CITY PARKS, RECREATION & CONSERVATION COMMISSION
Meeting held Tuesday, May 7, 2019
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, May 7, 2019 at 5:00 in Jamestown New York.
Those present representing the Commission were:
Commissioner John Bauer
Commissioner Russ Diethrick
Commissioner Cindy DiNapoli
Commissioner Chris Prinzi
Commissioner Bob Whitney
Others Present:
Julia Ciesla-Hanley, Recreation Coordinator
John Williams, Parks Manager
Absent:
Commissioner Dave Anderson
Commissioner Kim Ecklund
Commissioner Tamu Graham-
Reinhardt
Commissioner Dave Reinhardt
Commissioner Aubrey Russell
Commissioner James Ventura
Commissioner Jim Walsh
The meeting was called to order by Julia Ciesla-Hanley.
Approval of Minutes of Previous Meeting.
No quorum. Minutes will be approved at the next meeting.
Opportunity for Persons to Address Commission.
None.
Reports of Committees and Projects.
Report from the Riverfront Management Council/Riverwalk Project Update: No news since April meeting
Jamestown Jammers: John Williams said the Jammers will be back in 2020 as a collegiate bat team. He said there’s a lot of good scheduling of the stadium this year but having the Jammers back will be a better use for the stadium. Russ Diethrick said the new team has a good financial base and good structure. We just need the spectators. John W. said whoever does the concessions will need to keep prices down. Cindy DiNapoli asked what the sustainability of the concessions were in terms of percentages. John Bauer said Babe Ruth World Series received 35% of concession profits. John W. said there needs to be an aggressive operator in there based on his own previous experience.
Arbor Day: John said it will be Wednesday, May 22nd at 1:30pm at the Bike Trail Overlook. John isn’t sure what kind of tree Dan Stone plans to plant yet.
June Field Trip: Julia said the June PRC meeting will be on the Bike Trail. We’ll meet at the West 8th Street parking lot and then walk to the overlook where there are benches to sit on to conduct meeting business. If the weather forecast doesn’t cooperate, we’ll meet at our usual location in City Hall.
Summer Playground Program: Julia said program locations are being switched to city parks this year due to the school district’s summer LEAP program. The district felt that trying to have both their program and the playground program trying to operate on school grounds would be confusing. The summer playground program will be held at Allen, Bergman, Chadakoin, Lillian Dickson, and Nordstrom Parks. Julia said one of the benefits is that all the sites except Lillian Dickson have restroom facilities, which is great since the school’s didn’t have a consistent policy of letting kids use the restrooms there. Julia said she still needs at least 3-4 additional employees for the program.
Allen Park Glen Improvements: Cindy asked what the plans are for the glen. John said they’re restoring the creek area and maybe will be doing bridge work by the bandshell. He said DPW is doing a lot of the work. John said he’s trying to get a blacktop sidewalk put in on the Elizabeth Avenue side of the park.
City Rec Baseball/Softball: Russ asked how sign-ups went for the baseball and softball leagues. Julia said all were down on the city’s side. She was still taking a few late sign-ups for the city rec league so that teams had enough players. She said the Co-Ed League had a couple more teams than last year, but the Slo-Pitch league was down a handful of teams. Julia said she did know that Babe Ruth was up a couple teams. Russ asked how much the lights are used at Danielson Softball field. Julia said not at all. John W. said repairs are too expensive to get them to a point where they’re safe.
Dog Parks: Bob Whitney asked if the city had ever discussed putting in a dog park. Julia said they’ve met with various people about it but there’s a host of issues with putting on in including liability concerns. Bob said the issue is that people are using sport fields to let their dogs run around and then not properly cleaning up. He asked who he should talk to about the liability issue. Julia said that would be the Corporation Counsel’s office. She added that maintenance is another issue because it would be another new facility and there isn’t the staff to keep it adequately cleaned.
Good of the Order:
Adjournment
The next meeting is Tuesday, June 4, 2019 at 5:00 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Julia Ciesla-Hanley
