LETTER: Where does Lysander ‘in lieu of parks’ fund come from?

To the editor:

After reading the article written about the discussion over the town of Lysander’s proposed spray park in the Aug. 23 Messenger [“Lysander Town Board holds off on spray park vote”], I would like to bring up a few points that were not included in the article.

The Lysander Town Board is currently planning to use the “in lieu of parks fee” to help pay for this project, if approved. This fund has somewhere around $200,000 in it. The town board did not say how much or how little they plan to use, but I got the feeling that they plan on using a majority of this fund. I asked the town board in the work session that evening if any of them could tell me how long ago this fund was created. None of them could answer me. I do not know the exact answer, but I believe this fee was created in the late 1970’s. I was asked by the town board why this information would matter or be important if the town board decided to use this fund to help build the spray park. I feel if we are going to use a large sum of money, or all of it, to fund a project, we should know how long it took to build that fund. While the spray park may be a big hit for a select few that would be able to use this new amenity, I feel using the in lieu of parks fee would not be a proper use of the fund.

Part of Lysander Town Code Section 117-16 Paragraph C reads: “a fee of $100 per lot, which sum shall constitute a trust fund of the town to be used exclusively for the acquisition and development of parks, playgrounds, recreation or open land areas in the town, as near as practicable in the general vicinity of and for the benefit of occupants of the subdivision from which such sum was derived.”

From my interpretation of the town law, this fund should only be used to acquire a new park and develop it. At the very least, the town board would have to figure out which areas of Lysander the funds came from to decide where best to use the monies in this fund. To my knowledge, no previous town board has touched this fund.

There will be a public hearing to change the local law pertaining to the in lieu of parks fee on Thursday, Sept. 7. I urge the residents and taxpayers of Lysander to attend this meeting, and ask questions of their own they may have. Maybe they will provide some clarification on the questions I have about this fund. I would like to finish by saying that I would love to see us improve Lysander Park and our parks programs. Tony Burkinshaw, our recreation director, puts his heart and soul into making our parks programs into what I feel are some of the best offered in the county. He has tried many ways to bring people to our town park, and I am sure he will continue to do so.