January 20, 2021 | All Minutes
Rosendale Recreation Commission Meeting Minutes January 20, 2021
Present: Commissioners Fre Atlast, Kristina Carr, Dave Hattenbrun, Lisa Jerkowski, Frank Klepeis, Kieran Liggan-Casey, Reta Sorge; Recreation Clerk Dorene Whitaker:Town Board Liason Ernest Klepeis.
The meeting was held via Zooom and was called to order at 7:15 pm.
OLD BUSINESS:
Approval of Old Meeting Minutes: R.Sorge moved to approve the meeting minutes from November 18, 2020. Seconded by K. Liggan-Casey. All in favor.
Fencing: D. Whitaker reported that a deposit for the ballfield third baseline fencing has been made. Early spring installation is anticipated.
Generator: D. Whitaker reported that work on installation of the generator for the pool house is starting this week. It is expected to last 2 weeks. There will be some digging up of lawns and sidewalks, which will be repaired as part of the contract.
Bood Drive: D. Whitaker reported that the Red Cross Blood Drive in December went well, with an excellent job by the cleaning crew.
Pool Repair: D. Whitaker has reached out to a pool contractor who worked on the YMCA Pool in Kingston, and is still awaiting a reply. The pool is frozen and can’t be evaluated until late February or early March.
December business: K. Carr reported that 2 issues arose which the Town Board handled in December, as this commission did not meet that month. First, the proposed winter soccer league under the Pavilion was tabled as the proposal was expanded and more work needed to be done to prepare it. Second, UlsterCorps asked for the Rec Center parking lot to be used to distribute gifts drive-by to their volunteers, in lieu of the annual party traditionally held indoors the Rec Center building on Martin Luther King Day. This was approved by the town board, took place last weekend and went well.
NEW BUSINESS:
Proposal from Rosendale Library for broadband at Rec Center: K, Carr presented a proposal from Katie Scott-Chidress, director of the Rosendale Library. Digital inclusion has become a big issue for libraries. The FCC has a program called E-rate, whose goal is to make broadband available to public entities. Parks can be included as “library annexes”. E-rate will cover 80% of construction/installation costs for upgrades and will also cover 80% of future monthly bills. The Rosendale Library recently increased their capacity significantly. The Library would like to assist the Rec Center, including the buildings and the Pavilion, in accessing the program. The Library has hired a consultant to handle the grant-writing who would be available for this. The Commission discussed this at length. Though there was some concern that there may be a risk of parents tending their children less in the recreation areas, this was outweighed by the benefit of affording internet access to those in our community who need it. A priority is to get permission from the NYS Parks Commission before moving forward. After that, information on current broadband capacity and monthly bills will be needed. K. Carr moved that the Rec Commission agrees in principle with this proposal and authorizes further investigation, pending approval from NYS Parks. K. Liggan-Casey seconded, all in favor. K. Carr will pursue and will work with the Library on this.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:50 pm. The next meeting will be February 17 at 7:15 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Kristina Carr, Chair