Community Center Committee Meeting Minutes 11/09/2023

Minutes: Thursday, November 9, 2023
Monterey Community Center Committee
Present: Laurie Shaw, Mary Makuc, Wendy Jensen, Wendy Germain, Mark Andrews, Dennis Lynch, Elaine Lynch, JoAnn Bell, Kyle Pierce, Roz Halberstadter, Mike Zerbel, RJ Supa, Director
Meeting commenced at 10:05 am
October 12, 2023 Minutes approved.
Next Meeting Date: Thursday, December 14, 2023 @ 10am at the MCC
New member Mike Zerbel welcomed by unanimous vote. He will need to be sworn in by Town Clerk.
Many thanks to RJ for the outstanding job he has done in his first month as Director.
Update from RJ:
RJ reported being busy with meets & greets over the last month. He is learning the systems and working with Nancy Kleban to get up to speed.
Past and Ongoing Programs:
-Railroad Street Youth Project met but with only two youth. This was a private group. There was some discussion about payment for the space rental.
-Halloween: Roughly 25 children showed up to the candy offering at the end of the CC driveway. There was some discussion about maybe having daytime events for Halloween in the future.
-Lunar Eclipse play discussion was well attended with about 23 people. RJ started the discussion and then everyone took part. Since this was so successful, it was suggested that maybe we join with the Council on Aging for discussions in the future. For example, COA could host the field trip part and the MCC has the talk/discussion afterwards. Wendy G suggested a Karen Allen film festival as an idea.
-Going forward, RJ’s deadline for program information is the 15th of the month for the Monterey News, that way the information will be organized and ready to send to the MN by the 20th.
Upcoming Programs:
-The Chestnut talk organized by Janet Jensen is coming up on Friday, Nov. 24th followed by the chestnut roasting at Kevin West’s house. There is a new Chestnut Champion Project that will be discussed and implemented at the talk. The Native Pollinators group will be planting chestnuts in a community garden bed this year. There is a lot of interest in this project by the MCC.
-Pie Crust workshop will be happening on Nov. 11 with Hanna Jensen, there is already a waitlist so there is discussion of another workshop.
-Some discussion of a coin seller that may be interested in offering a program in May. Kyle will be in touch with him, Marc Lapins.
-The date for the winterfest was set for Sunday, February 18, 2024 with a snow date of Monday, Feb. 19th. It was decided to have Andrew Shaw return as DJ. Laurie will let him know.
-There was a defibrillator demonstration by RJ and some discussion on when to use it.
-There was discussion about getting some CPR training. RJ will reach out to Del Martin, EMT with the Fire Dept.
-Wreathmaking is happening on Nov. 18 at 10:30am with Catherine Hurst
-MLTH (Monterey Lights the Holidays): Dennis spoke that the committee had a meeting to organize the event and the distribution of lights and labor. There are 60 strands of lights available and they hope to have lights out and up for Nov. 25th. Cheryl Zellman will take care of the cider and donuts for the event.
-Galina Vromen was wondering if the MCC might be interested in an informational talk about Israel and Palestine. After some discussion it was decided not to go forward with this idea at this time.
Other Business:
-Pavilion: There has been a lot going on with the pavilion plans. Many more roadblocks seem to be ahead. 1. We need more solid figures by Jan. 1st for the Select Board. 2. Dennis found a grant that could potentially give us money but needs to go to the Select Board first. 3. Dennis found another grant that could help pay to organize the project and do a feasibility study. It was suggested that an addition to the CC building be considered for more space and to take advantage of the grants. There was much discussion, pros and cons, for these ideas and grants. It was decided that Dennis go forward with the grant writing with two options, one with a pavilion, new bathroom and building addition and one with the pavilion and new bathroom.
-The Openspace Committee is meeting from 7-9 at the library and Dennis encouraged all to attend.
-Donation Box is installed. RJ and Wendy J have the keys. RJ will take care of it. Wendy will put a sign on it.
-Wendy J didn’t check into possible chair storage ideas but will do so before the next meeting.
-RJ suggested a road map for the long range strategic planning.
-Donation Items: It has been a problem of folks dropping off unwanted items at the CC and also borrowing items from the CC. RJ suggested we make up a wish list to curb the unwanted/needed drop-offs as there is not enough storage for excess items.
-Donation of Edith’s self-portrait. It was suggested that we try to have an afternoon tea on Nov. 26th to formally accept the painting. RJ will try to coordinate the time with the person involved.
-RJ met with the Community Garden group and they need a new fence. They have some fence posts but need the fence. They also noted that the shed needs to be more organized by maybe adding some shelves. There was discussion about the garden being handicap accessible. The committee is unsure if the Community Garden is actually part of our purview as it is on town property but there is no budget line item for the garden in the MCC’s budget.
-The door lock code is changing. RJ will see that every group leader will get the new code.
-Fees for use of the MCC. There was discussion about the fees for use of the building and this will need to be discussed further to make sure the payments are fair and reasonable.
Meeting adjourned: 12:30pm
Respectfully submitted by Wendy G. Jensen