Committee Report - Youth - 5-7-19 — File 208161

Youth Services Committee Page 1 of 3 Printed 5/8/2019 May 7, 2019 REPORT OF THE YOUTH SERVICES COMMITTEE Attendee Name Title Status Arrived Stephanie Hirsch Chair Present Jesse Clingan Vice Chair Present Lance L. Davis Ward Six City Councilor Present Others present: Councilor Matt McLaughlin, Mike Bowler - DPW, Stan Koty - DPW, Rositha Durham - Clerk of Committees. The meeting took place in the Committee Room and was called to order at 6:00 PM by Chairman Hirsch and adjourned at 6:50 PM. Approval of the April 8, 2019 Minutes RESULT: ACCEPTED Port-a-Potties 206232: That the Administration install portable toilets at playgrounds and the following parks: Albion, Dickerman, North Street, Lincoln (when it reopens), Marshall Street, Chuckie Harris, Kenney, Grimmons, Healey, Hoyt-Sullivan (when it reopens) and Conway, no later than July 2018. Items 2, 3, 4 and 5 were discussed together. Mr. Koty and Mr. Bowler provided an update that Somerstat is studying the Port-a-Potty situation. Last year, the city installed public portable toilets in two neighborhood parks, Chuckie Harris and Albion Parks. Mr. Koty said that additional funding had been added to the DPW budget to fund service contracts for more port-a- potties. There were two 311 service calls and one police call regarding the port-a-potties. Councilor Davis motioned and it was accepted that the Administration advise the City Council in writing not later than the May 23 meeting of the Council what, specifically, is being studied and what, specifically, is preventing installation of port-a-potties in City parks and playgrounds. It was suggested in the meeting to install the public portable toilets in a number of new high- priority locations for this summer season and remove if there are any complaints.

Youth Services Committee Page 2 of 3 Printed 5/8/2019 RESULT: KEPT IN COMMITTEE 206188: That the Administration update this Board prior to July 12, 2018, on providing public restrooms at public parks, including parks that will be used by programs that would otherwise use Conway Park, including Dickerman Park. RESULT: KEPT IN COMMITTEE 206643: That the Administration report on how the port-a-potty pilot went this summer, whether or not it can be expanded, and how residents should notify the city if port-a-potties need cleaning. RESULT: KEPT IN COMMITTEE 207913: That the Administration have Port-a-Potties available at the public parks for the 2019 summer months. RESULT: KEPT IN COMMITTEE Recycling/Composting Pilot 205290: That the Commissioner of Public Works share the process of handling different types of cafeteria waste, including recyclables and food waste. RESULT: KEPT IN COMMITTEE 206854: That the Director of Health and Human Services work with the Public Schools to allow whole fruits to be saved for use as snacks, given that many children often go without snacks. RESULT: KEPT IN COMMITTEE 207948: That the Administration report to this Council the specific plans to expand school cafeteria recycling and food waste reduction and collection programs beyond the current pilot program. Mr. Koty spoke with the school superintendent who would like to expand this program to all K-8 schools for the start of the 2019-2020 school year. The high school will be added to the program once the school is back online. Mr. Koty stated that $100k to $120k will be in the budget this coming FY20 for this program. It was stated that the Garbage to Garden program works with the students to provide education. The school custodians also work with the students. It was also stated there are a lot of containers in the schools. DPW pays extra to pick up the composting for schools that have extra bins. RESULT: WORK COMPLETED

Youth Services Committee Page 3 of 3 Printed 5/8/2019 Cleaning Products 206701: That the Commissioner of Public Works report on the materials and practices used for school cleaning in terms of their impact on childhood health conditions, such as asthma. RESULT: WORK COMPLETED Kennedy Playground 204871: That the Administration report to this Board, by the next Youth Services Committee meeting, on ways to keep the Kennedy School playground open for public use during non-school day daytime hours. Mr. Koty and Mr. Bowler both stated that the Kennedy School playground is being left open for the public on weekends and is locked at a certain time. RESULT: WORK COMPLETED District 205361: That the Director of Parks and Recreation and the Superintendent of Schools share their policies and procedures for allocating indoor spaces and outdoor spaces, in particular for local or youth-serving organizations. Mr. Koty stated that requests to use indoor spaces are submitted to the school department and sent to DPW to issue permits. DPW charges a detail fee for the custodians, which is according to their contract. The charge is $35 an hour plus $50 for a total of $145 for a four hour block. A question was raised as to whether or not fees differ by type of user. Chair Hirsch motioned and it was accepted that the Administration report on the feasibility of adding a budget line, such as in the Recreation Budget, that could help make school building facilities more affordable for use by community groups by helping to cover custodial detail fees. RESULT: KEPT IN COMMITTEE 206858: That the Director of Personnel work with the School District to advertise open City or School positions to families of Public School students. RESULT: KEPT IN COMMITTEE 207724: That the Director of SomerPromise discuss with this Council, the anticipated closure of Freedom School this summer. RESULT: KEPT IN COMMITTEE