In addition to meeting minutes, interested residents should be aware that video tapes of athletic field committee meetings are available. Tapes may be obtained at the CATV office at the south end of the High School for about two weeks after the date of the meeting. After two weeks, tapes are sent to the Howe Library where they can be checked out. The phone number for CATV is 643-2288.

Dresden Fields Committee

Minutes 2/7/05

Present: John Aubin, Paul Campagna, John Chamberlin, Mary Danko, Barry Harwick, Mike Jackson, Peter Krass, Dennis Lally, Brian Livingston, Buff McClaughry, Kathy Parsonnet, Larry Pilchman, Hilary Pridgen, Hank Tenney, Geoffrey Vitt,.

The following issues were discussed and actions taken:

Mission Clarification and General Discussion of Issues

The committee’s mission was reviewed for the benefit of new committee members. It was reiterated that the committee has been charged with presenting a long term athletic fields plan to the Dresden Board of Education. Major questions to be answered include in part:

How do we use the land at the High School and in Norwich?
How do we coordinate with the Hanover and Norwich recreation departments?

Other discussion included:

the need to determine what’s not possible, e.g., use of specific Dartmouth fields;
timing of bond vote, with most members concurring a Fall 05 vote would be best to line up contractors for Spring 06 work;

Once the Dresden aboard approves the plan, the committee is expected to promote the plan to the public via public information sessions and web site, among other avenues.

Communication with the Public

How and when to communicate with the public was discussed. Committee members will be investigating the best methods for communicating with the public throughout the entire process. Transparency and efficiency are primary goals.

Review of Current Fields Status

Handouts were shared by John Aubin, Mike Jackson, and Peter Krass that detailed a history of the attempts to develop athletic fields, current field usage, and the status of those fields. How the tri-party land deal, Dartmouth, and the impending high school renovation would affect the fields was discussed.

Athletic Director Mike Jackson’s primary concerns were the situation with Dartmouth-owned Fullington field, the use of which is tenuous, he said; the loss of Thompson Terrace to the town of Hanover; and the track which has not been used for competition due to its dilapidated state.

From the discussion it was clear that Dartmouth and Hanover Recreation are also stretched and in need of space, and scheduling of programs is problematic. There was also the concern that more needs to be done to share fields and this issue should be discussed more in depth.

Questionnaire Update

About 900 questionnaires had been received. It was reported that results should be available within 2-3 weeks. When to make the results available to the public was discussed and it was stated that this should not happen until the final report from Bob Sokol was presented. The committee was asked to submit their own questions as to what they would like to know from the questionnaire results.

Interim Norwich Plans Update

School board member Geoffrey Vitt reviewed the status of building fields on the Norwich parcel using the Merriman Fund. Because free fill from Dartmouth is already being dumped on the site for use there or at the high school, it was suggested by a member of the public to advise the public on why there is activity at the site. It was agreed that the Dresden board or superintendent’s office should do so.

As for the permit process if the Norwich interim fields proceed, Buff McLaughry stated that it is a lengthy process that must be taken into consideration in scheduling the actual work.

Dresden board member John Chamberlin noted that the questionnaire results are critical to the school board’s decision on whether to proceed with the interim project.

Next Meeting: Tuesday, March 1, 7:00 pm Hanover High Library

Action Steps Before Next Meeting

The committee will invite a Dartmouth athletic department representative and Jill Kearney of the Norwich Recreation Department to speak at the March 1 meeting.

Mary Danko and John Chamberlin will begin to look into best methods for disseminating information to the public.

The approved February 7 minutes will be posted on the web site.

The questionnaire results and analysis will be managed in a timely manner so that results will be available by the March 1 meeting.