Park Commission - Regular Meeting

And I'll give Billy a second to look at the minutes from April 7, and then I need a motion to accept. Can I ask a question question about this if I have to abstain? So can we technically vote?

I think we have to

Yeah. I can go off the table.

On the table. You're right.

You're right. I forgot about that. Alright. So we'll table the we'll table the the minutes of April 7 to the next meeting.

Brings us to the financial report. Donations $26.00 $2.61. $2,602.61 revolving $3,437.35. We run lean.

And super dentist report.

Yeah. Just to keep you updated on day to day what's going on. I got Joe has been handling Big Joe to handle a lot of bone. He's got a lot of water pipe repairs. After the cold winter, he's opening up the pool house, getting the water meters back in. He opened up the concession stand. Concession stands up and running. Had a few problems with a couple of the spigots and and the bubblers, hoping to get the bubbles working for the spring. We had now turned the water on to the pool house and to the cam room out by the pool. So he's got some pipes that actually go above the ceiling, and he's a little vertically challenged.

I'll leave it at that. So it's probably not gonna be not gonna be a quick fix, but we hope to get that up and running, you know, hopefully, within the next two weeks so we can get the floors painted, get it all painted. But he also has worked on a 4,200 Kubota drag machine that Steve Culpa beats the heck out of on an hourly basis. So he had that fixed. And Tom, he's also participating in mowing, box raking, dragging all the fields, includes, you know, the Michaels field.

We also helped out the fields over closer to the Berkman School, the Community Memorial Field, and the West Side Fields. We need those for extra practice spaces. They have a surge in baseball attendance for the youth. So it's good that they've got a lot of baseballs in it. They really need a space, and we're trying to split time at the West Side between Lacrosse lacrosse and baseball.

I'm not expecting to use those fields, but we we refurbish them so that they can practice and and try and get through the spring until we can do something, you know, about lacrosse. He's also continuing aeration, seeding, and fertilizing with some of the fields. They have a second half rate application half rate application of the fertilizer. He's also consolidating the brush piles, and we have logs being compiled for what we hope is gonna be a a New Year celebration. And he's got those cut up, stacked, and tarped so that the wood will dry so that, you know, we can have, you know, a good bonfire takes of this kind of planning, you know, to get that ready.

And some of the stuff is a little bigger than normal, so a little more difficult to move. And he'll probably do some, you know, controlled brush pile burning when we get a permit. Matt, again, he's participating in a little bit of the mowing, and he's got a lot of the weed trimming with with Tom Nichols. And he's marking the field patterns, and he's completing construction of these dugouts that you see on field 2. It's really a first class job that that he did with those dugouts.

I think they gave us an estimate at one point of 17,000 for the two dugouts. And I had a little disagreement, you know, about having a cement pad. I think that when you have cleats on, it's dangerous to be on a cement pad. I think the girls had a good chance of slipping on those. And the argument was, no, that the dust, you know, might cause the girls problems. I said, well, if you're playing a seven inning game, the girls are playing on stone dust. So for seven innings, they're playing on the dust. If they can manage that, what's the difference? Mhmm. So, you know, we had a good compromise there, but, you know, Matt and his father, I gotta, you know, hand it to Rob.

You know, he come out here and physically helped to put that up. So not only did he provide free plans, you know, for the kids for the softball, but he actually come out and helped him cut it. And you can see that when you come out of here, you know, that thing, that's that's ready for, you know, class two hurricane. You know what I mean? So we got some some paint, then we got some some roll roofing that needs to go on it, but they are pretty much complete in terms of, you know, the pressure treated. I think it cost, you know, it was like like, you know, like, $2,300. Mhmm. You know? So, you know, quite a difference in the, you know, 15 or 17,000, whatever it was. And so we left the stone dust.

I thought that was a good compromise. But, again, we we were able to do that, you know, for the girls and for the softball. I'd like to try and get it fenced in now because I remember my old boss, Joe Macy, he said, Francis, never have dugouts. He said, things happen in the dugouts. You know? That's why they removed the two cement ones in the ground. Just bad things. So we wanna have eventually chain link, very expensive. You can see through it, and you can lock them. So this way, you know, no no mischief go on in there because, you know, you see the dugouts at the West Side too, deplorable.

