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Reagan Walker knew that at 14 she is in her last season of Little League softball and would never play on the new softball field she was fighting to see built. But that did not stop her from coming to the Representative Town Meeting on Monday and staying late into the night to plead her case.
Her arguments, along with those of other players, coaches and parents, were heard loud and clear, and as a result, the RTM approved $350,000 to build a field for Little League Girls Softball at town-owned property at 520 Hoyden's Lane.
The vote, 22-20 in favor, came after nearly three hours of passionate debate and discussion that lasted until midnight at the Board of Education conference room on Kings Highway East. The room was packed and nearly 30 members of the community shared their thoughts on the issue.
The RTM first approved a motion, 33-9, to move control of the land out of the hands of the Conservation Commission, by their request, to the Parks and Recreation Department, designating it for active recreation.
"I am very thankful," Fairfield Little League Girls Softball (FLLGS) President Gary Gulemi said after the meeting. He said he was also thankful for the support of the other town bodies. "They strongly supported us almost unwaveringly. We are very excited. We have needed this for a while."
First Selectman Ken Flatto, who has supported the field from the beginning, said the RTM proved the issue was "not about the money. It was a vote of conscience. They soul-searched and did what was right."
Many RTM members, led by Ed Bateson, felt the board needed to continue to show "fiscal responsibility" and vote down the funding request. Bateson said that while he would love to give the girls a field, it is not the right time to do it. Many other members of the body, including Alexis Harrison, David Becker and Carolyn Richmond, spoke passionately about moving away from bonding.
But in the end, the vote came down to the decision that the field was the best use for the property, which was purchased for $1.8 million by the town in 2007.
Neighbors of the property spoke out against the plan, many not wishing to see additional traffic or the elimination of open space.
Kirk Manley of Hoyden's Lane said that the softball field was a "quality of life improvement" and not worth funding. Karen Sussman of Burr Street said it is "disrespectful" to spend money on a softball field when town employees are not receiving raises and the education budget is being slashed.
Supporters of the field said it was an equality issue and a necessary improvement.
Bryan LeClerc, who formerly served on the RTM, said the town should simply cut quality of life spending, including fireworks, parades and the Penfield Pavilion construction if they were going to turn down the field request.
Officials and coaches from the boys Little Leagues supported the field request, because town officials have threatened to change one of the boys
fields to a girls field. The boys league officials said they are as strained as the girls for field space.
The field will be built on about two acres in the center of the nine-acre property, located across from H. Smith Richardson Golf Course and next to the course's driving range. Also included in the funding is a one-acre organic teaching farm. Parks and Recreation Commission Chairman Ellery Plotkin said most of the funding will be for infrastructure to turn the land, which currently is open space with an old house on it, into a park. That includes a parking lot and restroom facilities that will be shared with the driving range.
Plotkin said after the meeting that he is pleased the RTM approved the field and that the commission will build a field that will make Fairfield proud.
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