Recreation Commission

Meeting Minutes – October 3, 2022

Call to order

Mrs. Delaney called to order the regular meeting of the Recreation Commission at 7:07 pm followed by the Open Public Meeting Statement and Flag Salute at Stillwater Township Municipal Building.

Roll call

Mrs. Gardner conducted a roll call.

Members Present- Mr. Carovillano, Ms. Minervino, Mrs. Richardson, Mr. Sylvester, Mrs. Tosti, Mrs. Delaney, Alternate #1 Mrs. Tsadilas

Members Tardy-

Members Absent- Mr. Reilly

Liaison- Mrs. Rumsey

Approval of minutes from last meeting

Motion to approve Minutes from September 7.2022 Meeting made by Mrs. Tosti second by Mr. Carovillano, A vote was taken Mrs. Tsadilas voted in place of Mr. Reilly and all are in favor.

Payment of Bill – Total $790.00 Septicare $355.00, Minisink Press $80.00, Minisink Press $275.00, Minisink Press $80.00

Motion by Mrs. Tosti to pay Bills Second by Mr. Carovillano. A vote was taken Mrs.

Tsadilas voted in place of Mr. Reilly and all are in favor. Mrs. Delaney Abstained

Correspondence- Fall Festival October 8, Garage Sale Weekend October 15 & 16, Halloween

Decorating Contest and Holiday Decorating Contest Fliers and applications ready for advertising.

Open Public Session I

The meeting was opened to the public at 7:15 pm, Public Session was closed at 7:15 pm. No public participants wished to speak.

Amendments to the Agenda – Mrs. Delaney would like to add to New Business the Social Media Policy discussion and the updated Fall Festival Expense List which Mrs. Delaney provided to all members. (see attached)

Sub Committee Reports

Clean Up Day- Mrs. Gardner — Mrs. Gardner thanked Mrs. Tosti and the other members for helping with the day of the Event. Mrs. Gardner verified with Mrs. Leonard that all garbage, recycling, metal and tires are usable for when applying for clean community funds. Totals: Commingle 341 lbs, Trash $442 lbs, Metal 20 lbs and 2 Tires. Mrs. Tosti and Mrs. Delaney thanked everyone who helped and said it went very smoothly.

Ms. Stillwater- Mr. Sylvester, Mrs. Minervino — none at this time

Stillwater DaylFaII Festival Mrs. Tosti, Mr. Sylvester & Mrs. Delaney – Oct 8: Final Meeting relocated Thursday Oct 6, 2022 4:30pm to Whitehall due to other conflicts at Town Hall and the Community Center. Updated Expense list (see attachment and New Business), Mrs. Tosti is purchasing prizes for kids, 30 pies were donated by Shop Rite, Mrs. Delaney reached out to Home Depot for indoor/outdoor carpet for the stage still waiting to see if will be donated. Mrs. Tsadilas stated the Boat Dr. donated lumber for the scarecrows and they are assembled but still in need of shirts, pants and fabric for the heads and form of transportation to the school. Mrs. Delaney stated she will assist with transport. Mrs. Delaney mentioned any and all help with the Fall Festival is welcomed and appreciated.

Garage Sale Weekend- Mrs. Delaney- October 15 & 16 : 54 applicants currently. 64 in spring. Mrs. Delaney expressed she is very happy with the turn out.

Summer Camp- Mrs. Tosti- None at this time but would like to thank the counselors who will also be volunteering at the Fall Festival.

County/State Fair- none at this time will need a chairperson for 2023

Holiday Decorating Contests- Mr. Reilly- Halloween: Mr. Reilly was not in attendance. Mrs. Delaney had advertised on social media. Mrs. Gardner will have in the Newsletter at Stillwater School. Currently 1 entry.

Tree Lighting- Board- Dec 2 with a snow date of Dec 3. Need volunteers for set up, clean up and throughout. Mrs. Tosti will reach out about the use of a photo booth.

Field and Pavilion Use ApplicationslApprovalslScheduIing- Mrs. Tosti- none at this time

Field Maintenance- Mr. Sylvester and Mr. Reilly — Mr. Sylvester stated the week of Sept 26, 2022 18 tons of clay was delivered to Veteran’s Park and still short so more clay and softening of clay wili need to be completed to have a safe and durable surface. Thaw in spring is difficult to get clay and fields prepped in time for opening. Use of new field equipment by Mr. Raff will help keep the field soft and pliable if kept up with regular maintenance as not to allow it to harden. Applications for crabgrass after season is highly recommended on the fields to help with maintenance. Mr. Sylvester spoke to Mr. Raff regarding encumbering funds for additional clay and spreading sooner due to the Baseball season starting earlier each year. Mr. Raff told Mr. Sylvester currently this year clay is $65 / ton approximately $3,000 for 45 tons of clay. Mr. Sylvester will hopefully have more information from Mr. Raff by next meeting. Also an update on the damaged bench. Mr. Sylvester

Community Center Activities- Mrs, Tosti/Mrs, Richardson / Mrs. Minervino: Mrs. Delaney thanked Mrs. Richardson for all her hard work with the sing-a-long and the decorations. Mrs. Richardson thanked Mrs. Tosti and Ms. Minervino for all their help.

