Volunteers Green and Browns Court Project Committee 10/30/24

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Volunteers Green, Browns Court, Round Church Green 3 Parks
Improvement Committee (ARPA Funds)
Minutes from meeting held on October 30, 2024 Approved at Nov 21, 2024
Members Attending: Kendra Ziskie, Denise Barnard, Fran Thomas, Tess Storrs,
Jeanne Agner Members Absent: Megan Andrews
Guests in person: Jim Oliver Attending Virtually: Mark Fausel
Public comment: None
Minutes Approved from last meeting on October 15, 2024 with corrections
Next scheduled meeting: Thursday November 21 st at 7pm
Agenda:
Public outreach meeting feedback discussion as well as any feedback received
directly to the Committee since the last meeting.
We had over 500 posters printed. Paper copies were sent out w RES students,
Little Tots, Meghan Andrews childcare, posted in many town places and were
passed out at the Farmer’s Market. Info was posted on the RES website, on FPF
and in the CSC newsletter. Denise shared her concerns that there were not many
people attending. We feel that we made a gallant effort to get the news out.
Overall, comments were positive and questions thoughtful.
Bathroom/Concession stand- no one at the meeting and no one in emails
expressed concern about removing the bathroom or the concession stand. One
email suggested using the building for storage.
Bandshell- Some sentiments were expressed for the current bandshell. A more
multipurpose building had favorable comments. Some expressed the feeling that
if we rebuild the bandshell perhaps a new bandshell could have some similarity to
the old bandshell. Need for the structure to be accessible was stressed.
Playground - Support for moving the playground to the higher ground. Some
concern expressed about safety. Most seemed agreeable with the fence. Some
questioned the safety reports and wondered if the playground could be repaired.
There was feedback about not only how much it costs to repair the playground
each time it floods, but how many months the playground cannot be used after
each flood event. Kendra will compile the general feedback comments from the
emails received regarding Volunteers Green with names removed.
We thank Jon Milazzo for facilitating this meeting.
Other Updates from Members of the Committee
Playground- Estimate for playground fence. Jeanne said that the fence needed
would be almost the same size (linear feet) as the fence recently installed at the
cemetery. The price of that fence from FE Hart was $27,329. It was installed by
White’s Fencing in Hinesburg for $10,000. We commented that it would be nice to
see a fence that was the same or similar to the cemetery fence for continuity in
the town.
Design- Jeanne and Megan will meet with a few other community members who
have expressed interest in the playground to get input on the newest design
presented to us by Justin Mansfield.
Comments have been made that there is a playground at Richmond Elementary
School that can be used by the public. We noted that the playgrounds and school
grounds cannot be used when school, after school and summer programs are
held. After school programs use the facility daily until 5:30 or 6:00. The campus is
used most of the summer for childcare programs and summer camps.
Reviewing the safety report from 5/01/24 and repairs needed. Jeanne noted that
each of the three playground reps initially contacted were asked if there were any
parts of the current playground structure that could be repaired and/or used in a
new playground design. All three playground experts stated that there is nothing
that could be reused and that the structure is beyond repair. The swing sets are
separate structures and as long as they are not moved (would compromise the
poles), they could continue to be used. The swing sets will not be included in the
new playground design and will remain where they are. We will include cost to
repair the swings and chains in our overall proposal.
Jeanne is still considering writing VOREC grant. She will talk with the town about
how to get approval for matching funds. That should come out of our ARPA funds
but the town is the applicant for the grant. It was noted that this it out of the
scope of our committee, but if Jeanne wants to volunteer one her own to write a
grant, she can offer to do that.
Bandshell - Treybal structuring engineering firm looked at the bandshell with
Denise and Fran. He stated several times that the structural beams are not safe.
He said that the wood siding is rotting. Any effort to try to fix the floor would
involve starting from scratch. The wall supports in the cement are deteriorating.
Basically, the cement floor would have to be removed and rebuilt. Treybal says
there is significant damage. He says he is not the person for the job. He has not
given us a structural report. Treybal recommends talking with Bob Neeld, owner
of Engineering Ventures who has flood water experience as well. He could provide
the whole scope of what needs to be done. We need to know A. Cost of total
repair. Scope of services B. Cost of building a new building. Denise will follow
through with Treybal and get in touch with Bob Neeld.
Bathrooms/Concessions Noted at tonight’s meeting: Fran said that there is not a
stove or other cooking apparatus. There may not be the types of sinks needed for
health and safety inspection if the concession stand was cleaned to those
standards. Kendra mentioned that a soccer group had a food truck at a recent
event. One email had suggested using the building for storage. But anything
stored would be damaged in floods. We want to reduce the cost of repairs needed
to any structure during a flood event. It cost $67,000 to repair the bathrooms and
playground after a flood. Need to find the cost of demolition of this facility as then
we hope to have “square footage credit” for building on the plateau.
Overall design of Volunteers Green Fran, Denise and Jeanne are going to meet
with Hillview Design, John Linn and Ben Bush to see if they would be interested in
working on an overall design for Volunteers Green. They could use Chris Haggerty
elevation maps and include the playground design, if they choose to work on this
project. We would ask them to look at making the plateau accessible. Mark Fausel
indicated that he would like to attend this meeting.
Nov 9. -Special Richmond Town Meeting at CHMS November 9, 2024 In person
vote.(See warned meeting articles). We discussed Article 3 -Special Projects
Reserve Fund as it pertains to our work. If this article fails, we understand that
means that the town could decide to spend the money currently designated for
remaining park improvements on something else.
Trees Caitlin Littlefield, the town tree warden, updated information. Fran
explained the concerns about getting the tree pruned at Old Round Church Green
now or waiting until next summer. Denise stated that Caitlin’s concern is if the
work isn’t done now branches could possibly fall on the Round Church. Jeff from
Acer tree service pointed out the rot and did some maintenance this summer to
try to extend the life of the tree in question. Part of Caitlin’s job is to give the town
an entire budget and plan for the tree maintenance throughout the town. She is
developing that now.
Budget Kendra needs the final number of the money already spent for projects.
Denise will talk with Connie Bona to get the exact numbers. We need that
information to know exactly what we have remaining for Volunteers Green
projects. Originally, we had reserved $325,000 but we know that some of the
Browns Court and Old Round Church Green prices increased.
Browns Court Park Denise updated us on the status of Browns Court boundaries.
The town does not yet have definitive boundary lines from all property owners
therefore that park has not yet been declared a park in perpetuity. The town
indicated they would be meeting with the town lawyer before meeting with the
property owners to discuss the boundaries but that has not yet happened. Fran is
following up on this.
Meeting was adjourned at 8:50.
Dates:
Nov. 21, Thursday - 3 Parks next scheduled meeting
Upcoming meetings that pertain to our work
Nov. 6 - Planning Commission
Nov. 9 - Saturday- Special Selectboard at CHMS -Article 3
Nov 13 -DRB - agenda item regarding the permit for the pickleball courts The town
is the applicant. There could be questions regarding the pickleball court. Fran,
Denise, and Tess will attend in case there are questions that the town staff may
not be able to answer. NOTE the day after our meeting ,we learned that this topic
is NOT on the Nov 13 meeting. It has been added to the DRB meeting agenda on
Dec 11 .