Revision as of April 23, 2019
Rules of Procedure for the Town of Litchfield Recreation Commission
Article I. Name
The name of this organization shall be the Town of Litchfield Recreation Commission.
Article II. Authority
These rules of procedure are adopted under the authority of the New Hampshire Revised Statutes Annotated, Chapter 35-B:5.
Article III. Purposes of the Organization
The purposes of this organization are:
A. To formulate policies, advise, recommend, promote, and maintain public parks and recreation in the Town of Litchfield in accordance with the laws governing public recreation in the State of New Hampshire.
B. To build the public recreation and parks program consisting of public parks, grounds, and facilities.
C. To conduct recreation programs utilizing the physical properties available in the Town of Litchfield.
D. To provide leadership in coordinating all activities of a recreational nature in the community and to obtain a maximum benefit for the citizens.
E. To provide adequate and balanced recreational programs which meets the various needs, abilities and interests of every citizen.
F. To solicit the aid of existing organizations to accomplish these purposes.
G. Other purposes consistent with RSA 35-B.
Article IV. Membership
The commission shall consist of up to 10 citizens of the Town of Litchfield who shall be appointed by the Board of Selectmen. There are six (6) members and four (4) alternates. Persons initially appointed to the commission shall serve staggered terms.
Their successors shall be appointed under the same appointing procedure for three-year terms. Vacancies shall be filled by the appointing authority for the unexpired term. A member of the Board of Selectmen shall be an ex-officio member of the commission in addition to the six(6) members and four (4) alternates. All members and alternates of the Town of Litchfield Recreation Commission shall serve without pay, however, they shall be reimbursed for out-of-pocket expenses and travel.
Revision as of October 2005
Members of the Town of Litchfield Recreation Commission shall have full voting authority at all meetings. Alternates will be elevated to voting status by the chair to fill-in for missing or vacant members on a meeting by meeting basis. Alternates will have full participatory rights in all meetings and will share equal status in all matters involving the Town of Litchfield Recreation Commission unless specifically stated otherwise in Rules and Procedures of the Commission.
Section 1. Meeting Attendance:
a. All members shall make every effort to attend each meeting. Should an appointed member miss four (4) consecutive scheduled or announced meetings of which that member received reasonable notice without being excused by the Chair, it shall be grounds for removal from office, after notice and a hearing by the Board of Selectmen.
b. Except when it is not practicable, notice of absence shall be made to the Chair or Vice-Chair by 5:00 PM the day of the meeting or it will be considered an unexcused absence.
Revision as of December 2020
Article V. Officers
Section 1. Election of Officers
Annually, at the first regular May Meeting, the members of the Recreation Commission shall elect from its membership a chair, vice chair, and secretary.
Section 2. Duties of the Officers
The chair shall preside over all meetings, appoint committees as directed by the commission and sign official documents on behalf of the commission. The chair must be a member of the Commission.
The vice-chair shall preside in the absence of the chair and shall have full powers of the chair on matters that come before the commission in the absence of the chair. The vice chair must be a member of the Commission.
The secretary shall maintain a record of all meetings, transactions and decisions of the commission. The secretary shall issue all notices of regular meetings of the commission and special meetings called by the chair. The secretary may be either a member or alternate.
Section 3. Director of Recreation
The director of recreation shall be the administrative agent of the recreation commission. He or she shall be entitled to attend all meetings and participate in discussion but shall not be entitled to vote.
Article VI. Meetings
Revision as of October 2005
Section 1. Regular Meetings
The commission shall meet at a minimum of one meeting every two months. The regular meetings shall be held at Town Hall or other designated location on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month. Each member and alternate of the commission shall be notified at least 5 days prior to each meeting. Public notice shall be provided per RSA 91-A:2.
Section 2. Special Meetings
The chair may call special meetings at any time deemed necessary or desirable provided public notice and notice to each member is given at least 24 hours prior to the meetings.
Section 3. Quorum
A quorum shall consist of a majority of serving commission members present.
