Letter: Barrington's athletic fields need more help, not less

Posted 8/14/18

To the editor:

It was with a mixture of amusement and frustration that I read that Barrington Town Manager Jim Cunha is considering raising field use fees. 

These mixed emotions stem from …

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Letter: Barrington's athletic fields need more help, not less

Posted

To the editor:

It was with a mixture of amusement and frustration that I read that Barrington Town Manager Jim Cunha is considering raising field use fees

These mixed emotions stem from the fact that the quality of the fields in town, both in absolute terms and in comparison to other towns have been trending downward for years. 

In regards to soccer and lacrosse, St. Andrew's field is pitted and borderline dangerous, and Chianese has massive dirt patches across the only leveled, watered playing areas. 

For baseball, the warning track at Sherwood field is overgrown with weeds and the baseball diamonds at the elementary schools and Bicknell field are all effectively unmaintained, featuring far more weeds than grass, when they aren’t burnt out altogether.  

Finally, the fields at the high school burn out every summer and look more like pastureland than athletic fields by the time the kids return in the fall. 

I am frankly at a loss to see how the situation would be worse if we stopped maintaining the fields altogether (not that I’m advocating for that)! Moreover, the $126,000 line item Mr. Cunha is targeting is a pittance in the grand scheme of things, less than $10 per resident; even if he were to successfully shake down the various leagues for more money, no one would even notice at tax time.

If the fields were beautifully maintained, say like in Bristol, Portsmouth, Lincoln, Coventry, etc., etc., I would gladly kick in a larger portion of the budget, but they are frankly a mess and I have no confidence they are going to improve regardless of who is paying for them. 

If we actually care about our kids having the opportunity enjoy being part of a team in safe, beautiful conditions, and we should, then the conversation should be about how we turn our fields around, not how we skimp on their maintenance even further.

Jake Mohlman

Barrington

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