Turf needs a vote
Reported by the WRAs Lauresha Xhihani:
The state bond commission approved $525,000 for the project last month...
The town had been asking its legislative delegation for the past several years for $800,000 for the field. Though at least once before it was included in a bonding package, the money never materialized.
With the bond commission vote, all the town has to do is apply for the funds and then vote to accept them, said Rep. Mary G. Fritz, D-Wallingford, who fought for the funding.
Tim White
30 comments:
In Monday's paper it stated the money has been set aside for the turf in Cheshire. All the Town Council needs to do now is vote on acceptance.
Ecke and Alteri should not be allowed to cast a vote, either way. They have a significant conflict of interest. Alteri is a teacher and sports coach in Wallingford and Ecke is a football coach in Cheshire. The reasons this is free money, or if we don't accept it some other Town will get it are not right. We have school buildings in dire need of repair and upgrades, we have a pool that politicians refuse to address and correct. Why do we insist on getting the turf when the money is better spent on items that are till broken? The cost to maintain the turf is not less than the grass field. The turf needs to be washed, rinsed, disinfected on a periodic basis, the surface temp can get to about 140 degrees. Does the Environmental Commission get a chance to review this idea?
a faction, I understand a number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or a minority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adversed to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community.
Tim....send back the turf money-Breachway
The continued desire to willingly spend money we don't have has to stop. To accept influence money from our State reps disguised as "gifts" for special interests has to stop. Our Rep; Mary fritz gets the money for turf, the same woman that stood in Town Council chambers a few years ago and chastised the Council members as pigs at the tough, goes off and gets money for a cause that is low on a priority list. This is nothing more than a payment to prevent the Republican party from supporting a different Republican rep for the next election. If Fritz and our Town Council members had any true desire to do what is best for the Town they would reject this money for the turf field, send a message to the State. If the State insists on giving us the money it should be used to provide educational items such as smartboards, computers or fix the falling apart buildings.
Does the BOE get a chance to vote ob this? That would an entertaining debate and vote. Would athletics or academics get the priority?
"Badges? We ain't got no badges. We don't need no badges! I don't have to show you any stinkin' badges!!"
A total waste of our state money.
Who is going to pay for repairs to it and eventual replacement?
Ct has trouble attracting business because of the high taxes and it's things like spending our hard earned dollars on crap like this. The state government has to stope wasting our money and reduce taxes.
Send letters and e-mails to your state reps and senators. This money should be used for all the students athletes. Why the strings? It's to specific.
927 please explain the conflict not sure what conflict there is if at all
The Waterbury paper makes it sound as if the turf is a done deal. It says that Trifone is already contacting parents and people in the community who may be interested in raising the $300,000 that is supposedly needed to complete the project. The BoE has a policy that states that school staff must NOT solicit or influence anyone to support any certain project. Trifone already has been told this. It seems he's doing it again. I expect he'll have a line of students and parents extending out the doors over at town hall.
This is so wrong. The same people that were screaming about activity fees will now probably donate to the turf.
8:59
I would be very interested to see the form a school administrator or staffer is using to fund raise for turf field...is it on school time, by school email...on school letterhead?
Residents need to know how town employees do this sort of thing as a matter of course on the public dime.
Turf is DOA or throw the bums out. I can't imagine the town council will let this fly.
8:59 Trifone may not be using school email. All he has to do to drum up support is to email from home all the parents and parent organizations to begin the donation process. As he told the newspaper, he has already begun contacting them. It isn't right.
You can't imagine the TC letting this turf project fly?? The dem majority will stick together. Altieri has been pushing this project for a long time. Ecke will vote for it. You can bet his brother will make sure of that. DeCaprio will just follow suit. Hall and Esty, after they ramble on and on, will also follow suit all claiming they don't want the funds to go to some other town (which of course is a poor excuse that justs enables the State to continue to waste our tax dollars).
I suggest you email all the town council members and even the board of ed members with your thoughts. There's going to be a long line of students & parents showing up at the TC meeting when they vote on it.
6:05 You are kidding, right?
Tim, Do you have all the town council members and board of eduction members email addresses? Can you share them here on the blog? It would be helpful for those that may want to contact them on important issues like this.
So let me understand this and correct me if I'm wrong, Tim. First the town has to "apply for the funds" and then they vote on it? Will the council have 2 votes? One to "apply" and another to "vote" on whether to accept the funds? Doesn't make sense.
Mary fritz gets the money for turf, the same woman that stood in Town Council chambers a few years ago and chastised the Council members as pigs at the tough,
It wasn't in Council Chambers. It was in a room downstairs... I'll never forget her "pig at the trough" comment. It was beyond obnoxious... and arrogant would be an understatement.
Too bad her chief cheerleader wasn't there to "properly obfuscate" the very telling comment.
