ENFIELD TOWN COUNCIL
MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETING
OCTOBER 3, 2000
A Special Meeting of the Enfield Town Council was held in the Enfield Room of the Enfield Town Hall, 820 Enfield Street, Enfield, Connecticut on Tuesday, October 3, 2000. The meeting was called to order by Chairwoman Strom at 7:07 p.m.
ROLL-CALL - Present were Councilmen Falk, Fiore, Giddings, Hall, Kaupin, Mangini, and Strom. Councilmen Dodd, Egan, McGuire, and Vayda were absent. Also present were Assistant Town Manager, Daniel Vindigni; Deputy Director of Public Works, Geoffrey McAlmond; Recreation Supervisor, Mary Keller.
Present from the Enfield Board of Education were Board Members Theresa Clavette, Joyce Hall, Kenneth Hilinski, Roger Jones, Thomas Osborn, Lynn Scull, Nicholas Sinsigalli, William Thomson, Mary Tibbetts.
Also present were Superintendent of Schools, Dr. John Gallacher; Assistant Superintendent of Schools, Anthony Torre; Curriculum Director, George Perry; Director of School Facilities; Arthur Pongratz; Director of Athletics, Trish Witkin; School Principals, Timothy Neville, JFK; Thomas Duffy, Enfield High; Paul Newton, Fermi High; Sharon Lowery, Barnard School; Richard Askin, Prudence Crandall; Physical Education Teachers, Brie Quartin and Marian Dippel.
INDOOR RECREATION SPACE - NOW AND IN THE FUTURE
Mr. Vindigni stated staff is requesting the development of a policy that can be put in place to be able to use the additional space resulting from school expansion projects. He noted such a policy would contain protocol procedures that could be used for indoor recreational space as it applies to the schools, and this would help reduce the incidents of scheduling conflicts.
Chairwoman Strom stated at this time the main objective has to do with indoor recreational activities. She noted they also need to recognize what the Town and School systems feel are priority issues.
Ms. Keller stated in scheduling their activities, the Recreation Department works individually with each school to book space. She noted they try to put their requests in at the end of the summer for the school year as to what they anticipate their activities are going to be. She noted at this time they are limited to basketball and volleyball. She added wrestling has been an issue regarding space. She pointed out a lot of people are vying for the same amount of space. She noted this includes other civic activities along with the regular school activities. She emphasized there's a lot of need for space.
Ms. Keller stated there are some programs which have been set in one location for a long period of time, and they're not necessarily willing to give up their space to accommodate other people.
She stated after hearing from the schools individually, they set up a master plan as to where everything will go. She noted things can change each month depending on the school's schedule and activities.
Ms. Keller stated the Recreation Department's biggest concern is to be consistent with their programs. She noted at times they just don't have enough space with the amount of activities going on.
Mr. Hilinski stated another thing they have to be concerned about is that they're increasing the library and computer space. He noted they may be scheduling computer classes or extra computer time for people in the evenings and perhaps library time as well. He pointed out they have to be concerned with more than just scheduling recreational activities. He stated there may be more programs they may wish to start collectively.
Councilman Mangini questioned how does the Town differentiate between the privately run sport groups vs the Town sponsored groups. Ms. Keller stated anything that the Town sponsors is a program that they oversee.
Councilman Mangini questioned what comes first in scheduling, i.e., privately run groups or a town run sport. Ms. Keller stated last year was the only year that the Town actually helped a private group find space. She noted they tried to fit everyone into the mix, and they really didn't have a priority system, i.e., the Town vs private.
Councilman Kaupin questioned whether there's a grandfather clause concerning those groups who do not want to give up their space. Mr. McAlmond stated his belief it's more of a personal attachment, i.e., using the same facility for a long period of time.
Councilman Kaupin questioned if they ever turned any Town-sponsored group away because they did not have space. Ms. Keller responded no.
Councilman Kaupin noted they've had difficulty finding space for the wrestling program, and that program had to move to Suffield. He questioned whether there is any other organization that's not town-sponsored that they are unable to find space for. Mr. McAlmond stated they've had problems finding space for a karate group that's being sponsored through Youth Services.
Councilman Kaupin stated the School Building Committee is working on the expansion of school gyms throughout town. He noted a major selling point was that these gyms could be used by the community. He questioned if they've started an inventory of the space which will be available when those gyms are complete and what can go into those locations. Mr. McAlmond stated once the plans become a little more formalized, they can look at this. He added they cannot start new programs because the space is not yet available.
Councilman Kaupin referred to school space and questioned what is the decision process behind what gets used, where and when. Dr. Gallacher stated the Council has a policy before them. He noted they take the position that the school department needs are satisfied first. He pointed out they do the best they can to fill the needs of the Town and then they open it up to the outside, i.e., parochial schools.
Councilman Kaupin questioned if there's a master spreadsheet. Dr. Gallacher stated each school has a master book.
Mr. Duffy pointed out the Adult Education Program uses a lot of space at the high schools.
Councilman Falk questioned what would be the process for adding or subtracting a program, or having a program be town run or privately run. Ms. Keller stated if it's a town run program, the Recreation Department oversees the administration of the program.
