MINUTES

WATERTOWN TOWN COUNCIL

PUBLIC H= EARING

JOHN = TRUMBULL PRIMARY SCHOOL MEDIA CENTER

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2005, 6:30 P.M.

PRESENT: &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Elaine Adams

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Karl Fisher (arrived at 7:16 p.m.)

= ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Robert Kane, Chairman=

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Raymond Hebert, Vice Chairman (arrived at 7:05 p.m.)

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Raymond Primini

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Paul Rinaldi

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Paul Valenti (arrived at 7:20 p.m.)

ABSENT: &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Lee Archer

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Richard Wick

OTHERS PRESENT: &= nbsp; Lisa Carew, Recreation Director

= ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Vincent McDermott, Senior Vice President, Milone & MacBroom

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Meredith Robson, Town Manager

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Harry Ward, Parks Director

1.&nb= sp; Convene Public Hearing - 6:30 P.M.

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Mr. Kane, Chairman, called the Public Hearing= to order at 6:30 p.m.

Mr. Kane, Chairman, read aloud the following = Notice of the Public Hearing for the record:

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

Town Council

Town of Wat= ertown

February 7, 2005

The Town Council of the Town of Watertown will= hold a Public Hearing at the John Trumbull Primary Sch= ool, Media Center, <= st1:Street w:st=3D"on">779 Buckingham Street, Oakv= ille, Connecticut, on Monday, February 7, 2005 at 6:30 p.m. to consider the following proposed ordinance:=

"An Ordinance Appropriating $1,150,000 f= or acquisition of approximately 53 acres of land located adjacent to Plungis, Munson, and Linkfield Roads in Watertown for active and passive recreation, open space, and other municipal purposes, and authorizing the issue of bonds and notes to finance the portion of the appropriation not defrayed from grants".

Copies of the proposed ordinance are on file = with the Town Clerk of the Town of = Watertown. Eligible voters will be heard at t= he Public Hearing concerning the proposed ordinance.

Watertown Town Council

Public Hearing

February 7, 2005

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Dated at Watertown, Connecticut this 26th day of January, 2005.

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= &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; Meredith S. Robson, Town Manager

= &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; Town of Watertown

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CER= TIFICATE OF NOTICE

I hereby certify tha= t on January 26, 2005 I caused a copy of the foregoing Notice of Public Hearing,= to be published in the Waterbury Republican American, which newspaper has a general and substantial circulation in the Town of Watertown; that I caused= a copy of the foregoing Notice of Public Hearing to be posted on the public signposts in the Town of Watertown on January 26, 2005, that all such acts = took place at least five (5) days before the holding of said Public Hearing on February 7, 2005, and that such Notice has been filed with the Town Clerk in the records of the Town.

Dated January 26, 20= 05.

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&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; = Meredith S. Robson, Town Manager

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; = Town of Watertown

TOWN CLERK’S CERTIFICATE AS TO NOTICE

I hereby certify that the attached Warning and Notice are duly recorded in the records of the Town of Watertown, Connecticut, and that the following person was the duly appointed Town Manager on the date the attached Warning and No= tice were signed.

Meredith S. Robson

Signed and Sealed at Watertown, Connecticut this 26th day of January, = 2005.

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&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Virginia M. Stewart, Town Clerk

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Town of Watertown

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&n= bsp; Vincent McDermott, Senior Vice President, Milone & MacBroom

&n= bsp; Mr. McDermott: We were retained a couple of months= ago by the Town and have worked over that period of time with the Parks and Recreation Commission members to analyze the development potential of the Rickevicius property. We also looked at another property that is not under consideration as part of tonig= ht's discussion.

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Public Hearing

February 7, 2005

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&n= bsp; Our charge was to identify those issues that might be encountered at such time = as the property would be developed, but to identify them early on and to give = some order to magnitude dollars to those. We wanted to determine to what extent can this 53 acre site be devel= oped for active and passive recreation. Our effort involved assembly of basic data, topographic information = from published sources. There was a recent nearby subdivision that had been approved so we did have some data f= rom that. The wetlands had been identified previously by us and by another firm, but we went back in and lo= oked at it more carefully to see its extent.&nb= sp; We also understood the (inaudible) of test pits to analyze the natur= e of the topsoil on the property as well as to identify the impediments to downw= ard movement of groundwater as a result of any construction that might occur. We also looked at the availability= of public utilities and what the costs would be for the development of those.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Our charge also in moving forward = was, as I said, to identify potential areas that could be developed for active as well as passive recreation. In a nutshell, rather than belabor the point, t= he site as you can see from this illustration, may be better to turn this arou= nd just a little bit, the area in green is the property, the access to the property is on the lower corner, f= rom Plungis Road. Plungis Road intersects Route 63 in= the vicinity of the Citgo Station. About the distance on Plungis Road that one would have to travel is about 300 feet before you gain access to the property at the present time. Most of the property is an open fi= eld and what you're seeing in these two lighter color yellow areas are the boundaries of the wetlands that have been mapped previously, and as a pract= ical matter those areas are not capable nor are they available for development as active fields. The lower part= of the illustration is an area that is gently sloping in a direction towards t= he northest. The central part of= the site here is more steeply sloping and limited for the nature of active recreation and the area along the east here has greater potential.

