Plainfield residents to vote Thursday on advancing Lion's Park project
At a special town meeting Thursday at 7 p.m. at Town Hall, residents will vote on whether to hold a referendum to approve a request to allocate up to $100,000 from the town's fund balance as a grant match for park improvements.
Proposed upgrades include constructing a 1,000-square-foot covered bandstand at the south end of the park, reconfiguring the parking lot shared with Town Hall to add space for about 50 more cars, and installing security cameras and new lighting around the park's walking track.
Officials estimate that the three-part project would cost $600,000, but the town would pay no more than $100,000, with a state grant covering the bulk of the project.
Heading into Thursday's vote, town leaders and residents appear split over whether the investment is the most fiscally strategic move right now.
How much will the upgrades cost taxpayers?
While the proposal would allow the town to take up $100,000 from its fund balance for the upgrades, First Selectman Kevin Cunningham said what the town will ultimately spend depends on how much grant funding the state awards.
If voters greenlight the proposal, Cunningham said the town would apply for a full grant of $500,000 through the state's Small Town Economic Assistance Program to fund the project. The $100,000 from the town would cover the grant program's 20% match requirement.
In the event that the state awards less than $500,000, Cunningham said the town would still match only 20% of the state's funds. For example, if the state grant comes out to $250,000, the town would pay only $50,000.
Cunningham said the town would tailor the project to the available funding and forgo certain upgrades if they are not covered by the grant. He said the town's top priority is redoing the parking lot, followed by the bandstand and then the lighting and camera installation.
Cunningham said the town does not have an exact estimate on what each of the three projects would cost. According to minutes from a Board of Finance meeting this month, the town engineer believed that the bandstand would cost $200,000 to $300,000 and that the parking lot reconfiguration would cost $200,000 to $250,000.
Why do people oppose the proposal?
Selectwoman Peggy Bourey, who voted against the proposal when the topic came before the Board of Selectmen at a meeting earlier this month, said she does not believe the town can afford the $100,000 investment.
'Spending the money at this time, I don't think it's fiscally responsible,' Bourey said.
'It's not upgrading the park that's my concern, it's the money that we need to expend to do it,' Bourey said. 'We have wants and we have needs. And I think that the wants of Lion's Park (at) $100,000 is not as big as the need that we have for some of the things that we need for our schools, (and) some of the things we need for our town hall.'
Bourey said Plainfield also does not know how decisions at the federal level could impact local funding.
On Monday, President Donald Trump ordered a freeze on all federal grants, loans and other financial assistance programs to ensure that agency spending aligns with his administration's priorities. A federal judge blocked the order before the pause could take effect on Tuesday. The next day, the Trump administration rescinded the order after the prospect of a pause sparked sweeping panic over the potential impact on local governments, schools and nonprofit programs, including in Connecticut.
'In the environment we find ourselves in recently, I think we need to be extremely, extremely careful about how we spend our money as a town,' Bourey said. 'I don't think we should be going there right now until this whole thing gets flushed out at the federal level and at the state level.'
Why do people support it?
Cunningham said the uncertainty around federal spending provides even more reason to act on the state's grant program.
'We want to be able to utilize what we have available right now,' Cunningham said. 'It may not be available in the future.'
Cunningham said the upgrades would also boost economic development. He said the town could host more concerts and events with the addition of the bandstand, which would draw visitors who would spend money at local restaurants, shops and gas stations. Cunningham said the town could also bring in more revenue by increasing the rental fee for outside groups that use the property for events.
Cunningham said the town has 'a very healthy fund balance' of more than $10 million, adding that the town's reserves have not 'been this way forever.'
'By asking for $100,000, ... it's not going to impact the fund balance in a critical format whatsoever,' he said.
With up to $500,000 in grant funding on the line, Cunningham said the town should not pass up $600,000 in upgrades that would cost the town only $100,000.
'We're getting a 5-to-1 ratio on our money,' Cunningham said. 'Having an opportunity like this doesn't come around a lot, and I'm hoping that people understand that.'
a.cross@theday.com
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