Tim, Do you have all the town council members and board of eduction members email addresses? Can you share them here on the blog? It would be helpful for those that may want to contact them on important issues like this.
1) I think I have them all, but don't want to post them here as I don't recall asking if I can publicize them.
2) Just post your comments here... they'll see them. I have no doubt that TWL is one of their favorite discussion topics when they caucus. It's my opinion that this blog drove the "fund balance policy" discussion over the past year. And while fiscal conservatives lost that round, this blog kept the Advocates of Big Government on edge.
So let me understand this and correct me if I'm wrong, Tim. First the town has to "apply for the funds" and then they vote on it? Will the council have 2 votes? One to "apply" and another to "vote" on whether to accept the funds? Doesn't make sense.
By Charter, that's how the rules work.
For me there's an important issue though worth noting... if you follow Council meetings closely, you'll notice times when the TM encourages Council members to "vote to apply" because we need not "vote to accept." The consistent omission there is that an application takes time to write, process, etc.
But omissions are nothing new in Town Hall. It just took me a few years to see the pattern.
these aren't the droids you're looking for. move along.
Let's see we have taken care of leasing land for the fields and now the turf. What's on next on the list. I wonder who this could be?
I think if the TC accepts the $525,000 they should make sure it is specified for "use at the Macleary Athletic Center at CHS." Leave the words "artificial turf" out of the picture. Has anyone taken a good look at the restrooms over there? They are disgusting! Leaky toilets, no hot water, just a dirty mess! Use the funds to rebuild a decent restroom/snackbar facility....or better yet, just give the money back and insist our athletic director get those bathrooms in better shape.
There are several hidden agendas in this turf issue. The bathrooms need repair as stated by another blogger; the concession stand is expected to be upgraded and we will need a new track because the turf cannot be put in without destroying the track. So the turf may only cost $825,000, ask what all of the other improvements will cost. The sly of hand town will attempt to hide these costs under a separate capital budget line item that will not exceed $264,000 so it will not have to go to a public vote.
This entire upgrading process has been well thought out beforehand and planned to meet all legal and charter regulations.
This is disgraceful. At a time when taxpayers are struggling to pay property taxes, mortgages, daycare etc, our state feels it necessary to waster money on artificial turf. The council needs to do whats right and vote no on this. Any councilor whpo supports wasting taxpayer money needs to be booted from office. Folks when this comes to a vote we need to be there to make the town council know we do not accept the waste of our money.
You can go to a council meeting to protest the turf but you may not get to the microphone until midnight. It is unfair to run meetings this way. It would also be unfair for the council to vote based on the number of people who show up "for" or "against." Everyone knows the athletic director and his group will recruit all the students and their parents to show up (as they have before). A vote, if it comes to one, should be based on whether it's a high priority "need" of this town, true costs now and in ten years, safety issues, etc. It's really a no brainer...we don't need the turf. Do we want a grass field that is maintained with no pesticides, or do we want the toxic turf that's going to risk our children's health and cost the taxpayers even more money in the long run.
That's all in their plan to show that everything is in bad shape. Why do people fall for this all the time. Why doesn't someone ask for a report to show what maintenance schedule was followed over the last few years. Who is at fault here?
Re: Artificial Turf
Can you say benzothiazole, butylated hydroxyanisole, hexadecane, zinc, selenium, lead, and cadmium?
These are the chemicals that leach out from artificial turf.
I laugh at all you people who claim your in it for the KIDS!!!! The money for the upgrade at CHS will be a good thing for the community. use it or lose it!!! that field is a disgrace. The money will be put back if noe used. Take it and do all of us a good thing for the community, plus the classes at CHS can use a field so their not worried of kids getting hurt!!!! SO it is an upgrade to our classrooms. All the bats, stop wyning and pass for the money. Sick of hearing all the negative from people that don't care about our kids!!! enough said
lets leave parties aside so that our government in cheshire does not resemble the party mess in d.c.. that being said i am certain that if cheshire decides to catch up with other towns it considers to be in the same class, improving their athletic field would be a great start. the conditions on the cheshire high field are truly embarassing. at this point cheshire's facilities have fallen behind sheehan's. WALLINGFORD, PEOPLE !!!! a town with multiple trailer parks has nicer facilities than cheshire!!!! WAKE UP !!! if cheshire misses this one like we did when we royally screwed up that pool mess, we'll have once again squandered an opportunity to improve a town that people should be proud to live in. the bottom line is that we need to improve the facilities at chs. this has to start with the field (done correctly and not to the low bid - as we know what that will bring-) and then trickle down to the other athletic facilities so that cheshire can keep up with (currently superior) towns like west hartford, simsbury, and WALLINGFORD. please let's approve the funds for the turf field and get this thing constructed correctly, asap.
First off why should Matt Alteri not be allowed to vote. He does not coach in town.
That being said by turfing one field it will cut down the usage on all our fields. Keeping all of them in better condition
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