Mrs. Minervino stated 12 RSVP’s were received from mass mailing for the Veteran’s Social. Ms. Minervino’s father, from Bayonne, NJ, will be a special guest speaker and talk about the War Museum in Bayonne and Honesdale Tours. There will be a raffle, possibly a quilt made and donated by her mothen

Plant Exchange/Educational Activities-April/May 2023 Chairperson(s) needed. Previously Heidi Mountford and Kathy Jacoby stated interest, Mrs. Delaney asked if a Board member would consider chairing with them.

Grant Purchase List – Chair needed — Remaining balance on grant is $19,070.74. Mr. Sylvester requested an updated quote from the fencing company Mrs. Beshada gave to Mrs. Tosti. Update and color of fencing to be discussed at the next meeting to hopefully schedule for 2023.

Old Business

Equipment Wish List 2023: Will work on to present in budget discussion.

Veteran’s, Stillwater & Volunteer Parks: (see field maintenance) Will need quotes for paving the parking lots from Mr. Raff with use of the 2018 Ordinance funds. Mr. Sylvester and Mrs. Delaney would like to schedule an end of season cleanup/inventory of equipment and securely store the drag for the winter. Possibly end of November early December.

New Business

Mailing Insert for July 2023 Tax Bills: Event List from June 2023-June 2024

Stillwater Historical Society Welcome Wagon: Mrs. Delaney mentioned if someone is interested in helping but recreation is pretty busy and it should really be head by the Historical Society. Mr. Sylvester stated it should be the Historical Society not Recreation.

Recreation Positions: Board 2023, Alternate #2 Position and Secretary: Alternate #2 Candidate Heather Falotico was introduced.

Mrs. Delaney made a motion to appoint Mrs. Falotico to the Recreation Commission Board as Alternate #2 with Township Committee concurrence Second by Mr. Sylvester. A vote was taken and Mrs, Tsadilas voted in place of Mr. Reilly and all are in favor.

Mrs. Delaney stated to start thinking about Board Positions for 2023. Chair and Vice-chair.

Mrs. Delaney mentioned Secretary Position for January 2023 and Mrs. Gardner stated Secretary was to be voted in December as previously discussed due to payroll and term expiring 12/31/2022. Mrs. Gardner is not able to attend the January meeting and would like a candidate to shadow and be voted in December to start January.

Social Media Policy: The new handbook Policy that is currently being discussed at the Township Committee meetings regarding Social Media and all employees of the township, volunteered and paid, will need to review and sign or if they can at this time choose not to sign. Mr. Carovillano asked for information as to what this policy is and why it is being put in place. Liaison Mrs. Rumsey stated Mr. Barta requested this be a policy because certain pages that are maintained by Township Committee members are using a personal page that the townspeople treat as an actual Township Page for emergency updates, special events and political use. A disclaimer must be used and any posting on people’s personal pages regarding Township events, meetings, employees etc must be approved by the clerk first before posting on personal pages. Mr. Sylvester added from what he gathered from the meetings is that this policy is to help separate the entanglement out and protect the Township from possible lawsuits etc. Mrs. Delaney shared her thoughts that a personal page is a personal page and can be used as such and the Township Page should be more active or change their name to show as an official township page status. She will not be signing the policy. Many agreed with Mrs. Rumsey and Mrs. Delaney that this is not a policy that should be in place.

Budget 2023 Review for December Meeting: Mrs. Gardner provided a current budget to review and make necessary changes for 2023 and current budget used to date provided by the Township CFO, Mrs. Leonard.

Fall Festival Expense List: (see attached provided by Mrs. Delaney as current use of the $5,000 previously approved for the Fall Fest/Stillwater Day Event)

Open Public Session Il: The meeting was opened to the public at 8:22 pm, Public Session was closed at 8:28 pm

Mrs. Tsadilas spoke about the lack of cleanliness at the Community Center in specific: the carpet and mice inside the building. Mrs. Rumsey responded that the cleaning company was spoken to and areas of cleaning were discussed and shown. The cleaning company was unaware of certain things expected. Mr. Raff is looking into a professional carpet cleaning company and exterminator currently and she will keep the Rec Commission updated on the progress. New flooring will be installed along with a new roof once roof style is determined by engineer and approved by Township Committee with use of ARPA funds. 2023 is when changes will start taking shape. Also a new double door will be installed with funds provided by the election board. Mrs. Rumsey stated please be patient as we have come along way since getting the building and it is a slow but promising rebuild.

Committee Member Comments – None

Liaison Report- Mrs. Rumsey- Mrs. Rumsey stated if Townhall and the Community Center are in use please contact her if you need to hold a meeting as she can assist in using the conference room of the Station #2 Firehouse. Stillwater placed 3rd in the Sussex County Fire Department Parade. 2 DPW employees resigned and there is a new hire being voted in at the meeting

Tuesday night and another application was received. She stated to please be patient as Josh will be training the new employee(s).

Executive Session-Not at this time

Executive Session Actions-No action taken

NEXT MEETING MONDAY NOVEMBER 7, 2022 @ TOWN HALL 7:OOpm

Adjournment: Motion made by Mr. Carovillano second by Mr. Sylvester to Adjourn Meeting at 8:30pm. A voice vote was taken and all are in favor.