'll keep you posted on that. What if it what if they don't like worst case scenario? What if they don't replace them? What are you going to
what's the plan? >> Uh it would probably be something we'd have to go to Springtown meeting for some additional money. >> It should have been phase one. >> It should have been phase one, right? >> Big big blunder by the town not doing phase one. Those with flights I I admit
said multiple times. The fact that he didn't is just I can't begin to say what a waste it was. because something like this happens and you're going to have fields that go unused with no lights.
>> So, it's my two cents. >> Were those fields scheduled to be is it impacting any programs right now without those lights? >> So, right now youth soccer um they had to reach into their budget to get more portable lights to go over at Simons right now. So, they have I think they
had a week and a half of soccer left when this happened or two weeks. So, they brought in portable lights and they have them over at Simon. So that's not affecting their program. What's affected them? Um football and then it will affect softball. Varsity doesn't play
many night games if anything, but if there is a day that it's overcast and it's early spring, it's dark a little early. They do put them on. And then reading youth softball utilizes them a lot. And then the adult softball league during the summer utilizes those exclusively.
>> But how about right now? Right now it's soccer. right now soccer and youth football. >> Okay. >> And in the spring, if they're not fixed, it'll impact those programs. >> Yeah. Ready soft will take a very large hit. So, I'm trying to see what insurance can do sooner than later so we
can come up with a with a plan. Uh ARPA funding. I was with Mr. Fudo on Saturday. We had our Cany Lake trip. We had 20 young teens and young adults uh with
different I'd say abilities attend this trip and we had 15 um buddies. A lot of them were from the varsity sports queens that came. We had a bus full of it was 42 total folks go up to Kenny Lake Screenfest and it was a blast. I had a
blast. We went from 3 to 7. The kids had a blast. They had a great time and I want to say 50% of the kids that went it was the first time going there. It was the first time driving a little indie race car and it was the first time ever going in a haunted house. Um >> nice
>> which a lot of them did try to do which I give them kudos because it was pretty scary. >> So that went really well. And um and speaking with John too he's going to plan to come in either December or January to give us an update on all of that opera funding. Um, so we should be
seeing him soon. Um, the adaptive sports day I was not able to go to. I got called in to coach my daughter's softball team because the head coach wasn't there. So I did not make it to Andover, but I spoke with Joe Connelly um last week and asked one. They had a
total of 18 participants. Um, I did ask if there was anyone from Reading. He believed there was one or two. He didn't give me any names. um he was bummed that the numbers were somewhat low, but the folks that were running this event said this is very common and they said this is an absolute great turnout um for the
inaugural time doing this. And Joe was talking me too. He's like if one kid has a blast, it's all worth it. So, um, he said it was a good event and I already spoke with him to get me the contact information of the folks who did the wheelchair basketball, beatball, and
adaptive soccer cuz I want to bring this into Reading um, or the spring or early summer um, next year and utilize whether it's the turf fields or the fieldhouse um, to get this to happen in Reading so we're not always going somewhere else. Uh, two more quick little things and
then I'll pass it over to Ed Woodend. We just brought in a company to do some painting at the playground. There's a student who's got some visual impairments there. Um, and we needed to put some striping on some of the step-up areas and the fall zones so that they can see where they're going when they're on that playground. That was completed
last Sunday, Saturday and Sunday. I think it disrupted the Reading United Soccer Group and all the kids that were down there that wanted to go on the playground. Um, but it was something that we've been trying to get done for a while. So, that has been completed. Um, one thing that's going to be coming up on the agenda, Rich up. Um, I spoke
with Miss Wellman, we met the town's looking to bring in more fees, um, through different departments. And one that came up pretty quick was our field fees. We have not raised our field fees. I don't know the last time we've raised our field fees. I think they've been the
same prices. What we charge right now is $12 per season per athlete for grass fields. So, if your child's playing T-ball with Ready Youth Baseball, you're getting hit with a $12 fee in the spring. If they're doing something in the summer, it's another $12 fee. Um, if
they're on turf, it's a $14 fee. Um, there's a lot of information out there. We're very, very, very low. There's towns that charge upwards of $30 per season per person. I don't think we're going to go that high, but I think something maybe a 20%
increase, which could be $2 or $3 to bump it up just to kind of catch up with the times I think is reasonable. So maybe that 12 goes to 14 or 15, and that 14 goes to potentially 18. I don't want to, you know, hurt any of the youth organizations, but our prices are going up. We're paying DPW a lot more, too.
So, um, we've got to bump up some stuff here. So, that'll be something that we'll >> bring to you guys. It'll be a policy that you guys vote on and you guys approve and give me input on where you think we should land with numbers. So, that'll be on the next um agenda. >> I think that's all I have.
>> Do I have a question? Sure. >> When you say you were repainting um the piece of the the equipment, >> um do you ever take a look at other equipment around town whether or not it also needs to be marked? I mean, that way they're all accessible that one.