You know? So but, anyway, Matt did a heck of a job on that starting from scratch, and he's gonna help me work. Tomorrow, we're gonna start putting together a swing set as we continue to build the Wood Street playground piece by piece, frugally. Myself, you know, I've been clean completing the fireworks contract, meeting with tourism for the New Year celebration. I've been meeting, obviously, with the town manager a couple times on budget and theoretical planning.

You know, as some of these plans evolve, you know, what what might you guys be able to do or not do, those kinds of things. We've been conducting sports fields opening and closings. So, you know, for this example, you know, this past weekend, you know, we had men's league baseball. We had senior league baseball. We had lacrosse Friday, Friday night, you know, from, you know, about six to six to ten, and we had lacrosse in the morning, like, 10AM to about 2PM.

So, you know, and then we had an get to this later, but remarkable softball tournament. Holy sugar. I mean, softball. You know? So this place was absolutely mobbed bumper to bumper. So, again, you have to plan for the restrooms. You have to have restrooms checked. You have to open them. You have to close them. You have to open the buildings. You know? I try to get to Batis as soon as I get. I don't want, you know, an ebike to come down there, you know, and, you know, do the evil knievel on the 50. You know? So but making sure that that happens, making sure all the scheduling and cancellations happen, that they get to us in time, make sure all the marking is done.

And of course, we're readying the pool. The pool is, you know, close to having finished construction on the fiberglass liner from last year, so rounding up that construction. And, again, we get, you know, donation from the press trustees to add to the finance committee's money so that we can really have a a good liner this year, you know, and and hopefully open on time for the first time in four or five years. Give myself a f minus. You know, just haven't been able to hit the shot at the buzzer over the last couple of years.

All kinds of trouble, you know, down and things old. And, you know, we try and always make sure that, you know, money can go elsewhere and, you know, that come back to bite us. But I think this year, have a great shot at opening that last weekend in June. So assembling the staff and applications have closed, you know, for our help. So now it's just a matter of making sure that, you know, the people who say they can come back will and or won't, and then, you know, going through specific process that we have of choosing the most qualified and mature people for some staff.

So we're gonna work through that. So that's pretty much it. But, you know, kind of a rough idea day to day Mhmm. What we're accomplishing.

So it takes us to old business, leads off with Wood Street.

Wood Street. Tomorrow, as I said, we're gonna hopefully we've been behind. We wanna get that swing set in. I saw a lot of people using the great double slide there. We're gonna stick with the wood, you know, kind of motif with, you know, that that green, that lime green, and then the forest green. And, you know, we talked about that over here at Reed's Corner for a little while. We talked about, you know, you know, doing something like, you know, the the fake timber and, you know, woodsy kind of thing, ladybugs, that kind of thing. So that's kind of what we have in mind. We want to get this swing set in, choose a couple more pieces of equipment. Again, community preservation is paying for that.

They they purchased the slide, and they purchased the swing. So, again, here, we're not using taxpayer money, and we're putting it ourselves. So we'll be doing that. Actually, we went over there to begin. There's a couple other problems. Some of the fence that was put at the brand new fence has blown down. And I guess I'm not gonna say this on camera. There's a guy next door when he was building the place. He buried some stuff. I knew that things would be sinking. I'll leave it at that. And so I think the fence post was kinda sunk. So we had a callback and make sure those up. I'm working with a lot of we have a lot of neighbors. People don't understand how many abutters we have for all the properties we have.

And, you know, it is challenging. Challenging. We We have have so so many many people people and different usages. I get a call, you know, probably two, three times a week with different problems. I have one problem a couple weeks ago with these little athletic kids for no reason at all other than the joy of climbing climbing a a fence, fence, decide deciding to to climb climb over over a fence into someone's backyard. So it it defied any reason that I would have thought yes. So what what you know, and and they were little too. They, you know, they might have been, like, five or six years old, but they're not gonna be next American Ninja Warriors. You dudes were just flying over fence and, you know, causing me headache. I I wouldn't think.

