Grant May Not Be An Option for South Windsor Fields Project

Supporters of the plan to add athletics fields at Nevers Park are concerned about the project’s future since the central source of funding, a $500,000 state grant, is now in jeopardy.

The Town Council, which approved the project by a vote of 6-3 in October, intended to fund the fields through a $500,000 STEAP grant, as well as private fundraising and $47,000 a year from the town.

But the $500,000 STEAP grant (just one is allowed per town per year) appeared on the Town Council’s Dec. 2 meeting agenda earmarked for another project – renovation of the old post office.

The agenda item drew several community members, including former councilors Kevin McCann and Cindy Beaulieu and Board of Education member Matt Riley, to speak on the issue.

“After doing research with the state offices, they said ‘we’re not going to give you a STEAP grant to take away farming. That’s against our public policy,’” Town Manager Matt Galligan explained Wednesday by phone. “So I was basically told in a nice way that it’s not going to happen.”

The council had a reasonable expectation that the grant, a Small Town Economic Assistance Program, could be used to build the fields, since the town had received one for the Rye Street fields and the town of Tolland had recently done the same, according to Galligan and Beaulieu.

The confusion may lie in the intended use of the town-owned land along Nevers Road by Wyndemere Court. Originally, the land was purchased with the idea of using it for active recreation, Beaulieu said by phone Wednesday. Today, it is being leased to a farmer.

“The legal opinion given during the fields discussion process used the word ‘unquestionably,’ that the sale was unquestionably for active recreation,” she said.

“The fact that it is a farm right now is a temporary use of open space until it can be used for the purpose it was intended for.”

Furthermore, the resolution passed by the council charged the town manager with applying for the STEAP grant for the fields project, Beaulieu said.

“This seemed to come out of nowhere, to put more money into the post office and at the same time divert money away from the fields.”

But Mayor Saud Anwar said before the project was approved that he didn’t believe the money was suitable for the fields project.

“The fields project resolution - we're going to have to look for financial resources for it… The environment in the state is such that they’re putting priorities over financial assistance,” Anwar said. “We’ll have to figure out what funds there are available.”

Galligan thinks there may be between $300,000 and $400,000 available in the Local Capital Improvement Program. The rest of the cost could still be raised privately, Galligan said.

The council did not have time to take up the matter on Monday but will likely discuss it at the next meeting.