Wilton’s Parks and Recreation Commission and the Board of Selectmen (BOS) have agreed to shift $500,000 that had been earmarked for drainage and improvements at Middlebrook sports fields toward a new initiative to install lights at Guy Whitten Field at Wilton High School (WHS). The decision was based largely on a collective judgment — including significant input from the leadership of Wilton’s DPW — about where the funds would have the most impact, with the goal to increase the field time available to Wilton sports teams.
The decision came at a time when the BOS is also reassessing how revenue from banner sales at WHS‘s Fujitani Field and Kristine Lilly Field should be utilized. Over the last few months, the BOS has reached a clear consensus that it would like to see the funds used for improvements needed now at Wilton’s grass sports fields, instead of a possible future turf field.
The latter now seems unlikely any time in the foreseeable future, after the referendum on bonding the cost of a proposed new turf field at Allen’s Meadow was rejected by voters at the May 2023 Annual Town Meeting (and not to mention, potential state legislation that could limit turf options in the future).
All of those topics were discussed at a recent (Oct. 11) Parks and Recreation Commission meeting, which was attended by First Selectwoman Lynne Vanderslice, along with DPW Director/Town Engineer Frank Smeriglio and Parks and Recreation Department Director Steve Pierce.
Nick Gemelli also attended that meeting as a representative of the Wilton Athletic and Recreation Foundation (WARF), a nonprofit founded to help advance the interests of sports and recreation infrastructure in Wilton. Gemelli said that members of WARF — which runs the banner sales — were “excited” about the commission’s latest discussions and “the opportunity to get things done.”
“Our main goals are to increase access and usability of our fields for recreation and youth sports, and improving the quality of the fields,” Gemelli told the commission.
Parks & Rec Priorities
The Oct. 11 Parks & Rec meeting included lengthy discussions among the commissioners about possible ways to proceed with field improvements. (A video recording of the entire meeting is posted on the Town website.)
The discussion was spurred by Vanderslice’s request in June for the commission to take a fresh look at its priorities for sports fields.
“The turf field didn’t pass, but that doesn’t mean all the issues went away… we still have all the same issues, with lack of lit fields, lack of access to fields… all those issues still exist,” Vanderslice told the commission on June 21. “We’d like this commission to take a look at priorities.”
Specifically, Vanderslice challenged the commission to consider whether drainage improvements at Middlebrook fields were still the best use of $500,000 that had been earmarked for that purpose in 2022.
Future budget challenges to which Vanderslice alluded during the meeting are only adding pressure to get the “biggest bang for the buck” from currently available funds.
“I anticipate that the next few budget cycles are going to be really difficult [and] there isn’t going to be a lot of extra money,” Vanderslice said.
As part of the Oct. 11 discussion, DPW Director Frank Smeriglio reiterated why the Middlebrook fields — which include five different fields used by youth softball, baseball, football and soccer teams, as well as Middlebrook PE classes — had been a high priority, due to significant drainage issues, especially the low-lying Madaras field near wetlands.
However, Smeriglio noted, the $500,000 in available funds would only be sufficient to improve one or perhaps two of the five fields — and even with extensive work, the fields would still be vulnerable to closures after rain.
“The thing is, you can’t think, by putting $500,000 to do drainage on the field, at the end of the day after it rains for 24 hours, that you’ll be able to play. No matter what you do, it’s still a grass field, not a synthetic turf field,” Smeriglio said.
For what is estimated to cost roughly the same amount of money, Smeriglio presented a scenario for new lighting at Guy Whitten Field, with the installation of 4 poles for lights plus lighting at the parking lot crosswalk.
Commission chair John Macken stated his conclusion.
“My personal view is lights at Guy Whitten provide much more usability than [drainage] at one or perhaps two fields at Middlebrook. We’re still going to have rainouts,” he said.
The board members unanimously agreed. Vanderslice indicated she would take the proposal to the BOS. She also cautioned the commission against “false hopes” about potentially expanding the scope of any improvements, such as extending the lights at Guy Whitten to nearby softball/baseball fields.
“People seem to think you could do a lot more than light Guy Whitten with $500,000. Through this meeting, people are finding out what things really cost,” Vanderslice said.
BOS Action
Vanderslice brought the Parks & Rec decision to prioritize the lights at Guy Whitten Field to the BOS at a meeting on Oct. 17.
Smeriglio gave the selectmen a similar overview as he gave at the Parks & Rec meeting, including the preliminary plan that was put together for the purpose of understanding ballbark costs.
The BOS recognized the reality that the $500,000 that had been earmarked for use at Middlebrook, if re-prioritized, would not cover anything other than new lights at Guy Whitten Field. The BOS further recognized that while the lights would extend playing time there, the field would require additional investment to restore and improve the condition of the field and add irrigation.
“To light a field that’s in bad shape isn’t a good idea,” Vanderslice said.
The BOS estimated that work to be approximately $180,000 and agreed, at least in principle, to commit to that work at a later date. (Note: drainage work currently in progress at the sports complex is expected to benefit Guy Whitten Field but is not included in the $180,000 the BOS expects will be needed to optimize the field’s playing condition.)
“It’s important that if we commit to these lights, we are in our minds committing to the subsequent funding to do the [additional work],” Vanderslice said. “I think there’s a means to do that without running it through the budget,” which she said could include WARF contributions and some FY2023 budget savings.
Summarizing her discussions with WARF, Vanderslice told the selectmen, “They very much support the idea of [WARF] funds going to current needs as opposed to being banked for turf,” Vanderslice said.
After more discussion, the selectmen voted unanimously to re-prioritize the $500,000 from the Middlebrook fields to the Guy Whitten Field lights.
The BOS authorized Smeriglio to proceed to the next steps to finalize a design and firm up cost estimates.
This seems sensible, but ultimately, if we continue our practice of incredibly stingy budgets every year, there are going to be a whole lot of difficult decisions to be made about the future of sports in Wilton; if we want better facilities, we need to elect a Board of Finance that believes in investing in this town, rather than cutting corners every chance they get.