SOUTHWICK — After nearly three hours, the four articles on the warrant for Town Meeting asking for a decision on several Community Preservation Committee allocations came up and each passed, including the request by the Parks and Recreation Commission to build six pickleball courts at Whalley Park, but there were questions about the courts’ cost.
“Your priorities are wrong if you vote yes on this,” said Carolyn Gagliaducci about the $670,000 the commission requested to build the courts.
During the May 2023 Town Meeting, residents approved spending $207,990 to build four pickleball courts at Whalley Park.
However, after a subcommittee of the Parks and Recreation Commission researched the cost of building four, they believed that the $207,000 wasn’t enough and they went back to the drawing board.
After several months, the commission came back with a plan to build six courts at Whalley Park that would include lighting, fencing and a pavilion for shade.
The commission voted 3-2 to approve applying to the CPC for the funding.
The two members who voted against it had concerns about the cost, which was what Deb Patron questioned during Town Meeting on May 20.
“Who is going to benefit from that money that we’re paying for?” Patron said.
And another resident asked, “Is $600,000 the best we can spend our money on?”
Nancy Beaman, a former member of the Finance Committee, asked if anyone understood that the area where the courts are planned is chronically wet.
No one addressed her concerns, but Parks and Recreation Commission member Richard Harriman, who is also a member of the CPC, defended the cost.
He said the courts will be state-of-the-art, while another resident suggested that the courts could be a draw for people in the area who enjoy the growing sport.
Jim Putnam asked if the town would have any liability if someone was injured while playing.
Town attorney Benjamin Coyle said the town is protected by sovereign immunity.
Town Meeting Moderator Celeste St. Jacques called for a voice vote.
It was clear from the yeas and nays that it was too close to call.
St. Jacques then asked the residents to vote.
The allocation squeaked by 12 votes, 121-109 — only a majority was needed.
Town Meeting also approved the CPC’s request for an allocation of $66,000 to cover the debt service on the alum treatment of Congamond Lakes unanimously.
There was also an allocation requested by CPC for $100,000 to rehabilitate the track at the Powder Mill School.
There were some questions about whether the track was used by the community, which was one of the requirements of the CPC request.
Patron said she walked the track nearly every day with others.
Town Meeting approved it with a smattering of nays.
Included in the Southwick-Tolland-Granville Regional School District’s assessment was $195,000 for the track’s rehabilitation. Because the $100,000 was approved, that will reduce the amount the district is asking to borrow for three capital projects.
Town Meeting also voted against three proposed bylaws, two to regulate activities on public and private property, and a citizens’ petition to require hunters to get permission from landowner to hunt on their property.
