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11/07/2017 11:00 PMWhile the Strong Center Field project may finally be nearing the end, accounting for and paying for all of the final pieces of the project has been the subject of debate among town officials and various town boards in recent weeks.
The center, which has been in the works for years, is designed to serve as a football field for high school and potentially college games, as well as soccer, lacrosse, and softball. It is also envisioned as a performance arts facility for music, theater, and dance.
Project construction was broken out into two phases. Phase I of the project included the replacement of the former grass football field with an artificial turf field and installation of the scoreboard, flagpoles, lighting, and bleachers with seating for 2,000. Phase II of the project includes a planned plaza and two field houses. The entrance plaza will include a gate; three stone pillars for gold, silver, and bronze sponsor plaques; and 325 engraved granite plaza stones. Additionally the site will include several park benches, a Champions’ Walk from the home field house to the field, and a memorial garden.
Phase II of the project was held up as the town struggled to secure a contractor. Back in 2016, the town secured a Small Town Economic Assistance Program (STEAP) grant for $500,000 to complete the field houses and went out to bid for a contractor. With the money for the project coming in the form of a state grant, the state requires contractors must meet standards ranging from insurance to minimum labor rates. First Selectman Tom Banisch previously said there was only one bid on the project and in March, the town decided the contractor could not complete the project. In total, the field house project went through three rounds of bidding before the Board of Selectmen formally awarded the contract of $481,024 to Pat Munger Construction Co., Inc., in late April.
At a Capital Improvement Program (CIP) Committee meeting on Nov. 2, committee members asked about the standing of the project and what is left to be completed. Banisch said the field houses are coming along well, but the town is going to ask for a few special appropriations to cover some extra work.
“The $500,000 that we got was specifically for the field houses to be built, so hooking them up into everything like septic and electric was going to be on our dime,” he said.
Banisch said some other additional items including lighting, fencing, and finishing the shared path by the field may be coming to the town in the coming months as well. Beach & Recreation Director Scot Erskine said he does not have solid numbers on those items at this time.
CIP and Board of Finance (BOF) member Bennett Pudlin said he takes issue with how these additional items made their way to the CIP.
“I have got to tell you though, having been here in LOCAP when this was presented, we were hearing none of this,” he said. “Now we are faced with an open ticket?”
Part of the confusion arose through uncertainty if these additional items were planned. Finance Director Stacy Nobitz said these items were listed in the CIP last year, but were removed during the budget process as the BOS looked to keep costs down. However, CIP Chair Jean Fitzgerald said the problem wasn’t that the items were not executed last year, but that they were removed from the CIP rather than pushed out a year or two in the program.
“We need to have a five-year plan and I am not criticizing, I am just saying this is not the way to do business because it doesn’t look good to the public,” she said. “If we knew we needed it, then we should have kept it in. If we had no intention of doing it then it should be out.”
Fitzgerald said she just wants to see a completed plan in the CIP so regardless of budget numbers, the committee will know what might need to be don’t to complete the project. Banisch said the cost will determine what remaining elements need to be completed.
“I think we can estimate what it is all going to cost when we get done, and I think we have to make a decision on if we want to do it or not,” he said. “The fencing is X number of dollars and next year we will take a look at it and see if we want to do it, but that is what it takes to complete the project.”
A few items do have to be paid for via a special appropriation as the work in question—the septic system and main electrical work—has already been completed.
“We are being asked to approve a special appropriation after the fact. We have no choice, we have to pay our bill,” said Pudlin. “Going forward, there should not be any additional Strong Field expenditures outside the budget until we get that list.”
The special appropriation request was brought to the Board of Finance (BOF) in a special meeting on Nov. 3. Banisch had previously requested the board approve a special appropriation not to exceed $15,000 for septic system work at the field, but since Banisch did not have a bill for the work at the time, the request was withdrawn.
At the BOF meeting, the board was asked to consider a special appropriation for $30,519.50 to fund materials for septic system installation and main electrical work for the Strong Field houses. However, as the funding request was not deemed urgent, the BOF voted to push the request to the next regularly scheduled meeting.
“This is a special meeting—it is 8:15 in the morning on a Friday and I know that we want to make sure there is comment and discussion by the citizens of Madison,” said BOF member Mark Casparino. “Sometimes people get upset when we don’t have it in our regular meeting…I just feel like covering this item in a special agenda meeting probably shouldn’t be done.”