KENT, Conn.—The Board of Selectmen last week approved a $37,000 contract with Cardinal Engineering to produce a master plan for Emery Park.
The plan would develop a concept for the entire park and not just the swimming area, which had been the primary focus of the Parks and Recreation Commission in recent months. The pool at the park has been closed for many years and needs extensive renovation to be used again.
One selectman, Lynn Harrington, voted for the contract “reluctantly,” noting that there is “more in this plan than the pool—which is what we have money for.”
She argued that Cardinal Engineering would be working with a firm that has already assessed the pool and given the town a report. “We already have a pretty good grip on what needs to be done,” she said.
But Parks and Rec Chairman Rufus de Rham said the master plan would be “stepping back and taking a more cohesive approach. There are things we’re not going to do for a while because of the cost, but we will know from Route 341 down to the playground, parking, the fountain—all of that—what needs to be done so we don’t spend money now [on projects] that we will have to do over later. The commission felt this was a more sensible way.”
There is some urgency to use some of the money currently available as $100,000 in ARPA funds must be expended by Dec. 31 or returned to the federal government. Indeed, Parks & Rec. had hoped to have the pool restored for use by this summer, a plan that did not materialize when the selectmen rejected an earlier proposal for its renovation.
Town Treasurer Barbara Herbst has reached out to the state to determine if the $100,000 can be used for planning purposes. “It’s a big chunk of money and we’re trying to use before we lose it,” said de Rham. “We hope to use it for engineering, possibly for demolition or construction in the fall.”
Tim Cermola, vice president of Cardinal, said that if the state allows it to be used for planning, an actual design plan for the park would more than consume the ARPA money. While the master plan will not provide construction designs, he said estimates of costs in it will be within 10 percent of expected expenditures, giving the town the ability to more precisely decide what to do at the park and when.
Parks and Rec Director Matt Frasher noted that much of the work required is to make the park ADA compliant. “We may have to take a phased approach,” he said.
“No one had looked at the entirety of the park,” Cermola concluded. “The pool is completely out of compliance, and we believe the playground is too. We will do a wholistic plan. There are lots of moving parts. P&R will look at it and make changes –it’s your project. Once it’s approved, we move on to design.”