&n= bsp; There are no public utilities in terms of sewer and water, so any water that woul= d be needed for irrigation would have to be developed on site. The sewer and the limited sewers w= ould be for a comfort station and to service the site and that can be accomplish= ed on the property itself. We see the need for some minimal improvements to Plungis Road between the entrance to the site and heading out toward Route 63. While Munson Road borders the northerly p= art of the property, to the left side of the illustration, as a practical matter access is not practical because of the condition of that road.

&n= bsp; We identified a number of, for the purposes of analysis to determine what can b developed, we've identified in this medium colored green, 3 areas, possibly= a 4th area that could be used for active recreation, about half of the site, about 25 acres could be used for active recreation, that is to say construc= tion of multi purpose fields as well as baseball or Little League or that type of field. We saw the access comi= ng in from Plungis Road and traversing the site to give parking for the westerly part of the proper= ty as well as for the easterly part of the property. We saw the opportunity to use the,= in the vicinity of the existing barns, for passive recreational opportunities = as well. Overall there are a num= ber of fields and a number of configurations that could be done, but rather than distract you, we feel that the site is well suited for development for acti= ve as well as passive.

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Public Hearing

February 7, 2005

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&n= bsp; The drawbacks to the site can be pretty (inaudible) around the table, is that t= here is a high groundwater problem. Anyone who has a property in this Town recognizes that in the Spring time you have a hard pan layer and the soils are very wet, and unless you a= mend those soils by installation of drainage you could really not use this site without doing that. We would anticipate that at some point in the future as this moves forward there wou= ld be more detailed plans presented or developed by the Parks and Recreation Commission, presented to the Town Council and to the voters for whatever approval might be required. S= o Mr. Chairman, I think I can end there because this discussion is really related= to the acquisition of the site and not to the development of the property.

&n= bsp; Mr. Kane: I assume you'll hang around just i= n case there are any questions?

&n= bsp; Mr. McDermott: I'm happy to hang around as long as you'd like.

&n= bsp; Ms. Robson: I just wanted to add for public be= nefit, for those of you who have not seen the information that we posted on the web site, as you heard this property is being considered at this time for purch= ase only, so I caution you to not get too involved in the details of what fields there may or may not be, or what amenities there may or may not be. That discussion can come later, if= in fact the property is purchased and there is a decision at some point in the future then to develop the property. For now the reason that the Town Council went forward on the review itself is just simply to do our due diligence to make sure the property was worth purchasing in the first place, so it's not to determine that we'll ab= solutely have 3 soccer fields and 10 baseball fields or anything like that, it's sim= ply to make sure that the property works for its intended use if it is purchase= d so that we didn't end up buying land that was then not developable for those purposes. So I just wanted to= make that clear again to everybody.

&n= bsp; Mr. Kane: We do have a rather large crowd to= night, so I'd ask if you could limit your comments to maybe 3 to 5 minutes I'd appreciate it, we'd like to give everybody an opportunity to speak.

&= nbsp; Ms. Adams: I just wanted to a= dd that $600,000 of the purchase price will becoming from a grant obtained thr= ough our State Rep and State Senator.

&n= bsp; Mr. Kane: That is exactly right. The $1,150,000 will be reduced by $600,000 in a State grant.

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Public Hearing

February 7, 2005

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&n= bsp; Peter Tomsheck, 457 Davis Street, Oakville<= /st1:City>, CT&nbs= p; 06779

&n= bsp; Mr. Tomsheck: I am the Chairman of the Parks and Recreation Commission. Member= s of the Council, the sole purpose of the Public Hearing this evening is to dete= rmine whether to proceed with the bond ordinance on 53 acres of land owned by Mr. Rickevicius for future recreational uses.&= nbsp; The Parks and Recreation Commission, as well as every parent contact= ed of every youth sports group in Town, unanimously supports this purchase. This property affords the Town a u= nique opportunity to acquire a piece of land that has the potential of being developed into active, recreational fields that are so sorely needed by all= of our Town's sports groups. The= State has awarded a $600,000 grant towards the purchase price. As I understand the process, the T= own would have to approve a bond for the full amount of $1,150,000 and then be reimbursed by the State, dropping the price to $550,000 for this property.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> The Parks and Recreation Commission would like the Town Council to also consider using money accumulated in the Open Space Acquisition Fund to further offset the purchase price of this property at this time. The pu= rchase of this property is vital to the creation of a future park. It will also help maintain the rur= al character of this Town by preserving a large tract of land from development. One thing I know= for sure, they're not making any more land in this Town, but they are making mo= re children. Thank you.

