Parks and Recreation 05/05/2026

(Episode Description is AI generated and may be errors in accuracy)

Summer programs don’t “fill up” anymore, they disappear. We sit down as a town parks and recreation board and work through what that demand actually looks like on the ground: daycare returning-student counts, outreach to incoming kindergarten families, and a summer camp registration wave so intense it’s compared to the Hunger Games. We also talk real dollars, from gas-driven fee adjustments to why reinvesting revenue into field trips and activities keeps long days fun and keeps families coming back.

From there, the meeting turns into a practical tour of how community events happen. We vote through permits for everything from a seasonal farm stand agreement to a one-day liquor license for a Lions Club clam boil. We approve school PTO field requests with clear rules to protect turf, handle Special Olympics practice needs, and plan for big draws like Touch-A-Truck, where timing overlaps with opening soccer day and pedestrian safety becomes the real issue.

We also zoom out to the infrastructure that makes parks usable. Road repaving and parking lot entrances sound routine until you connect them to crosswalks, traffic speed, and ADA access when sidewalks aren’t on the current plan. Then we end with updates that show how policy choices move participation: community garden sign-ups rebound sharply after removing fees and allowing non-residents after a certain date, raising the next big question about waitlists and long-term pricing.

If you care about parks and recreation, youth sports, summer camp planning, or how towns balance access with budgets, this one’s for you. Subscribe, share with a neighbor, and leave a review so more locals can find the conversation.

Transcript

Opening Motions And Minutes

SPEAKER_02 0:20

I'll make a motion that we uh upon the return of entity uh becomes new second person. I will second that. Yeah. He's a man, so chair.

SPEAKER_03 0:34

Absolutely. Okay. All I'll say. Aye. Aye. So what? So I would just be the intro.

SPEAKER_02 0:42

Yeah, until until uh let me amend my motion until that time uh you remain the second.

SPEAKER_03 0:48

Okay, yeah. I will second that.

SPEAKER_02 0:50

All in favor? Aye. Aye.

SPEAKER_03 0:52

Already. That was easy.

SPEAKER_02 0:54

Make a motion to approve the minutes of the last meeting.

Daycare Demand And Summer Camp Rush

SPEAKER_03 0:59

I just did. Oh, you did. I will second that motion. All in favor? Aye. Aye. So voted. Organization representative, town officials, community members. It doesn't look like we had any guest here to vote. On to all business. Daycare update.

SPEAKER_01 1:15

Just a quick update. Friday was the day for all contracts to be returned for uh returning students for next year. Uh Bethany has been tabulating all the information, and she just started today reaching out to incoming kindergarten uh for spots for next year. And then once we get the kindergarten program in, we'll fill the rest of the spots and with people on the wait list. Okay. But it's uh it's pretty fully loaded right now. Okay. So doing well.

SPEAKER_03 1:44

Uh Maryland School Playground.

SPEAKER_01 1:46

Uh I just want to let you know the the new slide has been installed, fixed, was shut down for about three days, the playground is open, everything's working great. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 1:56

Um next thing uh radium state forest.

SPEAKER_01 2:00

Yep. Uh Chris, I don't know if you've been over there at all, but the state forest, but the state did come in, cleared up, cleared out the trees. After they left, another one did fall. But uh Noelam's crew went in and took care of that of the tree, so everything's all cleared out and good to go. Summer update. Summer update. Well, after a venture start, the summer registration with uh town's internet being down. Finally got it going about a week later. Uh summer is basically full. The only week we have available for uh full day is uh week one, which is the week before July. It's always a more quieter week. But uh we do have some spots and some weeks for a half day program, but overall it basically filled up in that first album. It was pretty intense. That's a good thing. Yeah, it's yeah, it was compared to the Hunger Games. Has it always been that? Yeah. Is anybody denied a spot? Uh right now we have some people on the weight lesson for a full day, and we told them, you know, if they want to, the best way to do it is grab a spot in a half day, and as we get closer, we can transfer them to the half day of the full day. Some people don't want to take that risk. Yeah. That's their call, but we do have that option outdate. Overall, we're gonna have close to 115 to 120 kids per week this summer. So fully loaded and uh good to go. Has it always been that quick to go? Uh the past few years, yes, our program's gotten very popular. You know, in the past it always has been, but we have good field trips, we do a lot with the kids, we put the money that we bring in, we put right back on the program and make it as fun as we can because if you don't have these extra activities, that can be a long day in the sun. So when's the last time we raised fees? Uh we get it this year, so we had to go up uh$10 just because of the cost of uh gas. Yeah. Oh, gas surtage? Yeah, we're gonna talk about that later. Yeah. And just the cost of all programs are everything we do just keeps going up, up, and up. Yeah. But it's uh breaks down to about$6.70 an hour if you do the full-day program. Can't beat that anyway. Yeah, there's some of the best prices around.

