A Very Bad Day At Brodie Park South: Photojournal

Categorized | Around NH, Brodie Pk S.

A Very Bad Day At Brodie Park South: Photojournal

Posted on 29 November 2011.

Photojournal By: Maria Moore

Yesterday (Monday, November 28) was a very bad day at Brodie Park South, as these photos show.

Afternoon Through Evening Activity

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At approximately 3:30 p.m. a concerned resident called the NewHartfordPlus crew to ask us to investigate some unusual activity taking place in the field area of Brodie Park South. The NHPlus crew made several trips to the park throughout the evening and the following photos are of the activity they saw unfold during the afternoon, evening and night.

The activity in the field area of Brodie Park South at approx. 3:30 p.m.

The flatbed truck that sank into the field area on its way to pick up the storage structure (POD) still in the park that was used this past summer and fall by the football program

The two truck drivers try to free the flatbed truck with chains around the tree without success

With dusk falling, the flatbed truck is still firmly stuck

The head of the football program responsible for the storage POD in the park arrives to assess the situation

With the light fading fast, the decision is made to bring in additional help

The head of football drives his car down the field to try to tow the flatbed truck

At 6 p.m. a pickup truck drives onto the field and tries to tow the flatbed truck without success

Night Activity

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The NHPlus crew left the scene at approximately 6:30 p.m. and headed back to Brodie Park South at approximately 7:30 p.m. just in time to see the local constable’s pickup truck and a state police car leaving the parking lot. No other official presence was noted at the scene until First Selectman Dan Jerram arrived at approximately 9:30 p.m. It was unclear how long he remained on site.

At approximately 7:30 p.m., a second vehicle, a tow truck (on the right), had also gotten stuck in the field area of the park as it tried to tow the flatbed truck (on the left) out of the field

The tractor trailer leaves the Brodie Park South parking lot to go down Niles Road a hundred yards or so to position itself to tow the stranded vehicles out of the park

The lights inside the park as seen from across Niles Road, with the tractor trailer approaching (on the left)

The tractor trailer backs up Niles Road as one of the drivers directs traffic around it

At approximately 10:30 p.m. the tractor trailer had managed to pull the tow truck almost to the edge of the park

The NHPlus crew had to leave the scene at approximately 10:30 p.m. with the tractor trailer working on pulling the vehicles out of the park. By 12 midnight a Friend of NewHartfordPlus who happened to be going by the park reported that there was no visible activity at the park.

The large tractor trailer at 4 p.m. in the Brodie Park South parking lot. Seven hours later, this machine was used to pull out of the park the two vehicles that were stuck in the field area

The Morning After

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This morning, Tuesday, November 29, the NewHartfordPlus crew went up to Brodie Park South and took photos and shot a video of the damage to the field area resulting from the activity there yesterday. Following are a few of those photos. The video will be posted as a Commentary by Maria Moore since she narrates the video and – yes – comments on the content.

The logs were removed from one of the access areas to the fields to allow the tow truck and the flatbed truck to be pulled out of the park

The troughs left behind as the two stranded trucks were pulled out of the park

The damaged area looking out towards the upper field at the park

A cell phone 4.75" high gives an idea of the depth of the troughs

The view from the bench where the flatbed truck had been stuck

The storage POD at Brodie Park South, the morning after the flatbed truck, the tow truck, the tractor trailer and other vehicles had left the park

Jim

Relevance? I compare the cost of the damage to the ornamental trees in the parking area at Brown’s Corner to the cost of the ruts in the grass at BPS.
The storage POD is not a permanent structure; it does not require a foundation with footings therefore does not need to have a permit pulled. Yes, waiting for frozen ground would have been better but, who knows, maybe the POD would have frozen to the ground too. I believe the First Selectman gave the permission for the placement of the POD. Although its position was not the best it seems to have been placed in manner to obscure it best from sight.
The fact that gets lost in this uproar is that NH needs a field for football practice. This is a difficult task for the Rec department as it has to schedule football needs with soccer needs. If you ask anyone involved in the football program, they would tell you that the BPS field is not conducive for play, it is sloped, it has trees, no parking, and as everyone points out it is not a football field. Some have asked me in conversation why Browns Corner is not used for practice. The answer I received is wear and tear on that field is too much. Our town’s rec committee and crew do a wonderful job maintaining it.
We need a field so that this small error does not cause upheaval amongst us all. BPS seems only temporary to me. If anyone has a suggestion of a site, please contact the 1st Selectman. Which reminds me, are we not still searching for a new location for the DPW facility?
Jessica

Jesse,
It is important to understand that it is not so clear, as you indicate, that the storage box required a permit. It has been discussed at town meetings, and reported here on newhartfordplus.com that there are differing opinions on the matter. Your town’s land use attorney said that no permit is required, your town planner disagreed. The ultimate authority on land use is your P&Z committee, that says they are currently researching what the requirements are, or should have been. Ultimately, the POD company should have determined if it was safe to remove the POD before they drove in, which they apparently didn’t do. They made the mistake, they are responsible for the damage, which is why they came back to BPS on Saturday morning and fixed the damage, with the help of the Wolverine kids and families. Things aren’t always so cut and dry.
Jim