Councilman Falk questioned if the old all-purpose rooms can be used for activities once the new gyms are built. Dr. Gallacher pointed out Hale School is planning to convert their all purpose room into library space. He added they would also need to be concerned with security issues for evening use of all-purpose rooms.
Mr. Jones pointed out the Building Committee intentionally removed some of the renovations that were going to be done in the existing all purpose rooms to try to keep them in the present configuration. Mr. Thomson noted the all-purpose rooms are also used by the PTO's, cub scouts and girl scouts.
Councilman Hall questioned the possibility of freeing up JFK's gym space for the wrestling program by rescheduling the mens' basketball league. Ms. Keller stated they would still be faced with the issue of storing the wrestling mats. Councilman Hall questioned whether they could store the mats in the climbing room area. Mr. Neville stated they really don't have the room to store mats in the climbing room. Councilman Hall suggested perhaps they could put on some space outside the back entryway for mat storage.
Ms. Keller stated they tried working out the wrestling problem last year and looked at all the schools to see where they could accommodate the wrestling mats, and there wasn't any place to store these mats. She stated they did put the wrestling program in the activity center, and that program was at the activity center for a couple weeks, but then the wrestling program decided to move to Suffield.
Mr. Neville stated they would have to be able to move the wrestling mats smoothly from their storage area into the gym. He pointed out these mats are very heavy.
Councilman Hall stated her belief children's programs should take priority over men's basketball programs that consist of 50% or greater out-of-town residents. She feels children's program should be accommodated first, whether they're town or private programs.
Ms. Keller stated they always have the possibility of changing the schedule around. She noted last year when they did this, they came across quite a bit of conflict from different user groups that they moved around, and those groups were used to being in their space at their time. She noted there are non-residents using the town's programs because they don't have a permanent non-resident policy in place.
Chairwoman Strom questioned if the Town has contacted parochial schools to use their gyms. Ms. Keller noted last year parochial schools were looking for space for their programs. She noted the parochial schools do charge for the use of parochial gyms. Dr.Gallacher stated public schools do charge a custodial fee to parochial schools, however, they do not charge a rental fee.
Councilman Hall requested input from wrestling coach, Roger Moran. Mr. Moran stated the wrestling program left the activity center for Suffield because the activity center did not have storage space for the wrestling mats. He noted they do not have the time or manpower to move those mats. He pointed out the perfect set up is to have the mats permanently in place.
Councilman Hall questioned whether there's a solution to accommodate a wrestling program. Mr. Duffy noted the Enfield High School recreational space is heavily used from November through March.
Councilman Fiore questioned if the Town pays the school system a custodial fee for the use of gymnasiums. Ms. Keller responded yes and noted they also pay a custodial fee for the pools.
Councilman Fiore questioned what the clean-up charge is for since there's usually no mess left behind. He noted most groups clean up after themselves. He went on to state his belief a subcommittee should be started. He noted in the future they will be bringing on line several new gymnasiums, and he feels they need to have a clearer policy as to how those gyms can be used.
Mr. Duffy referred to the clean up that needs to be done after groups come in and noted in the winter time a lot of sand is brought into the building and access areas need cleaning. He then pointed out the gyms aren't generally used much on Sundays, however, there may be a different fee involved. Mr. Pongratz noted custodial service on Sundays would cost $35 per hour.
Councilman Kaupin questioned if the school department is planning to implement new programs in the additional gym space that will be available in the future. Dr. Gallacher noted the school system does have a sports committee that looks at the programs yearly. He noted they have to balance the girls' and boys' sports.
Councilman Kaupin questioned the possibility of bumping around seasons for playing. Ms. Keller stated that was discussed, however, they try to stay with the sports schedule at the high school. She added it becomes very difficult with some sports wanting to play more than one season. Mr. Thomson pointed out that bumping around seasons may be a problem if they try to schedule competitions with other town teams. Councilman Kaupin noted he was not referring to school sports, but rather recreational leagues.
Chairwoman Strom questioned whether there's a consensus to set up a committee of the two bodies to look into this. Mr. Thomson stated his belief that's a good idea. He suggested also looking at the transition period between now and the construction of the new gymnasiums. Chairwoman Strom agreed. Councilman Kaupin noted they should also take into consideration those areas that may need to be closed down as a result of construction work.
Ms. Clavette stated her belief the committee should have representatives from the recreation department and school administration.
Councilman Hall requested Fermi High School Principal, Paul Newton, look at any possible space for the wrestling program. Mr. Newton stated he will look into this, however, he's not particularly optimistic.
ADJOURNMENT
MOTION #4855 by Councilman Falk, seconded by Councilman Kaupin to adjourn.
Upon a SHOW-OF-HANDS vote being taken, the Chair declared MOTION #4855 adopted 7-0-0, and the meeting stood adjourned at 8:15 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Jeannette Lamontagne
Secretary to the Council
~
By Suzanne F. Olechnicki
Suzanne F. Olechnicki
Town Clerk
Clerk of the Council