MOUNTAIN LAKES RECREATION COMMISSION
Minutes for May 20th, 2014
7:30 PM Borough Hall
Present: Commissioners - Wright, Caputo, Sentowski, Peterson, Herrerra; Recreation Director – Lane
Absent: Commissioners - Spoto, Terhune, Shertzer, Thompson; Borough Council Liaison – Borin; Board of Education Liaison – Mitchell
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2014 Beach Tags – A motion was made to request only one proof of residence per family. A family will be defined as any two adults living at the same address and all unmarried children not over 21 years of age. Grandparents living at the same address may be included in a family plan. Grandchildren under 18 years of age living at the address may also be included as family members. Motion was made by Wright and seconded by Peterson. All were in favor.
Non-Resident Students in Recreation Programs – Deb Shertzer has proposed that the following guideline be sent out to all Recreation Programs:
With the recent increase of non-resident students
enrolled in the Mountain Lakes public schools, the Mountain Lakes Recreation
Commission would like to provide recommendations/guidelines regarding inclusion
of these students in youth recreation and club sports programs that
traditionally provide athletic opportunities to Mountain Lakes residents.
The Commission encourages the inclusion of all
district students in ML recreational and youth programs. However, there are several implications
that should be considered by the programs:
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Each program should set their own policy
based on league eligibility rules, current and future enrollment, facilities
availability and volunteer resources.
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Each program should have a written policy
regarding the inclusion or exclusion of non-residents. If programs allow for non-resident
participation, the policy must be non-discriminatory. All non-resident students (tuition,
children of staff members, Lake Drive students) must then be able to
participate in open programs or try out for travel/elite teams.
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The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
requires that municipal recreation programs provide reasonable accommodations
to make programs accessable for individuals with disabilities. If recreation programs are open to all
students attending ML district schools, the programs should be accessible to
any student with disabilities if reasonable accommodations can be made.
Pete Sentowski motioned that the guidelines be accepted as
presented. Pete Herrerra
seconded. All were in favor. Audrey Lane will distribute the guidelines
to all programs associated with Mountain Lakes Recreation.
Haswell Field/Midvale Parking
Plan – Two revisions
to the Haswell Field parking plan were presented. All commissioners preferred Plan ÒDÓ
with an enhanced drop off area.
However, it was agreed that the plans did not give adequate
consideration to pedestrian traffic.
A request will be made to eliminate right side parking and replace with a
defined pedestrian access route.
This may make it possible to increase the number of diagonal spots on
the left but this is not considered critical.
Borough Facility Signs – Commissioners agreed that Sign
Option B looked best. However, it
is felt that it is not necessary to include ÒRecreation CommissionÓ on the
signs and DPW will be asked to remove this from all future signs made in this
style.
Coaching Mastery Workshop – Overall, the commissioners who
attended the workshops were disappointed.
The quality of the presentation and the materials was not considered as
high quality as the PCA and Rutgers Safely programs. An overall discussion of possible
Sportsmanship initiatives and future programs was deferred to the June meeting.
Non-Resident Beach Usage – Residents continue to complain
about beach usage by non-residents, especially at Birchwood. Audrey Lane has discussed the issue with
Bob Tovo and he has agreed to work with the Police Department to increase after
hours and weekend patrols. The
commissioners would like to see signage at the beaches and tennis courts
indicating that the police will be patrolling regularly, possibly including
their phone number. Audrey will
discuss with Bob Tovo.
Capital Projects – The 2014 final capital budget should
be approved in June. Currently the
proposed budget includes a beach facility plan ($40,000), new Midvale Field
Playground equipment ($125,000) and renovations at the Midvale Boat Launch
($15,000). A drainage upgrade on
Upper Halsey Field is no longer included in the proposed budget.
Tennis Court Rules – DPW has suggested some minor
modifications to the wording of the rules.
It was agreed that Nicole Wright and Audrey Lane would manage this
unless any significant modifications are required.
DirectorÕs
Report - Audrey Lane reported that both the Trout Derby
and the Easter Egg Hunt were successful and acknowledged the great work of the
Trout Derby Committee and thanked Kelly Thompson for her time and effort and
recruitment of volunteers for the Egg Hunt.
Empty
Bowls was a good venue to discuss new programs and returning summer camps with
residents.
Boys lacrosse program took advantage of the
background-testing program purchased by the recreation program and all of their
coaches were successfully screened.
Recreation teams have had more access to the
turf this year in large part due to communication with James Smith and the use
of schools. It was noted that it is frustrating to see unused turf at
prime practice or game times. Audrey will work to implement a practice of
asking Recreation teams to keep her posted if they do not plan to use their
allotted time so that this 'released' turf time can be used by other recreation
programs.
Audrey is in the process of finalizing details
for several summer camps including the recreation summer camp, a pony camp at
Midvale, a digital Movie-making camp for middle schoolers, several sports
camps, and a golf camp run in coordination with Mt. Tabor Country Club.
Fire works and insurance forms are currently
being prepared for the Fourth of July celebration in town. A grant request has
been submitted to the ML Town Club for a contribution to the fireworks fund.
Audrey met with Lydia Spoto last week in an
effort to learn more about the Hub Lakes league. She hope to recruit more
participants this summer via a virtual flyer sent out through the schools and
will also post information on the Mountain Lakes website.
Summer
concert bookings are currently being finalized.