>> We can certainly look at that. We have all our playgrounds inspected. So, yeah, maybe we could even if it's one a year. I want to say I mean cost about $3,000 to get it done. It was two days worth of work. But, I mean, yeah, I mean, if we're going to do it, we might as well
>> Yeah. be proactive about it. >> Same than having somebody having to come to us for that. >> I agree with the communication boards before they had I think they had tape that they just put over there. We tried to do that, but that just came off so quick. >> Yeah. So, someone came in, professional painter, straight lines, and they put a
little bit of like a sand grit that goes into this paint that helps it adhere and they sand and scuff the equipment. So, um, yeah, I think making that a standard is a great idea. Similar like the communication boards. Any new playground that we're putting in, communication boards, if we have money and one doesn't have it, let's do that as well.
>> What does a communication board do? >> So, it's for non-verbal non-verbal uh children or, you know, that can't communicate. So it'll be there'll be pictures on there that you know that they have and like they have books. I don't know if someone can speak on what the books are actually called or they may have an
>> books pictures. >> So there's PEX books and there's AAC devices which is an iPad um >> which the child will touch the word and there'll be a voice output. My um my son uses an AAC device. I have a lot of experience with it. My personal opinion
on communication boards standing in a playground is that they're kind of a waste of money. That's just my personal opinion because if a child needs that, they have their own with them and they're carrying it and they're using it and they're trained to use it and there's not typically a child that needs
that that doesn't have their own that then needs to walk up to the big standing sign. I just I don't think that it's necessary, but that's just my personal opinion take on it. >> Interesting. Yeah, I I get it. Yeah, they do have something. >> My son would never put his AAC device
down >> Mhm. to then go use the one that's standing up. So, >> yeah. I mean, I had a different experience with my my kid. Yeah. >> Which is >> not to be disrespectful to younger situation, but like my son used that for a little bit when he was struggled with
language and I always found something like that would have been helpful because he didn't need it all the time. But I'm like, oh, >> when you need it sometimes. Yeah. >> So, I don't think I think it does different needs >> or for better. Is it a is it a book or
is it a battery or is it like an iPad? >> It's an iPad. Yeah. >> Or some So there could be a textbook. Um and it's um it's a plastic book with pages that you can put in that are plastic and they get velcro and then there's different um it's picture
exchange communication system. So then there'll be a strip velcro and they'll take their icons and they'll put it on and they'll hand it to somebody. Um those are pretty outdated. People don't usually use this anymore because there are alternative augmented communication devices which is an iPad typically which is locked on the one program which is
the speech output program and people use that because then there's infinite words there's more words you touch a button and it goes to another page you touch a button and it goes to another page and >> they're not losing we lose our Velcro sentence strip all the time um either because it falls or because it gets chucked somewhere and then you never
find it again. Um, but typically you see the AAC devices. Yeah. And they carry them around with their straps. Yeah. But that's another perspective. That's somebody that doesn't carry it all the time that I didn't think of. >> It might have been a little dated too before they had the iPads going out >> in, you know, every kid's hand. So, I'm
really dating myself a little bit. >> But, um, but there's going to be times when there could be individuals who don't have that >> technology either with them or so. could be. I still think there's they're useful to a point. >> Yeah, >> maybe I can chat with you guys when I
get closer. Like I don't know what's the standard. And like I said, I was going to reach out to get the woman's name who was in Reading. Um that was the one that brought it to my attention. >> I would definitely talk to a speech therapist or someone who has experience with those devices. You might have
>> Yeah. And a lot of these programs too is they have a spot where it's sponsored by someone and she said she'd be willing to, you know, if it's their logo going on. I'd have to see if that was allowed. Um, just saying that this communication board was sponsored by Reading Speech Therapist or something along those lines. >> And how about somebody from the from the
school system? Isn't there somebody in the school system that a speech therapist that might be able to guide you? >> Sure. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. I think the school committee >> I can certainly look into it. Right. >> Yeah. I'm not sure what end has one. I
want to say it's relatively new. I don't know where that >> you have one there for a while. >> A couple years now. Yeah. that brought that in or if that was something through the town. >> I think that was there when it was first built. >> I thought it was put in two or three years ago. They might have updated it.
