WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP
                                                         RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES
                                                                                   MAY 2, 2006

Adequate notice of this meeting, in accordance with the Open Public Meeting Act, has been given by posting one copy of the Notice of Meeting in the Washington Township Administrative office, by making copies to the “Express Times” and “Star Gazette,” and to the municipal clerk in Washington Township.

ATTENDEES

F. Loughlin, R. Berrie, D. Schott, M. Kries, J. DeFranza, S. Backer, W. Godfrey.   WTRC Administrator, N. Godfrey was also present. Guest: R. Miller, Twp. Engineer, P deBoer, DPW Manager

The Regular meeting of the Recreation Commission was called to order by Chairman F. Loughlin at 7:30 p.m.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES
A motion was made by D. Schott, seconded by J. De Franza to approve the minutes of the Regular meeting of April 4, 2006, as written.  All in favor.

MEADOW BREEZE PARK

Tennis Court Resurfacing Project - R. Miller, Twp. Engineer came to the meeting to discuss the tennis court resurfacing project. He had a set of bid specs that he had prepared for the WTRC to review. He informed the Commission that while he was doing further inspections at the site, he felt that it was necessary to add a few more things to the bid spec, which would need to be done by the contractor. B. Miller explained what the extra work would be that was necessary to properly repair the existing cracks, which he noticed had expanded more just since last month.  The second issue was to get the water out from underneath the courts by removing the curbs to help with the drainage.

F. Loughlin asked P. deBoer, DPW Manager, if he was clear on what was going to be done and what parts of this project  his department would be responsible for.  P. deBoer said yes, but he wasn’t very clear about the curbing/drainage.  He thought that DPW was going to take down the fence and do the grading & seeding afterwards.  He wasn’t sure about the curbing. He will discuss this with R. Miller during the week. F. Loughlin asked would the Commission be responsible for buying, i.e., nets, poles etc.,  Miller said the Commission would not have to pay for anything.  The Contractor would be responsible for supplying the necessary accessories that this is all part of the total bid package. 

The invitation to bid was in the paper last Thursday.  The Sealed Bid must be received at the Administration Building, no later that 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, May 11, 2006 at which time the bids will be opened and read to the public by R. Miller and witnessed by N. Godfrey. R. Miller will review the bids and as long as the bid containing the lowest bid is in order, he will make his recommendation to the Township Committee at their May 16, 2006 meeting., if they agree then the bid can be awarded that night.

Horseshoe Court - Repair Existing Lighting - F. Loughlin asked P. deBoer if he had any information for the Commission.  P. deBoer said that he had contacted a local electrician  for a ball park figure on what the electrical part of this job would run, just so he could get an idea. He has gotten two (2) used poles from Doug Wasser but he would like to get at least two (2) more. S. Backer said that he can get six (6) more for Pete. Pete told S. Backer just where they could be dropped off at and to let N. Godfrey know when this is done and she can get in touch with him. There was a brief discussion on whether we should just get new lights instead of lowering the existing ones. P. de Boer said that he thought that new lights, used poles, and the electrical work would probably run about $4000 - $5000.  R. Miller stated that we are very close to getting D.E.P. approval on the N.O.V. so we may want to wait a little while because if this approval comes through then we would be able to run underground wires instead of overhead wires.  A motion was made by J. DeFranza to approve P. deBoer to go out and secure three bids each for overhead wiring and one for  underground wiring so we can  proceed with this project.  D. Schott seconded.  All in favor.

D. Schott asked P. deBoer if something could be done with the player benches at the Brass Castle School Field, she was
there tonight and said they are old wooden ones that are all splintered. de Boer said that the Township is not responsible for them if they belong to the school.  D. Schott was going to try to contact someone at the school to see what could be done.  It was also suggested that if she didn’t have any luck with that then maybe she could contact the Boy Scouts or a similar organization to see if they could do it as a project. D. Schott said that she would see what she could do.

P deBoer told the Commission that at the last Township Committee meeting he had asked the Committee for permission to purchase a Water Canon to be use at the park in the amount of $12,000 and asked if the monies could be taken from the Park Bond. The Township Committee approved his request and told him he could take the monies from the Park Bond.  P. deBoer told the Commission that the reason why he felt the DPW needed this Water Cannon was that the lesson they learned last year with the grub problem was that they were not able to get enough water on the fields  to control the grub problem. Also, during dry conditions water is needed in order to keep the fields in playable condition. Keeping all of the fields watered has to be one of the utmost priorities.  After some more discussion on this purchase, it was then decided that deBoer certainly knows the job he has got to do and he has a tremendous amount of area to cover so the Commission would back him on this purchase from monies taken from the Park Bond.