In depth coverage? This appears to be a lot of belly-aching over a simple mistake or a deliberate “hit-piece” for political gain.
What is apparent is the fact that this article (or should I call it a blog) fails to address any comments from the first selectman or the town prior to its posting. Was the trucking company ever contacted to ask for their comments, for their role in this unfortunate situation, whether their insurance may cover this damage? No. Was the head of the Football Department (who I believe is an UNPAID volunteer like many of the sports programs’ coaches and heads) reached for comment? No. But, vilification seems to be the undertone of the article and many of the comments below.
Listen, people, “stuff” happens! Get over it. Next time, folks will know better not to place a temporary container in a difficult location. (Live & learn)
There is much more serious topics to be concerned with in our town, state, country, and world than some ruts in the grass. This is not atypical of damage that occurs to the grass after New Hartford Day parking during a wet season. I could understand this uproar had this damage been the result of a “joy-rider” tearing up the field by doing donuts in a 4X4 vehicle; that is the reprehensible type of damage that one should not expect. And, speaking of which, where is your uproar about the vandalism in Callahan Park; smashed benches, bent basketball hoops, spray painted profanity, “donut” tracks in the grass? (What’s that: “cricket…cricket…cricket”)
Take a look at the damage to the ornamental trees at Browns Corner from Storm Alfred. Mother Nature delivered quite a bit of broken limbs to trees that cost a sizable amount of money. Any complaints there? No.
This article supports an agenda by those certain folks whose only concern is the passive use of space owned by the town. Hearings and outreach by the towns’ officials has been ongoing in regards to a search for a new and better sports area. This is a tall task given the topography of our town; it is hills and valleys with very little flat land available.
Hey, I have a better idea for you: let’s do away with the town sports all together! No football, no soccer. no baseball….Problem solved!
Ann

Once again, thank you NHPlus for your indepth and wonderful coverage. Obviously, this area is not prepared to sustain the weight of heavy equipment. What if there was an emergency event that required similar weight vehicles. This is not an appropriate use of the area in my humble opinion.
A scenario: all of the vehicles are parked along both sides of Niles Road (big game happening). There is a fire in one of the homes or even worse emergency event. Where would the emergency vehicles park to fulfill their response? Numerous emergency vehicles (heavy weight) without any choice would have to enter the park, would they then be facing the same issues? There is a reason for driveways, and egress and access right of ways that can sustain a certain weight and waivers of liability. Where would be the liability of the town and taxpayers in a potential lawsuit for acknowledged negligence.
Even if you put driveways into BPS it still does not change the topography of the entrance and exit up and down Niles Road from abutting roads. And will continue to potentially create “a very bad situation”
I just hope this is a lesson learned and we can all move on. The sports groups should seek out other areas that have more suitable approaches that are more flat with less impact on immediate residential neighborhoods.
Just IMHO.
Rbcarpentry

Let’s all take a breath. This was a bonehead move by a driver who did not assess the condition of the area before driving into the park. Hopefully the company will take responsibility for the damage and in a short amount of time we won’t be able to tell where the damage happened. There have been plenty of other instances at this park of vehicles driving in and making ruts that are quickly repaired.

Friend of the parks

Bonehead move? Like the decision to place this storage unit in the park in the first place? Ruts made by other vehicles? Like the ones made by the coaches trucks when they were driving inside the park in all kind of weather during the practices? There were bonehead moves in this, but not by the drivers. It just takes my breath away to think that all this happened without Recs input.

Rick

The hidden agenda mentioned is far from hidden, concerned citizens are showing support for going green, preserving and protecting open space for the next 100 years or so. Of course the driver didn;t intentionally do damage, he was enjoying the view as the damage occurred. Let’s concentrate on protecting the environment, for all to benefit.

Vhawkins6111

I’m all for protecting the environment but I am also all for providing young families and children who live in this town an area where they can play sports and interact. Isn’t this a big part of what parks were created for? As far as protecting open space, I think NH is doing a great job with over 3000 acres devoted to this. It seems NH Plus devoted a lot of time pursuing a negative associated with the use of this area. It’s a shame what happened but I can’t help think this is a way to move local people to rally against any kind of future development of this area. And, by development, I mean potential athletic fields for our future generation.

Ian

Ah me… well, first, 100 years ago a farmer wouldn’t have left ruts like that — even had he had a tractor to leave them with. As soon as he saw that he was sinking into the turf he would have stopped. 60 years ago, well maybe — I well recall getting a John Deere royally stuck that way, even though I stopped as soon as I saw the front wheels start to dig in (it took two other tractors in tandem to pull it out without further damage, and three days hard labor to fix about 10 feet of ruts). I do hope that those who left the ruts will get out there and smooth them out and reseed them — that would be very encouraging. Otherwise either the Town will have to pay to do it, or they’ll be there for years.

