Recreation & Parks Commission - Minutes - 07/25/2023

Waterford Recreation and Parks Commission 
Regular Meeting Minutes  
July 25, 2023 – 4:30 pm 
Waterford Community Center 
 
 
The Recreation and Parks Commission held a regular scheduled meeting on July 25th, 2023 at the Waterford Community Center. 
Meeting was called to order at 4:30 p.m. by Director Ryan McNamara and a quorum was established. 
 
Members in attendance:  R. Erricson, T. Santos, L. Beaney, M. Chiappone, N. Scheiber 
 
Members Absent:  J. Gregg, E. Murphy 
 
Staff:  Director - R. McNamara, Program Coordinator - T. Cieplik, and Office Coordinator- E. Sullivan 
 
Guests:  R. Tuneski - Finance Liason; L. Wolfley - RISE 
 
K. Hall resigned from the commission and not able to be the Chairman.  M. Chiappone is not able to move into the Chairperson role.   
E. Murphy will fill role vacated by K. Hall for remainder of chair term.   
(Motion #1) – R. Erricson made a motion and seconded by N. Scheiber to elect E. Murphy until the role of the previous Chairman, 
commissioner K. Hall runs out.  So voted 5-0 
 
Approval of Meeting Minutes: 
(Motion #2) - Made by R. Erricson and seconded by T. Santos to approve the minutes of the June 27th, 2023 regular meeting. 
So voted 5-0 
 
Public Comments: 
 
L. Wolfley, member from RISE (Residence for Inclusion and Social Equity).  They have been holding book discussions at the 
community center and want to say thank you for offering them the space, they are very grateful.  Waterford Rise has a page on 
their website and want to list us as a partner.  RISE is all Waterford residents who volunteer their time.  They had Curtis 
Goodwin come speak and it received a lot of good feedback on the event.  You can look at waterfordrise.org to see more of what 
they do. 
 
Correspondence:  
 
None 
 
Other Correspondence: 
 
None 
 
STAFF REPORTS:   
Director R. McNamara – end of year budgeting Kim Allen, Finance Director, has been a big help.  We will begin our special revenue for  
FY24 with roughly $33,000.  General revenue came in around 205K mostly from beach revenue.  Projects – Basketball bid specs going out 
soon.  WBP maintenance shop design plan - move pole barn to where parking lot is and we would move the gate down.  August 14th they 
will be starting the dredging of the pond in the civic triangle.    Solar contracts of trashcans and items will come out of the beautification 
fund.  HVAC improvements have been passed for the community center.  Assistant Director position is being worked on and  
R. McNamara is speaking with the first Selectman and GGA.  Would like to be able to put this into the Personnel Review Board for any 
updates and edits on the job description.  Two benches are still waiting to be installed at Mago and one bench in front of Community 
Center.  Group of volunteers painted new lines at Leary Park for pickle ball.  Goshen Fireman Fair is August 4th and 5th – we support 
them with picnic tables and trash receptacles.  Waterford Parade is August 12th and Save the River, Save the Hills is on the same day with 
ceremony at Grimsy Beach.  LED sign will installed at Quaker Hill Green due to a grant that was funded to help pay for it.  Commission 
Roles and vacancies are being discussed at the Board of Selectman July, 25th (we have 2 vacancies).  Playground from Southwest had a 
request for it to go to Dedrick and we could repurpose.  
 
 

 
 
 
 
Program Coordinator T. Cieplik – Fall brochure should be out in next few weeks (August 15th).  Dog park meeting 6 pm 8/1/23.  We are 
looking for a committee member to join this meeting and represent our commission. N. Scheiber would like to be involved.  Field 
maintenance there are tons of things the guys are working on with Waterford Babe Ruth and Legion Ball to get the fields ready.  
Waterford Beach after the storms there is a lot of clean up.  Summer programming 3v2 and Tennis are doing well and some programs are 
maxed out.  E. Murphy is showing M. Buscetto how to run the 3v2 and M. Chiappone would like to help out next session. 
Summer concerts are going wonderful – Mystic Dead brought in about 1,000 people.  Changes have been very successful and having the 
fire police there makes a huge difference and people have made positive comments.  The sound guy has also made a big difference and a 
valuable change because it can be heard clearly and from farther away for those people that may sit in their cars and not able to get to the 
field area.  Approximately 90+ staff for summer and transition went smoothly for onboarding.  We are still working on getting swipe 
cards for time keeping to make it easier and more efficient.  Tracking daily attendance for the playground program and our numbers are 
up slightly from last year (total of 244 which is up +33 from last year).  
Upcoming events:  Harvest Fest October 7, Pearl Harbor Day Memorial Masters Run December 3rd, Tree Lighting is early December, and 
NEW Bright lights and spirited nights – few weeks of decorating contest of homes you can drive around to see. 
 
Committee Reports:  
 
Nominating – E. Murphy to fill in for Chair until term is done. 
 
Personnel – Will review the job description for Assistant Director 
 
Youth Sports Council – 1st meeting being set up for late July/August – overview of council, meet and greet and request for 
members to lead this forward.  – there are many new board members and changes from a lot of the sports.  
 
Long Range Planning – Continuing to work on 
 
Policies and procedures – Continuing to work on R. McNamara and T. Santos 
 
Representative Reports: 
 
Board of Ed – None 
 
Board of Finance – R. Tuneski reported HVAC software for Community Center was approved. 
 
Historical Society – A. Cascio – will send thank you to him for 2 benches which he sanded and cleaned up 
 
O’Neil Theater – None 
 
Senior Services –D. Payne retires 7/26/23 
 
Properties: 
 
Arnold Holmes pond will have improvements and are underway.  
 
A lot of mulching, edging for schools and fall programs as they are only a few weeks away.   
 
Old Business: 
 
None 
 
New Business: 
 
Waterford resident has a 3 year old son who has a rare type of lymphoma and needs a bone marrow transplant.  They are 
requesting a small booth at concerts for information purposes only.  The resident’s son will be featured in “Be The Match” 
company information regarding the rare disease and how people can help by being a match for her son or anyone out there. 
(Motion #3) – Made by N. Scheiber and 2nd by R.Erricson to allow Kelsea Duarte, representing Be the Match, with information 
at tables only at Waterford Beach concert.  So voted 5-0. 
 
Cannons baseball and use of field at Little League South was discussed.  Questions were asked if a third party program should 
be able to rent and/or control fields in that manner.  Update and overview planned in early August. 
 
Adjournment: 
(Motion #4):  Made by R. Erricson and seconded by M. Chiappone to adjourn the meeting.  So voted 5-0. Meeting adjourned at 5:42 pm  
 
 
Respectfully submitted, 
Eileen Sullivan, Office Coordinator 
Recreation and Parks Commission