By: Maria Moore

The Brodie South Study Committee met on Thursday, August 18, to discuss potential parcels under consideration for sports fields to house New Hartford Football (the Wolverines) and other sports that may come forward in the future.

At the meeting were four of the five Committee members, Dan Eddy, the Chairman and the Rec Commission representative; Jean Cronauer, the Open Space representative; Rick Berneike, the Youth Sports representative; and Alison Murdock, the Conservation Commission representative.  Also at the meeting was John Maschi, the Rec Commission Chairman. Absent from the meeting was Corina Hughes, the Friends of Brodie representative.  Members of the public included Steve Roth, New Hartford Football President, Earl MacInnes, former First Selectman, and Janet Corey, a neighbor abutting the Brodie South property.

Public Comment

The meeting began with the opportunity for Public Comment. Gerry Kelly, a resident from the West Hill area, asked why it wasn’t possible to have football at Brown’s Corner where there seemed to be a lot of space. Dan Eddy, Chairman of the Committee and the Rec representative, responded that youth sports had expanded greatly and that the state organizations they belonged to set the time when games could be played, and they don’t allow changes in those schedules. Also, Gerry was told, there were other sports that would be coming up in the future that would need the additional space.

Dan Eddy went on to say that when the Brodie property (Brodie North and Brodie South) had been bought by the town, there had been no restrictions put on the use of the land. “It can be sold, it can be turned into a senior center…” Going back to Brown’s Corner, Gerry asked whether the fact that the committee was looking at other land meant that the committee had investigated Brown’s Corner and had come to the conclusion that there was no room at Brown’s Corner. “With the expanding leagues, there isn’t enough room for all the teams that want to use it,” Dan Eddy said.

“So Brodie South is our new recreation area?” Gerry asked. John Maschi, Rec Commission Chairman, said that the Committee was there to talk about Brodie South and not Brown’s Corner or Football. “It has nothing to do with Football,” John Maschi said. “This Committee is here to come up with some ideas, some future plans for Brodie South. It has nothing to do with Football.” John emphasized that the purpose of the Committee was to look at uses and how Brodie South was going to be utilized in the future. “Hopefully, this Committee can make the recommendation of what is the highest and best use of Brodie South.” Dan Eddy said. “So Brodie North is a park and Brodie South is a recreation area.” Gerry persisted. Rick Berneike, the Youth Sports representative on the Committee, told him not to jump to conclusions, that right now, nobody knows. “Cutting down trees, and leaving garbage and not being able to walk my dog, and then there’ll be grandstands. That’s not jumping to conclusions!” Gerry said, adding that he loved Football.

Our reporter then commented on Dan Eddy’s statement saying that there were no restrictions on the use of Brodie South. She asked what the zoning is for Brodie South and Dan Eddy said that it is R-2, a residential zone. “How is Football able to be in a residential area? Do you have a special exception for that?” She asked. Dan Eddy answered that to get an accurate definition of that she needed to speak with Rista (Malanca, the town’s Zoning Officer). “The answer was satisfactory to me that we have it, but you have to talk to Rista.” Dan said.  Our reporter responded: “I have spoken with people who have been there along the whole process. Other areas have gone through a special exception application. For Brodie North there is a special exception, a public hearing was held, and it was approved. For Brodie South, there is nothing. Right now there is use going on that has not been approved by following the zoning regulations.” “According to Rista, everything that is going on at Brodie South is appropriate.” Dan Eddy said. Our reporter pointed out that Rista is very new in her position, that she had not been there throughout the whole process. “So right now, without a special exception, having football with all that traffic up there is consistent with a residential zone is what you’re saying.” Our reporter summed up the situation.

Former First Selectman Earl MacInnes, who was at the meeting, emphasized that Brodie North was an active recreational area for the town, and it is in a residential area, in an R-4 zone. “Didn’t that go through a special exception?” Our reporter asked. “Not to my knowledge.” Earl answered. “I believe it did, I have it on authority.” Earl again said that the Zoning Officer has the zoning authority in the town. Dan Eddy repeated that he had it from the active Zoning Officer that the use at Brodie South was appropriate and our reporter was again told to go to her for further definitions. Our reporter ended her comments with: “I just take exception to the fact that you say there are no restrictions. There are zoning restrictions within which everything in town works.”

