AMHERST – The Community Preservation Act Committee (CPAC) met on Nov. 10 and were given presentations from the Recreation Department about possible funding of projects in the future. While no project was confirmed to receive CPA funds, it was an opportunity for the committee to hear out and ask questions for the applicants.

No financial commitments were made at this meeting, as the CPAC will meet again on Nov. 18 for a public hearing and comments for all proposals coming to the committee.

Finance Director Doug Slaughter was in virtual attendance of the meeting and helped walk the committee through the financials of a few different proposals. The first presentation saw Slaughter explain the application of a track replacement for Amherst-Pelham Regional High School.

As part of the town’s Master Plan, there was a proposed reorientation and replacement of the current high school track. Currently, the field is in rough shape based on the accounts of Slaughter and other CPAC members who have seen the field and due to its condition, does not allow for the high school to host home meets in track.  

“Ideally we would want to do it in concert with what’s in the Master Plan process, reorient the track and put a field in the center of it,” Slaughter said.

Most tracks face north-south so players and athletes are not looking into direct sunlight often so the reorientation would make the high school fall in line with that. The proposed cost is about $640,000 and that number was calculated based on a similar project at Frontier Regional High School. 

The CPAC could provide funding for the project in any way they feel, but Slaughter recommended staying in line with the town Master Plan because just a renovation of the track would make it pointless to also reorient and reorientation would become a project put on the back burners for the future.

“Reorientation is a wise choice. It’s a pretty critical resource for the schools,” Slaughter added.

Committee member Sam Macleod expressed sympathy for students having to work around the damaged track but wanted to see if there was any possibility for cost’s sake that they could repair the track as soon as possible but delaying a reorientation of the track.

“The track is in really bad shape and has been for a while. It’s a shame kids are now not able to have meets on their home turf, that’s a significant thing whatever the sport may be,” Macleod said. “Is there anything we can do in near term to make that field usable for the next couple of years with the mindset of a bigger long-term plan?”

Slaughter responded saying he wish that were the case, but they are past the point of just patching up issues on the track. Also, it was pointed out that the money allocated for this project in the design was purposely done with reorientation in mind.

“We are well past the recommended use of track and have been doing patching for a number of years. I think the idea of it going another year with no work being done on the track is something we cannot wait for,” Slaughter said. “The smart money is to reorient it. I am hopeful we can find a way to get to that solution.”

Another presentation that the committee saw was for the Plum Brook irrigation. As described in last week’s Recreation Commission meeting, the Plum Brook fields have conditions due to poor functioning irrigation and sprinkler heads that cause divots and do not water the field efficiently enough in the spring and summer seasons.

Trail improvement requests took up a bulk of conversations as the first presentation was for Hickory Ridge trails. Hickory Ridge is soon-to-be town-owned land by the end of the year according to town Conservation Director David Ziomek, and this request of money would be the beginning process of using the trails on the property to connect different neighborhoods and communities in town.

“A top priority and goal is to connect these neighborhoods. The dream is people can use it to go around Amherst,” Ziomek said.  

Town Planner Ben Breger spoke more on the proposal on behalf of the Planning Department. He explained that with this funding the town would be able to start improving and connecting the trail system on the land through existing golf cart roads, crushed stone, and natural roads.

“The goals of the town in purchasing the property was protection of vital natural resources, passive recreation and walking trails, and limited area for potential development along the road frontage,” Breger said.

The main question from the committee was about the exact use of these funds and Ziomek assured them it was to get the installation of trial systems under way. The funds from the proposal would assist in about one mile total of trail, which is about a fifth of the length of all the possible trails on the property.

The final presentation for the committee was by two residents pushing for the construction and town use of a pickleball court. This was the most discussed topic at the Recreation Commission’ the week prior and has momentum with the growing interest around the region.

Pickleball is a game that resembles tennis in which players use special rackets to hit a perforated plastic ball over a net. Resident Joyce Hatch explained all the positive impacts for people of all ages thanks to the sport citing how easy it is to play, the interest in all age ranges, and that it is a notable example of co-op participation in sports.

Three sites were initially considered for the construction of a court but the applicants are currently focused on an unused parking lot to the side of Mill River School. Hatch has already gone out to the site locations and did measurements to see where the best fit would be for the project.

“Mill River has a parking lot and has the right size and is line up North and South, so three courts could fit lined up, it couldn’t be any better,” Hatch said.

Questions from the committee were focused on confirming the town would be fine with this parking area and turning it into a municipal area, even with the Recreation Commission’s recommendation of the spot.  

“Just because it can fit, is the town supportive of turning these parking spaces and turning them into courts?” asked committee member Andrew MacDougall.  

According to Hatch, these parking spots are often left unused and are typically underutilized, thus providing the idea for the location of the pickleball court.

Director of Recreation Rey Harp was in virtual attendance for this portion of the meeting and provided a brief description of the commissions plans with the space if a pickleball court were to be constructed.

“We are brainstorming ways to program with the court. It would give us opportunity to use it for camps and clinics, schools teach pickleball and it’s a pretty popular part of the curriculum,” Harp said. “I wouldn’t want to steal the light; I think they have a nice open run set up but the Rec. Department would commit ourselves to it and using it for programs.”

Is approved to be constructed at the Mill River site, it would be a resource for the school and add to an area that already has a basketball court. David Ziomek expressed his interest in the proposal but suggested to the applicants to try and consider other possible sites as well to be safe for any unforeseen future issues.

“One piece of advice if the committee decided to fund this would be to not make it contingent on the courts being at Mill River. I’m all about options,” Ziomek said.