July 5, 2021 Regular Meeting

STILLWATER TOWNSHIP

RECREATION COMMISSION

07/05/2021

The regular meeting of the Stillwater Township Recreation Commission was held on July 7, 2021 at 7:05 pm at Veterans Memorial Park. The meeting was called to order by Commission Chairman Dawn Delaney with the Open Public Meetings Statement and the flag salute.

ROLL CALL

Members Present: Mrs. Tosti, Ms. Hess, Mrs. Stark, Mr. Sylvester, Mrs. Delaney

Alternates Present: Mrs. Gardner, Mrs. McCabe-Richardson

Members Absent/Excused: Mr. Reilly, Mrs. Beshada

Public Attendees: Robert Molinet

Liaison Mr. Scott

Mrs. Tosti contacted Mayor Chammings who logged into Zoom no public attended. Zoom Option was not used at this meeting.

MINUTES

Motion by Mrs. Stark, second by Mrs. Tosti that the minutes of the June 7, 2021 meeting be approved. Motion carried (Mrs. Gardner Voted in place of Mrs. Beshada, Mrs. Richardson voted in place of Mr. Reilly)

BILLS

The following bills were presented – Septicare. – May. – $265.00; Wildflower $185.00, All Industries safety prod inc. $22.00 (field flags) Motion by Mrs. Gardner second by Mrs. Stark with Funds available. Motion carried. (Mrs. Gardner Voted in place of Mrs. Beshada, Mrs. Richardson voted in place of Mr. Reilly)

CORRESPONDENCE

Thank you card from LACE along with donation of $110 for use of the Community Center. Mrs. Hotalen donated her $5.00 garage sale map fee to the recreation as she is unable to participate. Mrs. Gardner gave Mrs. Tosti thank you cards to send them for their donations. NJ Devils reached out via email to see if there is interest in scheduling outings for NJ Devils games, Disney on Ice or Monster Jam shows. Mrs. Delaney will follow up and report back at the next meeting what options and discounts are available. We will discuss then if the Recreation Commission would like to participate.

OPEN PUBLIC SESSION – Agenda Items Only – 7:15 pm – 7:16 pm None

SUB COMMITTEES

1. Clean Up Day 2022- None at this time

2. Miss Stillwater/Stillwater Day – Ashley Geydoshek Mrs. Delaney will get her a list of requirements and possible Events she may be asked to attend. Mrs. Delaney thanked Ms. Hess for her hard work behind the scenes with the paperwork and details.

Mrs. Delaney also thanked Mr. Sylvester for his great work with the 17^th Annual Memorial Day Tribute. Mr. Sylvester stated they got students involved with an Essay contest. Winners were Aubrey Scott and Gregory Roycroft.

3. Garage Sale Weekend 7/18&19 – Ms. Hess, Mrs. Delaney, Mrs. Beshada – Applications were given to Ms. Hess to start Map layout. Any more to come in need to be sent immediately to Ms. Hess. Mrs. Gardner stated Kathy Marshall of Swartswood Lake asked if the $5.00 Fee could be waived. They will be setup at the Community Center and will be giving out Hot dogs and chips. Meet and Greet type setting. Mrs. Tosti made a motion to waive the fee. Mrs. Stark second. Motion carried. (Mrs. Gardner Voted in place of Mrs. Beshada, Mrs. Richardson voted in place of Mr. Reilly)

4. Summer Camp – Mrs. Tosti stated our CFO will be working on funding from an Environmental Educational Grant and One (1) event/activity will take place each week of summer camp on the Thursday of that week. Rizzo’s Reptiles and Science, Magic and Circus Skills, children would get backpacks and Counselors will get T-shirts. Once Garage Sale Weekend is over Mrs. Delaney will work on the Banner for Camp for the Facebook Page and Posters to put up. Mrs. Gardner will check with Mrs. Knott about Camp Counselors getting Background checks. It is confirmed that Counselors will need background checks. They will be reimbursed for charges. Currently donations to the Recreation Commission are being put in the Recreation Activity Club Fund. Balance is $915.00

