WHATELY — Voters will be asked to play ball with several recreation funding requests on the table for Special Town Meeting on Saturday.
Residents are asked to consider funding several improvements to Herlihy Park, including accessibility renovations, and an expansion of the community ice rink at the meeting, which will start at 1 p.m. at the Town Offices, 4 Sandy Lane.
Among the seven articles, Article 3 concerns the appropriation of $107,911 from free cash to make Herlihy Park more accessible through repaving the driveway and renovating the bathrooms. The town received a Parkland Acquisitions and Renovations for Communities (PARC) grant for $62,588, but a condition of the grant requires the town to appropriate the full amount and be reimbursed later, according to Town Administrator Brian Domina.
At next year’s Annual Town Meeting, Domina said voters will be asked to appropriate $45,324 in Community Preservation Act funds to the project, as well as to return the $107,911 that is being asked for at Saturday’s meeting.
Domina explained the renovations are targeting the parking lot and driveway because they are in poor shape and the bathrooms need to become Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant.
“The driveway has broken concrete. … The parking lot is just gravel, dirt, potholes and grass. We’re going to pave that,” he said. “There’s three existing bathrooms there now and one of those is going to be ADA compliant. … We need to make one of them larger so we can get appropriate clearances around the fixtures.”
Article 6 asks residents to approve using $4,700 of unappropriated funds from April 2014’s Town Meeting to make improvements to the dugouts and small baseball diamond.
The town had expected to use the money to install donated dugouts, but they were never put in place because there was not enough room between the field and property lines. Instead, the money will be used to maintain existing dugouts and make general field improvements, according to the warrant’s explanation document.
Article 1 asks voters to appropriate $6,500 from the Community Preservation Fund to expand the existing ice rink between the Police and Fire stations on Christian Lane, which became a popular pandemic activity after its installation in January.
The money would go toward installing rounded corners to the rink while expanding the length and width by 10 feet, as well as adding a long-lasting rink liner, foam bumper cushions to soften falls, and LED lights to allow for night skating. There will also be a 15-feet-by-30-feet “kiddie rink.”
Select Board Chairman Jonathan Edwards previously explained the expanded ice rink will draw more people to Whately, including families.
“There’s no question that adding to the size will make people say, ‘Wow, I really have to take advantage of it,’” Edwards said. “There’s so much reason to now try it if you haven’t before.”
Domina said the other articles are “housekeeping” and involve small appropriations of funds such as $7,500 for the sidewalk replacement project on Chestnut Plain Road or approximately $9,600 to help fund the water pumping station connecting the Whately Water Department and Whately Water District.
The full Special Town Meeting warrant can be viewed at bit.ly/3bBu5kA.