&n= bsp; Al Saavedra, Linkfield Road, Watertown, CT&nbs= p; 06795

&n= bsp; Mr. Saavedra: I coach the Watertown Lacrosse 7th = and 8tg grade team. We started wi= th Watertown Lacrosse about 5 years ago playing on the parking lot of Polk sch= ool. Last year we had about 150 kids, 6 teams. This year we expect ab= out almost 200 children and 8 teams. We've got one field, John Trumbull, which is actually not regulation size. It's 10 yards too short= and probably 15 yards too narrow. We're in desperate need of fields. Lacrosse is one of the fastest growing sports in America and it's not going aw= ay, it's going to continue and kids absolutely love the sport. We've got a ton of kids that have started in the last couple of years and they want to continue playing throu= gh high school, but the problem is if we don't get the new fields or get additional fields, we're not going to be able to sustain the program we've = got now, and definitely aren't going to be able to grow, so just on behalf of Watertown Lacrosse we just ask for your support in purchasing the land for = the kids in Watertown and Oakville.

&n= bsp; John Ogren, Farview Circle, Watertown, CT&nbs= p; 06795

&n= bsp; Mr. Ogren: I've looked at this situation a cou= ple of times, I don't know, (inaudible). I'm saying to myself, my first question is, does anybody know how mu= ch land Watertown owns to start with? Does anyb= ody know that? We must own old pr= operty because I remember growing up as a kid, (inaudible) Town property. Now all of a sudden we're finding a field out in the boon docks, whereas I'm looking at a place that's turning = into a slum downtown here, from Unico Field to French Street. I looked at that and said we can m= ake that look better than Municipal Stadium if we took $1,150,000 and threw it = in there. Imagine, you've got 3 entrances, you'd have pizzas, hamburgers, you've got your concessions right there. You think of Unico Fie= ld continuing on, and instead of somebody asking you how come I can't get into= the dump today, cause that's what they think it is off of French Street, a new person in Town, that's kind of sad.

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Public Hearing

February 7, 2005

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&n= bsp; And that cemetery there, I mean I looked at cemetery and I said this is the set= of Watertown? We are putting, I know it's going = to be a lot more than $4,000,000 or $5,000,000 out in the boon docks. The only time I would go to that g= ame, and I only live about a mile from there, would be if the Yankees were playi= ng the Red Sox, because what am I going to do? At halftime go downtown to Roe's a= nd have a pizza and go back? It = really doesn't make too much sense to me. What I'd rather do is see and perfect what we have currently. Bring that up to standards. I mean we could make Waterbury look sick with the center of = our Town from Unico field up, I know we could.= All it takes is the proper engineering and the proper (inaudible). We put a $1,150,000 through there,= and bet a couple of D8's could make that real nice. Those are caterpillars, bulldozers= . I don't think $1,150,000 for doing something like that would be too little for that project, and imagine what = our Town would look like coming up through Oakville where the trestle used to be and you see something that looks better than the Waterbury Stadium and you = see Unico Field, if you cut into the septic there a little bit, I measured it, = and the narrowest point I found was Matty's to the other side, mostly the other side you got 700 feet, you could even put a bridge across the river to have= a pizza at halftime, beautiful, by the time you're back it will probably stil= l be warm. I mean these are things= that make sense to me rather than having all this money spent on the boon docks = up there. Where is it going to go? You're talking about spor= ts, I agree they need a place to play sports, but I'm also saying why don't we ta= ke our apples and make a better apple tree, and put it right in the center of Town, we own the land, I found that out, and redevelop it, let's bring that= up, make it look nice, and the high school kids, we'll have the strongest footb= all team in the world, they'd have to run up that hill and down that hill before and after the game, nobody would beat them. And I remember Cheshire, they moved the football field= the furthest place away from school on purpose, and that was just the same reason. That's all I have to = say.

&n= bsp; Rich Avoletta, 87 Concord Drive, Watertown= , CT&nbs= p; 06795

&n= bsp; Mr. Avoletta: I'm the President of Water/Oak (inaudible) Sports and the Co-Chairman of the Gridiron Club. I believe at this point in time we= have nothing but to gain from purchasing this land, which should be a no-brainer with the money that the State is putting in. It's just a development for our ch= ildren and this is what we're really looking for.= Our insight should be to looking to develop fields and playing areas= for children in this Town. With t= he addition of multiple housing projects that are going in and it appears that= 2.5 to 3.5 children that will be moving into these homes and going to our school systems, we don't have enough fields. We need that development and we need it badly and I appreciate your time.

