South Hero Park and Recreation Commission Meeting minutes
Date: March 11, 2021
Attendees: Members Guests
Name: Dave Hobbs present Jerry Robinson
Linda Burger present David Carter
Chuck Hulse present Emily Alger
Thereza Cononi absent Guy Maguire
Carol Tremble absent
Phil Scott present
Tom Chagnon present
Erin Morse absent
Chairman : Dave Hobbs called the meeting to order at 7:05pm
This commission holds meetings on the 2nd Thursday every other month at 7pm. The trails subcommittee meets every other month on the opposite months to the commission on the 2nd Thursday of these months at 7pm as well.
1st order of business : review of January 2021 meeting minutes; no corrections or additions
Call for motion to approve by Chuck Hulse; 2nd by Linda Burger; all present members vote to approve
2nd order of business: selection /election of commission officers
Dave Hobbs initiated Discussion of introducing a vice chairperson position to support the chairperson and eventually transition to the role of chairperson; following brief discussion of the role a motion by Chuck Hulse and seconded by Tom Chagnon to approve the new position was unanimously approved by the present members of the commission; Dave Hobbs nominated Linda Burger for this position ; seconded by Chuck Hulse and Tom Chagnon; her nomination was unanimously approved by the present members of the commission
Town Park Manager is a new position this year which Carol Tremble has volunteered to fill ; all present unanimously approve Carol for this position. Note that Phil Scott has volunteered to assist Carol in this role which is also unanimously supported by those members present today
Treasurer is Chuck Hulse and he has volunteered to continue in this role, all present members unanimously approved Chuck for the Treasurer position
Secretary is an open position since Linda will be moving to Vice chairperson: Tom Chagnon has volunteered to fill this role for the upcoming yr. Linda Burger nominated Tom for the secretary position and it was seconded by Dave Hobbs; the commission members unanimously support his taking on the role; Linda will send to Tom all information regarding the role
3rd order of business: Treasurer’s report given by Chuck Hulse
4th order of business: Town Park/beach attendant manual and finances
Lengthy discussion regarding shortcomings of the ordinance and the inconsistences this will present for anyone in the position of park attendant and his concerns regarding getting this manual to the select board ASAP made by Jerry Robinson, Chuck Hulse added that this is a first step to help improve utilization of the park appropriately and safely by all; Tom Chagnon offered that potentially having the security company fill the park attendant position will help to lessen these potential problems; there is full support by members of the commission who are present to seek to fill at least one of the park attendant positions through the security company; the members concur that this position may be too challenging for a young adult person to handle alone especially in the first year; and that Carol Tremble as Park manager will assist in determining with the security attendants when it is appropriate to seek the assistance of local law enforcement; it was requested that Phil as a new community member, take a look at the signage and designation of parking spaces for a fresh set of eyes and bring back to the commission his thoughts. Phil agreed to do that.
further discussion is necessary to approve the park attendant manual and determine the funds available in order to have adequate coverage for the weekends and holidays as well as funding for weekly water testing as recommended by the state health dept.. these discussions /decisions will be deferred to a special meeting within the next week in order to have the manual/job description to the select board for approval by March 22nd. Linda and Dave will formulate an agenda and send that to Tom so that proper notification can be completed.
Linda/Dave will ask Erin Morse to add this to the agenda of the select board meeting on March 22nd and if not possible we will have it added to the April 12th agenda
5th order of business; “ Better Places” It was shared by Guy and Emily that the grant was not obtained will table till next year when other grants might become available;
6th order of business discussion about what previous activity programs the commission has supported in the past and what ones will be canceled again this summer d/t COVID-19;Due to lack of time this was only very briefly discussed and was tabled till our next regular meeting
7th order of business Chuck simple wants people to be aware of the impact of email discussions and to avoid any response via “reply all” see copies of meeting laws for VT state government which Chuck included in his email prior to this meeting.