June 14, 2001

Council digs in on Woodsom Farm fields:
Town will foot bill; voters wonít have say.

Amesbury News. By JOEL BECK

Amesburyís Municipal Council isnít going back on its promise to spend $1.5 million for athletic fields for Woodsom Farm. It is a decision councilors have made on their own and will not need to ask the voters in Amesbury to voice their opinion on the matter.

The decision came on Tuesday when the council voted against a pair of ordinances sponsored by District 3 Councilor Tracey Brown, one of which would have rescinded the $1.5 million bond. The second would have put the question on the ballot to let voters decide whether the town should foot the bill for the project.

In both cases, the council rejected the ordinance by a vote of 5-4. Brown, Councilor At Large Tom Iacobucci, District 5 Councilor Debra Dow and District 6 Councilor Roger Deschenes all voted in favor of the ordinances. Council President Al B. Sears, District 1 Councilor Leonard Johnson, District 2 Councilor Roger Benson, District 4 Councilor Gerard Nolan and Councilor At Large Joe Faro all voted no. Both ordinances would have needed a two-thirds vote of approval in order to pass.

In the past, Brown has maintained that her opposition to the Woodsom Farm Athletic Fields project is rooted strictly in fiscal concerns, believing that the town is in too financially strapped to pay for such an expensive project. With the $25 million high school renovation, a $15 million state-mandated wastewater facility improvement and a $500,000 increase in the townís health insurance making up just a small fraction of the financial burden that is facing Amesbury, Brown said she doesnít see how the town can afford $1.5 million athletic fields. She said she was disheartened that some of her fellow council members did not allow the voters to have a chance to truly show whether they wanted to pay for the fields.

" Iím very disappointed, " Brown said. " Not so much that it wasnít rescinded, because Iím not completely surprised about that. I think the one that Iím really disappointed in is that there was no support to put it on the ballot. I felt and still do feel that that would have put some real closure on it. "

Brown had hoped that if the question to fund the fields were put on the ballot, people who would normally remain silent on the issue would come forward and vote, even if results showed that people did indeed support the project. Brown still believed that the councilís decision did not reflect the consensus of the people in Amesbury.

She also believed the $1.5 million price tag will increase as time goes on.

" Itís always more (money), " Brown said. " Thereís always things that come up, there always changes Ö Thatís why when you talk about spending money, you have to realize that the chance is very great that they will come back and look for additional money. "

Sears said that knowing how much passion there is on both side of the Woodsom Farm issue made his decision to vote against rescinding the bonds and sending the question to the voters that much more difficult. Ultimately he said it came down to keeping a promise that had been made years ago.

" One of the things I told the people when I ran is that I would support this in the future, and Iíve stuck to it, " Sears said. " Itís a very emotional issue, and weíve had everything from people not speaking to people, people attacking people; weíve had people concerned to the point of tears.

" My thoughts are that nothing has really changed to justify rescinding this, " Sears concluded. " I hear all kinds of arguments, but none have had a real impact as far as changing anything in the community was concerned. "

Resident Ann Connolly King has been one of the more vocal opponents of the Woodsom Farm athletic fields project, echoing Brownís sentiments that the project is far too expensive. She, for one, was hoping for a chance to let the taxpayers decide on the fate of the project.

" I think it would have been a more powerful thing if the people had voted as opposed to the council voting to rescind it. " Connolly King said. " I think the thing that disappoints me the most about it is that at a time in Amesbury when so many people are having a hard time financially, the Municipal Council and the proponents of the field couldnít put it aside for a while to let people get back on their feet. "

School Committee member and longtime Amesbury soccer supporter Debra Bibeau said she has spent the better part of a decade trying to get the athletic fields to be built at Woodsom Farm, but the roadblocks seemingly never end. In addition to the recent attempt to rescind the bonds, the project is also the subject of a pending civil lawsuit submitted by three Amesbury residents who are concerned with field irrigation issues and parking and safety concerns.

Bibeau said she is cautiously optimistic about the councilís decision on Tuesday and added that now is the time to finally get the Woodsom Farm athletic field project moving. She believes that the those who are concerned about ways to pay for the fields should do more to find a solution rather than just try to stop the project.

" A lot of them have spoken about not building the field because of tax reasons, " Bibeau said. " But none of these people are willing to sit down at the table and come together as a community to help work together to find things. Yet they have time to always put the roadblocks in.

" Theyíre not trying to be part of the solution; theyíre just trying to be part of the problem, " Bibeau said.

Resident Tim Short grew up playing soccer in Amesbury and has been in support of the project to build fields for quite some time. He said he understands the financial burden the project could potentially have on Amesbury and said he and some of his peers plan to do everything he can to help alleviate some of the pressure.

" What we want to try to do is see if we can try to get some funding, " Short said. " Iím probably going to go over to the Provident Bank within the next couple of days to see what they can suggest to me.

" I would like to see the town fund it, but I will work and encourage other people to work with me and try to get this project completed, " Short added. " Iím just thinking about fund-raisers. Thereís got to be something that can be done to help this project. "