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Public Hearing

February 7, 2005

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&n= bsp; Joe Martere, 565 Mt. Fair Farm, Watertown, CT 06795=

&n= bsp; Mr. Martere: I'm currently the Vice president of W.A.Y.S., which is the Watertown Association of Youth Soccer. On behalf of our Board Members and= the 600 or so children that participate in our program every year, I'd like to = urge the Town Council to move forward this evening and provide the Town with a referendum for the purchase of the Rickevicius property for recreational use. The W.A.Y.S. organizatio= n is in full support of this referendum. After a thorough review of the proposal= of this land, it appears to our organization that this is not only a financial= ly responsible venture, but also a very prudent one. The number one concern we have eac= h and every season is the lack of Town playing fields and the condition of these fields. Now we are currently = maxed out in regards to soccer fields and the problem is only getting worse. As new developments get approved a= nd new families move into our Town the problem will continue to escalate. As a matter of fact, our organizat= ion spent almost $7,000 of our club money last season repairing the two soccer fields at Veteran's Park. Thi= s was necessary to make them safe for play, only to see them get beat up again du= e to their constant use. The purch= ase of the land we've come here tonight to discuss is essential to the future and = the success of our program. Thank= you for your time this evening and all the Town Council does to improve the qua= lity of life for all of us in Water= town. I look forward to the Council givi= ng us the opportunity to vote on this crucial matter in the near future. Thank you.

&n= bsp; Bill Donston, 105 Dunrobin Lane, Watertow= n, CT&nbs= p; 06795

&n= bsp; Mr. Donston: Members of the Council, friends, families, coaches, constituents of mine, I am on the Board of Directors for Babe Ruth Baseball, I'm the Treasurer.&nbs= p; I coach the 16 and 19 year old Senior Team. I coach in Little League, 8 and 9 = year olds. I help out in the W.AY.= S. organization coaching in the 9 year old level, and I also coach Park and Rec basketball. I see many, many people, many, many children and smiling faces along the way. My message tonight is yes, we need= more fields for the young children, but I don't want this message to be lost that this is still a park, not just a sports complex, it's a park for all people, all age groups. Veteran's Par= k has served many interests and groups and it's coming close to its capabilities = in doing so. The Police Departme= nt with the D.A.R.E. Program, the Fall Festival, Park and Rec Summer Camps and Activities, Senior Center Picnic, Easter Egg Hunt, the Nutmeg Square, Proje= ct Graduation, Road Race, Special Citizen's Events, a benefit for Lisa Townsen= d, numerous other birthday and social gatherings. Purchasing first and then developi= ng in a series of stages is both a sound economical and diligent plan to have the park grow with the Town's needs as time marches on. This is a visionary thinking that = speaks well for the preplanning for any development. A newlywed couple walking along a = path with a newborn in a stroller, a dad flying a kite with a son or daughter on= a windy afternoon, a middle aged couple walking hand in hand celebrating a new chapter of life, the kids have grown old and out of the house, a young teen= age couple throwing a Frisbee on a lazy Summer day, a grandparent pushing a swi= ng with a visiting grandchild from another state, a mother setting up a picnic lunch for a family gathering. Yes, all dreams, but dreams that can become a reality. To quote a great man with a vision= , the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy, "some men see things as they are and a= sk why; I dream things that never were and ask why not?' Purchasing this land for future development is realizing these dreams and we'll leave a legacy from our generation to future generations. Dare to say, why not?

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Public Hearing

February 7, 2005

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&n= bsp; Patricia Kinzly, 1476 Middlebury Road, Water= town, CT&nbs= p; 06795

&n= bsp; Ms. Kinzly: I am a lifelong citizen of the Town= of Watertown and I'm here today because I feel that as a Town we need to do th= is to encourage not only the young people, as Mr. Dunston said, all factions of life are involved in the park at Veteran's. Just to spend a day up there and s= ee the different people that are up there and enjoying the park and utilizing it m= akes it all worth the investment that we've made there. I've been involved in sports, I ha= ve two sons in Town and they were involved in sports, from baseball to football to soccer, we've been involved in Lacrosse since its inception and it's a wonderful thing for the children and the parents. It helps to improve the sense of community in the Town and it's a positive event. It's what the Town needs. It doesn't need land to be develop= ed into another housing development. We need to have recreational areas, we ne= ed to promote health in Town. An= d I think as the Town Council it would behoove you to be supportive of that typ= e of interest in the Town and to vote to approve the purchase of this property f= or the benefit of everyone, not just the children, the parents, the grandparen= ts, the sons and daughters, everyone would benefit from this. Thank you.

