Lighting and storage issues took the stage during the Londonderry Recreation Commission’s latest meeting at Town Hall on October 9, whose goal it is to provide recreational activities and facilities for residents of all ages.
Members began the meeting by briefly going over old business, starting by noting how Londonderry Athletic Fields Association Fields on Sargent Road were recently discovered to have a grub infestation. Treatment is already underway to alleviate the issue.
The budget was also briefly brought up. Although no major expenditures have been necessary for the commission as of yet, their budget is not exactly massive and members did voice their concerns over what might happen to it if costs for other services in town, such as water, were to increase.
Upon moving on to new business, the commission continued to discuss the possibility of introducing a nine hole disc golf course to Londonderry. However, there have been some complications in terms of communicating with the individual who suggested the idea, as member Art Psaledas has tried to call him several times with no luck. Psaledas suggested that such a course would need to span about three or four acres and could possibly go around the Auburn Road landfill.
The town’s skate park, located behind the Central Fire Station, was brought up next due to suggestions that the park gain some lighting so that visitors can use the park during night hours, although the park would not be open twenty four hours a day. Costs for the lighting are estimated to run around fifty to sixty thousand dollars.
However, several members felt that the issue of policing the area during these darker hours may ultimately hinder the effort.
“I can’t see the police being in favor of it”, Psaledas noted.
The same issue was also brought up concerning lighting at the Nelson Road Softball Field, due to the fact that the wooden poles used to hold the lights have a life span of roughly forty years and they are quickly approaching that benchmark. Some have also begun to show signs of twisting on the upper portions.
Such a renovation would run the town anywhere from one hundred and twenty thousand dollars to one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The commission has been working with the budget committee to come to a solution, the latter of whom suggested that those who use the field should try to raise some money for the effort themselves.
Finally, the commission is currently taking bids via a petition warrant article to have a maintenance building built for the sake of equipment storage, as various field and groups have had to rely on metal crates to store their equipment so far.