Mill Woods Park Referendum
The people of Wethersfield voted this down!
Official Results
Referendum Question
“Shall the Town Council's vote on the motion "to authorize the Town Manager to proceed with soliciting proposals for the design and construction of the Multi-use synthetic Turf Field at the proposed location in Mill Woods Park" take effect?”
Explanatory Text
While it seems like this is just about getting proposals, the reality is the Town Council is committed to getting a contract signed by Dec 31, 2024 based on this. Vote No because:
the master plan won’t be ready for months
we will lose 2 or 3 baseball / softball fields
there is no price tag for the whole project
we won’t lose ARPA money
artificial turf causes more frequent injuries
artificial turf causes more serious injuries
artificial turf has health risks to athletes
artificial turf forever chemicals runoff into pond
artificial turf is expensive to install and maintain
schools, community center projects coming $$$
Wondering where the proposed location is? See the map below. Note the placement of the field is final but the “master plan” is still being worked on. There is no reason we can’t wait until we have a real plan.
Here’s the “Plan”
What are we Voting on?
While the referendum is specifically about authorizing the Town Manager to solicit proposals for the design and construction of the Artificial field shown above, the stated intention of the Town Council is to get the design and construction work under contract by the end of the year as they are tying this project directly to the $1.57 million in ARPA (COVID relief) funds. Vote No to stop this. Why?
We can use the ARPA money for other projects
"We'll make sure we don't lose the funds. I'm working with the finance director, we're speaking to the Auditors about the rules around that and what we can and can't do, but we're pretty confident that we'll be able to lock the money up and use it for other things."
- Frederick Presley, Town Manager, at Nov 18th Town Council meeting
The Master Plan isn’t final but the Artificial Field will be Permanent
The master plan isn’t finished. All the Phase 2 items are in flux - where will the parking lot be? Will there be a road cutting through the park? When will we add baseball/softball fields back? How much will this cost? The placement of the artificial field will be permanent and can’t be changed without tremendous expense. Shouldn’t we have a realistic plan first?
Some problems with the “master plan”:
As shown above the artificial field only removes 2 baseball/softball fields but In the actual RFQ, the artificial turf facility includes all 3 baseball/softball fields.
Other things that are in the RFQ but not in the “master plan” are: future lights, bleachers, press box, scoreboard, security cameras, sheds, etc…
The second field shown in the plan (to the left of the artificial field) relies on a land swap with Winding Brook Turf Farm, which opposes this.
The right of way from Griswold Road into the park is about 45 feet wide, which is too narrow for a two lane road, an ADA compliant sidewalk, a bike path, and a snow shelf.
This phase of the “master plan” is only for a single field in Mill Woods Park - it doesn’t address replacing the baseball/softball fields or the poor conditions of all the other fields in town.
We are opening ourselves up to expensive and delaying litigation.
Vote No to Come Up with a Better Game Plan
The immediate solution is simple: vote no. Let’s spend the ARPA funds on something else while we figure this out. We can do better. Let’s fix all our fields without destroying what we have. Let’s be leaders.
“I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.”
Voting Info
When: Tuesday, December 10, 2024
6:00am - 8:00pm
Where: Pitkin Community Center
30 Greenfield St.
Town Manager on not losing ARPA funds
Artificial field position in Mill Woods Park
Fields that would be replaced by artificial facility
More Reasons to Vote No
Athletes have more injuries and more serious injuries on artificial fields
Athletes risk unknown long term health consequences from forever chemicals and microplastics in the Artificial turf and infill
ARPA funding doesn’t cover cost of project
Will lose 3 baseball / softball / soccer fields with no replacement plan
Initial cost and ongoing maintenance costs are much higher than with natural grass fields
Recent reevaluation likely to drive up taxes
Taxpayers have major expensive projects coming up - schools, community center
Runoff from artificial field will contain harmful PFAS and microplastics and will go into Mill Woods Pond
Loss of green space for wildlife, climate resilience
No casual public access - new facility will be fenced in and locked up, will need fees, reservations, and liability insurance to use
Loss of natural beauty and passive enjoyment of fields
Open green grass fields turned into a sports facility
How we got here
The Wethersfield Town Council voted on Oct 21, 2024 “to authorize the town manager to proceed with soliciting proposals for the design and construction of a Multi-use synthetic Turf Field at the proposed location in Mill Woods Park”.
This is the first step in awarding a $1.57 million dollar design and construction contract which must be under contract by December 31, 2024 to use ARPA (American Recovery Plan Act) funds. The Council majority has indicated their intention to move this project forward.
The Town Council can reallocate these funds to fix our existing natural grass sports fields or address other urgent community needs such as roof replacements, road repairs, etc… The Town Manager has stated that there exists a long list of projects that the funds could be used for and that this can be changed before the deadline. We won’t lose these funds.
The $1.57 million doesn’t cover the full price of the work being proposed at the Mill Woods Park turf facility. Highergov.com estimates the work on the field alone to be between $2 million - $5 million. The Town has suggested issuing a $5 million dollar bond as way of funding the additional work which translates into higher taxes.
Synthetic turf fields have a life expectancy of approximately 10 years. The turf field at WHS was replaced approximately 5 years ago at a cost of 1.1 million dollars. With the addition of this second field we can expect to be replacing a field every 5 years! Beyond the cost, synthetic turf is highly controversial due to serious injury, health, and environmental concerns.
The proposed location in Mill Woods Park is on top of the existing 3 baseball fields and a practice soccer field. The conceptual master plan calls for moving 2 baseball fields to another location in the park. However, the actual RFQ doesn’t include relocating these fields. There is no real plan or money allocated to do this. We would get a single multi-sport field but lose 3 baseball/softball fields with no replacements.
On Nov 4, 2024, the town opened bidding on this work. The Request For Qualifications (RFQ) includes laying the groundwork for bleachers, lights, press box, scoreboard, shed, and a 117 car parking lot, abutting a residential area. It’s not just a playing field – it’s a Sports Facility.
The Mill Woods Master Plan this is based on includes turning the pedestrian path from Griswold Road into a two lane road that would lead into the new parking lot and this two lane road would continue directly through the park to the existing parking lot. This road would run right behind the soccer goal of the new field, through the area where kids play today.
A group of Wethersfield residents opposed this on many grounds and put a petition together to have the voters of Wethersfield decide on this at a referendum. The petition got over 2,000 signatures in just 10 days. That’s over 10% of the registered voters.
Now it’s up to the voters. Please vote no on Tuesday December 10th!