Recreation Center

May Still Find Funding

By Kendra Bobowick

With or without the seniors included in the plan, a recreation center may be back in line for funding this year.

Is it possible? “Absolutely,” said Legislative Council Chairman William Rodgers following Wednesday night’s council meeting.

But how?

The recreation department and the seniors — the two groups who may share a combined facility — need to come to an agreement about sharing a building, or not.

Mr Rodgers said, “It could be reinstated if they resolve it in time.”

His message Wednesday: settle problems with seniors, and do it fast. He asked, “Do you envision talks very quickly, and, regardless of the outcome, are you seeking money be restored for the Parks and Rec part?”

“Yes,” answered Ed Marks, chairman of the Parks and Recreation Commission. He and recreation director Barbara Kasbarian have plans to visit the Commission on Aging meeting Monday, February 25. Explaining his position, Mr Marks said, “We worked with the seniors and thought we had a plan but clearly not all [seniors] were heard. Now it’s loud and clear and we’re working on the issues.”

Mr Marks is prepared to leave them behind. He said, “It’s time to push forward and time for them to decide if we move forward together or not.” Expressing his urgency, he continued, “With seniors or not we need to move forward with the recreation facility. It’s imperative; we need classroom and program space.”

Ms Kasbarian agrees. She said Thursday, “We’re ready to go alone.”

Mr Rodgers wants an answer soon, before the council makes its decisions on the town’s proposed capital improvement plans.

With another chance at funding, Ms Kasbarian said, “I am pleasantly surprised.”

She was first surprised in late January when the potential funding was yanked out of reach. At that time the Board of Selectmen had dropped the project from the town’s capital funding requests.

While recreation members favored a combined-use building, seniors were lukewarm until recently when tempers boiled and more than 200 signatures on a petition made the senior citizens’ position clear: they want their own separate facility. Recreation center plans were derailed, at least for the coming year.

First Selectman Joseph Borst had said, “It’s removed, but that doesn’t mean it can’t go back in.” He was not necessarily talking about this year.

Mr Rodgers’ statements Wednesday changed that dynamic, however, swinging funding back within reach. Regarding the differences of opinion between seniors and the recreation department, Mr Rodgers said, “We envisioned you working it out [with the seniors], but we didn’t envision it would be removed because of an impasse.”

Although selectmen had scratched funding from capital plans recently, Mr Rodgers said Wednesday, “If they work it out, there is an excellent chance [funds] could be restored,” He confirmed after the meeting, “I didn’t envision it would be dropped.”

Mr Marks said, “I thought we had all the showstoppers, but if [seniors] have got to have a separate building, then we have got to move on.”

“I agree,” Mr Rodgers said. “It doesn’t make sense to talk [about combined space] with that condition.”

Seeking help, Mr Marks said, “It’s not for us to say what another department does. We need to be told firmly to move together or separately.” Bluntly, he said, “We feel we’re held hostage.” Without seniors’ cooperation, Parks and Recreation’s opportunity for a center was essentially compromised.

Making his own position clear, Mr Rodgers was firm: “I urge you not to rely on being told what to do…” After the meeting Mr Rodgers noted that the recreation department needed to bring him answers. No elective body is going to tell them they are forced to work together, he suggested. Facing the dilemma between the seniors and recreation department, the project had been dropped once already, he reminded. “It should indicate they need to resolve it themselves.”

Penciled into this year’s draft of Newtown’s five-year capital improvement plans (CIP) were requests for $600,000 in 2008-2009 for recreation center design and two subsequent installments of roughly $3.1 million for construction and associated work. Selectmen had been interested in shifting funds to boost this year’s request to roughly $1 million to see demolition of Litchfield House to make room for the recreation center.