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Minutes
Special Board of Selectmen meeting
October 25, 2006
First Selectman Natalie Ketcham called the meeting to order in the lobby of Town Hall at 8:30am. The Board proceeded to the Highway Garage on Great Oak Lane and then to Redding Elementary School and 53 Gallows Hill Road to observe the sites identified for potential tennis court re-locations. The Board then looked at the current tennis court site, and the adjacent “Onion Field” land.
The Board of Selectmen returned to the Town Hall Conference Room for a discussion of the potential sites:
Great Oak Lane: Tina Miller observed that the site is not convenient to Redding Elementary School for after school use, and that there may be neighbor impact issues. N. Ketcham observed that the highway department would lose a stockpiling area if the courts were relocated to the site, and Don Takacs questioned the impact on several large trees.
Redding Elementary School: T. Miller noted that the area available restricts the number of courts to three, which gives the Town a net loss of one tennis court over the current number. Questions were raised about the proximity to wetlands and whether the school administration would allow parking and access to the site during school hours. D. Takacs will contact the Superintendent of Schools to set up a meeting with the administrators to discuss the issues.
53 Gallows Hill Road: Assuming this is the location identified in the Blades & Goven report, the Selectmen agreed that this site is impractical due to its remote location down a narrow, winding gravel drive. Construction would have a big impact on neighboring properties, and the location is too isolated to have value for town use.
Current Location/Onion Field: T. Miller recommended exploring a reversal of the Blades & Goven proposal: to retain the tennis courts in their current location and build one artificial turf athletic field in the adjacent “onion field”. D. Takacs will contact Blades & Goven to determine whether a field in that location would impact the current forsythia screen and access to the community garden. He will also request a cost estimate for that option which should include landscaping from the road and information on whether the driveway will need to be slightly relocated. This information should be reported at the next Board of Selectmen meeting on Nov 20, 2006.
T. Miller requested that D. Takacs also ask Blades & Goven for a cost estimate for landscaping along the road side of the fence proposed for the JRMS field. N. Ketcham offered to call the Redding Historical Society to inform them of the current interest in the Onion Field as a site for a potential new field and to explore whether the RES reserve septic field area would be a suitable alternative site for Historical Society events.
On the motion of T. Miller, seconded by D. Takacs, the meeting adjourned at 9:45am.
Respectfully submitted,
Natalie Ketcham
Mary
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