I thought we put the net up, but you don't have any reason to go over the fence. And it's a six foot fence. So, you know, eventually, we'll probably have evolve to getting that stockade fence to stop them completely from, you know, going over the these people's fence. It's crazy. Some of the netting has blown around, got stuck into trees. Some of it has to be supported a little bit more. Again, it's a new new experiment. So we gotta work with that. And also, you know, I chased the flagpole over there. We put up the flagpole, put up the flag. Some guy came in. Hey, Fran, you know, the flag is down. Genie went over fixed and it up. I went over there today. The flag's down again.

So, you know, this thing, you know, is 24 feet up. So, you know, my climbing days, you know, in the Joe Macy Gymnasium are over. So, you know, we called it G and E, and I don't know what the heck happened on the wind, but it it whooped it. So we gotta get over here again tomorrow. I just noticed it today. We really wanna fix the flag as soon as possible, get the gas electric for help us out. They they're great to help us out with that netting. And and I don't know how I I I failed in this, but we didn't have any netting on Wood Street. So we gotta get added netting, you know, on Wood Street so the balls aren't coming out, you know, into the street. So big challenges over there, but, you know, I think we can get through it with the help of the gas and electric.

Westside? Westside, we had to close the playground in Kitty Court over there. It just has become too old old and too unsafe, and it is too difficult to get parts. It's just chasing these distributors down is very difficult. Then you got a order. It takes, you know, four to six or six to eight weeks. And, you know, some of it is different sections. Finding that right section, you have to find the old blue blueprint, get the right numbers. So we're ordering some of those parts. But in the meantime, you know, someone over to Westside had, you know, complained about the condition.

So it's just the best thing for us to do right now is just close that playground in Kitty Corner until we can revamp it. We are gonna again use the community preservation as we revamp that whole facility and again start to add different pieces of equipment just like we did the other ones. So we build it ourselves. You know, we're not gonna pay anybody else to do it. You know, we're gonna do it all ourselves, buy it as cheap as we can, and cheap and playground equipment should never go together. You know, it's like Joe and the Kenyans in the Boston Marathon. You know what I mean? So it just it is so expensive. It's a it's it's an outrageous thing. But, you know, we're gonna try to get try to get that rebuilt and so we had to close it off.

Put the sign up, someone picked the sign, put a lock up there, someone broke the lock. So we gotta check. We we added a second one. That's where we're at right now. And I did run into I did run into one of the sons of BRS, and he did, you know, again, tell me clearly. He said, you know, once we finish the skateboard project over here, we're we're getting over there. They're gonna take care of business. So, you know, I I believe them. I trust them. And, you know, they've been really good to the town of Middleborough.

I'll say that. And then, of course, we've gotta get we're late on getting the bales of hay over on the silt fence for the construction. So we we're gonna reuse the ones over here. Mhmm. If we can lift them and put them over there, it'll save us, I don't think, well, if it's $56 a pop saving a project by moving them over. Use them twice or three times. Use it for the ghost drive, protect the fence for the sledding, and put them over there.

Independence Day twenty six.

Yeah. So still, you know, I don't know how many people are, you know, again, watching this meeting, so technically would be out there. But I wanna wait for it. It's very difficult to announce, you know, such a good thing like, hey. We've got, you know, maybe one of the best fireworks displays in the history of the town covered. While it is so dark Mhmm. In terms of, you know, the town finances. So I'm waiting for the appropriate moment where, you know, I can tell people and again explain to people that none of this would affect an employee and none of this is with taxpayer money. So I think that that is what Yeah.

It's not it's not funding money.

You know, we we did what we're supposed to do, and and it's so difficult right now. It's such a bottleneck. There are no shooters out there, and and towns are screaming for the two fifty and and to keep business, to keep the business of these firework companies. So we are very, very fortunate. We're very fortunate, you know, to to have the help that we have to keep an Independence Day celebration here in Middleborough.

