By Ashley M. Casey
Staff Writer
Lysander resident Kevin Rode is all for building a splash pad at Lysander Town Park.
“I think it’s a great idea,” he said. “I’m just concerned with the way the town wants to finance it.”
The Lysander Town Board voted Jan. 18 to bond for up to $400,000 toward the construction of a spray park. From there, the 30-day countdown began for Rode and several other Lysander residents to petition the town board for a referendum on the bond resolution.
Rode said he is concerned that the town board voted to approve the bond with little public discussion and only a day’s notice. He said the item was added to the draft agenda for the Jan. 18 meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 17.
“To me, that should have been on the agenda well in advance to let people know that you were ready to issue $400,000 in bonds for a project,” Rode said. “That’s not a highway truck.”
Rode said he is also concerned that the town has not obtained quotes from potential vendors, nor had it shown Town Engineer Al Yager’s concept drawings to the public as of press time.
(Editor’s note: The Lysander Parks and Recreation Department released a concept drawing of the splash pad Tuesday, Jan. 30. The Messenger went to press Monday, Jan. 29.)
“They didn’t have any concrete numbers. … They were willing to issue a bond for it before they knew what the numbers were,” Rode said. “I really think they could have gone to a company and gotten RFQs or something.”
Town Supervisor Joe Saraceni said Yager is estimating the cost of construction at $484,000, but he is still working on the specs. (See below for the potential cost breakdown.)
“That’s a conservative high number that our engineer came up with,” Saraceni said. “Those numbers are with no additional fundraising included.”
Saraceni said the spray park would be a welcome addition to Lysander Town Park, which has grown busier in the last few years.
“There’s a lot of excitement behind it and we want to get as many people behind it as we can. This park hasn’t seen upgrades in years,” Saraceni said. “We have 20 acres that are undeveloped that lend themselves to a walking trail or biking trail. We’ve converted some of our tennis courts to pickleball courts — we’re starting to be known as a significant outdoor pickleball facility.”
Rode said the taxpayers who would bear the brunt of the cost are not necessarily the ones who would visit the spray park.
“There’s a lot of people that will be paying for it that will never enjoy that amenity,” he said.
Some residents, Rode added, cannot afford additional tax burdens.
“We have a suburban, almost urban-like, setting in Radisson with middle- to upper middle-class income,” he said. “You get out to the rural areas where people are on a fixed income. Can they afford to heat the house in the winter?”
Rode’s goal is to gather the roughly 370 signatures needed by the Feb. 15 town board meeting. The object of the referendum is not whether the town should build the spray park, but whether the taxpayers should shoulder the cost.
“If a thousand people come and vote for it and 50 vote against it, that’s fine — the public decided it,” Rode said.
For more information about the petition, contact Kevin Rode via email at [email protected] or on Facebook at Rode For-Progress.
Breaking down the cost
Town Engineer Al Yager estimates the construction cost of the spray park at $484,000. According to the Lysander Parks and Recreation Department, the estimated cost is $481,481.
The town is looking at using $100,000 from the in-lieu-of-parks fund (which holds about $200,000) and hoping State Sen. John DeFrancisco will help secure a $100,000 grant. Town Supervisor Joe Saraceni said the town is also looking into the possibility of a Community Development Block Grant.
“Very little of the town qualifies for CDBG money,” Saraceni said. “We’re making the case that this is the only area for recreation in the town.”
The parks department estimated the town will have to bond for $281,481.
“Hopefully, we keep driving that number south,” Saraceni said, adding that the town will pursue additional fundraising.
If the town secures a 10-year bond of $281,481, a homeowner whose home is assessed at $100,000 will pay $2.10 per year, with a total of $21 over the life of the bond. The bond life expectancy is 10 years and the life expectancy of the spray equipment is 20 years.
