Parent Mandi Riel speaks in favor of the all-access playground at Finance committee. (Photo by Amy Porter)
WESTFIELD – The Finance sub-committee met on Wednesday to consider the $1 million recreation bond and a proposal by Ward 3 Councilor Andrew K. Surprise for a new way to share city finances with the public.
During open participation, a dozen Pickeball players showed up, many wearing Westfield team t-shirts, in support of the bond, some of which would pay to transform the old clay tennis courts at the Municipal Park into Pickleball courts.
Nancy Stolpinski spoke for the players. She said the group held two tournaments in August, one in which 50 women participated. “We’ve got the numbers here,” Stolpinski told the committee.
What they’re hoping is to create five Pickleball courts out of old clay tennis courts that are not being used. Stolpinski said they already have the space, fencing and lights there. They are also looking to create double lines on one of the existing tennis courts for the shorter Pickleball play area.
Stolpinski said there are 150 residents on the mailing list for games, and 50 to 80 regular players, women and men.
At-large Councilor Dave Flaherty also spoke in support of the bond, which would also pay for an all-access playground and basketball courts. Flaherty said he started playing Pickleball after a challenge at a City Council meeting in the spring, and said he travels to Agawam courts to play, which are busy seven days a week. He called the bond “a very good investment; not a lot of money, a lot of payback.”
Speaking for the all-access playground was Mandi Riel, the mother of two children with different disabilities, who originally raised the idea, three years ago. Riel said her daughter is now five, and was one and a half when she first brought it to the attention of the City Council.
Riel said her daughter has hypotonic cerebral palsy, which makes it difficult for her to maneuver on the wood chips normally covering the ground at city playgrounds. Other improvements would be awnings over the swings, and swings for wheelchairs. She said the one adaptive swing in the city is often broken, because “dozens and dozens of kids” use it.
“It’s not just for my children, it’s for all children; to have children with special needs next to all children. Children will develop compassion and love one another. I want to see all children play together and get along,” Riel said.
Ward 5 Councilor Robert A. Paul, Sr. also spoke, recommending that the Finance sub-committee do their due diligence, especially in terms of the maintenance costs. “When we do something like this, we want them to stay beautiful,” Paul said. He recommended the committee look at all of the open bonds, to see whether they might be able to be restructured for this purpose.
Nancy Stolpinski represented the dozen pickleball players present in speaking on behalf of the bond. (Photo by Amy Porter)
DPW Director David Billips and Community Development Director Peter J. Miller presented the bond proposal to the Finance committee. Billips said he could not speak any more eloquently than the public had about the bond, which he said would include basketball courts, Pickleball and the all-access playground. He called the cross section of residents that all three would serve in the city, “amazing.”
Miller gave a brief history of his efforts on the all-access playground, which he had originally envisioned for Hampton Pond, but was turned down for a state grant due to the need to clear trees from the land there. He said he is currently looking at the Cross Street playground, which Miller called “an ideal location.”
Miller said the total cost for the playground is $922,000, $200,000 of which would be for the accessible ground surface. He said he has applied for a state PARC grant of $400,000 for the Cross St. site, basing the request on the engineering work done for the Hampton Ponds site, and that he should hear in December. The city also has received $80,000 from the Commission for Citizens with Disabilities, earmarked for the all-access playground.
Miller said the remainder of the bond would go to cover the new courts. He also said over the next three months, he plans to do a lot of local outreach on the proposal.
Paul asked whether the city had considered Kamp Togowauk for the playground. Miller said he had not considered that location, but said a central downtown location was preferable.
At-large Councilor Matthew Emmershy said he was also concerned about the cost of ongoing maintenance for the playground, but Billips responded that they have the manpower in the department to do it, but that in the winter, it just wouldn’t be done right away.
The discussion on the bond was interrupted for a conference call and demonstration with Branden Burdick of Clear.Gov, arranged by Surprise, on a new way to present municipal finances to the public.
The service would take financial information at regular intervals from the city, and transform it into easy to read charts and comparisons. Burdick said the setup cost of $1,200 and first-year service of $10,000 could be covered by the Community Compact the city signed with the Baker-Polito administration, as it has been in other municipalities they serve.
“One of the things that it offers is easy to use information for the public,” Surprise said about the service. Questions included the cost of manpower hours required to export the data to the company.
IT Director Lenore Bernashe said her budget for personnel was cut. Bernashe said the city did look into a similar service several years ago.
The proposal was held in Finance for future consideration.