The last item that P. deBoer had for the Commission was about the amount of sheds for equipment being placed all over the park.  The Commission may want to investigate the possibilities of erecting a Morton Building at the location of the DPW shed, located on the Kayharts Lane/New Park side of the park.  This Morton Bldg. could actually be used for storage and since the septic fields are already in place as well as the electrical, then perhaps in a year or two consider putting in restrooms.  The Commission ask P. deBoer to get some more information on this and bring it back to the Commission at a later date.

Since both R. Miller and P deBoer were still at the meeting agenda was taken out of order in order to move on to the Active Area review.

ACTIVE AREAS

Basketball Poles Backboard Replacement (Old Courts) - P. deBoer reported that at the Township Committee meeting the Township Committee directed him to use the old poles, cutting them off to the desired height, put them back into the existing holes  for this year, until we see how much they will be actually used this year and to also use the existing rims. S. Backer, who was at the Township Committee, said the Township Committee made it very clear that “No Digging What
So Ever”at that location until the D.E.P. situation is cleared up.

Installation of Electrical Outlet (New Courts) - F. Loughlin spoke to P. deBoer about this and deBoer’s concern was if there was electric running to the courts. S. Backer said that at the Township Committee meeting, the Township Committee had no problem with having M. Fisher or anyone else, as long as they were an licensed electrician, donating their time to put a secured electrical outlet in at the New Courts. Whoever does this must be responsible for filing for all the necessary permits required by the Township and the State.

P. deBoer asked about the “Old Playground Equipment” and if it still had to be removed by the end of the year, and what we had planned to put in its place. He was told that, yes, it had to be taken down by the end of December and we are planning to replace it and have it in place by early Spring of next year. R. Miller said that we should have someone who can be certified as an playground equipment inspector to inspect all park/playground equipment.  P. deBoer said that he would send one of the DPW workers to school to become certified. At the present time we do it through the insurance company.

OLD BUSINESS

Most of the items have been covered under Meadow Breeze Park and Active Areas.
 
Purchase of Field Hockey Goals - They are being ordered this month and will be paid for out of Recreation Miscellaneous Funds.

D2 Field - Dugout Roof - S. Backer reported that he was suppose to receive a quote today, but he didn’t receive it yet. Roughly the roofing material to match the other one would be $2.50/sq. ft. we needed 32 sq. ft. to do the two dugouts which comes to about $800. When you add on the cost for the drip edge, side channel, and a gable channel, tar paper, ply wood, nails, etc.. it should come out to about $1500 total to do both dugouts.  The work itself will be done by volunteers.   After a discussion it was decided that S. Backer will get the quote to N. Godfrey so she can have a Purchase Order prepared.  The monies will come out of our Use Fees.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

R. Berrie handed out the May 2006 Recreation Commission Budget.  We have a total $8,921.35 in our budget which includes the WTRC Administrator’s salary. We’ve collected $6,752.39 in use fees to date.

OTHER ACTIVE AREA

J. DeFranza said that with regards to the Panther Football League’s desire to build an announcer’s booth on the sideline of the football field - he met with Mayor Dempski to discuss their plans.  The Mayor recommended that they request to be put on next Township Committee Meeting (May 16) Agenda and plan on having a representative of the Panther’s bring to the meeting the completed plans to show the Committee.

PASSIVE AREA

D. Flint had provided N. Godfrey a report regarding the passive areas which she read to the Commission.  The trails at Roaring Rock Park are nearly completed and asked that the Commission purchase a sign to be put up at the north end (cost approximately $200.).  There will be approximately 75 more trees being planted along the Riparian Buffer area on May 8th and May 10th with the help of the Dept. Of Corrections and they are storing the deer protectors in the field house garage.

Having no further business to discuss a motion was made by D. Schott, seconded by M. Kries to adjourn the meeting at 9:00 p.m.   All in favor.

Respectfully submitted,

Nancy Godfrey
WTRC Administrator

cc:  P. DeBoer - DPW Manager
       R. Miller - Twp. Engineer
       WTYA
       Mayor & Township Committee