Council Plows More Money Into Elm Drive Ball Fields

By Steve Bigham

Local youth sports supporters had hoped the town-owned Amaral property along Elm Drive might resemble a baseball diamond by now. Instead, as Legislative Council members found out this week, the 13-acre site is starting to look more and more like a money pit.

On Tuesday, the council agreed to allow Parks & Recreation to spend an additional $65,000 on the construction of two baseball fields there. That money is on top of the $400,000 already spent on the purchase of the land back in 1997, $350,000 already approved in this year’s budget, and an estimated $218,000 worth of town highway crew manpower. Total expenditures on the site to date, including this latest allocation, total $1,033,000.

This week’s new cost was brought to the council after Parks & Recreation received just one bid on the project. It came from the Deering Construction Company of Norwalk, who has requested the town pay it $427,850, nearly $80,000 over what had been budgeted. It is considered to be a premium price, but as Parks & Recreation Commission Chairman Larry Haskell pointed out, the current market is providing plenty of work for contractors already. The construction of two baseball fields is considered a small job so most companies don’t bother bidding.

Faced with additional costs of $25,000 for consultant fees, $16,000 for sodding, and another $5,000 for contingency, Parks & Recreation went before the council seeking a total of $130,000. The idea did not sit well with council members, who promptly rejected the request, 7-2, despite the fact that P&R was seeking to use its own money collected through $5 surcharges over the years. Tim Holian and Dan Rosenthal were the lone supporters.

“I want to see the fields done in a timely manner, but we’re talking about getting ripped off as a town,” noted council member Doug Brennan. “I’m disgusted that we’re faced with a 33 percent overrun.”

Council member Melissa Pilchard said paying an additional $130,000 for ball fields would bring the total cost to develop the property to $1.2 million. That’s $600,000 per field, she said.

“That’s beyond what the taxpayers should have to pay,” she said.

But Mr Haskell said his department was faced with few other options.

“We need to complete this project. We are so desperate for fields right now,” he countered. “I’m reluctant to swallow this money, but we don’t see an alternative right now.”

Re-bidding the project does not guarantee that prices will come down and waiting until next year will mean another year of ball field shortages in Newtown, he said.

Hoping to satisfy both sides, Mr Brennan moved that the council approve giving Parks & Recreation an additional $65,000. In doing so, he urged both P&R and the architects of Millone and Macbroom to make every effort to talk down the bidder without changing the scope of the project. That motion was approved, 7-2, with only Mrs Pilchard and Pierre Rochman voting against it.

“I’m concerned that the first selectman might try to make that money up with more town involvement [manpower], so I can’t support it,” she said.

The town charter states the council can transfer up to $150,000 without going to a town meeting.

Three years ago, the town spent $400,000 using Iroquois Land Preservation and Enhancement Program (LPEP) money to purchase the stretch of land along Elm Drive. The “Amaral Property” was eventually turned over to Parks & Recreation to be used for future ball fields.

Last spring, Parks & Recreation requested $550,000 for the development of two smaller sized baseball diamonds on the land. That figure was eventually trimmed to $350,000 with the remaining costs to be made up by town highway crews, who have been regrading the property since August.

According to Parks & Recreation Director Barbara Kasbarian, the high cost to build the fields is due to the discovery of unforeseen wetland areas on the parcel. Two retaining walls need to be installed in addition to the extra drainage and irrigation systems.

The long, narrow field along Elm Drive and adjacent to Dickinson Park was a key acquisition by the Parks & Recreation Commission. When purchased, it was hoped that the property would provide the fields that the town needed. A shortage of fields in town has become a major issue with residents as the town continues to grow.

The former Amaral property extends in a triangular shape in a northerly direction from Dickinson Park to the point where Elm Drive and Deep Brook Road intersect at the Village Cemetery. The lot lies just north of the Dickinson Park tennis courts.

Currently, there are 25 ball fields in Newtown that are available to the public. However, most of the fields are on school property, often causing scheduling problems. More than 1,200 children take part in Newtown’s soccer programs, which are played on local fields in the spring, summer, and fall. Fields have become overcrowded, with practices and games bumping up against one another.