The Parks and Recreation Commission presented three grant applications totaling $91,000 for fiscal 2023 to the Community Preservation Committee. Among the requests made to the CPC at its Nov. 17 meeting were safety improvements to the Harvard Park playground, completion of the town docks, and implementation of a better anchoring system for boats.
This year, the CPC will review 12 grant applications totaling $439,749.50 for fiscal 2023. Massachusetts law requires that the CPC fund open space, historical preservation, land for recreational use, and affordable housing projects. The committee must allocate 10% of its funds to each of these categories every fiscal year, and as of its Oct. 27 meeting, the CPC had an estimated $450,000 to fund projects and initiatives.
Safety improvement to the Harvard Park playground is the biggest ticket item on Parks and Rec’s list. “Overall the structure is in pretty good shape,” said Parks and Rec member Marisa Steele at the CPC meeting. “Generally, the lifespan of a playground is about 20-plus years depending on its location and usage.” Since the playground was built in the early 2000s, landscape structure and insurance representatives who assessed the playground determined it has only another five to 10 years of usable life.
Parks and Rec is requesting $36,000 to replace the curving slide and the eroding protective coating on the suspension bridge, replenish the mulch surface, install an additional picnic bench and table, and replace the hardware on the swings. (Replacing the slide would cost approximately $9,143, while replacing eight swing seats would cost $2,475.)
Steele said replacing the slide and suspension bridge cables is top priority since they pose immediate safety concerns. The slide is currently closed since strings from a child’s hoodie could get caught in a gap at the entrance, said Steele. A grant application to cover the cost of the slide and suspension bridge cables is being reviewed by the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association.
The next item on Parks and Rec’s list is a $30,000 request to implement a better anchoring system for boats. After four mooring buoys broke in the past two years, Parks and Rec Chair Bob O’Shea said he is worried that if existing anchors continue to pull out, the wind will push boats away from the docks. In the past, O’Shea said he screwed in the helix anchors by scuba diving, but the grant application includes hiring a mooring professional to complete this work and develop a more efficient anchor retrieval system.
Parks and Rec is also requesting $25,000 to complete the town docks. For the past 12 years, O’Shea said he has volunteered to put the metal poles in and out of the docks. Since ice bends the metal poles over time, O’Shea said some of the docks are unsafe. “I want to hire a professional and have them show us the best way to put the docks out there,” he said, adding that the grant application includes $10,000 to hire a contractor that specializes in docks. According to O’Shea, this project would benefit current and future boaters, as well as people who use the docks for fishing.
Addressing the next steps in the process, CPC Chair Didi Chadran said that if Parks and Rec’s requests are included in the CPC’s annual warrant article, they would be voted on at Spring Town Meeting and the funds would become available by July 1, 2022.
