More than 1K Sign Petition Urging Newton To Improve Parks, Fields

NEWTON, MA — Newton community members are calling for the Garden City to improve its public fields and parks, which they say have been underfunded.

The Program and Services Committee is set to finish a discussion on the committee's response to the petition at the meeting Wednesday at 7 p.m.

More than 1,000 people signed a Newton Athletic Fields petition calling for greater investment in the city’s athletic fields.

"We, the undersigned, believe that athletics are integral to the well-being of our residents and that Newton’s decaying and outdated athletic fields require urgent attention after decades of under-investment," the petition reads.

The group is calling for a multi-year athletic fields improvement program to:

• Rehabilitate fields in disrepair
• Construct artificial turf fields
• Increase maintenance to support usage levels
• Configure and allocate fields based on demand (not history)
• Install additional field lighting

They are asking for a "formal commitment" from the Mayor’s office, City Council and Parks, Recreation & Culture department to:

• Allocate capital and operating funds
• Commit to a multi-year plan (dates, deliverables, budget, resources)
• Charge market-rate rental fees and direct them to field maintenance
• Commit Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds annually
• Dedicate the required resources to both deliver improvements and maintain existing fields

But with so many needs, it raises the question of where the funding for such improvements would come from to upgrade conditions at the more than 75 acres of fields that the city is responsible for, including three synthetic turf fields between both high schools and six systems of field lighting.

The field maintenance budget is about $50,000 and used for different areas including irrigation and fencing. The athletic field maintenance is budget is $75,000.

Nicole Banks, who is the commissioner of Newton parks said during the commissions March meeting that a fields subcommittee has been meeting since October to find ways to address field quality problems —everything from poor irrigation, to wear patters and overuse.

The commissioner said she was hopeful that the department might get a bigger budget this year.

Another option was to raise the cost of renting the fields, to help raise money. current $30 per hour for grass and $100 per hour for turf fields. In a typical year, grass fields bring in about $36,000 and turf fields about $38,000 — that number would roughly double with the fee increase, she said.