GilfordGrok

The MAC also believes that there has to be three main elements to a successful:

• Need a technically accurate and legally defensively done plan.
• Strong leadership – MAC and School Board
• Need a planned economic plan -”strong strategic plan”

Tim Drew (Chair of the MAC) discussed the preliminary financial aspects. The intention is to raise the money to develop the area via fund raising. They are talking to a professional fund raiser and some of his questions to be addressed included what's in it for the donors, as the project will take several million dollars. The wish is to develop and maintain the area without taxpayer money.

Paul then started to describe the aspects of the plan: ball fields, picnic areas, soccer fields, lacrosse fields, football fields, concession stand, other buildings on the land (Note: I haven't been able to find a map on line as of yet). He also talked about the two parking areas: a 30-40 car lot near the Verizon hut and a main one of about 400 cars.

There will also be other needs to be addressed: ADA compliant bathrooms, showers for the players, an area for “bad weather protection” (think housing to get safely hide from a thunderstorm). They will have to also figure out what to do with the Farm House. In addition, there are two “student at risk” programs serving about 12-15 kids plus staff that has to be though of.

My overall sense that I got was that the current complex of fields in the center of town is insufficient for all of the sports activities for the High, Middle, and the Elementary schools and the other youth leagues that do not come under either the SAU or Parks and Rec mandates.

Conservation Committee has been consulted and their biggest issue is water quantity – most of the crowd was concerned with the quantity of water instead.

There were a lot of questions and observations in a number of areas:

• How many girls are on the football / baseball / lacrosse teams? Only a couple in the latter, about 60 in soccer, and low 40s for softball. T-Ball is for both. Soccer is both.
• What about the present fields? Those fields will go to the Middle School (500 athletes between the Middle and High schools).
• Big storm – how to keep the flooding from destroying them? All fields will be underdrained into a drainage system. Drainage will be across the entire field system. The plan will be to scrape out what is there, stockpile the topsoil, adding 2 to 3 feet of fill to the entire site with a drainage system, and then put the topsoil back.
• All KINDS of Permits will be needed.
• Big and lots of discussions about where the water will go if not into the floodplain that the Meadows will not handle or divert. There were a bunch of disputes of what Paul said versus what the long term residents have observed.
• Andy Howe – mentioned that the big elm tree was flooded across all the way over. He does not want the water to rush (erosion) away.
• I talked about Dan kayaking and how much water there was. I also asked if the donors would be willing to redo if there is another 100 year storm? No answer.
• Discussion of the river and the yacht club and the problems that it poses to them. The development upstream is impacting them downstream. The problem extends all the way back to Lyman pits.
• Do we own land behind the elementary to throw a couple of fields there. Answer is that the land is prime wetlands which cannot be touched.
• Overall – people believe that this will be making a situation worse, as they kept coming up with questions that could not be answered, or brought up situations that had been brought up to the Town before. Sue Allen kept putting off onto the Selectmen – trying hard to keep those problems related to the water problem from becoming part of this project.
• Traffic concerns – 400 cars! Contrasts to the Meadowbrook congestion were made and that people were not parking as they should already. Sue talked about overlap already for games – that's the need.
• Police were supposed to monitor the parking by the side of the road.
• Will all games be held in the day time? Tim – against night time right now.
• Sue – will try to work this project jointly with the Town.
• I asked about West Nile. Dave Pinkham says that the coaches will have spray and the kids bring their own.
• Will the parking lot be paved? Tim said no – will be covered with “stuff” that will let the water through.
• How about runoff with fertilizers and chemicals for the fields into the Lake? Runoff?
• What about increasing incidental costs – busing of students, extra staff, toilet paper and other building supplies and upkeep – the indirect costs are going to be high. This is a real big project. We've been told that things before would not be a cost to the taxpayers (yes folks, think football!).
• What are the money and time frames? Tim – More engineering has to be done to get to the preliminary plans (weren't they listening to the earlier estimate during the discussion of the professional fund raiser?). The question was avoided.
• I asked about the time and money frame again, since it wasn't addressed. The answer was that they need the plan first. Permitting and review process.....approvals in a year. Package out to bid...45 day time.
• Originally the land was supposed to have been a sheep farm and the owners wanted to raise the fields to prevent hoof rot....and it was denied. Yet, here it is now possible? Tim said Barry Keith came out and overall said ok. Sue – multiple opinions to said it was OK
• Andy Howe – Pointed out that the proposed parking lot he could not bale hay, a lot of time couldn't mow it. There were a number of times that his practical experience with the field conflicted with what the professional engineer was stating especially in the area of wetlands.