Rec Committee Minutes 7-21-2021

Rec Committee Minutes 7-21-2021

RUTLAND TOWN SELECT BOARD

RECREATION COMMITTEE MEETING

WEDNESDAY July 21^st, 2021

The Recreation Committee of the Rutland Town Select Board met at 9:00 AM on Wednesday July 21^st at the Rutland Town Municipal Town Hall. Present was Board Clerk Joe Denardo, Board Member Sharon Russell, Board Member Don Chioffi, Town Rec Director Mike Rowe, Town Road Commissioner Byron Hathaway, and Town Administrative Assistant Bill Sweet. There was a conference call line with a publicly accessible and warned phone number in use.

• The committee discussed a list of project ideas for expanding available recreation options at Northwood Park. There is a grant program available that requires a $25,000 minimum in project expenses and no match.
  1. The ideas included expanding the mountain bike trail system, a pickle ball court, fitness, and exercise stations, and constructing a pavilion building.
  2. Mike Rowe is working on writing the letter of interest, which is due by August 27^th, and the grant application with Mary Beth Poli.
  3. If the initial letter of interest is accepted, the full application gets submitted for consideration. The projects would be slated for construction in 2022.
  4. The bike trail system would cost approximately $20,000.
  5. The committee will recommend moving forward.
  6. The grant allows for up to 1 year for construction.
  7. Most of these projects are in the 5-year plan for the park.
  8. There was a bike trial interconnect component with Killington and Pico that has been discussed in the past that could also benefit from this.
  9. Discussed the possibility of doing these projects even if the grant application is not successful.
  10. Mr. Chioffi feels the ARPA recovery funds would be appropriate to use for these projects.
• Discussed replacing the pool.
  1. It is likely the pool is leaking; water needs to be added several times a week.
  2. The current pool is 40 years old and there are some issues with various parts of it but nothing serious right now.
• The plan is to keep the pool open as long as possible. The projected closing date is August 28^th due to availability of guards.
• Discussed adding cross country skiing appropriate trails.
• Discussed how much the utilization of the park has grown over the years
• Discussed the ball filed light posts at Dewey Field. The lights have not been used for a while, the poles are starting to deteriorate, and a bank of lights do not work as a result of being hit by lightning.
  1. Games are done by 8PM and the lights have not been used for some time.
  2. A plan needs to be developed to dismantle the lights.
  3. This is on the park plan.

The meeting adjourned at 9:50 AM.

Respectfully submitted, Bill Sweet