&n= bsp; Tom Lacaria, 163 Oak Drive, Watertown, CT&nbs= p; 06795

&n= bsp; Mr. Lacaria: I'm the President of Water/Oak= Pop Warner and I'm just here really to support you guys in the purchase of this land. We've got close to 300 children that participate in the program, and last year we knew the debacle with the High School Football field, and we were kind of a little bit left out. The Board of Ed did a wonderful job working with us, with Park and Rec, and actually W.A.Y.S. Soc= cer and the field that they have really developed up there was used as a footba= ll field. I think it's important= that we get this property. I think= the fields are beat up and I think we need to encourage all kids to participate= in all sports and I think you have the support of all the sports associations,= not only here for the vote, but maybe even to support you financially in develo= ping that after the purchase. So w= e're just looking for you guys to spear head this and I think it's a win/win for everybody. Thank you.

&n= bsp; Roger Ouellette, 137 Scott Avenue, Watertown= , CT&nbs= p; 06795

&n= bsp; Mr. Ouellette: Obviously I'm here to support = the fields; everybody knows that. What I didn't understand is what this gentleman here said before with the proper= ty down at the Unico Field, and I don't know if you can tie in whatever grants= or whatever money that you have or get with buying that or the grants that you have and tying it in with a two way project, you double your use of fields;= one in the center of Town, one out in the boon docks. That's a good thing. Thank you.

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Public Hearing

February 7, 2005

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&n= bsp; June Legge, 131 Oak Drive, Watertown, CT&nbs= p; 06795

&n= bsp; Ms. Legge: I am the Watertown High Scho= ol Athletic Director. Obviously I’m here to support all of the things you're doing. Now you've heard two speakers speak about the 300 athletes that they have in their groups, and how it's 600 at a time, that's a lot of youngsters and there is no place to play. We've run out of fields, we've run= out of land. And as Peter Tomshec= k said, we cannot make any more land. This is our opportunity. Now I've = lived here in Watertown/Oakville for a long time, we had a lot of and. We have no more land, people. This is it. We must buy this land for all of u= s, for our students, for our adults, for everyone. This is our opportunity. Please, please push this through.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Thank you.

&n= bsp; Linda Melon, 28 Atwood Court, Watertown<= /st1:City>, CT&nbs= p; 06795

&n= bsp; Ms. Melon: I would just like to reiterate what= Mr. Ogren said earlier about the field down by Adam's. I think that's an excellent idea.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> We should use the land we have alr= eady and that would definitely profit us more better than having to repurchase more land. Thank you.

&n= bsp; Bill Cathcart, 239 Nova Scotia Hill Road= , Watertown, CT 06795=

&= nbsp; Mr. Cathcart: I would just like to say that = these fields are much bigger than all of us in this room. It represents our field of dreams.= It is about taking these beautiful children and providing an environment for them to grow and develop, and it's about all of us participating in something that we can look back in 5 or 10 years from now and say that we were part of something much bigger than anyb= ody in this room individually. It= 's really something that I feel very passionate about, and it's not about me.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> I mean I'm a coach for the lacrosse program, but I look at all the kids coming through the program, and I'm a tiller of the soil. We're loo= king for you folks to provide the soil for us to till. Here is the seed that we're going = to throw on that soil and develop and that's going to be for all of us to look back on, as a wonderful, wonderful contribution to this Town. Thank you very much.

&n= bsp; Paul Switek, 12 Milton Street, Watertown= , CT&nbs= p; 06795

&= nbsp; Mr. Switek: I am the President of the Watertown/Oakville Little League. I just want to say in a short sentence on behalf of all the organizations beh= ind me, I think it would be wonderful to see a young adult athlete on TV 15 yea= rs from now mentioning that part of his success was due to Watertown's decisio= n to make an investment in his future education in athletics and I think this is where we can start. Thank you= .

&n= bsp; Chris Kinzly, 1476 Middlebury Road, Water= town, CT&nbs= p; 06795

&= nbsp; Mr. Kinzly: I'm here to buy the land out i= n the boon docks, as he put it. My = coach said there would be 8 teams for the lacrosse field and there's not enough r= oom for that one field out there for the 8 teams and if you buy that land we wo= uld greatly appreciate it. Thank = you.

(Tape #1, Side A ended - may have missed some.)

