Along with brief presentations by the Edmond Town Hall Board of Managers, the Booth Library Board of Trustees, and the Public Works Director, the Board of Selectmen settled in for a more extensive discussion of planned future Parks and Recreation capital projects before eventually approving and moving Newtown’s rolling, five-year Capital Improvement Plan to the Board of Finance September 10.

The special meeting provided an opportunity for selectmen to add or delete projects from the planning document, but in the end, they moved the proposal with no changes to the CIP, which was first introduced for consideration about a month earlier.

In the course of a discussion with Parks and Recreation Director Amy Mangold and commission Chairman Ed Marks, First Selectman Pat Llodra told Selectmen James Gaston and Will Rodgers that there were a number of projects that were part of the department’s internal capital plan that were not part of the town’s CIP.

The most imminent capital improvement, the parks and rec officials told selectmen, is the removal of a former maintenance building at Treadwell Park and the development of up to 70 more parking spots, which Ms Mangold said are desperately needed at the busy facility. That project is in the 2016-17 CIP at $550,000.

Phase two of an Eichler’s Cove improvement project, slated for bonding the following year, will bring much needed and requested improvements to the modest town marina and beach near the Monroe town line. Ms Mangold said the site is operating successfully, but her department is anxious to add a bathroom/bath house structure and other improvements in the CIP for $500,000.

She said a permanent bathroom facility has been a frequent request from Eichler’s Cove users on recent surveys.

Bringing up a sketch of proposed work for selectmen to see in detail, Ms Mangold then reviewed plans for a Dickenson Park “splash pad” water feature, slated for bonding at $1.3 million in the 2018 CIP cycle. She also told selectmen that the department is hoping to replace the Dickinson pavilion, which she said has outlived its useful life.

Among projects on the Parks Department’s internal capital plan that were discussed was a hope to develop $900,000 in new playing fields at Fairfield Hills in an adjacent site that would open up the facility’s front field for more frequent public and festival uses.

Ms Mangold also pitched plans to improve two other town waterfront sites — the boat launch facility on Lake Lillinonah, and the Alpine Park site and pavilion on Lake Zoar. Those projects come with an estimated $500,000 price tag.

Another project that is pending the outcome of future plans for the Batchelder industrial site in Botsford is a continuation on an existing “rail to trail” project that currently ends near the Monroe town border. Ms Mangold said she would like to see a $700,000 investment to extend that trail into Newtown, but acknowledged that ongoing legal issues involving the former smelting plant and grounds will likely keep that project on hold well past 2020.

One of the internal projects Ms Mangold is most interested in, is a possible conversion of a Fairfield Hills duplex to an administrative office and classroom space. She said depending on future plans for a community center, her department may introduce the idea to house some or all park administrative functions in the abandoned duplex closest to the Victory Garden.

That way, local users of the public garden would also have access to water and storage for tools and related equipment, as well as space to hold classes, workshops, and other educational activities.

“We have a model of how it can be done,” Ms Mangold told selectmen. “And there are lots of grants available.”

She also previewed plans for adding permanent bleachers at Treadwell Park, as well as an improvement to that park’s pavilion and pool. She said her department has placed a $1.5 million placeholder in its capital plan just for the pool project.

All discussions about possible future field placement at Fairfield Hills, the Parks officials noted, are pending as other officials make final decisions about the order of demolition of abandoned Fairfield Hills buildings.