Claremont
Parks and Recreation Director Mark Brislin submitted a budget request of $470,321, which was $57,000, or 13 percent, higher than this year’s $413,548.
But the $302,456 figure City Manager Guy Santagate decided to recommend to the City Council for the Parks Department budget for next year represents a 26 percent decrease from the current year.
The council won’t finalize the city budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1 until later this month but there seemed to be a strong feeling that some items –— including money for the annual July 4th event with fireworks at Monadnock Park — should be restored.
“It seemed to strike a chord with people in the city,” said Mayor Charlene Lovett at Wednesday’s budget review about the $13,000, — $3,000 more than this year — for the summer celebration with fireworks on July 4.
The event will be held this year but perhaps not in 2017 if the money is not reinstated.
Councilor Nick Koloski said he could not support the cut and Councilor Vic Bergeron said the event is a huge draw, bringing in people from neighboring communities who also spend money in stores and restaurants.
“It is a good night and now we want to take stuff away that brings people into the community,” Bergeron said.
Bergeron was also angered by the reduction in the building maintenance and revenue line item for the parks department budget from $50,000 proposed by Brislin to $20,000 submitted by Santagate, which is the same as this year. Bergeron said inadequate maintenance is what led to the deterioration of the former Goodwin Community Center buildings on Broad Street that eventually became too expensive to repair.
“We need to stop doing that (deferring maintenance) or we are going to be in the same predicament and another council will have to dig us out,” Bergeron said.
The maintenance and repair money in the parks department budget is not for the community center but for upkeep in the city’s parks, including Barnes and Monadnock. Brislin said the money pays for electrical and lighting upgrades, painting and more.
Another reduction in the parks budget is the money for utilities and other expenses at the city-owned Arrowhead recreation area, where the all-volunteer Arrowhead Recreation Club operates the skiing and tubing program.
The program was hurt by a warm winter and little snow that forced it to close in late February after just 23 days of operation, about half from the previous year. In the current budget, the Arrowhead line item is $22,500, with $15,500 paid through March. Brislin asked for $18,000 with Santagate reducing that to $15,000.
Parks and Recreation Commission member Jim Feleen read a statement urging the council to reconsider the cuts to the Parks budget, calling Brislin’s requested budget “reasonable and responsible.”
Feleen said residents highly value their recreational facilities, and families considering a move to Claremont will first look at the schools and then recreational opportunities.
He called the parks and recreation budgets “woefully underfunded year after year” and with staffing unacceptably low and maintenance funding non-existent, programming will be affected.
“City leadership regularly praises the quality of our parks and the community center,” Feleen said. “It is time to back up the talk with adequate funding.”
Feleen said 600 acres of parks and outdoor facilities are maintained by just 1 full-time employee and a second half-time (though seasonal employees are hired in the warm months). Brislin asked for a second full-time employee but it was denied.
Councilor Bruce Temple, the former Public Works director in Claremont, said he understands the importance of well-maintained recreational facilities but warned the council to be careful about adding money in the budget for the parks department with many taxpayers tapped out and other expenses looming down the road, including a likely increase in water and sewer rates and union negotiations next year with city employees.
“I just want to remind the council there are a lot of empty wallets in the community and quite honestly, they can’t dig any more,” said Temple, who suggested that when the budget review is complete, they could move money from other departments to “shore up” parks and rec.
Paying for road paving — $600,000 or $700,000 annually — and other increases add up quickly, Temple said.
“Before you know it, you have added $3 on the tax rate. A lot of people can’t cough it up. Are we going to hold the line on taxes or ask people to give something they don’t have?” Temple said.
Santagate’s total budget proposal of $16.9 million would reduce the city portion of the tax rate by 1 percent or about 16 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation.
The community center operates under a different budget and the city manager’s proposal of $1.19 million is 4 percent below this year.
Asked how well the center, now in its fourth year of operation, is holding up, Brislin said warranties have expired and they are seeing “normal wear and tear,” with a recent replacement of a pump motor on the lesson pool and parts for toilets.
Cracked and broken tiles on the pool deck won’t be repaired until it can be determined what caused them to break, Brislin said.
The Parks and Recreation Commission has instructed Brislin to explore offering corporate rates to area companies to try to increase membership. As an example, Brislin said an employee would pay 85 percent of the going rate, and the company would pick up the balance.
“I like that out-of-the-box thinking to increase revenue,” said Lovett, who had said earlier that increasing revenue is necessary because expenses are not going down.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com
