Turf fundraising as of May 2010
I think it's been mentioned here. But I'm not sure if the press have reported on it... I understand the Turf fundraising has reached $150,000. And while I don't know what that fantastical 50% fundraising target was ever measured against... I'm guessing the June Council meeting will hear renewed calls for the Turf.
I don't recall all the words spoken publicly by various Council members over the past year, but I'm thinking that any call to move forward with Turf this summer would face a vote that includes:
Slocum - yea
Adinolfi - ???
Ecke - yea
Giddings - ???
Sima - nay
Schrumm - ???
Ruocco - nay
Falvey - yea
White - nay
Most of my thinking on Council member sentiments relates to either the October LOWVs debate or the November post-election Council vote on the turf.
I have yet to see a realistic long-term financial replacement strategy... at least the cost differential between maintaining the current field and maintaining / replacing a turf field.
Tim White
18 comments:
Tim
That is the problem, we don't know what the true costs really are on this turf. They need to get bids and get an exact price before we know if they actually have raised the right amount of money.
In those estimates, they better include any and all equipment needed to properly groom the field. What the monthly maintenance costs will be? Who is responsible for the maintenance? How much will the replacement be and how long before it will need it? How do they intend to pay for the replacement turf?
It amazes me when I hear how bad the existing field is. Who was responsible for taking care of it? The PW Dept.? Park & Rec? Cheshire High Mainteneance?
If they can't take care of a grass field, how do we expect them to take care of a $1 million turf field?
These are all questions that better be answered before the TC approves this.
You're right. And I encourage people to chase Council members on this. I wouldn't be surprised if the Council chooses to move forward as my sense is that there are at least four Council members who intend to move forward... along with a few undecideds.
It amazes me when I hear how bad the existing field is. Who was responsible for taking care of it? The PW Dept.? Park & Rec? Cheshire High Mainteneance?
If they can't take care of a grass field, how do we expect them to take care of a $1 million turf field?
I believe the reason the fields lok so bad is because you all did not want your taxes go go up at all to cover things like maintenance, roads, buildings and infrastructure. Now this is what you get.
2:13
You have to be kidding me....
I never recall that conversation happening.
Of course fields should be taken care of.
Unfortunately, the CYB seems to take on all the baseball fields in town.
Is there a budget for upkeep of fields?
I don't mind spending a little to make sure the fields are kept up, but I wonder if there is some problem with who is responsible for it.
I wouldn't be surprised if the athletic teams made sure it became a hazard so they had a reason to get the turf.
My question again is, if we don't take care of this field as it is, then why spend $1 million on a field that won't get take care of?
Don't throw the blame back to us who want to remain fiscally responsible, we understand that maintenance is important in extending the use of fields, roads and sidewalks. We just don't believe in replacing fields when you can fix it.
The turf proponents make several good points but the bottom line is it's still too expensive and we can't afford it. The citizen fundraisers will never reach the desired/required amount. They are way short right now and are clearly getting desperate. The donor list is being circulated with names/donation amounts in an admitted attempt to guilt others into donating. The e-mail that I received with the donor list attached proudly stated that this is a proven technique to increase donors/donations. From my point of view that just discredits the entire process and they just blew any chance they had of getting a donation from me. Sorry!
2:29 says "I wouldn't be surprised if the athletic teams made sure it became a hazard so they had a reason to get the turf."
I agree. If you want something, how easy is it to purposely neglect what you have hoping to make people believe a turf field is necessary. I'm not falling for that.
How reliable are the numbers we'll hear on the cost of maintaining the current field? Interesting how the cost of water use on the field(s) was doubled in the budget. No one had a reasonable explanation either. If they can beef up the current maintainance costs to make it look like they'll save with turf maintainence costs, how many people will fall for that?
I also agree that nothing should get approved until there are firm numbers on total cost. There are all those electrical issues that need fixing, perhaps added personnel to help go from scheduling 30 events to over 300 events, watering to cool the field, disinfecting, replacement costs, etc., etc.
If we can hire students to paint lockers and do other maintenance in the summer (without worry of liability issues), you'd think we could recruit them throughout the year to help maintain our current fields.
It would be a lot cheaper to pay them $10/hour than probably the $25/hour the o/s school maintainance people get.
"That is the problem, we don't know what the true costs really are on this turf. They need to get bids and get an exact price before we know if they actually have raised the right amount of money."
Here's my take on this...I believe the turf fund raising has raised enough money to cover the initial installation. Right now, there's $675K (grant + funds raised) to get the turf installed and I believe the installation will come in at or below this amount. (However, based on the Dodd kitchen project...I won't hold my breath until we gets bids with actual costs).
The problem is what does it cost to replace the field every 6-8 years and who is going to pay for it? How will it be funded? What is the actual cost to replace the turf field? I don't believe future replacement costs are static thus we won't know until the replacement goes out to bid every 6-8 years.
