The Recreation Commission met on earlier this month to discuss how things are going for them in the summer months.
Equipment for the Commission is still in good shape heading into the end of the summer season. The Commission also expects to be on the positive side of their budget with their water bill being lower than it has been in years past for this time of year. The only major hit to the Commission’s budget would be the installation of new trails at LAFA fields, but no major decisions have been made as of yet. “It is difficult to get around the backs to go to one field to the next.” Recreation Director Art Psaledas said about the trails.
Although it has been discussed in meetings past, the idea for Londonderry having some type of waterpark was brought up again. Idea designs have the potential to be as complex or simple as the Commission and town would like to go. Some residents have expressed interest in Londonderry having a place to bring their kids to cool down in the hot summer months without having to go out of town. The Commission agreed that this may be worth looking into if residents have shown an interest in a waterpark coming to Londonderry. A small scale waterpark would be more likely than a larger one for the town, but more research will need to done going forward before any big decisions are made on the subject.
The Summer Playground Program is currently up and running for the summer months at South School with a little over 120 kids registered for the program, according to Psaledas. Psaledas is happy with the crew that they have and the people at South School have made them feel very welcome. There have been some discussions on the issue of lunch, because children are not allowed to stay during that period of the day. The times for the program are 9am-noon and 1pm-3pm. Some parents want their kids to stay for the hour in-between, but the Commission does not have the funds to provide services for that extra hour, according to Psaledas.
The idea was brought up to charge parents the extra hour if they wish their kids to stay during the lunch period, but Psaledas said that is not the issue. “The charge for the extra hour isn’t a big deal. The charge would be for the extra people that I would have to hire,” he said. The cost for the program is $40 per child, $50 for two children in the same family, and $60 for three in the same family. After they are registered, they may attend as much or as little as they would like. Kids are allowed to stay in the morning, afternoon, or both. It is only for that hour of lunch that supervision arrangements would need to be made by parents for their children. Having the kids stay during lunch presents a new level of liability for the town and Recreation Commission. The price would also increase dramatically if lunch were to become an option. As of now, there are no plans to look into this being an option for the future. Overall, Psaledas is pleased that everything is going well with the Summer Playground Program.