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

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DRAFT  Volunteers Green, Browns Court, Round Church Green  
3 Parks Improvement Committee (ARPA Designated Funds) 
Minutes from meeting held on September 11, 2025  
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 
with  
being        
Tree planting  The trees are being held at Paquettes and cared for. Pete will be meeting 
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 
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.