Parks Getting Great Upgrades!

By Ann DeMatteo, Assistant Metro Editor
adematteo@newhavenregister.com

HAMDEN — By next week, Bassett Field should have a spiffy new look, just like Legion and Cesare Memorial fields before it.

That’s because the Public Works Department and the mayor’s office have worked together to provide parks maintenance workers the tools and the time they need to get the job done.

The mayor’s office had fielded calls from citizens and sports groups about the disrepair, according to Chief Administrative Officer Curt Leng.

“We had meetings and talked about strategically hitting the fields and bringing them to safer and more playable condition,” he said. “The parks division has done a tremendous job of upgrading the fields.”

As a result, field maintenance work had to be reorganized and prioritized, said acting Public Works Director Jack Kennelly, who took over at the end of August because Director Joseph Velardi is on sick leave.

Now, fields will be fixed one at a time until all the work is finished, Kennelly said. Previously, parks maintenance crews would be sent to the ball fields whenever a complaint arose.

“They were taken in many directions and nothing was completed,” he said.

Kennelly, a Democratic at-large councilman, said at a recent council meeting that the crews are good at their jobs, and the “results speak for themselves.” To fix a field properly takes a minimum of four people two to four days to prepare the field, depending on its size and how many diamonds it has. While some workers are mowing and removing weeds, others are pulverizing, scarifying and belt raking the playing areas. Legion, Cesare and Bassett will also be getting new page fence back stops.

To prepare fields for the fall playing season, a more efficient way of doing things with fewer people had to be figured out, Kennelly said.

Due to budget cuts, nine parks workers who had worked under the Parks and Recreation Department were transferred to Public Works. But, three seasonal employees who spent summers helping to maintain the fields got laid off. Another full-time parks worker was laid off. Fields were in disrepair for some time and didn’t get fully repaired going into the summer season.

When Bassett Field is completed, the workers will move to Rochford Field. Discussions will take place to determine which field to tend to next.

Meanwhile, an enclosed trailer has been delivered to Public Works following Legislative Council approval. Employees are happy because they will no longer have to load and unload equipment onto open trailers on a daily basis, saving time and manpower. The enclosed trailer has been equipped with storage racks and cabinetry for the equipment. The trailer cost $11,284.

It had taken 45 minutes to an hour each morning and at the end of each workday to load and unload the two open trailers that carry the equipment and place it in the garage, a waste of manpower, Kennelly said. Having the trailer will save 18 man-hours a day, 90 hours a week and 360 a month, Kennelly said, for an annual total of $217,000.

“We had to scramble every morning. This way, everything is all there,” said Ken Paecht, a foreman and parks and recreation union president.

Employees had asked for an enclosed trailer previously.

The town also is depending on teams, coaches and parents to work with the town to keep things clean. Boy Scouts recently painted over graffiti of dugouts at Legion Field, Leng said.