SPEAKER_04 4:15

So, yeah.

Farm Stand Renewal And Liquor License

SPEAKER_03 4:17

Oh right. On to new business, under the Sun Farm. Under the Sun Farm.

SPEAKER_01 4:22

You guys see you have uh an email from uh Milton and uh Caitlin Texera who run under the Sun Farm. They're looking to uh rent the farm stand again this year. Uh they're looking to start in June and run through September. Uh they've always been great to work with. Uh I have no issues with them. Uh they're always great to me whenever I stop in and say hi. And last year we charged$1,000 for the season.

SPEAKER_02 4:50

I don't have any issues with that. Yeah, motion to uh recommend the selectmen uh allow this permit for that$1,000.

SPEAKER_03 4:59

I will second that motion. All in favor. Okay. Aye. So voted. Uh Lions Club liquor license.

SPEAKER_01 5:08

Uh the Lions Club is looking for a one-day liquor license uh recommendation uh for their clam boil on May 31st uh from 12 to 4. Uh the only thing we really have going on that day is there is a horse show, uh, but we've never had a problem with that in the past. And Sundays does have sports, but it's not as busy as Saturday, so no real conflicts on our end.

SPEAKER_02 5:30

Motion to notify the sports selectmen. We recommend approval of this permit.

SPEAKER_03 5:37

I will second that motion. All in favor? All right. I so voted.

SPEAKER_01 5:46

Quite a few permits today.

SPEAKER_03 5:48

I can be pretty heavy, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:51

So the first one we have is the Liberty PTO. They've submitted two. Uh the first one is for their end-of-the-year party on Monday, June 22nd. Uh, they're looking to use uh the Merrill baseball fields, one through seven, and the Beton Court field uh for their activities. Uh there is going to be some tournaments coming on for baseball, so the only field I would not recommend is using field four, because that's their main one. Uh but everything else is wide open. Uh I've always talked to them about no spikes on the field. And just to ask, they don't leave the play parachutes on the ground, because last year they left one on the ground, they left the burn mark on that and caught, but with the water and wheeling it back, no problem.

SPEAKER_03 6:36

Motion approved the PTO permanent. I will second that motion. On bear. I so voted.

SPEAKER_01 6:47

Thank you. And they also have another request for June 1st, which is their annual step up day. Uh looking to just do kind of the same thing, some activities for the kids in the afternoon. I would recommend again uh the same field, just not field four. And again, I'll remind them not to use uh spikes in the field for any blow-ups that they bring out. Okay. Motion to approve.

SPEAKER_03 7:14

I will second that motion. On favor? Okay. So vote in.

SPEAKER_01 7:21

Uh the next one we have is for BR Special Olympics. Uh they're looking for a field for Friday nights from 5:30 to 7 for practice for their flag football. Uh fortunately, they did show up this past week and played on Betcourt. I did speak to them about that. They weren't supposed to be out there. Uh, but I did tell them Friday nights are very busy down there. I'd like to keep them off, so I recommend to them either RMS or cell school where it's less busy during the week. You know, something like that. They had no problem with that. Uh, and we have been charging Special Olympics$600. Motion to approve,$600.

SPEAKER_03 8:05

I will second that motion. All in favor? Aye. Aye. All favor? Aye.

unknown 8:11

All right.

SPEAKER_01 8:16

Uh the next one we have is uh the Wingham Lions event, uh, their touch a truck. Uh they're looking to use the Lions Club parking lot, maybe come over into Oz a little bit for their annual touch-a-truck event. They're looking at Saturday, September 12th with a rain day of Saturday, September 19th, from 11 to 3. Uh they did it last year about the same time. Uh the 12th is the opening day of soccer, so that would be a good time for them to excuse me, because they'll have more kids in the area for the event, and there was no charge last year.

SPEAKER_02 8:51

Did we uh how do we uh do we recommend that they hire a police detail? Do they hire a police detail?

SPEAKER_01 9:07

Actually they did hire a police detail to the people across it.