Long-term planning...is not well defined for the turf project. I think the funding can be a few options:
(1.) Completely funded through fund-raising. 100% of the replacements costs are raised via donations. No cost to the taxpayer.
(2.) Funded through a combination of donations and gate receipts/sponsors/advertising monies. No cost to the taxpayer.
(3.) Funding through a combination of #2 and taxes.
(4.) Funding completely by taxes.
Let's assume for a moment that this 503c entity can and will raise the replacement funds (Option #1):
How will the money move between the 503c and the Town?
What policies/procedures are in place to request/withdraw funds from the 503c?
Will there be an annual audit/report of the 503c to keep track of the money raised so that if, for some reason, they come up short in 8 years it won't be a complete surprise to the town?
Which budget will collect and track expenditures related to turf? Parks & Rec? Education? Town? Since the turf field is really a community field it's my opinion that the education budget/dept shouldn't be managing this field or maintaining it. Although I suspect that a reasonable annual usage fee will be put into place for the schools to use the turf field much like the pool.
Regarding the "savings" associated with the grass field...those "savings" cannot be baked into the funding of the replacement costs of the field as was presented last fall. No grass field = No grass field maintenance account in the education budget.
I think Bob Behrer will address some of these concerns soon. I met with him two weeks on the CHS field to share both my concerns and enthusiasm for this effort. I do appreciate the fund raising efforts made to date and I hope the same amount of effort will be put into defining the long-term planning for the field should it become reality.
Question for Tim (because he's been here a lot longer than I): Which town body oversees the Turf Committee? Who/What should/will manage the Turf project if it becomes reality?
Tony Perugini
BOE
Great, the BOE asking the TC who oversees the Turf Committee.
Great, the BOE asking the TC who oversees the Turf Committee.
"Great, the BOE asking the TC who oversees the Turf Committee."
I received three different answers. I was told that the BOE initiated the turf committee but now the TC oversees it. I was also told that it's a joint committee of the TC and Parks/Rec. I was told the BOE oversees it but its not on our committee list nor does it report to us.
So who does the committee report to? Perhaps the question should be, who oversees the committee? Out of sight, out of mind.
Bob Behrer assumed the role of chairman of the turf committee when he was on the BOE, so that is why it probably fell under the BOE.
Tony, I don't know why you think $675,000 is enough to install the turf. All the numbers we were being told last year were between $750,000 and $1 million. Ask Meriden what it cost for theirs just 2 years ago.It is utterly ridiculous that an exact amount has not been presented yet.
What about maintaining the field? I understand you need a specail squeegy machine that will disinfect the field. You also need to replenish the crushed up rubber pellets peridically. Is all of that included in the price?
Don't let this become another pool fiasco where we are told the bare minimum of costs and then once it is installed we get stuck with all the bills.
What happens if the 501c3 disbands or stops the fundraising after the field is installed? Who gets stuck with the bills?
We all know that the town will end up paying for this in the end.
Don't let this be this TC's legacy!
Tony, I appreciate your enthusiasm, but I liken this to my kid saving enough money for a car and goes and buys it, but can't afford the insurance and upkeep.
Lets make sure ALL COSTS are presented before we jump into this.
Why shouldn't the town pay for some of the expenses? It will be a town field and it will cost a lot less than the $7 million dollar pool.
I have also heard that the people who are doing the work and rasing the money are having a problem because people want to know why this council will support $7 million for the pool and will not give the turff project a dime.
Why shouldn't the town pay for some of the expenses? It will be a town field and it will cost a lot less than the $7 million dollar pool.
I have also heard that the people who are doing the work and rasing the money are having a problem because people want to know why this council will support $7 million for the pool and will not give the turff project a dime.
Guess what, the town has not approved the pool yet.
In a down economy, we can't afford to support these projects.
So, 2:09, if the town is having a difficult time just to get a budget passed, where are they suppose to get the money for the turf?
Do you know what the costs will be?
Do you want another financial burden in this town?
I don't!
I heard that the turf fundraising is being forced on some people. I hope this is not true. Anybody else hear about this?
I don't think there was a hard time getting the budget passed, I think the vote was 8-1 or 7-2, not that hard at all. I am sure if the turf were not a BOE project this council would spend on it $7 million for a pool no big deal, next will be an addition to the linear park, wait and see.
Pretty simple, all of the town residents can use the pool along with many from out of town, the same cannot be said for the turf field. What events or combination of events would bring in regular users that were not students to the field. Just to be clear, I was raised in this town, never attended a football game or any other function at the field nor do I swim or intend to swim in the pool. In my case and I am in the minority neither have a reason for my support
Today's NHR has an article on this:
http://newhavenregister.com/articles/2010/05/18/news/metro/bb6chturffield051810.txt
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