Consideration Of Other Properties For Sports Fields

Dan Eddy said that the Committee wasn’t about the conceptual use of the land, but rather they were about trying to decide what is the most appropriate use of Brodie South. He said that the Committee had decided in an earlier meeting that if Brodie South should not be used for active recreation, then they couldn’t just say no, but that they should take an in-depth look at other areas in town for land that might be appropriate. He said that after a year and a half of looking around at virtually all the land in town, with a figure of $200,000 in mind, he laid out the following possible parcels for additional sports fields:

• Brodie South with an environmental impact study done on it;
• The field behind Antolini School could be expanded;
• another parcel of land farther in the Antolini property with substantial slope for which they would need to get access;
• a parcel on Old Steele Road, which is an abandoned road off Stedman Road.

More information was presented about the Old Steele Road parcel. Dan Eddy said that it is an old gravel pit parcel of which 7 to 9 acres of land were extremely flat. The parcel is owned by the Follert brothers and the price being mentioned seemed to be reasonable and might also be negotiable. The gravel would provide a very good base for a playing field, everyone agreed, and the parcel is only 5 minutes away from Brown’s Corner. As far as access, Dan Eddy said there was access by an unimproved town road. Looking at the map of the parcel, Dan said that there was a flat area where a playing field would fit very well. Steve Roth, President of New Hartford Football, asked that if they were looking at an area that large and flat, that they don’t just limit it to playing fields but that they consider putting in a practice field too so that they don’t damage the surface they’re playing on. He was told that it could be something to look into further down the road, that money came into play at this point. Earl MacInnes said that the same parcel had been considered for a town garage. Gerry Kelly asked that if they were building a playing field, they should make it big enough for high school and also with lights.

The next step in the process, Dan Eddy said, is to request through the Rec Commission – through which all active recreation land is administered – for the Selectmen to allocate funds to do a study of each of the four parcels and to get a broad estimate of how much it would cost to bring each parcel into to Youth Sports’ and Re Commission’s desire for playing fields. The playing space needed to be 80 yards wide and 140 yards long and with enough parking to accommodate 160 cars and have reasonable access to that area. For the Antolini School option, Dan Eddy said that they would have to consider increasing the parking since some of the parking was being used over the weekend and Rec had decided that they wanted the area to accommodate team sports events.

Our reporter asked if there was a fifth option on the table, a regional playing area since all the sports they had mentioned, hockey etc., implied taking players from all the other Regional 7 towns. “To the best of my knowledge there is no Regional committee to investigate merging towns for recreational use.” Dan Eddy responded. “Is that appropriate for you to be looking at?” “No, we were charged by the Rec Commission to see if the Recreation area was appropriate for Brodie South. This Committee expanded that to say: “If we decide ‘no’ is that fair?” I was probably the most vocal person to say it’s really not fair because you could take each individual location and deny it. So if the outcome were that Brodie South is not appropriate for the Recreational area, I think it’s incumbent on this committee, to say to the Rec. Commission that they have other alternatives.” “Absolutely!” Our reporter responded, “And one of those alternatives should be the land at the dump (RRDD #1) that is no longer being used, that could be part Barkhamsted and part New Hartford.” Dan Eddy responded: “I suggest people interested in that form a regional committee to investigate it.” “You don’t see that as part of your …?” “No.” “Well, why not?” Our reporter persisted. “You have players from other towns who are making use of New Hartford recreational facilities. If you have the option of getting a piece of land that’s half New Hartford and half Barkhamsted where you can share the cost and still service the kids, why don’t you see that as part of your mandate?” “The boundaries have to be drawn somewhere and if the Committee wants to move on to those boundaries, that’s fine.” “That would have to be done with the Barkhamsted Rec Committee.” A committee member said.

The committee then turned back to the request to be made to the selectmen through Rec. Jean Cronauer suggested they rank the four parcels, using the information they already had about them, and then just spend money on a study of their top priority. Dan Eddy said that the town already owns three out of the four so the costs would only be in improving the parcels; the Old Steele Road parcel included a purchasing cost but it might be less expensive to develop. Dan added that the cost of getting access to the second Antolini parcel could be the most expensive to develop. Jean Cronauer said that Brodie South would also be prohibitively expensive to develop because of a number of factors, including the composition of the soil. Rick Berneike clarified that underneath the soil it was clay and that made for poor drainage.

Gerry Kelly said that before they continue with their discussion, they should decide if it was to be Recreational-High School co-football. He was told by both Rick Berneike and Dan Eddy that it was not their job to do that.