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February 7, 2005

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&n= bsp; Tom Visockis, 904 Echo Lake Road, Waterto= wn, CT&nbs= p; 06795

&= nbsp; Mr. Visockis: I am the Assistant Coach for t= he Watertown/Oak Challenger Little League Baseball Team. If you don't know what that's all = about, they're all kids with special needs. They range in age from about 6 or 7 years old all the way up through their teens. I've been with t= he program practically since its inspection back in the early 90's and we're in pretty good shape right now because we use Mosgrove Field for our home game= s and our practices, which usually are Sunday nights unless something comes up an= d we can't get a hold of the field, or prevents us from getting a hold of the field. The reason I'm here to= night is, as I've already stated in the letter I sent off to the Town Times, I th= ink if we drop the ball on this one this Town is passing up a great opportunity= to purchase more land for recreational and athletic facilities. And real estate is the one thing t= hat you can't manufacture out of thin air, it's what we've got now is basically= all there is, and I for one, don't want to hear any future, I've been a lifelong resident of this Town and= I don't want to hear any future generation parents of youngsters alike complaining there's a lack of facilities here in Town for their purposes, whatever their purposes may be. Thank you very much.

&n= bsp; Rich Jacovich, Vice President of <= st1:Street w:st=3D"on">Gold Circle= Sports

&= nbsp; Mr. Jacovich: I am on the Board for Babe Rut= h, for Little League. On behalf of a= ll the baseball coaches which also I am doing that as well, we fight for fields. We have maybe 3 or 4 practices bef= ore the season starts, and then we start the season and we can't practice anymore. All we can do is play games, so these kids are somewhere else instead of on the baseball field. Some of them might be doing bad th= ings in Town, so I think they're better off on the fields. Thank you.

&n= bsp; Nadine Savage, 629 Linkfield Road, Waterto= wn, CT&nbs= p; 06795

&n= bsp; Ms. Savage: I just had a couple of comments about what someone had said before about the Unico Field and the property behind Matty's Paving. If I'm= not mistaken, I don't think the Town actually owns the property, I think Unico actually owns that field. The= land next to Adam's may be owned by the Knights of Columbus. I think it's something that should= probably be checked further on those particular issues, but as far as the Rickevicius property, I think it's a wonderful option for the Town, as everybody has st= ated before. Land is at a premium = and it's going away quicker than you know, and if we have the opportunity now to purchase the land now and put in fields later then we should do it and take advantage of it.

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&n= bsp; Denis O'Sullivan, 238 North Street, Watertown= , CT&nbs= p; 06795

&= nbsp; Mr. O'Sullivan: We’re talking about the purchase of property and we're talking about some nebulous future $4,500,00= 0 or $5,000,000 developed. If you'= re asking for people to vote on something, wouldn't it be appropriate to give = us some kind of an overview, a timeframe?&nbs= p; We have people pleading here for fields and I see the purchase of the property is then going to face $4,500,000 second round of appeals. Now this is maybe a no-brainer as = some people have stated, that we're buying some pristine property for a nice pri= ce, but what's the next step? If = you have any inkling of that why haven't you told us about that? I'm looking that this may be a, ma= ny of the children that are in the program, before this thing gets developed may = be off in the 5 year in the future period of time. That's one comment, and I'd like t= o hear from you on that.

&= nbsp; The second comment is there is a wonderful piece of property that the State purchased down at the old Drive-In Theater, and I see it up for sale again. It would seem to me, in contrast to what is said about this, where there is plenty of gravel, it's = well drained, it's relatively flat, it would be much easier to develop that, tha= n it would be to develop anything else. It was also my understanding that when the State has an excess piece= of property, which apparently this may be, and I don’t know my facts, that may not= be, the first group that has an opportunity on it is the municipality that it's in. Is that the case? Have we been given an opportunity?= If that's an easier purchase, it m= ay be easier to develop. I'm not sa= ying don't do this, but is that in the sights also? I'd like to hear from somebody abo= ut those two issues.

&= nbsp; Mr. Kane: Well to answer your first question = or comment, you're right, this is a step, and it is the first step, so logical= ly we'd have to take the first step and this is it, so that's your answer for = the first comment. Secondly, I th= ink you're referring to the drive-in property, I don't believe it's available n= or have we had any conversations of that nature to say that it is available to= us. This is what is in front of us right now and the issue is the Rickevicius property.

