Carmel Board Marches on With Spending

Despite the financial crisis New York State taxpayers are facing, the Carmel Board continues their plan for a town community center that will ultimately cost millions of dollars. At the January 27 town board meeting, the Recreation & Parks Department Director requested the town board to consider allowing them to move forward on their plans for a multimillion dollar community center. A NYS $250,000 grant, offered by Senator Leibell, would be used for a schematic design and infrastructure change needed for the community center, planned to be constructed at Sycamore Park. Both the board and the Parks Department Director agreed that a recreation center is needed; however there was a dispute amongst the board members on where it should be located. Since Sycamore Park is town owned and has the needed acreage for this building, financially it would be less costly than purchasing land in a more accessible location. The concern of some board members is, even though Sycamore Park is in the center of Carmel, no public transportation is available. The parks department reassured the board that this site may not meet all the needs of the community, but that this was not “the end all” of increasing community services. Additional plans for future centers & recreation areas are planned. No cost for these items was disclosed.

The cost of this town community center was estimated at four to five million dollars by the parks department. It was not mentioned if this was based on bids from architectural plans or their own assumptions. Councilman Ravallo said that it will “probably cost more.” In addition, other costs between 1-2 million dollars, listed in their September 2008 Master Plan were not mentioned.

Other expenses such as staff and operating costs could possibly be absorbed by program fees run at the center, suggested by the Parks Department. It was explained that the grant money would go towards architectural planning costs and the relocating of basketball and tennis courts, in preparation for the center. When Councilman Ravallo asked about the size of the building, it was explained that the 8,000 square foot building would include a large meeting room, with side rooms to be used for seniors, teens, and office staff. Later it was mentioned that the community center would also include other rooms that had a stage and climbing wall.

It was stressed by the board members, Parks Department, and comments from the public that teens and seniors need a place to go. The town board did not seem to recognize the County Kohler Center as a place that meets the needs of the seniors. As far as using the building presently located at Sycamore Park, Councilman Ravallo stated “the seniors are reluctant to go there.” Councilman Lombardi insisted that without this new community center our seniors would be left “homeless.” There was no mention as to why the teens are not using the facility at Sycamore Park during the week. The board’s comments continued on how the teens need a place to go. When I suggested they “think outside the box in finding alternatives to a costly community center” the board implied there were little alternatives and that this multimillion dollar project was needed.

Joyce Lambert is a resident of Mahopac.