Recreation Committee Meeting — Agenda

MEETING MINUTES Village of Palmyra RECREATION COMMITTEE MEETING Monday June 29, 2026 Village Clerk’s Office 100 W. Taft Street 6:00 P.M. Called to order at 6:04 pm by Chairperson Smith. Roll call: Smith, Tucker, McAllister, O’Brien. New Business 1. Discussion about status of new Rec Director. Chairman Smith began the conversation asking Director O’Brien how she is doing and how the transition is going. Director O’Brien shared that she felt things were going well overall, but it’s been a “year of firsts”, especially while also changing and tightening up processes that others may not be used to yet. Some stress points were addressed: losing a volunteer who had been lining baseball fields, weather/rain delays, upset about not having kids’ names on jerseys and last-minute umpire issues. These along with the difficulty that summer sports deadlines seem to come so early. Director O‘Brien did explain this is a limitation because of the deadlines that need to be met with reporting sign-ups to the leagues. The group focused a lot on how to improve communication, so families actually hear about deadlines; covering ideas like email list building, utilizing the event calendar on the Village website, sharing to community Facebook pages, downtown sign board/ beach sign, distributing activity guides through school, and possibly extending the deadline about a week. Director O’Brien outlined her preference for digital spreadsheet-based systems for continuity- pertaining to ump/coach schedules, sport registrations, etc. She is looking into online registration software like RecDesk for better tracking of participation numbers, continued online payment options and software that could reduce workload and improve organization. 2. Discussion/possible/update action on the beach and swimming. The beach is currently open with no admission fee, and Tammy Houk is working concessions again this summer. The committee discussed ways to track beach usage. Director O’Brien would like to start an hourly tally to understand peak times and staffing needs. They also discussed other ideas to make money at the beach through more variety in concessions and possible rentals of paddleboards or kayaks (noting the logistics/need for an attendant/conflict with Powers Library rental program). 3. Discussion/possible/update on Recreation activities as a whole. The committee discussed building a full year fundraiser/event calendar and then working backward from dates, since there were many ideas but limited time and volunteer capacity. Fundraising ideas included exploring bringing back community fireworks through donations (like a year-round donation barrel or QR-code giving), requesting donations/raffle items from businesses, running raffles (including a gun raffle but coordinating timing with other groups), and revenue-focused events like concessions, a pop-up beer garden at the beach, or a kickball tournament. Upcoming recreation activities included fall sports registration deadlines (with talk of possibly extending them and improving outreach), building soccer interest through an open soccer night, and trying to grow pickleball by promoting rentals and possibly hosting sessions until a consistent group forms. Action Items for Director O’Brien: • Research financial aid program: How do we establish who qualifies? Ask Village Clerk what is legal to ask residents for to prove financial need- Tax documents or free meals from school? • Enrollment comparison this year compared to last year. • Get prep checklist for rentals from the high school- what needs to be done for basketball games. McAllister/Tucker motion to adjourn at 7:39pm. All ayes-motion carried. Respectfully submitted, Heather Hazlett, Deputy Village Clerk/Treasurer Minutes approved without corrections July 20, 2026