SPEAKER_02 9:10

That's my concern is the people across the street. If it's gonna be soccer here and touch a truck there, you wouldn't move your vehicle, you'd walk across the street.

SPEAKER_01 9:19

Absolutely. So we'd I'll make sure when I talk to them, I'll tell them just to make sure they get a detail from the deck. Okay. Motion to approve.

SPEAKER_03 9:26

I will send the debt motion. All in favor? All right. Alright, so voted.

SPEAKER_01 9:30

So we've been doing that for our constants because people, some of the big ones we have.

SPEAKER_03 9:34

Oh, it's a tra yeah, you know, coming across the screen. This this road gets very, very busy.

Road Paving Plans And Crosswalk Ideas

SPEAKER_02 9:39

Yeah, and and and I I I guess I'm ignoring, but uh the building the road here. Yes, how far are they going? All the way down to South Beach. Are they doing any anything else other than repaving? Uh the recaving.

SPEAKER_01 10:01

As I mentioned in my email to you guys, they're going to be paving into some of the parking lots about 15, 20 feet in, so it'll help with the entrance into the parking lots. So when people aren't spinning your ties when they're leaving.

SPEAKER_02 10:12

But they're not like no sidewalks?

SPEAKER_01 10:17

No, not not at this time, but we are asking, I guess.

SPEAKER_02 10:20

We got the plans for the restructure of this area, right?

SPEAKER_01 10:24

And that all kind of with the uh folks in the building plans are changed right now for what they're doing with this road. I did ask, Well and I were talking today, but we put a crosswalk in. You know, for us we we might have some of those uh automatic, you know, flashers, people slow down, and we're doing a crossing. But right now there is no talk of doing sidewalks at this time. Yeah, crosswalks would be great. Yeah. A couple of.

SPEAKER_03 10:52

Yeah. Here, down there, but definitely needs to be. What could we what we could do to advocate for that? Like what would be the best?

SPEAKER_01 11:01

I just think just me having the conversation with norm. Okay. You know, we just gotta see what what we have to do, we just gotta make sure since there's no wheel lips or sidewalks, you just need to double check with the state, you know, regarding ADA, somebody who's in a wheelchair with the downslope, what they would have to do with it.

SPEAKER_03 11:17

So they actually did a survey that's like probably back in 2020 about how long because we were looking at they were looking into cross boxes because it was a code error and kids were out more.

SPEAKER_01 11:30

But so it's been a project, uh, but they're gonna over the next few weeks just should get finished up whether they're doing the basis of the buildings. They're gonna take some of the buildings and put them in a flying parking lot, and again, put some try to fill in the holes the best they can as long as people aren't doing donuts in the parking lot and peeling out, we should be okay.

unknown 11:56

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 11:57

Uh uh next one we have is uh Rainbow Across, Jay Messler. They're just asking to use uh the Rainhem Middle School uh field inside the track on Saturday, June 13th, for uh Macross kind of like jamboree a few games and just end the season event. Okay. So, and uh we did this last year, we did not charge for that. Motion approved Iowa second down.

SPEAKER_03 12:24

Oh, okay, right?

SPEAKER_01 12:29

Okay. Uh next we have is from RYBSA. Uh there the first one is for the Paul Monty softball tournament, uh, taking place July 23rd through July 26th, uh, using all the ball fields out of the Merrill Liberty Complex from 8 to 8 on those days. Um it was the Paul Monty, we did not charge. We went to a different name last year and they brought back the name Paul Monte this year. What do we charge if anything? Last year we charged for uh they had a different name for charge of$600 for the channel.

SPEAKER_03 13:27

Motion approved$600 fee. I will send you that motion on there. Alright. I thought I think.

SPEAKER_02 13:37

And the other one. I'm assuming let me back up a little bit. I'm sorry. This is a tournament that's gonna include teams from other towns.

SPEAKER_01 13:47

Yes, sir. Okay, that's fine. All right, yes, sorry. No, no worries. And uh the other one is for the annual Jared Monty baseball tournament. Uh again, that's huge, as we've seen in the past. Yeah. Uh and this one, named after Jared, we have not charged for this particular tournament. Motion approved no fee.

SPEAKER_03 14:09

I would say that motion. All in favor. All right. All right, so good.