John Maschi asked whether the Old Steele Road parcel should be the one to go to the Rec Commission to be researched. “I think we all agree, it’s a good possibility.” John said. “And then should we go to the selectmen and get their interest? Are they in favor of continuing conversations with the owners of the property?” Dan Eddy said that he had spoken with (First Selectman) Dan Jerram and his opinion was that they needed to see the figures, but he indicated that he was very interested in the comparison of the Brodie South and the Old Steele Road parcels.

Jean Cronauer again said they could get a good idea of how much it would cost without spending too much money on that. Rick Berneike said he had gotten three quotes for Brodie South without spending anything. “Do you know how much it would cost (to develop Brodie South)?” Jean Cronauer asked. “Anywhere from $200,000 to $400,000.” Rick answered. “High school regulation?” Gerry asked. “Yes.” Rick answered.

The Committee members agreed to have Rick get preliminary construction cost estimates for the Old Steele Road property. Jean asked about the construction companies Rick was going to approach and he assured the Committee members that they were companies that had experience with athletics fields, such as Simscroft that had done the soccer fields in Simsbury.

The Trimming And Cutting Of Trees At Brodie South

Jean Cronauer read her letter to the selectmen regarding the limb removal and mowing of the fields at Brodie South; see Jean’s August 20 letter posted on NewHartfordPlus. Jean emphasized the input of a forester regarding the exceptional quality of the Spruce trees at Brodie South and the beneficial effects they have on the site.   Jean concluded her letter by saying that the trees are a valuable asset of the town’s and that the selectmen have a special fiduciary responsibility to preserve and protect town assets.  ”It would be extremely irresponsible for one selectman to order the removal of these trees to satisfy the demands of a particular interest group… There is absolutely no valid reason to consider damaging or destroying these trees.  Effective government must be open and good decision-making must result from the consensus of all interested parties… Our elected officials are required to represent the needs of all citizens and work in a transparent, collaborative manner.”

Jean said the letter would be handed to the selectmen because the matter was not being handled the way they would like it to be.  Rick said that after hearing of the cutting he’d spoken with the First Selectman and told him he was jumping the gun, that if it was decided that the sports field was to be up at Brodie South, then there might be some cutting but there was no reason why the field couldn’t be moved to leave the trees as is. Asked what the First Selectman’s response had been, Rick said: “His response was that we saw things very differently.” “Exactly what I got.” Jean Cronauer responded.  Rick said that he had spoken with one of the town crew who told him that he thought they’d be trimming the bottom of the trees. Asked if that would include the spruces, he had been told that he thought they were included,  but that he didn’t know.  Rick brought up the question of whether it’s the Rec Commission’s responsibility what happens to that land, and Alison Murdock of the Conservation Commission said it had been tranferred to Conservation in 2006, but then administrations had changed.

Dan Eddy said that different people got different reactions from the First Selectman, and there were a lot of rumors that had gotten started.  Individually they could express their opinions on rumors they heard but he didn’t think they should expand on them as a group.  ”I’m sure no organized group or sports teams had asked for those trees to be cut.” Dan Eddy added.

Jean said she agreed with Rick that the message should be sent that nothing should be done at Brodie South until their committee had finished its work.  ”That’s something we can all sign onto tonight,” Jean said.  They discussed an email letter that Dan Eddy had circulated saying that in response to rumors of changes being made to large vegetation at Brodie South, their Committee was asking that no changes be made to Brodie South until they had finished their work.  ”We’re not pointing the finger at anybody, it’s just a rumor we’re responding to.”  Dan Eddy said.  ”It’s more than a rumor!” Jean said. “I even have a note from Christine (Hayward, the First Selectman’s Administrative Assistant) saying that the tree cutting was under consideration.”  The Committee members discussed the changes to the wording of their communication, including changing the emphasis from the First Selectman taking the action to that of the town taking the action.  They addressed the trimming and cutting of the trees, leaving the mowing schedule of the meadows to the Conservation Commission to address.   They then agreed on making the changes by email, each approving the final text and having Dan Eddy sign it on behalf of the Committee.

Jean ended  by saying: “What I’m after is good government.  When you have a committee of volunteers that meets, is doing their job…” “and then they get their legs cut off from under them!” Alison Murdock interjected. “… You don’t do that!” Jean ended.

