$7 million for a maintenance shed?
That question was asked several times, at last night’s Board of Finance meeting.
Perhaps that’s a bit much, was the eventual answer.
The discussion — the centerpiece of the BOF meeting at Town Hall — followed a request by Department of Public Works director Peter Ratkiewich for $222,000 for an architectural study, schematic design, land use permitting, and preparation of an opinion of probable cost for a new Parks & Recreation Department facility at Longshore.
The building would replace the current maintenance shed there. Located between the golf course’s 18th hole and the tennis courts, it dates back to at least the 1960s.
The new facility would be built where brush waste is currently piled, near where Old Cuttings Lane meets the exit road (close to the 12th hole green).
Approximately 35,000 square feet, it would include room to store equipment and vehicles, plus meeting rooms and locker rooms for employees.
The current shed is big enough only for meetings. It is “old, dilapidated and outdated,” Ratkiewich said.
The current Longshore maintenance shed.
If the new location is approved, it would free up space for 2 new paddleball courts. It would be the first step in the long-proposed renovation of Longshore.
In his presentation, Ratkiewich noted that the maintenance shed is not for golf course equipment and employees, but for all other town properties maintained by Parks & Rec — including nearby Compo Beach.
There is no other viable place besides Longshore to put the new facility, Ratkiewich said, due to its size.
Board of Finance member Danielle Dobin outlined 3 objections. The first was cost. “We should be shopping at a Ford dealership, not a Ferrari,” she said.
The second was that “this is not a great tradeoff for just 2 more paddleboard courts.”
The third was that the Planning & Zoning Commission — which she chaired, before her election to the Finance board — has not yet been asked for a positive 8-24 (land use) report.
“It doesn’t pass the common sense test,” Dobin said. “The juice is just not worth the squeeze.”
She and Ratkiewich engaged in a discussion about the “chicken and egg” sequence: Which should come first, the funding request or the 8-24 one?
The rectangle shows the approximate site of the proposed new maintenance facility.
Parks & Recreation Commission chair Dave Floyd advocated for moving the shed from its current “prime space” location to the new site. It would be more out of the way, he said, and would enable trucks and other vehicles to access it more easily than the current route, which circles through the golf course and past the Inn at Longshore.
BOF member Liz Heyer noted that Ratkiewich had called the $7 million figure a “placeholder,” meaning the final figure could be lower. “We can say we want only a $4 million figure,” she said.
Ultimately, no vote was taken.
First Selectwoman Jen Tooker’s administration will reach out to the P&Z, to solicit feedback at a future public meeting before returning to the Board of Finance. There will be time too for residents to weigh in with written comments.
Ratkiewich will lead a field trip for BOF members to the existing shed, and the proposed site, on January 24. Members of the public are welcome to attend.
Ratkiewich said that the Finance board’s message about the $7 million was heard, loudly and clearly.
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“The only way to avoid becoming a water company would be to extend a new main from Compo South, before the meter, in to the individual properties that are getting unmetered water.