SPEAKER_01 14:16

Uh the next one we have is for Mrs. Elizabeth Albin. Uh, she's looking at June 13th for a graduation party using the gazebo field in the area, the volleyball court. I've already explained to her, the volleyball court is a first come, first served basis. Uh, she actually did this party last year, I'm not sure if you guys remember the name, uh, for her other daughter in her graduated high school. They went out there, they had a blast, they cleaned up, there was no issues at all. Uh and we did charge them$100 just to use the gazebo last year for the event.

SPEAKER_03 14:51

Motion. As a statement. I will second that motion. All in favor? All right. So look at it.

SPEAKER_01 15:03

Okay. We're getting there. The next one we have is for Ringham Giants Youth Football. The first one they submitted is for a football and skills conditioning clinic. Uh, they don't charge for this, it is free. Uh the dates uh they're looking at doing is uh June 6th, June 13th, and June 27th. Uh the 20th, as Father's Day weekend they didn't do it, it wouldn't have worked with a Legion anyway, because they have a big event on the 20th. Uh so just from uh 7 to 9, just doing skills and conditioning out there on the on the field. And last year was the first year they did it. They had a lot of fun, a lot of success, and they're looking to do it again this year. They do not charge for this event. Is it uh no charge for it?

SPEAKER_02 15:52

No, sir. Is it limited to brain hands? Yeah, there's only for the giants. Motion approved on favorite.

SPEAKER_03 16:05

I will second that motion on favor. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 16:15

And the next one is for their annual fall permit. Uh they're looking at using uh bet and court's on Sundays for their three or four home games, Saturdays and Sundays, excuse me, and they're looking uh Monday through Friday uh for a bunch of various fields. When I was going through this just to make it uh fair for everybody that's on the complex, uh again, I recommend Bet and Court for games only on weekends. Uh fields one through seven to Burke outfield, but taking away field three. Field three we use for child care for areas for the kids to play in the afternoon, and they shouldn't have to rush off for them. Uh I recommend also voiding calling softball outfield after 10 months after October 1st and the sun's going down early, and lead your field Mondays and Fridays because they have the lights there.

SPEAKER_02 17:09

I yeah, I I I don't even think they're gonna be asking for that because they got lights on the uh field three now, right?

SPEAKER_01 17:16

Yeah, they're facing the other way, so that's just like as a backup if they need it. Uh if they need it. I've it's been a couple of years since they've had their wall there, and that was more during uh not called during triple E season when it got really bad, they had to remove practices earlier. Yeah, besides that, I don't think they probably won't need that. Yeah. They're also asking for RMS. I don't think we should give them RMS this time because our the middle school has their soccer practices and games out there and we can't rush them out. Now, if they need an extra field during fertilizing in the late summer, early fall, they might be able to go up there before school starts for a night or two. But besides that, RMS is really booked for the soccer teams out there. So that'll be my recommendation for them. My motion to approve is stated. Starting August 10th and the motion. I apologize. Uh jocks camp is the week of August 3rd.

SPEAKER_04 18:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:23

And the last one is uh raid for their annual Rain Hill Community Day. Uh Riley also submitted a letter to you guys as well. Uh for Sunday, September 27th, with a rain day of uh Sunday, October 4th, using uh the gazebo field, the gazebo, the horse ring, tennis court area for their annual uh event. You know, I usually shut everything down starting around this area on Friday afternoon so they can start their setup, have all day Saturday, and then run the event on Sunday. And there is no horse shows that weekend. So we're all set there.

SPEAKER_03 19:07

Motion to approve, no fee. I will start in that motion. All fear? So Missioner's report.

SPEAKER_02 19:33

It's been a new paper. Oh no, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 19:37

Well, let me go. What do you what do you what do you what's what's the update you got for us? Um commissioners report? Yeah. Uh yeah, can't think of anything already. Um a couple things. Um first I'd like to thank everyone who uh re-elected me last weekend for making the annual town election. I'm looking forward to um serving another three years with you. And hopefully Mr. Erickson when he um gets back in with all of Park and Rec staff. Um I also attended the parade meeting last night, and we have been invited to, as you as well, uh, to walk in the VIP section of VIP with Mr. Vines. Moving on up? Very impotent people? Yes. So if you're around on the parade, feel free to come. What what, memorial then? Yes.

SPEAKER_02 20:33

I'm usually in Latin when I'm usually involved.

SPEAKER_03 20:36

I I figured you would probably have other programs. Um I do want to, but I can I can do other things. No, that's alright. That's alright. Um will the summer is I can't remember if I asked you to, when is the summer concert scheduled up?

