South Hero Recreation Commission 3/18/2021
Notes
In Attendance: Dave Hobbs, Linda Burger, Chuck Hulse, Phil Scott, Thomas Chagnon
Not In Attendance: Carol Tremble, Tree Cononi
Public Attendance: Mike Donaghue
Meeting was called to order at 7:25pm after technical difficulties.
First order of business: Reviewed beach attendant manual. Chuck suggested adjusting line items 6 through 10 and 12 to align with potentially hiring a private security company, Green Mountain Concert Services. There were suggestions to adjust some of the descriptions. Additional line items to revise include; weather, calling out, and work schedule. It was also brought up that the South Hero Road Crew will not paint parking lines. Chuck will confirm with the road crew on this matter. There was discussion on how to get the charcoal grills cleaned at the beach and general cleaning of the beach. Dave and Chuck also suggested contacting Folsom School for potential student community service hours for beach clean up/maintenance. LInda will make revisions to the manual. Once they are complete they will be presented to the Selectboard.
LInda recommended water quality testing at White’s Beach. The cost of the test is $15 and should be done weekly. The test should be done on Monday and overnighted for valid readings. Chuck suggested the Recreation Commision may not be the appropriate Town Department to oversee this responsibility. Linda questioned how to make sure the park attendants are visible to guests. Linda will speak with GMCS if hired to confirm uniforms. Chuck motions to make change to the park attendant manual and the corrections will be presented to the Selectboard on March 22nd, 2021. Dave second. All in favor.
There was review of the GMCS price quote for park attendant pertaining to the summer of 2021. The quote included one park attendant per weekend day from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend. The quote was $6700.00 with an hourly rate ranging from $30-45 an hour. This would be $30 an hour for non holiday weekends and $45 an hour on holiday weekends. Dave maked a motion to move forward with GMCS for a park attendant. Tom seconds motion. All in favor.
South Hero’s Town Clerk Erin Morse requested guidance on parking and permit regulations for the upcoming summer (2021). She is asking who can and cannot park at White’s Beach. She suggested needing a parking sticker and stating where the permit should be placed on the vehicle. Dave suggested eliminating out of town passes for the 2021 season to reduce overcrowding and to make the beach more accessible for South Hero residents. Tom brought up what the original deed states regarding who can access the beach, and what are acceptable uses of the beach. The original deed/lease agreement states, “To have and to hold the premises and will keep all and singular the said premises in a well kept manner and will not allow the use of said lands except by bonafide residents of the town or guests thereof when accompanied by such residents.” Dave made a motion to inform the town clerk that we will be offering resident parking passes for $5. All in favor.
There was discussion on whether to offer non resident passes for White’s Beach for the summer of 2021. After further discussion Chuck made a motion to offer a limited number of non-resident passes. Second by LInda. All in favor, Phil. Dave and Thomas did not approve.
There was discussion on whether day passes for White’s beach should be offered. Tom questioned how to enforce the day pass, and is it a service GMCS offers? Linda suggested trying to offer day passes and a flyer on how to obtain permanent passes at the Town Hall. After further discussion it seems that for the 2021 season it is not feasible to offer day passes.
Parking violation/notice flyers were discussed. Phil read a copy of the proposed parking violation flyer/notice. Suggestions were made to reword flyers including the line: “you are receiving this violation”. Linda will revise the parking warning flyer/notice and will discuss the revisions at a future meeting. Chuck motioned to end the meeting. Phil second to close meeting. Everyone is encouraged to attend the South Hero Selectboard meeting on 3/22/2021.