And, again, why do we do it on the third and not the fourth? So we want people to be greedy, saturate themselves with being deaf and shooken. So, you know, we wanna you can come here on the third and come here on the on the fourth, have the families enjoy the carnival in the day and go out to pull up all of these other places. So it's worked for everybody to double up the fires, but we we will have the the best display we've ever had in my opinion. And, you know, I'm I'm waiting for the appropriate time to announce that.

Only one we've only got one phone call, usually average of, you know, between five and seven a year where people, you know, they play in their cookouts, you know, and and their celebrations. So we'll announce it for however many people, you know, at the town meeting and you announce it to the town. Again, try I have to also explain to the town, hey, look, I have five dogs. I live a half mile. There's not many people that have the same situation. I do a half mile from the playground. This is the one time where we will shoot fireworks. We'll do it professionally. With the safety of the fire, the EMTs, the police, it'll be twenty minutes, and you get the hell out of there. But for that twenty minutes, you turn up the stereo, you turn up the television, you get the treats for the dogs, and that's it.

And then no one around town should be coming back from New Hampshire with, you know, tanks and bottle rockets, you know, you know, keeping everybody up at night. This is this is the right way to do it. So I know those people are gonna come and get me too. You know what mean? Oh, you know, you have a big display. You're gonna make the dogs. No one's worse than me. You know? So I got the five dogs right over the half mile from the place. There's twenty minutes and, you know, hopefully people, you know, will come out.

So that's that's it. And I am this close. The one problem we have to the debt to get that contract, as I said to the wonderful lady who who made this transaction transaction happen having this, is they they ask ask for for a a bigger percentage, and I just don't have the money right now, so I'm working on it. They ask for 50%. Mhmm.

And normally, when we do this, that's not the percentage that we work with, so I didn't see that coming. So I'm just working on trying to close that little gap, but we're just close to having that contract in blood so that, you know, we can guarantee that we have it. I'm telling you, we are very fortunate and worked hard to make this happen, you know, back in February and March. We we were on this. So that, you know, the town you know, we we get the farmers we used to have, but I love, you know, you come into town and this place is mopped and get great fireworks display.

Summer program? Summer program, again, the all of the applications have closed. So, you know, I always like to say, you know, the kids, they always like to take you to the altar and then leave you. Oh, you know, I'll be back. I'll be back. And then they get a that better job comes in and they're gone. So then we have another opening and I try and get another kid in. And I do the same, you know, I do the same criteria for my hiring. We try and hire the oldest for the most mature, get the most distance between the kids and the youth, try to keep a a five or a six to one ratio of kids to kids to kids, so to speak, high school, you know, young adults to the kids. We have an extra supervisor.

We have great trips this year. It'd be the best program and certainly the most affordable. There's no doubt about that. We're the most affordable, and our quality is better. I I believe our quality here. Great trips, keeping it fresh, you know, a lot of a lot of new change. These kids today, not so competitive, a lot of activity oriented, activity based. We're not dinosaurs. You know, we're gonna change, and we have, You know? So now it's gonna be take those applications, come up with the best people, and see how many openings we openings we have and, you know, try and plug them in.

So, you know, I think all total, I think we had, you know, something like I don't It was like a with the Shannon $24,000 cut to the budget. So, you know, I've gotta do some outrageous things, but, you know, we should be able to, again, provide employment for the kids and, you know, keep the summer program going since '57. You know? So

That takes us to new business and that opens with softball tournaments and improvements.

Yeah. Again, we talked about, you know, the the dugouts and awnings out here, but you really had to see it to believe it. I mean, they just got softball here Friday, Saturday, Sunday, you know, started, you know, I think Friday Friday at five. And, you know, concessions going. This place is just mob wall to wall cars and softball.

They they can drive you crazy, but it is great to see. I mean, you know, it it would be something to get it grown and, know, just to see it. But, you know, I I don't think there was any place that had, you know, more people coming in and out in the town of Middleborough. Over the past weekend, they've got a tournament two more tournaments coming up, including the lacrosse, including the baseball, senior league, youth league, men's league. So, you know, we've got a lot going on, and it's great using the facility like we should. So so we get great softball and more tournaments to come this month.