It does illustrate, though, that perhaps this area is considerably more fragile than some would have us believe?
Anne

Is this the same storage pod that appeared without any public explanation and getting that explanation took NHPlus and others a great deal of effort? My sympathy for the football program’s use of Brodie park is not helped by this incident.
And who in their right mind thinks dragging a stuck vehicle with a smaller vehicle is going to work? I won’t even comment on the use of the tree. For that matter who in their right mind thinks driving on a field after a wet fall and before frost is a good idea?
Those involved seem to have a remarkable lack of concern for the park as a quality open space or as a place for All of the public to enjoy.
Newhartfordtrails

This is indeed news.
Thanks for posting this Maria along w/the pictures. I also visited Brodie Park south Tues. AM on my way out to work, and was quite disheartened to find the damage left there. As I surveyed the damage, a member of the seniors group was walking with his dog on the property. We both talked of our concerns about the damage to the property and how it was going to be fixed, and at who’s cost. My feeling is that the repairs should be done by those who left the damage, not by the public works guys – at the town’s cost. The container that was to be picked up was less than 200’ from the road, and could have been backup right up to. I have no idea why the truck looped around, etc. There are tracks up and down a larger part of the field (maybe from the various failed attempts to free the large stuck truck – with a pickup?! and later w/other large trucks). This all helps display very vividly the fact that BPS has a high water table and fragile soils which hold water and cannot stand up to heavy vehicular traffic. This is not a vacant lot – it is a town owned park and used by folks
everyday.
Vhawkins6111

This is news? I wonder 100 years ago when this was farmland if there were ever ruts in this field? A truck got stuck, it had to be pulled out and it made a mess. The last I knew ruts in a field could be fixed. Why all the photos? Can someone tell me why this is a big deal?

http://newhartfordplus.com The NewHartfordPlus Crew

A town park having this kind of activity in it late into the night that spills out onto a small country road in a residential neighborhood – that ‘s newsworthy to us. And how do you even begin to quantify the liability exposure on the part of the town (read “taxpayers”)? And this right after hearing in a Board of Selectmen meeting that the town can’t have volunteers pruning the creepers in the park during the day because of the liability? We stand by this photojournal and the number of hours our crew devoted to it.

Tom Hart

Vhawkins6111 is right. 100 years ago the farmer owning this field would not consider this a big deal. He probably would have been the one who made the ruts, and he would have fixed the ruts or left them. But this is not 100 years ago, and this is not a farmer’s field. It is a park held in trust by the town. Those who use the park have an obligation to protect and preserve it. I wonder if Vhawkins6111 would feel the same if some teenagers did this to Chapin Park or to his or her front yard. After all, 100 years ago Vhawkins6111′s front yard was probably farmland.

Newhartfordtrails

Very good point, Tom.
Aside from the fact that large trucks didn’t exist 100 years ago, this
park is not there to be squatted on by a specific user group.
The goal posts, storage container and junk tires sat on this town park all
through last winter and this year (far beyond the activity). The cavalier
attitude that ruts in the grass are no big deal displays the fact that the
amount of time and money spent to maintain this park it is not fully understood
– and it disregards the use by folks who have been using it passively since the
park was purchased in 1987.

Tom Hart

According to that unimpeachable source, Wikipedia, “The oldest truck was built in 1896 by Gottlieb Daimler.” The article did not state when the first truck rut was made.

Vhawkins6111

I question whether there is a hidden agenda here Tom. Possibly the people responding and posting the photos are doing so to garner support that this site should never be considered for any type of development? This is one of the sites in town that has been considered for the possible use as an athletic field. You are right, I would be upset if teenagers (or anyone) deliberately did this damage but we know it was accidental.

concerned taxpayer

the accidental damage caused by this company was due to stupidity,and you’re questioning a hidden agenda. If the storage container was never allowed there like it should not have been this would have never happened. If anyone has an agenda it’s those responsable for placing the illegal container
Newhartfordtrails

Not sure how caring for our town’s parks is a hidden
agenda. I thought the point was made
very much in the open, and there are many people who share this concern. Use of this park is of town-wide concern.
Sharonwilbur

The pod was not illegal, it did not require a permit. The company is responsible for the damage, but realize, it’s dirt. It moves easily and within weeks is right back to where it was. This is an attempt to blow up an accident to hysterical proportions! Your “park” was bought by the Town for Recreation. Period. I was here.
Newhartfordtrails

Infrastructure for outdoor recreation in an R2 zone requires
a Special Exception. The separate deed
for Brodie Park south has nothing in it that states that BPS was purchased for
recreation. If that was the intent at
the purchase, it is not stated in any official paperwork.
Jim

A portable POD is not infrastructure. It does not require a foundation with a footing below the frost line thus it is not a permanent structure. Let’s say if you wanted to move from your home, you may rent a POD to pack your belongings. There is no permit required for a POD to be placed in your driveway.