CPC Supports $3M For Eldredge Park Plan

ORLEANS – It took some back and forth, but the community preservation committee last week voted to recommend that $3 million be bonded to support the renovation of the recreation area at Eldredge Park.

 The committee voted 8-1 Oct. 2 in support of the town request, which will go before voters at the Nov. 17 special town meeting. Charles Ellis voted against the recommendation.

 The $3 million figure is less than the $5 million in Community Preservation Act funds that the select board initially asked for in its fall application. But given concerns raised over the amount by committee members, the board said the project could largely be built as designed at the lower number.

 The renovation includes a new 35-by-50-foot half-basketball court with tiered bleacher seating at the far end of the field near the Eldredge Park baseball diamond, six new pickleball courts and a new playground with a track for children’s bicycles. At the opposite end of the park fronting Eldredge Park Way, two new tennis courts are proposed along with a small handball court and a full 50-by-80-foot basketball court. Plans also include four accessible parking spaces, an accessible trail system connecting the park components, water bottle stations and areas for three shaded structures. 

 Many came out in support of the project during the meeting’s public comment period and noted the failed state of the existing facilities in the park. Janice Rivera of Eastham, who has run a senior tennis program at the park for decades, said the existing tennis courts on the property are in “shabby” condition.

 “They’re cracked. They have no paint on them. So they get very wet because it goes down and then it percolates back up,” she said.

 Beyond the physical condition of the basketball courts, tennis courts and other facilities, there is also the issue of the park’s lack of accessibility. Jamie Balliett, who chairs the recreation advisory committee, spoke firsthand of how difficult it is to navigate the park and neighboring fields in his wheelchair.

 “We’re not totally shut out, but access is very hard at Eldredge Park Way and often very scary and daunting,” he said. “Fear of falling hangs over myself and others often. Try a day in my chair at Eldredge Park and you’ll see why connections and access are so important.”

 Peter Cohen, principal of nearby Nauset Regional Middle School, also voiced the school’s support for the plan. He said as is, there is a lack of suitable recreational areas in town to entice children to play. With better amenities, more children might be encouraged to spend more time outdoors than on their phones and devices, he said.

 “We are restricting their access to play,” he said. “We’re not restricting their access to a much more dangerous environment online.”

 Tracy Murphy, another member of the recreation advisory committee, said that her children made do with the failing infrastructure at the park. But she hopes that future generations of families and children will be able to benefit from an improved park area.

 “The CPC has an opportunity to make a really profound improvement to what growing up and living in Orleans is like for all of us and for future residents,” she said.

 The CPA request comes in the form of a bond that would be paid off over a period of 15 years. Assistant Town Manager Mark Reil said with approval at town meeting, the town could prepare for the start of construction next fall after the conclusion of the Orleans Firebirds’ summer baseball season. Only when the project is completed, likely in early 2028, would the money officially be borrowed, he said.

 Reil said that gap between authorization of the bond and the borrowing allows the committee some added time to grant additional funds or bring in other outside grants to lower the amount of the bond.

 “So you have plenty of time to provide cash,” he said. “Really you have two funding cycles.”

 But Ellis raised concerns about the size of the request and how it would subsequently impact the committee’s ability to fund future projects. The committee allocates funding annually via a 3 percent property tax surcharge to projects in the areas of recreation, open space, historic preservation and housing.

 “This would starve, absolutely starve, all the other buckets,” he said. “I mean, I’m totally against it.” Ellis also questioned the legality of paying down the amount of the bond with future CPA appropriations. Reil said the town has a legal opinion from Town Counsel Michael Ford that future appropriations toward the project would be legal.

 Select Board Chair Kevin Galligan presented data showing that the amount allocated to CPA projects annually has been increasing by 2.5 percent, so the committee does not need to worry about a lack of funding or future projects in other categories. 

 “This table shows clearly you will be swimming in money for projects in the future,” he said. “Do not listen to the fear that you’ve heard right here.”

 Others argued that recreation projects have historically been underfunded by the committee and that the time is now to invest in a project that could serve the community years into the future.

 “This is really something that’s for the public,” said Francesca Galazzi, the planning board’s representative to the CPC. “It’s 24/7, it’s outdoors, it’s accessible to everyone. And as we’re administering public funds, to me, that makes all the difference in terms of doing this out of cycle and the need to do this now.”

 Gail Meyers Lavin, during public comment, voiced her opposition to how the project is moving forward, noting that the project is not listed in the town’s capital improvement plan. She suggested that the funding request be tabled until next fall, so it can “go through both CPC and the capital improvement plan processes.”

 “Town meeting on an annual basis provides CPA projects funding that do not appear in the CIP,” Reil said.

 While committee members debated the amount of the bond, with some favoring the full $5 million request and others more comfortable with $3 million, members largely saw the need to move the project forward.

 “We’ve just got to roll up our sleeves and get this thing done,” said Dick Hilmer, the committee’s conservation commission representative.

 Bob Wilkinson of the CPC agreed, noting that the longer the committee waits, the more the project will eventually cost. CPC Chair Joan Francolini, meanwhile, expressed her support for recommending a $3 million bond.

 “I think the $3 million number was a good number to start with,” she said. “It is the largest bond we would have done. It still gives us the opportunity down the road to bond more if need be, or just provide cash.”

 The recommendation represents the clearing of a key hurdle toward getting the project off the ground. But Galligan noted that the decision remains in the hands of the voters.

 “Ultimately it’s up to town meeting.”