Download a copy of the letter sent on August 19 by the Brodie South Study Committee to the Board of Selectmen: Letter Re. Trees And Mowing: Brodie South Study Committee (52)

More Public Comment

Before bringing the Committee meeting to an end, Dan Eddy asked if there was any more public comment.  Steve Roth, the President of New Hartford Football said that he wanted to address the scapegoating of Football in the discussion (of the use of Brodie South).  He emphasized that the sports fields under consideration were to be used by multiple sports.  He said Football was just as interested as anybody to find a permanent home that would cause no controversy with anybody.  He said he loved the idea of the Old Steele Road parcel, that it seemed the ideal spot.  He said they were up at Brodie South because it’s the only place they have right now and he asked everybody to bear with them while they went through the process of finding a permanent home for Football and all the other sports that will come later.  Dan Eddy emphasized that the town needed a full-sized sports field to accommodate youths and older players, rather than having them go to other towns to play.  ”It’s the growth and interest in organized sports in the town.” Dan Eddy said and he thanked everyone for being there that evening because they would take away with them correct information.

Our reporter asked Steve Roth if, while they are at Brodie South in a neighborhood, they could take into consideration the fact that there are people living there and make some accommodation for that.  Steve responded that they are going to great lengths, that they are going to great length with the parking, that they don’t make a lot of noise, that they shut everything down on time.  ”We want it to work out for everybody.” Steve said.  Our reporter then asked for a personal favor, saying that when she walks her dog at Brodie South she gets upset by seeing the ruts left on the field from the vehicles that park there on the field. “Don’t do it.” She asked.  Steve said they have to otherwise they would have people parking in the street.  ”They can park a little further down, I do that.  I just park a little further down and I walk up.” Our reporter said. Steve responded that the ruts right now are the result of all the water they’ve had recently.

Jean Cronauer asked about the football players and Steve pointed out that it wasn’t just Football, that it was also Cheer. Asked about the ages of the kids, he said it was from 7-year-olds through age 14.  Asked how many live in New Hartford, Steve said approximately two-thirds live in New Hartford.  Asked what other towns are involved, he said all the Regional towns (Barkhamsted, Colebrook and Norfolk) and also Winsted, that is, all the towns involved in the High School football program.  Asked if the football players are all boys, Steve said that almost every year they have a girl playing.  Asked whether Cheer has any boys, he said they don’t.

Gerry Kelly commented that they should make sure that any field is a regulation-size field.  He was assured it would be, that the plan was for an 80 x 140 field, and a regulation football field was 60 x 140.

Janet Corey, who lives adjacent to Brodie South, said that she has never had anything against sports, her father having been the Rec Director in Hartford.  She mentioned how the evening before the meeting the traffic on the road had been reduced to a single lane and in front of the “Hidden Drive” sign in front of her elderly parents’ home there was a big truck so the sign couldn’t be seen.  She said her elderly neighbor across the road hasn’t been able to pull out of her driveway in the past because there were cars parked on her property and she couldn’t see to pull out onto the street.  Janet suggested the parents park at the big parking lot at Brodie North and carpool up to Brodie South.

Janet said it’s been several years and she’s never complained about the noise because it’s kids, but last year there were stadium lights directed towards her house, and there was a generator sound until 9, 9:20 at night. “That’s hard to live with.”  A Committee member asked “Shouldn’t it be closed at night?” “It should close at dusk.” Janet agreed.  ”That’s a whole other thing.” Steve said; when it starts to get dark, he said, the lights go on for about an hour until 8 or so.  ”It’s gone later,” Janet said, “It gone till 9 p.m., and later.”  Janet said that her real concern, though, was when she was they were cutting down the trees.  ”That wasn’t us.” Steve said.  ”The habitat is damaged though.” Janet said.  Jean Cronauer suggested to Steve that he talk with the First Selectman, because his group was taking the blame for it.

The discussion continued among residents for a while after the Committee had adjourned the meeting, each resident taking the opportunity of expressing their positions in an impromptu, open forum.

The unpaved portion of Old Steele Road with the remains of a quarry operation. Photo: Maria Moore

___________________

Brodie South Study Group
Regular Meeting
Thursday, August 18, 2011
7:00 PM
Conference Room #1 – 1st Floor/lower level

AGENDA

1.) Call to order

2.) Approval of minutes

3.) Public comment

4.) Potential parcels

5.) Funding request

6.) Adjourn

Respectfully Submitted,
Dan Eddy, Chairman