5. County/State Fair (Township Project for 2021) – Mrs. Stark received the paperwork to complete to do the Booth for Stillwater. Mrs. Stark will meet with Mrs. Knott to go over paperwork. Theme idea: Close/Unique Neighborhood. Collect photos from Community Events that occurred during the pandemic. (Summer Camp, Tree Lighting, Clean Up Day, Stillwater Parks and Lakes, Light up Main Street, Fall Festival, Deborah Drumm has been contacted to get information about the Fall Festival and to retrieve photos from throughout the pandemic for the Fair). Mrs. Delaney made a motion to donate 2 Stillwater Twp Blankets as giveaways. Mrs. Gardner second. Motion Carried. (Mrs. Gardner Voted in place of Mrs. Beshada, Mrs. Richardson voted in place of Mr. Reilly)

6. Decorating Contests – Mr. Reilly: nothing at this time

7. Tree Lighting – Recreation Board: nothing at this time

8. Field Use / Scheduling- Mrs. Gardner/Mr. Sylvester: Summer application submitted by Kittatinny HS Development League (c/o Jack Choma) an updated Scheduling Document will be created and shared for Summer/Fall use with those that have been approved and with the League Coordinators, Recreation Commission and Mrs. Knott. Due to the timeframe the HS League had when paperwork was submitted a temporary vote was done via email to get them started. Mrs. Gardner made a motion to add another chairperson to the Field Use/Scheduling so if something came in last minute it could be approved in between meetings. Lou second for discussion. Mr. Sylvester explained the reasoning. Ms. Hess did not agree as in the past that has been done and it got out of control. Mr. Scott suggested scheduling 2^nd and 3^rd Mondays of the month as Emergency Workshop dates to hold meetings as needed. Mrs. Gardner and Mr. Sylvester retracted the motion and second. Mr. Sylvester made a motion to make the 2^nd and 3^rd Mondays Emergency workshop days as needed. Ms. Hess second. Motion carried. (Mrs. Gardner Voted in place of Mrs. Beshada, Mrs. Richardson voted in place of Mr. Reilly)

9. Field Maintenance – Mrs. Delaney/Mr. Scott: Mrs. Delaney and Mr. Scott shared information with Farmside Landscaping performing Turf Management on all fields Thursday July 8, 2021. DPW cleaned up and turned the clay on the softball field at Veterans. New Flags were purchased and distributed to all fields for use. Mr. Sylvester asked for a copy of the letter sent to Twp Committee regarding Turf Management. Mrs. Gardner will send to Rec. Commission Board.

OLD BUSINESS

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1. Field & Pavilion Use Applications – Approvals, Updates for 2022: KMFL sent letter of request to Township Committee for Lighting ordinance for field use special request for September 1- November 30 until 8:30pm Monday -Friday. Resolution was made and waiting approval at July 20 meeting. HS Development League has been doing a great job with the Stillwater Park Field maintenance.
2. Equipment Wish List Items – Pitching Cage Net – Mr. Sylvester will look into getting an estimate. Mr. Ragazzo will supply Mr. Sylvester with a list of supplies and equipment for purchase consideration from the catalog given to Mr. Ragazzo from Mr. Sylvester. Mrs. Gardner got new flags and placed at all fields. Mrs. Gardner requested to have Recreation owned equipment at each field so it is available for use to all leagues. Mrs. Tosti will be getting estimates on spot/ flood lights with infrared cameras and will report on or before next meeting. Ms. Hess and Mr. Sylvester stated more picnic tables and trash receptacles are needed at Veterans Park. Budget discussion was held for equipment. Ms. Hess made a motion for 2 rectangle tables, 1 square and 4 trash receptacles at Veterans Field Pavilion. Mrs. Delaney second with Funds permitting. Motion carried. (Mrs. Gardner Voted in place of Mrs. Beshada, Mrs. Richardson voted in place of Mr. Reilly)
3. Field Maintenance- Ash Tree Removal- DPW is working on Removal and Cleanup. Currently stated 3 Ash trees have been removed. The remaining are structurally sound as the ones they removed were also rich in foliage and solid.
4. Turf Management 2021 – Township Committee and Josh Raff reached out to Recreation Commission and have a contract with Farmside Landscape to perform the applications on the fields. First application will take place Thursday July 8, 2021. Red flags will be out to show fields are closed that day. Ms. Hess stated adding Turf Management dates to Field Use forms makes the Teams/Coordinators aware of possible field closings for applications.
5. Pickle Ball/Tennis Court – Approved and Scheduling in process- Mrs. Delaney- Requisition is out to Mr. Pierson and he received the PO for lining the court at Swartswood, currently waiting on Mr. Pierson to set date.
6. Community Center – Updates if any- Mrs. Gardner stated Mrs. Knott put a Calendar for use on the website. Also, at this time the Community Center will be for non-profit use until ready to open for events for public use. Calendar can be found on stillwatertownshipnj.com /government tab /firehouse & community center scroll down page and calendar is at the bottom.

