Mansfield Township Committee may increase the number of full-time members on the Recreation Committee from 13 to 21.
By: William Wichert
MANSFIELD For the third year in a row, the makeup of the township’s Recreation Committee may be changing.
At a public hearing on Wednesday, the Township Committee is expected to vote on an ordinance that would increase the number of full-time members on the Recreation Committee from 13 to 21, including two members of the governing body.
If approved, this ordinance would return the Recreation Committee to its original size from 2003, when the Township Committee increased the Recreation Committee membership from 13 to 21 after a heated dispute between recreation members and former Mayor Patrick DeLorenzo. The recreation members refuted Mr. DeLorenzo’s appointment to Recreation Committee director and the nonreappointment of eight longstanding members, who were subsequently added to the membership roster.
The Township Committee changed that arrangement last year and voted to bring the size of the Recreation Committee back down to 13 members and six alternates. At the time, former Township Committeeman John Bereczki said he supported the decrease, contending the Recreation Committee was too big.
Now that both Mr. DeLorenzo and Mr. Bereczki have resigned from their posts, David Moody, chairman of the Recreation Committee, said he expects to see less political bickering between members on the two committees.
"I think this Township Committee is a lot better than the ones we had before, in terms of openness," said Mr. Moody. "Now you have a committee that says, ‘Let’s see what they (Recreation Committee members) have to say.’ It’s like a change of attitude."
Mr. Moody said the increased membership is necessary, because the work of the Recreation Committee and its eight subcommittees is too time-consuming for only 11 public members.
With 19 residents spread across the subcommittees, which correspond to different sports and activities, there can be about two members on each of the subcommittees, Mr. Moody said. Members of the public also assist each of the subcommittees, he said.
After Mr. Moody requested that the Township Committee restore the Recreation Committee’s original makeup, Township Committeeman Jaime Devereaux said the Township Committee agreed, seeing the change as a way of recognizing residents who have been a part of recreation programs in Mansfield for many years.
"I hate to use the word(s), ‘reward them,’ but it’s sort of thanking them for being involved," said Mr. Devereaux, who serves alongside Township Committeewoman LaVerne Cholewa as co-liaisons to the Recreation Committee.
"The thought is to give them an opportunity to be involved in the decision-making, cause they’re the ones who are there (at Recreation Committee meetings) all the time," he said.
All of the 19 proposed Recreation Committee members are either coaches of township teams or parents of children involved in the recreation programs, who volunteer their time throughout the year, said Mr. Moody.
These members include Mr. Moody, Barry Winn, Harry Mansure, Brian Flynn, Joseph Montalvo, Rod Griffith, Lee Nicastro, Beverly Mendenbach, Colleen Herbert, Dave Grupp, Tom Calvert, Frank Pinto, Stuart Smith, Rob Clause, Lynette Dessesseau, Scott Preidel, Mark Tindall, Leann Miccio, and former Township Committeeman Ray Stupienski, who lost in his election bid against Mr. Devereaux last fall.
"It’s only fair that he (Mr. Stupienski) help maintain the quality of the Recreation Committee," said Mr. Devereaux. "I wasn’t going to let my political disagreement affect the quality of the Recreation Committee."
Mr. Stupienski, who previously served as a liaison to the Recreation Committee, said his appointment to the committee is only part of his longstanding commitment to youth athletics in the township. A member of the Recreation Committee since 1993, Mr. Stupienski has coached many teams, served as a high school umpire, and helped found the Northern Burlington Instructional Athletic Association in 1998. He said that increasing membership on the committee will ensure greater participation by residents.
"If people aren’t on the committee and feel like they don’t have a say, they don’t come to the meetings as much," he said. "With the township growing as it is, there’s always that challenge of meeting the recreational needs of all the residents. The committee is looking to try to fund the programs in alternate ways (and) continuing to improve the facilities we have."
One of those alternate ways, he said, is the revenue that the Recreation Committee hopes to receive from a concession stand in a recreation building that is expected to be built in the Mansfield Township Community Park in the near future. The building is still in the design phase, but a residential developer is supposed to share the cost of construction.
When the building is finally completed, the concession stand will generate as much as $13,000 in annual revenues and help offset the Recreation Committee’s operating budget of about $55,000, said Mr. Moody.
After the township puts in its $30,000 share, the Recreation Committee raises the rest of the money through business sponsorships and registration fees for children in the different programs, he said.
Although the committee added about 15 new teams to its basketball, baseball and soccer programs collectively last year, it was able to maintain the yearly registration fee at $20 per child in every sport, when other neighboring municipalities are charging over $40, Mr. Moody said.
"We’re adding teams, but the budget hasn’t changed," he said.
The Recreation Committee, which meets on the third Tuesday of every month in the municipal building, held its reorganization meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 18. The committee would not have to hold another reorganization meeting if the ordinance is adopted next week, said acting Township Clerk Linda Semus.

