Thursday, May 5, 2022

The Skateboard Park Project needs additional review


Richard Foster- a former Select Board member and currently a candidate for Select Board at the upcoming Longmeadow Annual Town Elections weighs in on Article 36 that funds the construction of a Skateboard Park at Bliss Park.



From the May 10 Annual Town Meeting warrant

ARTICLE 36
To see if the Town will vote to fund the Community Preservation Project to provide funding for the construction of a skateboard park at Bliss Park in the amount of $350,000, or a greater or lesser sum, to be funded from the Community Preservation Undesignated Fund Balance, or take any other action relative thereto.

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Many on Facebook are supporting this project for a variety of reasons including telling us how cute the boys were who originally presented this Citizens’ petition at a Town Meeting a couple of years ago and how that should be the basis for approving this project etc. 

One of the posters rightfully pointed out that it starts with this and then they keep coming back for more money because of a lack of planning.  "We’ve seen this play before.  As delineated by the Select Board and Finance Committee, this project is not ready for funding yet. That is not to say No; it is simply saying you need to do additional work to fully expand the overall needs of this project before asking for funding. 

This group has already spent $15,000, where are the deliverables? Without detailed plans and specifications, these requested sums of money are merely guesses.  So, we spend an additional $350,000 to find out we need an additional $350,000 and then the question is raised, did we really need this $700,000 project? Projects like this need to have a Class A estimate before construction funding is even considered. 

For a Town that is rapidly approaching the tax cap spending limits, do we need additional liability and long-term maintenance cost?  What about the potholes that we don’t have enough staff to provide timely maintenance on our roads?  Do we just let them get bigger as we try to maintain yet more infrastructure?  This project was started as citizens’ petition that was defeated at Town Meeting and then brought back as a Community Preservation project.  

As I read the comments being posted on this project, it only reinforces my belief that we need a new form of local government with a council that would mandate full and complete vetting of major improvements and expenditures before being authorized for funding.  Where is this on the master plan?  I would like the average of 97% of our registered voters who don’t attend our Town meeting to become energized and take back control of our town from self-serving special interest groups with the formation of a more professional local government. 

We now have a keenly articulate professional town manager that needs our support in protecting the development and execution of long-term needs-based programs. This will never happen as long as we allow special interest groups to set the agenda for our Town.

Richard Foster/ Longmeadow Town Resident

Bliss and Laurel Parks- April 2022 Update

BLISS AND LAUREL PARKS 

RESTORATION UPDATES: APRIL 2022

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The leadership team of the “Friends of the Parks” citizen group is pleased to share the work (see below) that has been advanced on behalf of Bliss and Laurel Parks in the last two years. We are grateful for our partnership with the CT River Conservancy, whose affiliation with us has helped identify multiple sources of funding to support restoration of Cooley Brook, an integral feature in the parkland ecosystem. 

The Conway School, Spring 2020

This plan recommends ecologically sustainable options to restore Cooley Brook: 1)address sedimentation in Laurel Pond
2)improve public use and enjoyment
3)mitigate upstream erosion. Eradication of invasive species, reintroduction of native species, improved trail use, mapping and maintenance, increased use and diversity of access for the public within established ecologically sound guidelines are also discussed. 

 

  • Partnered with CT River Conservancy, 2020. Water testing of Cooley Brook begins, 2021. Underwrote, with US Fish and Wildlife support, a  preliminary engineering cost estimate for Cooley Brook water district restoration work, Fall 2021. Project management services made available. Parkland plans referred to the US Army Corps of Engineers, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game and, Massachusetts Division of Ecological Restoration, Spring 2021

     

  • US Army Corp of Engineers requires Hydrology & Hydraulic Study prior to consideration of an offer for “in lieu of funds,” just under $300,000, available through MA Dept. of Fish and Game. US Fish and Wildlife offers “in kind labor” to execute restoration pending approval of funds being released, value conservatively estimated to be $500,000, Summer/Fall 2021. MA Div. of Ecological Restoration approves Town Grant application for preliminary engineering design of restoration work at the Cooley Brook water district site, early 2022. Work currently underway.  

We encourage you to join with us at the Annual Town Meeting on May 10, 2022 to support these efforts with a YES VOTE for the Community Preservation Act approved Grant (Article #31), endorsed by the Finance Committee, for a $75,000 Hydrology & Hydraulic Study of Cooley Brook. This is an unprecedented opportunity to achieve significant improvements to Bliss and Laurel Parks with funding that requires no match or additional commitment of Town Tax dollars. 

 

ARTICLE 31.
To see if the Town will vote to fund the Community Preservation project for a hydrologic and hydraulic study of Bliss and Laurel Parks in the amount of $75,000, or a greater or lesser sum, funded from the Recreation/Open Space Fund Balance, or take any other action relative thereto. 

 

This engineering study will focus on the Bliss and Laurel Parks portion of the Cooley Brook drainage area and will identify causes of erosion, sedimentation, and flooding in and around Cooley Brook and Laurel Pond. The study will provide information necessary to guide any future work related to the development of high quality, high value CPA eligible projects, such as the removal of the derelict, nonfunctional reservoir infrastructure; improvements or other dam-related work on Laurel Pond dam; and rehabilitation of Laurel Pond and/or Cooley Brook’s streambanks. The hydrologic and hydraulic study will have the added benefit of supplying the town with information regarding stormwater management in the Blueberry Hill area of town. The results of the hydrologic and hydraulic study are also necessary to access additional grant funding for projects such as these, including monetary grants from the MA Department of Fish and Game and in-kind labor grants from the US Geological Survey.


Recommended by the Finance Committee

 

Presented on behalf of the leadership team for “ Friends of the Parks” by Fran Cress, liaison for the group.