Discussion of all relaying how difficult it is to find applications, forms and zoom links for Recreation and Community Center on the website

1. Parking Lot Projects – For future discussion- Mr. Sylvester asked for Township level surplus being used to pave parking lots. Mr. Sylvester asked for support from the commission with pushing for the Township Committee to perform paving. Estimates from Josh were discussed again knowing a price increase in materials is possible. Mrs. Delaney suggested to wait to hear on Grant.

Mr. Sylvester made a point of how we are not showing pride in our fields like surrounding towns. There are weeds growing and not being maintained. The railing on the Bridge at Veterans is rotting. Signs are in need of maintenance/painting. Structures look run down. Mrs. Delaney commented if original plan included paving to resubmit it to the Township Committee to move forward with funding already allotted for project.

NEW BUSINESS

1. Grant – Update- Mrs. Beshada worked with Mrs. Knott on applying for a Recreation Grant and it has been completed, submitted and we should hear back by the end of June.
2. Crosswalk at Community Center- Update- County Engineers have approved request and are hoping to have in by August for Summer Camp, but no guarantees.
3. Fireworks for Fall Festival 10/9/2021– Garden State Update-Ms. Hess: Ms. Hess was absent and Mr. Sylvester recommended not to do Fireworks at Fall Festival. Mr. Reilly requested to get information about whether or not a deposit is on hold for Fireworks. Price did increase for fireworks to $5,290.00. Ms. Hess stated no deposit should have been made, but Garden State Fireworks is stating they do have a deposit of $1,200.00 on file. Will check again with CFO.
4. Senior Activity Ideal- Mrs. Richardson/Mrs. Tosti/Mr. Sylvester – Events to take place every or every other month. Bingo, functions, reading, crochet. Mrs. Richardson would like to start with an ice cream meet and greet to gather seniors an get their ideas on what they would like to do. Aug 26 is the first date in mind back up date Sept. 23. Ask for help relaying information and involvement with local businesses. Mrs. Tosti stated the last couple of years the children have written and sent cards to seniors. They would like to do game nights, name that tune, chair dancing, teach technology and hold a thanksgiving dinner. Mrs. Stark suggested contacting the Marshall Sisters for artist events. Will discuss again next meeting.

OPEN PUBLIC SESSION 8:35 pm- 8:42 pm: Robert Molinet representing the Stillwater Cub Scouts ages 8-11 / 1-4 grades. Twp youth scouts have gone to other towns/twps. Mr. Molinet would like to bring it back to Stillwater. The cub scouts need community service to perform and would like help/direction from the Recreation Commission as to what help is needed at the parks. They have cleaned up roads with garbage debris. After discussing some options, Mr. Molinet requested a Wish List for Community Service Options. (some things: Paint the sheds, signs, senior nights, making bird and bat houses with kits to assemble) Cub Scout meetings are held the 1^st and 3^rd Friday of each month at the Community Center. Mrs. Gardner has Mr. Molinet’s contact information and will get him a wish list for the scouts. Mr. Molinet also recommended careful use of verbiage when notifying public of turf management.

COMMITTEE MEMBER COMMENTS none

LIAISON REPORT

Mr. Scott reported Mrs. Gardner has been employed by the township as the Receptionist and is glad to have her in the Town Hall. Town Hall is now open to the public. Welcome to our new Township Committee Member Paul Blarta. Turf Management will take place Thursday July 8, 2021 Fields WILL be Closed.

Mr. Scott asked how many keys are out for the gates/sheds. Mrs. Delaney stated Mr. Manser turned his in when he left Commission and to her knowledge Carrie Weeks has a key. Mrs. Gardner stated All keys will be collected and all locks will be changed and DO NOT DUPLICATE marked keys will be made and signed out and signed back in each season. Sign out sheet is at Town Hall and starting next spring this will be how we will keep better track.

EXECUTIVE SESSION – none

ADJOURNMENT

There being no further business, motion by Mrs. Gardner, second by Mrs. Tosti to adjourn at 8:47 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Alicia Gardner

Secretary