Holderness Recreation Board Meeting
September 14, 2005
Board Members Present: Wendy Werner, Director, Tom Stepp (chair), Sam Laverack (Selectman ) Biff Sutcliffe (secretary), Peter Durnan, Jay Fogarty, Janis Messier Wendy Mersch, Marty Riehs
Minutes of 15 August were reviewed and accepted.
The focus of this workshop was to discuss and explore options for the 2006 Day Camp season.
• It was our unanimous opinion that Angie's review of the Day Camp season was an excellent and helpful document. It was voiced many times that it is our hope that Angie will continue to make Holderness Day Camp a priority in her life.
•Discussion of salary vs. hourly pay - most seemed to voice that the advantages of salary (ease of planning salary scale, less day-to-day bookkeeping, more professional approach to the job, seems better with marketing the positions rather than a low $/hour pay). It was mentioned that the bookkeeping job should certainly not be too difficult given the fact that the Day Camp day is the same for all. The question of how to handle missed time was discussed, and even though there was only one sick day last summer, it could be a problem. In addition, the question of overtime and pay was brought up. The general number of hours per week of responsibility is 32 so it appears that perhaps overtime is not an issue. Sam will seek advice from Town Counsel as to weighing the differences between salary and hourly wages
with teenagers.
• Last spring Angie introduced the idea of incorporating a Leadership component to the Day Camp program for CIT age teenagers. The Board would like to have her explore this option for 2006. Perhaps this program could be expanded to run in parallel to the regular program and overlap when appropriate. It was mentioned that perhaps that the 13 - 15 year old age category is a population that is in need of something to do for the summer and we would be providing a service as well as bolstering our revenue.
• Whole Day vs. Half Day: The hours of Day Camp have been considered for the last few years and it seems that the hours should be changed to better serve our population. The consensus seemed to be that we should continue to offer our program from 9:00 AM to 3:30 PM, but offer pre and post hours for parents who need the longer session. We would charge extra for these hours and have staff hired to provide this service from 8:00 AM to 9:00 AM and from 3:30 PM to 4:30 PM.
• Wendy reviewed the questionnaire she had recently sent to the parents of this summers campers and our staff. She included a stamped return envelope. The returns of this will be reviewed in the next few meetings.
• Angie and Wendy continue to work on other ways to market our program. Some ideas discussed are: early registration incentives, referral credits, mid-winter post cards sent to this year's campers, T-shirt's given to campers that will act as advertising throughout the year. Wendy will work on the T-shirt idea and see if she can get some sponsors.
• A lengthy discussion about the use of the Town Beach by the Day Camp included a review of some of the issues: watching campers and non-campers sharing the water, use of picnic tables, no sheltered area to move to in case of rain or storm, and no defined "crafts" area.
It was the consensus that we should not cordon off the swimming area, but we did agree that purchasing a portable "quick-up" tent would be good for trial use in 2006. If this works we would then consider exploring the building of a permanent "gazebo type" structure.
• Wendy was asked to review how her summer went and whether or not she felt comfortable with the working relationship and time spent on Holderness Recreation the Day Camp and her own business. She reported that she felt very comfortable with the working relationship she established with Angie and that she was only called for "advice" a few times. She said she was very busy, but she felt that her Holderness responsibilities were not a burden.
NEXT MEETING: Wednesday, October 12th at 7:00 PM
Respectfully submitted,
George D. Sutcliffe, Jr. (secretary)
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