>> Thought it was new. >> It looked pretty brand new. >> Yeah, they >> on that upper playground, not on the lower playground. The upper playground that has it right outside fence. >> Yeah, that one might be new. I'm not familiar. Oh god, there's
a week. laser focused on my focus. >> All right, I think that's all I have. >> Thank you. >> Ed, you're up. My turn. >> Yeah. Uh, yeah, nothing too crazy. Just jot down some stuff I've been working on since the last time you met. Um,
obviously you haven't heard, tomorrow is our downtown trick-or- treat event. Um, it's always a a popular one. I'm sure the streets will be full of kids in costumes and families and looking forward to that. We have businesses all throughout Main Street, Haven Street,
and kind of off a little bit from there. Uh, all participating. People who are off the route. Um, are out on the cobblestones out front. Um, we have a company called Big Daddy coming who brings a bunch of fun games and stuff for the kids to play. Kind of switch it
up a little bit, add some fun. Um, we have uh the Nashoba Valley Ski and Snowboard program uh that opened up on October 15th. The popular one always that we do uh middle school sold out in uh 13 minutes this year. I think there's
just a a strong crew of a couple of grades that have been moving through that really enjoy the program and it's great. Um and before he goes on, um we have there's a bunch of people on the wait list right now. I think we have 10 to 12 and we do get parents that are
coming take another bus take another bus. Um right now we have we're going to have close to 100 kids going to the show. >> Wow. >> It's 100. We bring another bus and that's 150 kids. That is a lot to manage. We rely on myself, Ed, and we have sick eight parent volunteers and
there are so many moving parts. So if you hear parents, you know, saying why not just take another bus? >> That's a lot of people. It's one of the one of the most stressful programs we have. Obviously, it's a ski program. So, myself and Ed, we are just walking back and forth down on the bottom. All our
shapes are skiing with the kids. So, um it's more of a safety issue if we were to have another entire bus come. I don't like excluding any kids from anything. Um but when it comes to safety, I certainly will. So, right now, we're staying with two buses, an elementary school as well as a middle school bus.
If we have a few more openings, and I think the middle school, I mean the elementary school, I don't think it's filled right now. getting close. >> It's getting close, but if it doesn't fill, then we will open up for some, you know, the younger sixth graders to go on that elementary school bus, maybe with a parent chaperone, um to accommodate as
many kids as we can. I just want to get out there in case anyone hears anything. >> People reach out to us and see what we can do, which is totally fair. Um kind of going on the same lines there for our in town Sunday basketball league.
K first grade has a bunch of kids also who want to play basketball this uh winter which is awesome. We have a weight list going for that as well. Um I'm in the middle of interviewing or starting interviewing later this week staff and stuff. So um that'll kind of
help me manage the weight list and see who how many more kids we can take based on staff and you know people's experiences and whatnot. Um but everything's looking pretty good there. Grades two and three are still strong. grades four and five drop a bit which
we've kind of seen recently with the travel basketball getting more popular in town. Uh social skates will be back. Um it was very popular last year. We definitely had by far the most people sign up. We had 35 last year. So um looking for a strong showing again this
year. Um that'd be awesome. So, been working with the Northshore Skating Academy as long um as well as the high school boys and girls hockey teams just to get a bunch of buddies and the people who are support there. I don't know if you guys have been down there or not. It's a awesome program. I really enjoy
it. It's a good collaboration. Um and then um I met with Rich recently to talk about all the uh awesome things that we do. um kind of get it out to the masses a little more whether it's social
media or other media papers and stuff in town just to kind of get it out there a little bit more of all the things we do. Um kind of more than just outside this room or you know the people who are involved in our programs, you know, just try to get out there more the projects,
the programs, just everything that's really cool that we do. Um, and then as always, just working ahead to for winter and spring programs for next year. Um, that stuff will go up around mid December for the next round of programs and everything else we have to offer.
So, that's what's going on in my world. I don't know if anyone has any questions with any of that. If not, we're ready to get out. >> Any questions? I mean, I think as always, every time I at these meetings with you guys talk
about what you're doing, it's it's amazing all the things you guys do. You know, you you're a small team, but a mighty team, you know, in terms of everything you do. And so, >> um I think >> you don't hear all the fun stuff though. We >> Oh, I know. I know. I know.
>> An email I got. >> Yeah, I know. I know. You you get those as well. The headache. >> I'm writing a book when I retire. >> Yeah. Right. Right. >> See you here, Richard. No, I appreciate that. >> You know, um you got you guys do there's a lot going on, right, with the >> new recal building and um you know,
everything's going on, you know. So, I really appreciate you guys work, everything you guys do. So, >> I appreciate everyone here, too. >> I get different emails. You guys know stuff sometimes before I do. I'll get a random text about, do you know this? Do you know this happened? There's a sign missing here. Different things like that. Like, so you guys are the eyes and
ears, too. And I mean, I really think we have a great committee. I really do think we have a nice diverse committee that has a lot of good people with great intentions and >> I always look forward to the meeting. So that's a good thing. >> It is a good dread which is great. >> Good feedback. Good feedback. >> All right. >> All right.
>> Motion to adjurnn. >> Yeah. >> Well done. >> I >> I sorry. Go ahead, Bob. Hi. >> Hi. >> Hi. >> Hi, >> Nick. You still here?
>> I'm here. All right. >> Awesome. >> Thank you. And we'll meet you at some point, right, Nick? >> Yeah, next time. I promise. >> All right. Awesome. I appreciate you jumping on. >> All right, man. Thanks. >> All right. Thank you all. >> If you have any questions, you know, please reach out to me, you know, what
the committee is about.