CITY PARKS, RECREATION & CONSERVATION COMMISSION
Meeting held Tuesday, June 5, 2018
PROCEEDINGS BY AUTHORITY
State of New York, City of Jamestown
The regular meeting of the Parks, Recreation and Conservation Commission of the City of Jamestown, New York, was held on Tuesday, June 5, 2018 at 5:00 in Jamestown New York.
Those present representing the Commission were:
Commissioner Dave Anderson
Commissioner John Bauer
Commissioner Russ Diethrick
Commissioner Cindy DiNapoli
Commissioner Kim Ecklund
Commissioner Chris Prinzi
Others Present:
Julia Ciesla-Hanley, Recreation Coordinator
Absent:
Commissioner Dave Reinhardt
Commissioner Aubrey Russell
Commissioner Jason Stronz
Commissioner James Ventura
Commissioner Jim Walsh
Commissioner Vanessa Weinert
The meeting was called to order by Cindy DiNapoli.
Approval of Minutes of Previous Meeting.
A motion was made by Commissioner Bauer and seconded by Commissioner Anderson to approve the minutes of the May 1, 2018 meeting. Carried.
Opportunity for Persons to Address Commission.
None.
Reports of Committees and Projects.
Report from the Riverfront Management Council/Riverwalk Project Update: John said the bike trail bridges should be done by the end of the week. He has hydroseed coming in after that. John said some trees need to be planted still and that a gate will be installed at the path entrance on both ends. There will be more parking going in at the Clifton Avenue end. John had an email from Roger Tory Peterson Institute Executive Director Twan Leenders that bank restabilization work in the south basin should begin June 30th. The ribbon cutting for the pedestrian bridges will be July 7th. Dave Anderson said that he and Twan Leenders have talked to the Gebbie Foundation about the erosion issues. Cindy DiNapoli asked if Jim Sirriano has given the okay to do restabilization work on his property. He did not. John Williams said the permit was approved and all other work should move forward.
Arbor Day: John W. said that Dan Stone did an excellent job. Dave Anderson said a lot of people were at the event. Dan had the mothers in attendance plant the trees.
Diethrick Park Updates: John Williams said the Grandstand ceiling is painted. He said the scoreboard and netting are also in along with the new fence. He said the wi-fi is fixed. Russ Diethrick said the stadium looks awesome.
Soap Box Derby: John said the derby is this weekend. The practice will be on Friday night as people attend the Jammers game. The parking lot will be blocked off. John Bauer asked if any announcements about the derby will be made at the game. John said there won’t be. He added the derby is rain or shine. John was on Cable Access 5 in Mayville talking about the derby.
Kaboom! Application: Julia said the city was awarded the grant. We estimate that it’s roughly $150,000 for the playground and will be built in the same area as the old one. John said the old one will be torn down. The two sites will be joined into one but the age groups will be kept separate. Kaboom is coming in June 12th to do a Design Day with local kids and adults. John said officials from Kaboom have already visited the Chadakoin site. Russ Diethrick asked if any of the old playground can be salvaged. John said it’s in very bad shape and cannot be saved. He said the swings will be coming down too. With combining the sites, we’ll be able to save on fall zones. Cindy DiNapoli asked if the pavilions will be updated. John said that happened already. He got a call from Parkitects about the grant and had Julia work on writing it. Chris Prinzi asked where the money is coming from for Kaboom. John said we can’t say yet but there is a backer. That backer will be announced on June 12th. He added we will be needing 300 volunteers for build day as Kaboom prefers volunteers to move items like wood chips over using large equipment. August 25th will be the build day. John said this will be hard because we won’t have as many summer employees left by that date. Cindy DiNapoli said the Allen Park Women’s Club helped with the Roseland Playground build. She asked to be kept in the loop. Russ suggested talking to Vicky McGraw about helping to feed volunteers.
Chadakoin Park: Dave Anderson asked how the basketball courts were holding up. John Williams said they need to be redone along with the bathrooms. The pavilion also should be resealed. The skate park was rebuilt six years ago and is in decent shape. Dave asked how the baseball field was doing. John said it’s just a practice field now.
Summer Employees: John said he has all he needs finally. He has three high school workers coming on at the end of the school year. Julia said she should be okay at this point as well.
Babe Ruth World Series Fee: Julia said City Council voted in May to set the fee at $1,000 for the Babe Ruth World Series’ use of Diethrick Stadium for the duration of the tournament.
Good of the Order:
Adjournment
The next meeting is Tuesday, September 4, 2018 at 5:00 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Julia Ciesla-Hanley
