By Kerri Williams
WESTPORT – For Parks and Recreation Commissioners, it was a meeting to narrow down location options for a badly needed maintenance facility.
But many people in the community thought that there was a foregone conclusion that the facility would need to be at Longshore Club Park, where the current dilapidated facility is located and where plans had already been made for a new building.
“There’s a widespread belief that a decision has been made,” said P&R Chairman David Floyd before a presentation by the consultant Stantec, the company that had been asked to evaluate all available town land. “I cannot stress enough that this is not the case. We will not be voting tonight.”
Floyd added that commissioners could be ready to vote at the Nov. 19th meeting, adding that there will be a new first selectperson in office before then.
“That person has to be behind this as well,” Floyd said. “It’s another reason we are not voting tonight.”
Later in the meeting, commissioners agreed to narrow down the options from 13 presented by Stantec to a “short list” of five that members will visit in person. Those sites are:
- Baron’s South, a 21-acre site on Compo Road
- Bayberry Lane, a 7.7-acre site where the health district has buildings
- Longshore, which consists of 169 acres at 260 Compo Road.
- an area off the Sherwood Island Connector comprised of 8 acres
- Winslow Park, 29 acres on the Post Road
All the sites that were explored have some drawbacks, according to Gary Sorge, of Stantec. Many include wetlands and some are difficult to access or are near residential neighborhoods. Some are also on the site of former landfills that may not have been properly capped. He added that those drawbacks can be overcome and that some of the sites could be used as a satellite facility for storage.
Another big question on the mind of many commissioners is whether all the maintenance vehicles and equipment used by the department need to be under cover, necessitating a larger storage area and building.
Commissioners Chrissy O’Keefe, Elaine Whitney and Gery Grove all questioned whether some vehicles that are now stored outside can remain parked outside, making for more flexibility when looking at locations. Some brought up the fact that school buses and police vehicles used by the town are stored outside.
“Our scope has ballooned,” O’Keefe said. “We are not just solving for (the current building). The focus is in finding a place for vehicle storage.”
But Erik Barbieri, director of Parks and Recreation, reiterated the importance of keeping as many vehicles as possible out of the elements, calling it “industry standard.”
“My colleagues try to get the equipment inside as much as possible,” he said, keeping the vehicles in better condition for longer.
Dan Katz, of Compo Road South, who spoke during a public comment portion of the meeting, said that he believes some people have already made their minds up about the site needing to be Longshore. He said that he has lived in the neighborhood for 55 years.
“If every vehicle had to be replaced every 12 years, it would not cost as much as this building,” he said.
Sorge, of Stantec, pointed out that the total amount of space necessary, of 34,000 square feet, would be necessary whether the vehicles were stored inside or outside. “We are showing the options,” he said. “If vehicles were not inside, there would still need to be the space for them.”
Floyd said that he feels some equipment, like lawnmowers, should be stored out of the elements since they are not enclosed vehicles. “I am not sure that every single dump truck needs to be (inside),” he added.
The existing parks and recreation facility, which Floyd said that “everyone can agree needs to be replaced,” is about 3,000 square feet, compared to a proposed 4,900 square feet for the proposed building. Stantec has also said that a fueling station would need to be included on the site if Longshore is not chosen, as Longshore already has fuel pumps.
Some commissioners also brought up that they had asked Barbieri for a breakdown of where the department’s equipment is used in town, which would be helpful in making the decision about the site, but that it had not yet been provided.
Kerri Williams
Kerri Williams is an award-winning writer and journalist. She has worked as a reporter at the Norwalk Hour, as Living editor at the Darien News-Review, and managing editor for the Norwalk Citizen-News. For Westport Journal, she is a reporter as well as a gardening columnist, writing “Cultivating with Kerri.” She recently published her first children’s book – “Mabel’s Big Move,” based on her daughter with special needs.
Winslow Park. Cool.
What we need more of at the intersection of Compo and The Post Road are town park maintenance trucks and equipment coming and going.
Good idea, fellas. 👍
Please note it’s Gary Sorge of Stantec, not George Soros. Blessed he’s not George Soros.
We agreed to consider all viable options. Full stop. Stantec’s charge was ALL Town-owned sites regardless of current use. Winslow Park has the space, togography, and access. There was much discussion about taking it off the list, but it was deemed to be worth reviewing due to the lack of other options. But you knew that.
Somewhat twisted logic Mr. Floyd, 8in the way you spin things.
Here are a few relevant points.
Nobody on earth, let alone Westport citizenry , is going to sit still for a truck depot at Winslow. But you know that. Keeping it in the short list is deliberately incendiary. (Did you happen to be on the committee to pave over Jesup Green?)
While on the topic of Winslow, some time ago I submitted to P&R Dept. a sketch/idea of a community Garden placed along the southern most border of the park along the Post Road. I also put this idea into the consultant’s Master z plan input survey. It is flat, sunny, accessible and presumably a clean plot of town owned land. The dog walkers rarely use this very extremity of the park. Crickets. Rather, though, in the Parks Master Plan idea boards, you choose to bifurcate dog friendly areas by suggesting a garden in the center of Winslow.
Back to the maintenance truck and equipment depot. I recall that the paid consultants would also identify non-town-owned land that could be prospected as potential sites. How’s that going? Where is that short list?
The correction has been made. Yeesh.
So property #4 on the list of five potential town-owned sites for a maintenance facility would appear to be the West Parish Meeting House State Archaeological Preserve at the corner of the Sherwood Island Connector and Greens Farms Road.
Notwithstanding the fact that this is a sensitive, historic and cultural site – which includes documented below ground resources including the remains of a pre-historic Native American encampment – the town has ALREADY targeted the Preserve for a sprawling Emergency Services facility.