A comment on tonight's turf meeting
An anonymous comment from a previous post... I thought this would be worth front-paging:
Recap of the boe meeting tonight -
Turf field will likely cost 825K.
May need to spend more to address wiring issues at field.
Will cost approx 600K to replace in 8 - 10 years.
May want to purchase separate insurance to cover vandalism.
May want to redirect money in capital budget to help cover costs.
May want to set up an account in the budget with 78K set aside annually to go towards replacement.
The $150K currently in C.B. to resurface the track isn't enough to cover actual resurfacing costs.
Can't wear spike heels on turf.
Probably won't use turf in July or August between 10 & 2 because of heat issues; yet we'll supposedly be able to have well over 300 events per year on it.
May look to get funds from the town's gift account if fundraising doesn't cover add'l costs.
And the list goes on.
BTW - Due to budget constraints, the schools were not able to set up at the fall festival to hand out pencils. Due to budget constraints, we have 15 - 18 less teaching positions. Due to budget constraints, the cleaning service no longer cleans the schools daily - only twice a week now.
What's wrong with this picture???
Only thing here that perplexes me is the mention of "the town's gift account." I'm not sure what that is.
Tim White
24 comments:
Was there any discussion on cost of maintenance?
We have always been told that it would be cheaper to maintain a turf field then a natural grass field. Then we are told that the town doesn't take care of our fields, thats why we need turf. So, if they don't take care of it, how much can it really cost? If they don't take care of a natural grass field, how do we expect them to take care of a $1 million (I don't buy that it will cost less)field?
There are special squeegee machines that need to be used on these fields, anyone mention the cost?
This is total insanity to think we are even discussing this in the midst of one of the worst recessions we have had.
Those who wanted the turf so bad should have been fundraisng for the past several years. Now they come and say we already have more than half the money, let the town figure out the rest. No way!
Was there any discussion on re-routing that money towards locker rooms?? I bet not. They want it all.
I guess the good news in all of this is that BOE lacks the courage to advance this anywhere beyond sharing information at this time or am I just being optimistic about their capacity to read the writing on the wall if the go forward with this...ergo they will look like a football team that played a whole season without helmets.
Tim Slocum
Just thinking... if the claim is that it'll cost $825,000... then maybe the mighty Rubber Stamp intends to wield its power one last time before the election and approve a supplemental appropriation?
$825,000 - $525,000 = $300,000
I think the Council could approve that as a special appropriation with no more than a public hearing. No need to go to referendum under $350,000.
Tim
"I think the Council could approve that as a special appropriation with no more than a public hearing. No need to go to referendum under $350,000."
Are suggesting that council dems played a whole football season without helmets too?
They try pushing it through and they will all be thrown out.
What is the towns gift account? As far as I knew, the gift account was the yearly donation from Elim Park to the police and fire depts. Is there another gift account?
Maybe staff can GC this job just like the pool fix job that is currently going on....the one that will already probably cost us more money than planned...
"May want to redirect money in the capital budget to help cover costs"
Does this mean that vaguely worded $500,000 infrastructure amount in the capital budget is going to be used to cover additional costs??
Wouldn't surprise me!
and another btw - Due to budget constraints, an AP class at the high school was eliminated.
"Was there any discussion on re-routing that money towards locker rooms?? I bet not. They want it all."
The turf heads want you to believe that the grant money cannot be redirected. But in truth, they could make a request to the legislators and tell them the turf is not feasible at this time and we need to use the money for locker room relocation. The grant reads "for renovations and improvements to the CHS athletic field including turf"...So they could renovate and improve by putting a locker room building there and if there's any leftover money then they can save it for the next project.
Wallingford was able to redirect some Bond Commission money.
Just check out this press release:
http://www.senaterepublicans.ct.gov/press/fasano/2003/103103.htm
Read the fourth paragraph.
correction - the site is:
http://senaterepublicans.ct.gov/press/fasano/2003/103103.htm
don't know why the entire address won't print but it ends as
103103/htm
you could google it too and find it
Who are the ones in control of he grant that can make the decisions?
I would think it would be the TC. not those pushing for the turf.
If they try taking that $500K that is up for referendum to use for the turf, there will be many angry citizens in this town.
Vote No until they specifically clarify what they need the money for.
I would think it would be the TC. not those pushing for the turf.
What's the difference?
This is crazy..a few of the monied people in Cheshire want turf...their insanity will become taxpayer reality if not checked 11/3
"...This is crazy..a few of the monied people in Cheshire want turf...their insanity will become taxpayer reality if not checked 11/3..."
