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Recreation Commission Meeting October 6, 2003 the program. Either way, if there is an Assistant Commissioner opening, it would not incur an increase in salary but would be an increase in title. Mr. DiSalvo would like to put someone into place now that he has been with the Rec Center for ten months so that he can start to get into the financial end of his job. Instead of handling employee and patron issues at any given moment, these matters could be turned over to an Assistant. Also, when the Commissioner is away, there's a definite need to put someone in charge over every other employee so that the office runs smoothly. There are three programmers who would apply for this position. The consensus of the Commission is there are qualifying candidates, and now is a good time to talk about the Assistant talked about previously. Ms. Jones felt that whoever gets the job should get a little more money. Mr. Jesse said that there is precedent for this, and there should be a stipend for the increase in responsibility. Mr. Baxter noted that the budget would allow for a modest increase for this acknowledgement. Mr. DiSalvo would like an Assistant Commissioner put into place by the first of the year (2004). Mr. Kelley asked if choosing the Assistant would be under Mr. DiSalvo's authority or if it would go higher. Mr. Jesse said it would be an internal posting, and the Commission made it clear that Mr. DiSalvo would be in charge of choosing his own Assistant. Nursery Service Mr. DiSalvo voiced the concern about the costs of running the nursery service, since the employees basically are the ones to utilize the service, and the service is underutilized. There's a difference between a program that's successful and what is happening with the nursery service. Attendance from July 2002 to August 15, 2003 went down considerably. Mr. DiSalvo, with a recommendation from the Commission, would like to implement closing the nursery until the first of the year because of the under-utilization. There are days when the sitter has nothing to do. That money could pay for water. Most of the low numbers are employees using the service; it's not patrons or guests. The payroll is exceeding what the Rec Center is bringing in. Mr. Jesse moved that the nursery service be discontinued through December. Ms. Jones seconded the motion. Roll was called; all were in favor; Motion passed. Mr. DiSalvo said that, with closing the nursery service, the ticket booth area may be redesigned so that Sandy Gimino, Head Cashier, can use the area as a registration office. Group Exercise Program For the first month, the Rec fell $150 short of covering the expense of the instruction. See Mr. DiSalvo’s letter dated October 1, 2003 regarding this matter, attached hereto. This program moved from Gymastics to the Senior Center in the Cabin. The Rec needs a minimum of 18 people to cover the cost of the instructors. The classes are averaging two or three people each. $360 was needed to cover the instructor's pay for October. Unless the numbers improve, Mr. DiSalvo sees no reason to continue that program. At the end of July, a letter went to the aerobics instructors indicating the loss in the program. At that time, there was a letter signed by about 25 people demanding that the program continue. Of that list of 25, only five actually bought passes. Usage is not up. Averaging about $300 a month to cover the instructors' pay is not enough to Page 8