SPEAKER_01 20:53

Well, they're just finalizing it, but it's gonna be we have four shows guaranteed. Yeah. We're just waiting on one more. It's gonna be starting July 7th, at least due to the end of the month. The last two major shows are Gail and the Duds, I want to say it's the 21st, and the 28th is uh Forever Fab, which is the popular Beatles band, which is always a packed house. Yeah. Last year I saw a guy running from the stage and started singing with them.

Community Gardens Rebound After Fee Changes

SPEAKER_03 21:20

Um I had someone ask me about that, so yeah, that's alright. Um that's all I have to report. I'll leave it up to you guys next. Save.

SPEAKER_00 21:34

Um, so I left a summary of the update for the community gardens on each of their places there. Um, just to summarize the past few years since 2021, you can look at the garden maps from each year individually, and then that chart summarizes all of them. Um in 2021. Right around when COVID hit, we filled the gardens. We had 18 people total. 2022 went down to 11, but that was still pretty good. We went back up to 15 in 2023, right around the time COVID was rounding, kind of ending. And then 2024 and 2025, we went down from 9 to 7. So after COVID ended, we got a lot less people. Sure, jobs started back up again. People got more busy despite our advertisements. And then this year, after leaving with fee and allowing outside residence after that certain date, we also put the sign up on the board, as you guys know, which actually resulted in a lot more attraction than we expected. We are backed up to 18 as of today. We got our two last signups. And I was trying to figure out a different way to represent 2026, but six of those signups are non-residents. So out of the 18, six of them are from either Taunton or Bridgewater, which are labeled on the individual map for 2026, so you can see which residents are outside residents and which ones are from right here. So I think the no charge really brought in a lot of people. People were telling me that East Bridgewater and Taunton have plots, but they're usually$50 plus per year. So when we found that we had no charge, they were excited about it. I think the COVID-19 definitely had effects, but after we let outside residents in and what that be, we just went to it back up, and I imagine we'll have a wait list going based on the rate that we've been at, because every week we have felt a few costs since we opened applications. So in a year or two, that might raise the question of if we uh restart the charge or not. Um if there's a wait list, I have no problem if someone cancels replacing them for free, but no charge. But um that would be something to consider considering how busy it's gotten password spreads and worrying that we're gonna get a lengthier wait list um between this year and next year of people interested. So I don't know who we want to go uh back to if if we reach that point, if we get multiple people interested. Because we can still open it to outside residents, I think that we should keep. But if we get busy enough, we might end up benefiting uh from the near future if we can raise it because some towns have it minimum 50. So uh I know we don't have much to deal with that budget, but just something to consider if we get more people if it becomes that popular, is my worry.

SPEAKER_01 24:51

So deserved all the credit. She handled took that project and I think and I love this graph, too.

SPEAKER_02 24:57

It's very uh statistic.

SPEAKER_04 24:59

Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 25:00

I want to meet Lewis on Dow Rap clock. Clock number 14. Oh, and Danielle Icobacci. I love the names.

SPEAKER_00 25:16

Yeah, but awesome job that's gonna. I wanted to include who's returning and who isn't, but I guess that's just under what the internet of who's our regulars are. So that's really cool.

Repairs Upgrades And Meeting Close

unknown 25:29

Thank you. Just a couple of quick things at my end.

SPEAKER_01 25:32

Uh I gave you guys a copy of the draft of the warrant uh count field for on the 18th. Uh everything's in its normal on our end, so no real concerns. Uh no if you noticed, I did put up some new foul poles on the Clark field uh going by that wasn't included in the project last year, so the company came in and put up a couple foul poles for us, so that field is great being used, love it. So we know the crew did the stone dust last year, really freshened it up, so it looks good up there. Uh we'll be turning water on for irrigation this month because the lack of rain has not has already started. Uh we did have to do some uh minor repairs of the socket concession stand in the men's bathroom. Running time, plumbing out, took care of it. A lot of them just through the uh all the setting and the water just toils when it turned off. And I noticed last week that some of the shingles on the office roof were starting to peel up. So I brought somebody in and they cleaned that area up because that that roof's not that old, right now, apparently. Not long before I came back. You guys replaced the roof. So roughly 10 years, probably. 10, 15 at most. So that's all taken care of. Yeah, so and uh besides that, that is it for me.

SPEAKER_03 26:53

Awesome. Alrighty. Second yeah, I will second that motion. All in favor?

SPEAKER_04 27:00

I still voted.