&n= bsp; David Mango, Riverside Street, Oakville<= /st1:City>, CT&nbs= p; 06779

&= nbsp; Mr. Mango: I've been in construction for = 27 years, heavy equipment operator, I did a lot of big jobs. To level them fields up there, I'm= for that property because I’m against development for houses, but do a be= nch cut there with soil samples taken for compaction to Rickevicius property wh= ere his barn is to level off the property for a good sized field takes a considerable amount of cut, and then into the side of that mountain you're going to hit a lot of groundwater, because if you notice out by Tommy Plung= is' property on Litchfield Road, there's a lot of groundwater there, and that's= pretty relatively level that field in the back, but where Rickevicius' barn is, and you get into doing a cut, and you don’t have the suitable amount of f= ill to balance out between your cuts and your fills, you're looking at a big pr= ice tag if you have to haul that material in, so that's about it. You better look into the engineeri= ng first before you go buy it, but to buy that amount of property for that pri= ce is a cheap amount of money in my book and I'd rather see that than houses, = but you got to look at your p's and q's. Thank you.

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&= nbsp; Mr. Kane: Do you want to address that at all?=

&= nbsp; Mr. McDermott: I'd be happy to address that. I think the gentleman's comment wa= s right on and in fact in the analysis that we did we identified the groundwater management issue as something that will have to be undertaken to capture it= in the cut condition. The topogr= aphy is such that (inaudible) that there will be a need to import material. There's adequate topsoil on the pr= operty and with the proper cutting and filling with an under drainage system we believe that that would be adequate.

&= nbsp; Mr. Mango: What kind of groun= d is underneath that, ledge, hard pan?

&= nbsp; Mr. McDermott: Yes, hard pan, but not ledge.

&= nbsp; Mr. Mango: As long as it's fi= llable and doesn't pump.

&= nbsp; Mr. McDermott: Yes, if you can manage the water you should not have that pumping problem.

&n= bsp; Howard Franson, 214 Plungis Road, Watertown= , CT&nbs= p; 06795

&= nbsp; Mr. Franson: On the same vein as this man explaining about the land and construction, at the last meeting it was also discussed that all these fields in the future would have to be irrigated for water, watered in the Summer time, and we have no idea how many wells or how much they would cost and what kind of water you will get to pump these. I don't know if there was any furt= her study, if you did any drilling or find out anyway, because this $4,500,000 = for the development later should be in the whole question, because I don't think anybody is denying the kids the fields, but you also, when you go to vote f= or a tax increase, how many times do we have to vote the tax down, so this $4,500,000, whether it's bonded which we got to pay interest on, the bond i= sn't free, and it may be $6,000,000, it could be more than that when this whole thing is developed, this should be in the question before the vote is done. That is just my own.

&= nbsp; Mr. Kane: Is there anyone who hasn’t spoken and would like to speak during the Public Hearing Keep in mind this will also be on = our Agenda tonight, to set the referendum, and you are more than welcome to com= e to Public Participation at our regular Town Council meeting.

&n= bsp; Roger Ouellette, 137 Scott Avenue, Watertown= , CT&nbs= p; 06795

&= nbsp; Mr. Ouellette: Well the Comment was made about these kids being long gone after the fields are bought, if it's bought, aft= er it's been all, but there's going to be more kids like them, so I mean how ridiculous is that? There is = always going to be kids, and they are going to need fields, so if they don't benef= it, they don't benefit, oh well, but maybe the next generation of kids benefit. Thank you.

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&n= bsp; Bill Donston, 105 Dunrobin Lane, Watertow= n, CT&nbs= p; 06795

&= nbsp; Mr. Donston: In line with Mr. Ouellette, as= I stated before, I coach the Senior Division Babe Ruth. We've opened up from a league that= ended at 15, I coach kids that are 16 to 19 and in the Fall can play as a 20 year old, so some of these young gentlemen over here that are 11 and 12, I have = the possibility of seeing them 7 and 8 years from now, which is well within I t= hink a feasible timeframe for the purchase and a partial development of the Rickevicius property. Other leagues, I'm sure lacrosse at some point in time will look for a senior division to help their players along. Little League obviously is pretty much stuck at its time. I can envision the W.A.Y.S. Soccer= also getting into senior division teams for 16, 18, and 19 year olds, which adds more time to the fields, so again I think a timeframe is well within the ki= ds that are sitting in this room right now and standing over there to be playi= ng on fields if land was purchased now. Thank you.

&n= bsp; Tom Plungis, 898 Litchfield Road, Watert= own, CT&nbs= p; 06795

&= nbsp; Mr. Plungis: I'd like to talk with this man= right here.

&= nbsp; Mr. Kane: Open your questions= and we'll have him address them.

&= nbsp; Mr. Plungis: I would like to show you something= . I live right there and where are y= ou going to drain this water?

&= nbsp; Mr. McDermott: This gentleman is pointing to the southwesterly most corner of the property.= We have not done engineering of designs other than to know that it c= an be graded. The intent would b= e as part of this to have storm water management facilities to detain water so t= hat it doesn't run off uncontrolled onto other people's properties, so if you're asking if I know precisely where the drains are going to be, absolutely not, that was not part of our study. That would be required as part of the construction design and we're confident that can be accomplished.

