The Parks and Recreation Commission has three large items on its wish list for fiscal 2025, and it went before the Capital Planning and Investment Committee Nov. 9 to make its case for them. The list includes improvements to the beach house, a robotic field liner, and the commission’s annual request for money for field upgrades. The estimated total cost for all three is about $108,000.
Anne McWaters, the town’s new recreation director, said the beach house’s water heater is old and leaky and needs to be replaced. The three original 1966 doors have rusted through in some places, and the locks are no longer serviceable. There are also two roll-up doors that do not provide enough of a seal to keep mice and squirrels out of the building. The commission would like to replace those with French doors. The building also needs new gutters and fascia. In addition, a new drainage system is needed to capture runoff that is currently washing sand onto the boat ramp, and an asphalt berm is needed to divert water away from the wheelchair ramp. Beach house and drainage work is estimated to cost about $20,000.
The commission is also asking for about $27,000 for field upgrades this year. Improvements were made to the lower field on Depot Road last year, and Charlie Waite field off Lancaster County Road is up next. If funds are made available, the field would get a second round of deep tine aeration. Irrigation valves would be replaced on the Waite field, as well as on lower and upper Depot fields. Parking lots at the Depot Road and Charlie Waite fields, the field on Ann Lees Road, and at the Ryan Land would be improved and signs repaired and added where needed.
CPIC members wanted to know why annual requests for field upgrades aren’t part of the Parks and Rec budget. McWaters said money for fields is part of the Department of Public Works budget, since it oversees field maintenance. But the fields are not in good shape, and they need repairs that go beyond fertilizing, seeding, and normal upkeep. The town still needs to find a solution to field overuse, she said. New fields or renting fields in Devens would allow some fields to rest periodically, and the commission continues to explore those options.
Send in the robots
The last request is for a robotic field liner, a device that lines sports fields autonomously using GPS technology. The machine can line a field in about 25 minutes, and requires only one person to monitor it. The current method of manually lining the fields typically takes two people two to three hours, McWaters said. Fields are relined during the season about every two weeks, she added, and sometimes fields must be moved midseason because of overuse in some sections, typically around soccer goals. This machine would free DPW staff to do other field maintenance work, and the person watching the machine could be doing another task while the field is being lined.
McWaters said the machine could be programmed to line any field in town, including the youth fields, which are currently done by youth sports organizers. The youth fields are typically smaller and lined in a different color, which the machine is capable of. McWaters said she would talk to youth sports organizers and the DPW about coordinating use of the machine on the youth fields. Harbormaster Bob O’Shea said that once the machine is on a field, it could probably line both the regulation size and the youth size at the same time.
The town has quotes from two companies that sell the robotic field liner—Turf Tank and Swozi. DPW head groundskeeper Ben Gilbert, Harvard Soccer Club president Andrew Thomas, and McWaters attended demos from both companies. She said many neighboring towns have these machines, and while more of them have Turf Tank liners, she and Gilbert are both leaning toward the Swozi. She said it’s a bit cheaper, it’s less complicated so there are fewer things that can go wrong, and the parts are not proprietary. She added that both machines are easily movable by one person and could be transported in the back of a pickup truck.
CPIC member Mike Derse asked if there were any safety concerns. McWaters said people sometimes walk dogs on the fields while they’re being lined, according to Gilbert, but he could tell them to avoid the area. Derse noted that “It’s paint, not mower blades.” McWaters said, in the worst case, a dog’s paw might get painted. The commission is asking for $61,000 to cover the cost of either choice.
CPIC will continue to review department requests for the remainder of this year. School requests will be the topic of its next meeting Nov. 16. It will make its recommendations early next year, in time to put recommended expenditures on the warrant for Town Meeting.
