By Meghan Muldoon
Concerns about costs and the burden on Westport taxpayers dominated Wednesday night’s Board of Finance meeting, as officials scrutinized a nearly $1.4 million plan to replace the six tennis courts at Staples High School.
After a lengthy debate, the board unanimously approved the $1,394,071 appropriation for the new courts, though not before members pressed town officials about the massive price tag.
The project calls for the complete replacement of six heavily used all-weather asphalt courts at the high school, along with related site work including accessible walkways, ramps, parking reconfigurations and ADA-compliant bleachers. The tennis courts are used extensively by Staples students and are generally open to the public from April through November when school is not in session.
Parks and Recreation Director Eric Barbieri stressed that the courts are in poor condition.
“These cracks are getting to the point where they are a safety issue, a tripping hazard,” Barbieri said. “A sneaker can get stuck in there and it becomes a liability issue. So I think it’s something that we really need to move forward on.”
Barbieri said the town received only two lump-sum bids for the work but that both were in line with expectations and reflected current market pricing for large-scale athletic facility construction.
“I think the numbers are valid. I think they’re fair market numbers that are what is to be expected for work of this type,” he noted.
Still, Board member Jeff Hammer questioned whether the town was receiving competitive pricing. He said he used artificial intelligence tools to benchmark tennis court construction costs and found Westport’s estimates “were coming out at the high end.”
Much of the discussion centered on whether certain project elements, particularly new ADA-compliant bleachers carrying an estimated $60,000 price tag, could be scaled back or eliminated to reduce costs. Some members argued the amenities were important and functional, while others said even relatively modest savings could free up money for other town priorities.
Board chair Danielle Dobin stressed the need to demonstrate heightened scrutiny over how taxpayer dollars are spent.
“We really need to do everything we can to make sure that every single dollar that’s appropriated at this point is a need-to-have instead of a want-to-have,” Dobin said.
But Parks and Recreation Director Barbieri cautioned that the town’s ability to trim costs was limited now that contractors have submitted proposals for the project.
“You really can’t pull stuff out of the bid after the fact,” he said. “That’s the whole point of the lump-sum bid.”
Barbieri also cautioned against rebidding the project in hopes of lowering costs, warning that delays could ultimately drive prices even higher while forcing student athletes to continue playing on deteriorating courts for another season.
The board also explored whether town crews could handle portions of the work internally at a lower cost. Public Works Director Pete Ratkiewich said the option offered no guarantee of meaningful savings and was impractical given the department’s current staffing levels and workload demands.
“We don’t have the bandwidth this year,” he said.
Ultimately, the board approved the appropriation after securing a commitment from Barbieri to discuss potential reductions to the project with the contractor.
The Board also approved a request from Public Works for more than $900,000 in additional snow removal expenses following a winter marked by frequent storms and costly overtime operations.
“This has been a pretty tough year,” Ratkiewich said. “This is probably the worst year of the last five years.”
Meghan Muldoon
Meghan Muldoon is a freelance journalist based in Darien, Connecticut. As a television and print journalist, Muldoon has covered state government and politics in Virginia and Connecticut.
BOF is getting good at stomping its feet over high priced “nice” projects in town but approving them anyway.
In some cases they are not even looking at the spend.
Case in point:
The Public Works Department has initiated a project to install restrooms at the Imperial Lot without BOF review. At a PZC meeting it was stated that BOF and RTM reviews were required. They apparently backtracked on that promise.
Also, the rebuild of the Community Garden is supposed to occur “on the town’s dime”” “ with funding included in the still-secret cost schedules for the Long Lots project. Still, the Parks and Rec director wrote to gardeners stating he had to find funding for the garden.
The second growing season comes and goes without a community garden. Yet we have new bathrooms in a parking lot, new stage at the high school, new tennis courts, lights at the sports fields, and oversized town and school budgets approved.