AMHERST – Groff Park in South Amherst will be the site of the town’s first spray park.
Town Meeting this week approved spending $550,000 to construct the spray park and install a shade structure, and at the same time remove the aging wading pool, which was built in the 1950s.
James Brissette, of Precinct 6 and a member of the Leisure Services and Supplemental Education Commission, said it is essential to have a place for families who do not have their own swimming pools, and cannot afford passes to the town’s full-size pools, War Memorial Pool at Community Field and Mill River Pool at Mill River Recreation Area.
“It really goes hand-in-hand with our support for affordable housing,” Brissette said.
Nelson Acosta of Precinct 8, who supported the proposal, said all children will benefit, not just those from low-income families.
“Not everyone has a pool in their back yard,” Acosta said.
Larry Kelley of Precinct 5, a longtime critic of the town’s annual appropriations for Cherry Hill Golf Course, also spoke in favor of the spending.
“This, ladies and gentlemen, is what you should be spending recreation money on, not golf,” Kelley said.
The money will also be used to fix the roof of an existing pavilion and make various improvements to ensure that the park complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The town money will be supplemented with a requested $450,000 from the state’s Parklands Acquisitions and Renovations for Communities grant program to pay for improvements to the playground and construct a new pavilion.
Work on the spray park would likely begin in 2017, said Assistant Town Manager David Ziomek.
The spray park was part of $1.62 million in Community Preservation Act projects approved by Town Meeting, with other spending aimed at helping low-income families and homeless people. These include $227,248 to pay for mortgage subsidies for Valley Community Development Corp., which will aid four families in getting homes, and $150,000 for Amherst Community Connections, a local agency that will help three homeless people get housing.
In addition, $84,668 in CPA money will go toward a $268,225 project to protect about 14 acres off East Leverett Road within the Cushman Brook watershed, known as the Stosz and Stowes property.
Another $68,500 will support the placement of 62 acres on South East Street, known as the Hoerle property, into the state’s Agricultural Preservation Restriction program.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
