Volunteers Green and Browns Court Project Committee 9/11/25

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                 Volunteers Green, Browns Court, Round Church Green

               3 Parks Improvement Committee (ARPA Designated Funds)

Minutes from meeting held on September 11, 2025   Approved 10.16.25

Members Attending:  Denise Barnard, Fran Thomas, Tess Storrs, Megan Andrews, Jeanne Agner,

Members Absent: Kendra Ziskie, Mary Lefebvre

Guests in person:  none

Guest attending virtually:  none

Welcome 

Minutes Approved from last meeting on July 10, 2025

Additions/Deletions to the agenda:  RHS alumni association donation- discuss under Brown’s Court updates

Next scheduled meetings:  Thursday August 16, 2025

7:08

Agenda Items

1. Discussion of meeting w Josh and further clarification of these topics:

Finances - Josh is now tracking our expenditures in order for us to know how much money has actually been spent out of our allocation. Fran will also keep track and will match it with Josh’s records.

            Parking/overflow parking/ signs indicating parking

 Denise or Fran will schedule a meeting with members of the parking committee

 We discussed whether or not we might need a bigger parking lot. At this time we don’t want to do that, as we would have to go back to the DRB. Jeanne will  talk with Josh and follow up with school principals and possibly superintendent about overflow parking at RES-CHMS We discussed posting signs in the park about overflow parking. We plan to mark the parking lot area with stakes for the time being to show where the gravel lot will be and so that people will know where to park.

Status of the McCarthy boundary with Browns Court and the Oliver/Carroll Boundary with

Browns Court and the road. Josh would like to take care of the McCarthy boundary before he works on the Oliver/Carroll boundary. Fran will remind Josh that L. McCartney is back in town. 

Better way to implement projects - town management versus committee management

We acknowledged that our group has basically been the project managers for the work at Browns Court. This was not the original charge for our committee. We will recommend that the town designate a project manager for the Volunteers Green project after a plan is recommended.  

Does the selectboard need to change the park ordinance to allow different hours for the             

            pickle ball courts that are shorter than the current specified hours? No

7:34

2. Code of Ethics Acknowledgement -  we are all updated and forms are signed

3. Open Meeting Law video review  -Everyone has watched the 45 minute video and completed the requirements for the state

7:38  

4. Volunteers Green update

            The Review of Magnitude/ Rough Estimate - we do not have any additional information.

                     Denise will invite John Johnston to our next meeting to explain more about this topic.

5. Conservation Reserve Funds  The Selectboard approved the funds from the Conservation Reserve Funds for the application amount of $12,703.07.

6. Pickleball grants - update  We applied for two grants from Pickleball USA. Earlier this spring, we applied for a “Play It Forward” grant which would have helped to cover the costs of the installation of the court. We learned on August 8, National Pickleball Day, that we were not awarded that grant. We applied for a  “Grow the Game Grant” later in July. We learned this week that we were not awarded that grant either.

7:46

7. Brown’s Court Update

Pickleball Court progress  - It’s finished!!! The fence is up. The gates are locked. The rules and

 hours signs are posted.The court will not open until the trees are planted.

Friends of Pickleball - Fran and Jeanne met with interested pickleball players (Kathy G.,Robin

C., Jayne S., Mark S.),  today . We see this group managing  the picklebal schedule and

courts as do volunteers for Little League, Softball and Soccer. We hope that

this group could also be a liaison with neighbors. We/they are seeking a neighbor to be

a part of this group. This group will meet again to define their role and then share with us and

with Josh/Duncan.

   We discussed basic needs - broom, squeegee, etc. The group will gather the necessary items. We have locks with keys. The group is interested in organizing people to unlock the gates in the am and lock them  at pm at least for this fall.

    They explained the scheduling app that they would plan to use and how that might be used to reserve spots for play including some regularly scheduled spots for CSC and maybe RES .

Grand Opening Celebration - was discussed with the Friends of Pickleball. We are planning a 

soft opening this fall when the trees are planted. In the spring they/we will plan for a bigger Grand Opening/ Celebration of the pickleball court for the community.

            Water Line Installation -Steve Cote, the water superintendent, has all of the materials needed

for the spigot. Pete G. will excavate for the water line. They are working together. The plan is to get the work done on Sept 24. When Pete excavates for the water line, he will also excavate for the concrete pads. Jeanne will let Matt Cross know the date so he can plan to pour the concrete for the pads.

8:49

Tree planting  The trees are being held at Paquettes and cared for. Pete will be meeting with

Fran on Monday to discuss the tree planting . The soil will need to be amended for the tree planting as it is very hard. She will discuss with Pete whether digging holes or trenching will work best. We set a tentative date for tree planting for Saturday,  Oct 4, 2025. Breck Knaft from VYCC has promised 6 workers to help with planting. Friends of Pickleball will recruit some help for planting and for tree watering. Fran will put a note in Front Porch Forum with a general update of Browns Court Park and requesting help with tree planting.

Benches and picnic table-  have been ordered from Pettinelli. We discussed the amount being      

charged for installation and how we might find local help or request the town to do that. It was decided to have Pettinelli do the assembly, delivery and installation.

8. Other

– The 3 Parks committee has been given a donation of $800 from the RHS alumni association. Denise will check with the donors to see if they would be interested in seeing that money go toward building the wooden kiosk to be placed at the entrance of the park.

-FEMA reimbursement money is beginning to trickle in. FEMA money will eventually go back into the parks improvement fund to repay what the town borrowed. It’s possible that the parking lot could go in this fall or early next spring, depending on when our designated fund gets reimbursed. RFPs will have to go out for that job.

Suggestions for next agenda

Status of Brown’s Court - Tree planting, parking lot and more

Pickleball group - Fran will invite them to our next meeting 

John Johnston - to explain what a Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) actually is and to see if there is anything we need to do for the ROM to be developed for Volunteers Green. How long will it be before we get that? 

The next meeting was scheduled for Thursday  Oct 16, 2025

9:04

Meeting adjourned.