It's the New Year's Eve celebration.

Yeah. I knew when the budget darkness was coming. Doesn't doesn't take, you know, much to have seen this coming over the past few years. It just it's a matter when, you know, the balloon or the bubble, you know, is going to burst, and it did. And so, you know, we were starting as early as last year to try and get fireworks into the town, and we did that. And and, you know, now we've got this great celebration on New Year's. How how are you gonna do that? Because they're cutting the police, they're cutting the fire, you know, cutting up to everybody. So how how are you gonna provide the the people losing, people losing their jobs? It's it's awful.

It's hard. People losing their income and it's a dark situation. But I saw it coming and, you know, I said, well, we gotta try and at least keep services. And so we're reaching out to sponsors and I also reached out to tourism. We're working with tourism now, and they're gonna come up with their part of this event and and and give us the support that we need.

You know you know, we just gotta be great. No. We, you know, we gotta be business people and, you know, we certainly wanna work with tourism if we can provide a fireworks free fireworks display and an event for the families. And that's numero uno. So, you know, I I don't mind. I have to hang out. We got talk questions Montepard into leading the parade. You know what mean? I call him questions. Do you ever see him? He asked all of oh, my gosh. He asked questions. So but he would be great. He just made the order for the kids, you know, to lead that parade. That was actually our first consideration.

So working with them on keeping a first night celebration. And right now, you know, we've got a lot of logs, some of that we got from Pratt Farm. We're gonna get a couple more that that works. Bring them over to their store and keep them dry so we can have a bigger, better bonfire. And, again, a lot of people are losing. Don't want, you know, everybody to lose in services. So we hope we keep keep the the New Year celebration. We over we over purchased for that for the noise maker concession. We so we I mean, we're already we have enough to just do it again. Oh, well, I'll pass that along, you know, when I meet again Yeah. The next step.

Yeah. So, like, however we wanna do it. But we've

you know, I

got a garage full of noise makers from last

year. Yeah. So we're you know, I'll meet with Glen and Ley. They wanna do some stuff inside at the MEC. I gotta, you know, try to work. They wanna do some inside stuff. Yeah. You know, try to make it so that you can come early for an hour, maybe indoors, and then go outdoors. Again, I'm not gonna this is gonna be their baby, and they're gonna help us out with, you know, handling some of the safety costs. And that's that's the challenge. You know? We're we're gonna handle, you know, the gunpowder. Powder. They're gonna handle, you know, the red and the blue, so to speak. Mhmm. So that's what they're looking to do. And anything that they can come up with, I'm I'm in. So we're gonna have to work through that.

So that's the canoe race and the duck race audit?

Yep. So we had 23 boats getting $460. We sold 275 ducks. That's $1,375 total. $225 in prizes. So we had $1,150 net, you know, on the ducks. 460 at at you know, we've got, I think, the pizza bill and we've got the police bill. Mhmm. You know? So we probably will, I think, after those two bills I don't recall what they were in the let's say the police were in the sevens and, you know, the pizza was, you know, maybe $200.

Mhmm. You know, so we'll probably make, you know, $7,800 for one day. And, again, no one gets paid. Yep. You know, we do that, you know, all for nothing. And a great day.

23 boat 23 boats is a pretty good turnout.

It it was. It was a lot of single boats too, you know, lot of the the kayakers and the water was great. It was super high, so we had great times. In fact, I just haven't had a moment to look back. This father son team, you know, this kid, it was like someone made this kid from AI to paddle. And, you know, they he does he stuck them in the boat. This kid might have eight or nine years old like a cyborg, and I think they got done in, like, thirty nine minutes. Better than us? A little bit. Little bit. Little little bit. So it was it was a super day. A lot of fun. And like I said, we'll, you know, continue that tradition.

That's a great event. Anybody have anything unanticipated? Anything we wanna anything in addition? Just need a motion to adjourn.

I'll make a motion to adjourn.

Second. All in favor. Aye. Aye.