Mountain Lakes Recreation Commission
Minutes from May 5, 2003
Present:
Niecy Chambers, Denise Brennan, Debbie
Bednar, Mike Prevoznik, Joan Rosenberg, Steve Shaw, Dede Conlan, Ed Kubliski
Guests: Chief Tovo, Mountain Lakes Police Dept.
Sean
Dolan, Summer Rec Supervisor
1. Minutes: Approved
2. Guest presentation:
Chief Tovo spoke about keeping borough parks and beaches safe and answered
questions about safety/emergency procedures for the summer recreation
program. He observed that we might
be moving into a new phase due to non-resident use of our parks. He stated that Birchwood beach has
experienced some unwanted activity in the past and urged lifeguards and beachgoers
to use caution and contact police if a situation arises. He supported having tagcheckers keep daily
counts of users, and reminded us that we need to take into account special events
such as the Championship swim meets in establishing beach capacity limits.
There was also
discussion about the use of the lake by boaters. Boat owners are supposed to register their boats and pay for
use of racks and rings. However, not
all boat owners keep their boats on the lake, bringing their boats to the lake
for daily usage. We need to
address the question of boat registration and storage in light of possible
non-resident use of the lake.
3. Programs
Morning
Summer Recreation
Summer
Recreation Supervisor Sean Dolan was present to discuss details of the
program. He has started
interviewing counselors and about 40 have signed up. He is planning a color-coded system of activity stations
that campers will move around.
Sean also discussed safety concerns with Chief Tovo and commission
members. The need to communicate with
counselors dispersed among different fields and sections of the school was
discussed; possible options included cell phones and bullhorns. Sean mentioned that he will be training
staff in lockdown/emergency procedures.
In an emergency, Sean will use bullhorn to move campers to the grassy areas
(i.e., at Wildwood, either behind or in front of school; at the high school,
either on the softball fields or by the tennis courts). It was suggested that Sean provide Chief
Tovo with a list of summer rec registrants. In some safety situations (i.e., domestic violence), the
Police Dept. may contact Denise or Sean with specific information, depending on
the type of case. Dede offered to
make up two first aid kits for summer rec. Counselors should have separate kits with gloves, whistle,
bandaids.
One of the
police dispatchers recently took a course on certifying babysitters (7th
& 8th graders); Chief Tovo will ask her to share information
with Sean.
A question was
posed about getting cell phones or walkie talkies for the tennis tag checkers
since they are somewhat isolated and working alone. Chief Tovo responded that if we can get old phones with
chargers, they have the ability to access 9-1-1 in case of an emergency.
Denise
prepared a comparison between our morning summer rec and programs in neighboring
towns. With the exception of
Boonton Township, other communities receive town funding. The Mountain Lakes summer rec program
is more reasonably priced than Boonton Township and Montville.
Evening
Summer Recreation/Open Gym
A decision was
made to try a weekly schedule of activities in addition to the traditional open
gym offering. Adult Basketball, which
meets Wednesday nights during the school year, is interested in continuing
through the summer so we agreed that Wednesday evenings a section of the gym would
be designated for basketball for players 18 and older. The past few years MAC
has requested use of half the gym on Tuesday for its youth programs so it was
decided to leave Tuesday as an open gym night. Mondays we will offer volleyball in part of the gym and Thursdays
will be Parent/Child night (for children 12 and under accompanied by a
parent/guardian). It was agreed
that children 12 and older can participate in all programs with the exception
of the basketball night. Denise
will put this schedule in the June bulletin.
Beach
Report
Three new
guard chairs have arrived. Dede
will order perimeter ropes and buoys for Birchwood. Lifeguards have been tested.
4. Special Events
5/26 Memorial
Day Parade - Rec Commission will be marching behind own banner
5/26 Mountain
Lakes Day - 3-on-3 basketball tournament - will be held 2-3:30 p.m. Mike and James will run booth. Participants will sign up as they
arrive $3/team, $1/per player. Denise
will get prizes.
6/7 Ed
Foundation Island Beach Day --- 3 lifeguards needed as per Dede
7/4 We discussed moving the boat decorating
contest suggested for 4th of
July to Labor
Day, possibly having a pot luck dinner at the beach with music at
the
gazebo--details to be fleshed out
Outdoor
concert at Island Beach - Judy is still working on it, nothing confirmed as of
yet
Hub Lakes -- the deadline for booster ads has
been extended
5. Other Business
4/28
Presentation to Council
*Our fee suggestions were accepted
unanimously
*Council agreed that we need to assess
occupancy rates at beaches with counters
*Rec Commission needs to formalize
resolution setting fees on a yearly basis
*Town ordinance should be amended to
read RESIDENTS over 62 can apply for a no fee beach pass
*Council agreed that summer Rec program
need not be open to non-residents
*Since there does not appear to be
excess capacity of boat racks/rings, these should not be offered to
non-residents at this time.
Facilities
Policy
*A copy of the Use of
Facilities Policy will be submitted to the Shared Services Committee
*All non-profit organizations
must be treated equally
*It was suggested that a
deposit be required for use of facilities including beach for parties, etc.
Signage --- Baseball fields/Ice-skating on lakes
Little League
has requested that signs be put up at the Fanny Rd. baseball fields. Commission members thought that the
SpectatorsÕ Creed could be posted at the concession stand; were not in
favor of posting the other sign regarding field usage.
JIFF recommended
posting warning signs at lakes concerning ice-skating. The members agreed that signs should be
posted at six locations:
---Birchwood
---Boulevard
at Cove Lake
---Island
beach
---Midvale
Boat Dock
---Briarcliff
Park
---Wildwood
Dam
6. Adjournment
Next
meeting --- Monday, June 2, 7:30 p.m.