Town officials are scheduled Monday to vote on a modified application filed on behalf of New Canaan Baseball to improve the little league fields at Mead Park.
Unveiled 18 months ago, plans call for installing turf on the infields at Mellick and Gamble Fields as well as increased playability, improved drainage and new backstops, scoreboard and fencing.
Originally, the project was to start last fall and also was to include new light poles and a re-oriented Game Field, but higher-than-expected cost estimates connected to lighting forced New Canaan Baseball to push back the work to 2018 and forego replacement of existing light poles and fixtures.
According to an application received Feb. 20 by the New Canaan Inland Wetlands Department, changes to the original project include: Moving Mellick field slightly to the east and adjusting the left-field corner so that the existing light pole could be used; concrete dugouts on both fields now will be asphalt; outfield fencing on both fields has been adjusted slightly; and a playground walkway west of Mellick Field will need to be replaced and that effort will be coordinated with planned improvements to the playground.
“New Canaan Baseball sent the plans out to bid and the bid cost exceeded the available funds for field improvements,” said the application, filed by Wilton-based McChord Engineering Associates Inc. “The primary driver for the increased cost was the replacement of the existing light poles and fixtures. As a result, New Canaan Baseball made modifications to the plans to bring the project back into budget and utilize the existing light poles and fixtures.”
The estimate came in about $600,000 higher than expected, officials have said.
The Inland Wetlands Commission is scheduled to take up the application at its Feb. 26 meeting, to be held at 7 p.m. at Town Hall.
Why? Why turf the field? Baseball is meant to be played on dirt and grass. Please vote this stupid idea down.