They need a turf-image at the high school to attract more buyers to the local real estate market in order to keep local businesses sensitive to real estate sales and their support staff's in business. It's for the children as always - - -
Behrer said that maintenance of turf is cheaper than grass yet in the same breath he said they'll try to work up a more accurate number on the actual maintenance costs of natural grass. Huh?
If it's going to cost at least 600,000 to replace the turf in as little as 8 years, you have to factor those costs in annually.
To say that it's cheaper to have turf is just a bunch of BS.
You people are all ridiculous. The only reason why your homes are worth what they are is because of our school system that you want to keep cutting and run into the ground. 85% of the student body would benefit from this. That's how many are involved in extra-curricular activities. Have you seen our facilities. They are a joke in comparison to neighboring towns. Gyms with dirty banners, leaking ceilings (fix...lets put paint on the walls), locker rooms that are so dirty you would rather wait to you got home to go to the bathroom (let's paint it), facilities with crab grass that turns to mud after the first rain storm (I heard they paint grass in California where they can't grow it.) Pathetic and Tim White's the ring leader.
"You people are all ridiculous. The only reason why your homes are worth what they are is because of our school system that you want to keep cutting and run into the ground"
I think you got it wrong. It was the Democratic majority on the BOE that reduced the budget by $1.1 million and it was the Democratic majority on the TC that reduced it by another $200,000 plus some.
I think you have your priorities wrong too. I agree the locker rooms are a disgrace and inside the schools are not that great either. The boe cut an AP class, and there are 15 - 18 less teaching positions - and you think we need to get a turf field???
Put the $525,000 grant towards something in the schools (or town)that we need!! It can be redirected - it's been done in other towns.
It's so obvious that it's the D's that are the ones who want the turf field - little do they know that many of the voters will not support any BOE or TC member who supports turf.
2:18 says "85% of the student body would benefit from this. That's how many are involved in extra-curricular activities."
And 85% of our student body will continue to be involved in extracurricular activities WITHOUT a turf field.
I understand they want to set up a fund in the budget where they collect up to $78,000 a year to be put towards turf replacement in 8 - 10 years. Why not set up an account and put money in it to fix up the leaking gym roofs, dirty banners, filthy locker rooms?
We're also told that a turf field will benefit the whole community. How is that? The only project in this town that benefits the whole community would be the linear trail.
"...The only reason why your homes are worth what they are is because of our school system ..."
OBTW, have you checked the value of your home lately, or the other homes in town? Maybe you're having a hard time because so many old homes are selling daily and so many new homes are being built every month. From the data it is clear values for homes are way down.
As for the incredible, wonderful, can't do anything wrong town school system, here is a thought. When I put my kid into a well known private school the results were quite incredible after even just a few weeks. In the area of math, performance increased so much it was unbelievable. Then again the private school had never embraced the absolute insanity that could describe the math program foisted on the residents of this town by our highly paid school administration.
Here's some thoughts. First cut town taxes. Forget the fake turf until national job recovery actually takes place and unemployment falls back to the 5 or 6% range. And most importantly, if you are hopeful your child will actually be taught and learn some real mathematics at K-12 strongly consider private school before CHS works its wonders.
MOST important though, STOP believing that the value of your home is controlled by bloated, unimaginative, routine spending on a school system which is clearly in need of a major top down, bottom up overhaul.
The reason your kid is doing better in Math is because they are not being held to the same expectations. I bet your kid would be a wizard at Crosby!
9:52 a.m. you are a sick puppy.
As for expectations the private school has much higher expectations and a track record which goes back many generations more then CHS does. It is not encumbered by the political garbage foisted up town populations by card carrying members of the superintendents self admiration society either.
So 9:52, open your eyes and take a look around you. At least in the area of math one math intense company has just announced GOOD-BYE to Cheshire and its residents and its schools. Maybe young people in Georgia or Singapore work for less AND have better math skills? I wonder - - -
It's a slap in the faces of the residents of Cheshire that Board of Education (including Mr. Florio, his staff and teachers) decided not only to not setup a presence at the Fall Festival but also not show up of their own free time and will.
These people forget that the only reason they work in the Cheshire Education system is because of the tax dollars we pay. These people (except the BOE) did not show up because they would not be getting paid. Yes, it's true, check the contracts.
However, Florio thought it was perfectly OK to spend $150 on donuts for a teachers meeting but not $150 for a tent at the Fair.
In spite of this Florio and the board still have the balls to ask for money for the artificial turf??? When is enough really enough in this town?
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