&= nbsp; Mr. Plungis: If you really don't know how you're= going to drain something, how can you put a price tag on it of $4,500,000?

&= nbsp; Mr. Kane: Well let's alleviate something with= the $4,500,000. This $4,500,000 is based on conceptual ideas of what it may take to develop this property. This is nowhere set in stone so we= can just forget this $4,500,000 question all the time. This is just one person's opinion = on what it might take. It might = take less than that. We don't know. We haven't come up again, as Mered= ith stated earlier, with how many fields are going to go on this property. All we're talking about today is $1,150,000 to purchase this property, that's all we're talking about tonigh= t.

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&= nbsp; Mr. Plungis: Okay, but what I'm saying is a= t the end of Trolane Road, not far from this place, was a development, and when t= he developer let his water run right at the end of his project, it eroded out a neighbor's property. Now my question is what's going to happen here where I live?

&= nbsp; Mr. McDermott: Well I can attempt to answer it. Again there are methods of design = so as not to cause erosion, there are standards that you have to follow in the development of property, particularly a municipality, so as to avoid erosion and capture runoff in various means, storing it in detention basins before = it runs off on to anybody's property to get it into the direction that it's supposed to flow so as to avoid those things. All I can suggest is that when som= eone does have erosion caused by an adjoining property then the management of the storm water and the grading was just done improperly. Hopefully the Town is smarter than= that and that would not occur.

&= nbsp; Mr. Plungis: And the Town Engineer would oversee this?

&= nbsp; Mr. McDermott: Absolutely.

&n= bsp; Jim Krayeski, 955 Bunker Hill Road, Water= town, CT&nbs= p; 06795

&= nbsp; Mr. Krayeski: 1964 I had the dubious distinc= tion of being the first football coach at Watertown High School. Guess what? We didn't have a field. We used to practice on the side of= the high school and there was no varsity field. They stuck us in the baseball field. Guess what happened to there? The people on Tower Road = got so upset with games being played there, everything had to go down, baseball, d= own to Deland Field. Soccer was p= layed at Deland Field. Football the= y let stay for 5 games only in the back of the high school every year. This is a crime that we're here discussing this minimal amount of money for new fields. These people, these coaches, these players, they deserve the opportunity to play and have top r= ate fields. There's no reason why= these people can't get together and have something that will be a commendable pro= ject for all these kids and coaches to work with. Thank you.

&n= bsp; Lisa Carew, 389 Northfield Road, Watert= own, CT&nbs= p; 06795

&= nbsp; Ms. Carew: Just as a reminder, Veteran's = Park was built by a lot of people donating a lot of time, effort, and money. I've been with the Town almost 18 = years and there's a lot of things up there that happened because of people coming forward and putting in sweat equity into that park. Also Crestbrook. These are the parks out in the boon docks, and that's the only big pieces of property we have are the boonies, = but Crestbrook is the jewel of Watertown, an absolutely gorgeous facility: an 18 hole golf course, a municipal swimming pool, tennis courts; Crestbrook speaks for itself. Veteran's Memorial Park, March of = 1993 is when that referendum went through and it's still a work in progress. We're going to be opening our four= th field this Summer. Just pleas= e keep in mind that hopefully a lot of these same people out here will come forward and a lot of these things will be built in kind. Thank you.

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&n= bsp; Brad Troisi, 78 Joshua Town Road, Watert= own, CT&nbs= p; 06795

&= nbsp; Mr. Troisi: I'm a member of the Watertown Lacrosse Team, and when I go away and see the fields at like Trumbull and Ridgefield, I get really jealous becau= se they have wonderful fields, and here at Watertown we only have one lacrosse field for so many teams. And if we had these fields for all sports, it would just be great for my team and all of Watertown, lacrosse and sports clubs. That's all I have to say.

&n= bsp; Susan (Inaudible), 15 Heminway Court, Watertow= n, CT&nbs= p; 06795

&= nbsp; Ms. (Inaudible): I just wanted to say that unfortunately what you may not hear, what these kids have to go through, is that other teams sometimes make fun of our fields, and they say stuff to our kids, and yea, kids are mean and stuff but we shouldn't put our kids through this. I mean this is the prid= e of Watertown, right?= So we should keep that pride for t= he kids and for the parents. I m= ean all the parents are behind it. So please, vote for the fields, all the kids need it.

3.&nb= sp; Adjournment=

Mr. Kane, Chairman, Closed the Public Hearing at 7:27 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Kane, Chairman

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; = Town Council

&n= bsp;

A= pproved: _______________________________

Lynn M. LaF= orme, Clerk