Discussion ranged from the beach and boats to the playing fields at Monday night’s meeting of the Parks and Recreation Commission.
At its late August meeting, the commission had discussed the season’s emergency situations, including the overturning of the town motorboat because of an inexperienced driver’s speed and failure to employ proper safety precautions. Because Harbormaster Bob O’Shea had not been in attendance, he and Beach Director Alexandra Luck met between meetings to discuss new boat safety requirements to suggest to the commission. In order to operate the town boat, Luck said, a staff member must be 16, be a lifeguard, be authorized by the beach director, and have a Massachusetts boating certification, which could be obtained through preseason training. Discussion added further recommendations: experience on the water with a senior staff member, further courses, and a session with the harbormaster on general safety, features of the boat, and familiarity with locations of large rocks in the pond.
Following the lengthy discussion of measures to ensure beach staff would be fully trained on boat safety, O’Shea commented that the town boat itself lacks safety features. There are life jackets on board, he said, but because there is no clear place to store a lifeline and ring, those items might not automatically be aboard. He said he would like to see the town purchase a new boat with a flatter bottom and other up-to-date safety features.
On the topic of boats, O’Shea said there are still about eight impounded boats whose owners need to pay a fine to have them released. The last day for residents’ boats to be out of the water and off the racks is Oct. 24.
Annual field maintenance
Darren Magan and Steve Mirachi, representing Bromfield Baseball Boosters and Harvard Youth Baseball and Softball (HYBS) respectively, presented information on field conditions and requested money to help pay for yearly maintenance, which they said would be done in early October because of the unavailability of landscape companies to do this kind of work in the spring. It was no surprise to the commission to hear that the fields, especially the Ryan land, are in worse shape than usual, given the summer drought.
Mirachi said the cost for maintenance on the Hildreth Elementary School field would be the same as last year; the Ryan land would see an increase, both because of the need for more extensive reconditioning and also because HYBS was requesting a conversion of the diamond. Mirachi and Magan explained that the existing 60-foot field on the Ryan land means that 12- to 13-years-olds cannot be competitive in an advanced league, where games are played on a 70-foot field. By investing in adjustable equipment, the Ryan field could be flexible and meet the needs of an older group. Magan pointed out that it is a huge jump for kids to go from a 60-foot field to a 90-foot one when they get to Bromfield and play on the Pond Road field. This expansion at the Ryan land would give them an intermediate step. Ed Frackiewicz, president of Harvard Athletic Association, who attended the meeting as a potential member of the commission to fill out a term until April, pointed out that this conversion, with adjustable plug-ins, would help to keep kids in the baseball program because it would afford a transition for them.
Magan noted a $535 increase over last year for maintenance on the Pond Road field. He requested the total of $4,250 be divided between Parks and Rec and the Bromfield Baseball Boosters. He noted that the poison ivy in the woods and low growth behind the plate and around the outfield are serious problems, and several expensive balls are lost at each game. The commission acknowledged that poison ivy is an issue at all the fields.
Mirachi, quoting the lowest of three bids, said the total for HES and Ryan land fields, including a return by the company for a spring refresher, was $16,000, of which they were asking Parks and Rec to pay 54 percent ($8,640).
The commission voted unanimously to approve $11,000 for Bromfield and HYBS field maintenance and field conversion in fiscal 2017. The commission voted another $2,000 to aerate and overseed the Charlie Waite field for HAA soccer.