Section 4. Rules of Order
General parliamentary rules, as given in Robert’s Rules of Order, and as modified by the rules and regulations adopted by the commission, shall be observed in conducting meetings.
Section 5. Order of Business
The order of business for regular meetings shall be as follows:
a. Call to Order
b. Roll Call
c. Consideration of Minutes of Previous Meeting
d. Public Input
e. Facility Requests
f. Communications and Miscellaneous
g. Old Business
h. New Business
i. Adjournment
The rules of order may be suspended and matters considered or postponed by action of the recreation commission.
Revision as of October 2005
Article VII. Committees
Section 1. Special and Advisory Committees
The commission may from time to time appoint special and/or advisory committees to assist with projects. The personnel of these committees may be composed of members of the community, representatives of civic clubs, or other groups.
Section 2. Commission Oversight of Committees
Sports and other organizations falling under the Commission shall be set-up as Special Committees. As such at least one member or alternate of the LRC will be a member of this committee with the remainder of the members being volunteers. Each committee will establish its own organization, officers, operating procedures, and rules. These will be documented and a current copy kept on file in the recreation office.
Funds raised by committees must be expended on activities and equipment in support of these activities. These funds will be kept in the revolving fund. Each committee will submit an annual budget to the Commission for approval. Within the approved budget the committee has full latitude in disbursement of funds. Any surplus funds will remain in the account for the committee to offset future expenses and improvements. As with the annual budgets for these committees both the committee and the Commission must approve any expenditure of reserve funds.
Annually the Commission will review each committee. The committee will be invited to a meeting of the LRC for this purpose. The purpose of this review is to assess how the committee is meeting the needs of the community and what the long term resource needs are for the committee.
Article VIII. Administrative Procedures
Section 1. Purchasing Policy
The Recreation Commission will follow the current purchasing policy put forth by the Board of Selectmen for the town of Litchfield.
Section 2. Use of Recreation Facilities by Other Organizations
Facilities and fields under the control of the Commission may be used by other organizations with the approval of a majority of the Commission. These requests will be made on forms designed for this purpose available from the Commission. The requests will be considered on a first come first serve basis with the following hierarchy of usage:
1. Town of Litchfield Organizations (i.e. Police, Fire, etc.)
2. Litchfield Based not for profit Organizations (Litchfield Baseball Assoc., Litchfield Youth Soccer, Boy and Girls Scouts, etc.)
Revision as of October 2005
3. Litchfield School District Organizations and Teams
4. Other Litchfield Based Organizations whose membership consists of a majority of Litchfield residents
5. Groups and organizations that have some ties to the Litchfield community. Proof of insurance by the organization making the request will be required. The Town of Litchfield will be listed as an additional insured on each of these liability policies.
Fund raising activities will be permitted on recreation properties with the approval of the Commission. The commission may decide to partner with or co-sponsor such activities as long as the event in question does not expose the Town of Litchfield to unacceptable levels of liability as determined by the Commission.
Section 3. Use of Alcohol at Recreation Facilities
Under normal circumstances, alcohol is not permitted on any recreation property. With prior approval, events may be held where alcohol is permitted. It is the policy of the Commission not to partner with or co-sponsor any event with an outside organization that will have alcohol present solely for the purpose of covering the event under the Town of Litchfield’s liability. At any activity or event where alcohol may be present, the following will be required for the Commission to consider approval for use of recreation facilities:
1. General liability insurance for the event or activity in the amount of at least $2,000,000 with the Town of Litchfield named as an additional insured.
2. A police detail assigned by the Chief of Police of the Town of Litchfield and paid for by the organization holding the event.
3. Other security and safety procedures and personnel as may be required by the Commission with the input of the Chief of Police and Fire Chief of the Town of Litchfield.
Article IX. Amendments
These rules of procedure may be amended at any regular meeting by a two-thirds vote of the recreation commission members present. Proposed amendments shall be submitted in writing and read to the commission at the regular meeting the month before being voted.
Article X. Records
The records of the commission shall be kept by the secretary and made available for public inspection at Litchfield Town Clerk’s office in accordance with RSA 91-A:4.