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Merrimack School District
Planning & Building Committee

Minutes
October 8, 1996



Present: S. Heinrich, W. Oosterman, J. Flis, T. Koenig, W. Morrison, D. Miller, and R. Rung, liaison from School Board.

The meeting was called to order at 7:32 P.M. by S. Heinrich. He introduced R. Rung, a member of the School Board who has been appointed by the School Board as a liaison to the committee. He explained that R. Rung could participate in all discussions but would have no vote.

Approval of Minutes

On a motion from J. Flis, seconded by D. Miller the minutes of September 10, 1996 were approved four in favor with two abstentions. T. Koenig noted that he had no problem with the legality of twenty-four hour meeting posting requirements, however he felt this was not enough notice for committee members.

Old Business

  1. Athletic Fields - S. Heinrich gave the following summary of a meeting on field development organized by Superintendent O'Neil: Members of American Legion baseball are concerned about the orientation of the new baseball field proposed at Mastricola Middle School. O'Neil field and the current football field are in need of upgrading or rebuilding. A main objective would be to put the track behind the high school. School use of the field behind the American Legion was discussed. The meeting had ended with all present wanting more concrete information on needs and costs for development. J. O'Neil will be hiring an outside firm to give a firm pricing figures. He is looking for all concerned to give a "wish list" of needs.

    Pat McGrath, member of Track and Fields Task Force, was present and he joined the discussion to report that the meeting was clear that the first concern/priority for the use of the track and fields developed would be the school district. J. Flis commented that the biggest obstacle at present is the opinion of Mastricola Elementary (M.E.S.) that they are being "dumped on". He suggested an official aggreement regarding M.E.S. use and district use which defined how often and when lines would be painted on the fields, and referring to O'Neil field as Mastricola Elementary field. S Heinrich suggested sinage renaming the field might be considered. There was also discussion about the need for such an agreement with the Mastricola Middle School (M.M.S.) as well. It was suggested that an official statement from J. O'Neil, cosigned by Athletic Director, J. Raycraft, might be all that is needed. P. McGrath noted that he had sent a letter to Karen Dickson, the Parents and Teachers Together for Mastricola Elementary (P.A.T.T.) suggesting that she attend PBC meetings. The concensus of the PBC was that during the school day, Mastricola schools will have first priority on field usage and that after school hours, the district usage will have priority over town usage. It was noted that scheduling of fields is accomplished through Shirley Lemay's office. It was also noted that everyone working on field development is sensitive to the concerns of the P.A.T.T. They agree that the P.A.T.T. needs to feel it is part of the plan and its interests are being protected not ignored. P. McGrath felt that progress is being made on working together and moving forward. D. Miller suggested that the PBC needs to show that P.A.T.T. the "game plan". J. Flis suggested that it might be appropriate to paint lines on the current field to show the proposed future use. S. Heinrich felt that the cost of re-arranging/re-doing MES recreational areas should be included in the plan. There was discussion about the possibility of including an additional large peice of playground equipment at M.E.S. or at all three elementary school as part of the plan, going to the various school principals and asking them for a wish list of athletic field needs and O'Gara Drive and the P.S.N.H. right of way. Several PBC members felt that they wanted to be part of the field development committee and asked to be notified of future meetings in a timely fashion.

  2. Home Page Site: W. Morrison showed the committee what he had accomplished so far on the construction of a PBC WEB page. The members suggested the following additions and/or changes:
    1. Arrange pointer on PBC page to town, budget committee and school district pages and vice versa.
    2. Include Goals and Objectives when approved.
    3. On the opening page, include a short biographical statement.
    4. Note when minutes are unapproved/unofficial.
    5. Note that WEB site is courtesy of ISONE.
    6. Have a link to maintainer, ie, and e-mail address.
    7. Include a list of schools in town.
    8. Include that date of the most recent update.
    9. Correct term "Chairman" to read "Chair".
    10. Put in disclaimer regarding information in other links not necessarily supported or endorsed by the PBC...
    11. Be sure that meeting posting includes meeting time and location.

    J. Flis will provide a disk with committee logo and suggested that he might be able to devise an animated version. On a motion from J. Flis, seconded by W. Oosterman, the committee unanimously voted to approve the current Home Page concept as presented by W. Morrison, permit him to go on line and implement the corrections and improvements suggested. PBC members will be notified when the page is up and running.

Workshop: Goals & Objectives, 1996-1997

The committee made changes as reflected in the attached document. W. Oosterman suggested that before final approval, the committee should prioritize the goals and/or list them in priority order. J. Flis suggested that a priority be listed with each goal. S. Heinrich suggested that the committee adopt an action plan listing start and stop dates for each goal. The committee decided to view the document with changes suggested and then make decisions about priorities and action dates.

New Business

R. Rung noted that during the last School Board meeting, the high school principal had indicated the high school would have potential space crunch within three years. She suggested that the committee should be looking into solutions to this problem. She suggested that the committee might want to send a copy of its goals and objectives to the principal of all schools and/or invite them to attend a PBC meeting to determine needs and possible solutions.

Public Participation

There was no public participation.

On a motion from J. Flis, seconded by all, the committee unanimously voted to adjourn at 9:45 P.M.

Respectfully submitted,


Planning & Building Committee

Merrimack School District

Last Updated: February 2, 1998 by Wayne Morrison