Agenda Text
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Requesting acceptance of a $400,000 grant that requires a match, from the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs to the SPCD Parks and Urban Forestry Division for the Central Hill Playground.
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Official Text
To the Honorable City Council:
As required by the Parkland Acquisitions and Renovations for Communities (PARC) Grant Program, I respectfully request that you appropriate and authorize funds for the purpose of construction necessary for the development of Central Hill Playground, located at 79 Highland Avenue at the corner of Highland Avenue and Walnut Street, and adjacent to Somerville Public Library, shown on Assessors’ Map in Map 61-Block F-Lot 2. The estimated total project cost is $5,051,000; $400,000 will be provided by the reimbursable State PARC Grant and $300,000 (including $289,655 of the required contribution per the grant program) from the Community Preservation Act, and the remaining $4,351,000 through a Council Borrowing appropriation #22125 .
Central Hill Playground is significant as a space that provides play options for young children, in the midst of several municipal and high school buildings. The City acquired the property comprising the full Central Hill Park on June 15, 1870, as recorded in the Middlesex South Registry of Deeds in Book 1123, Pages 420-422. The Playground will be dedicated to open space and recreational use in perpetuity according to M.G.L. c. 45, §14, per Council Order #22131 and authorization to seek funding and enter into any understandings or assurances with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to receive funds to assist in construction of Central Hill Playground was granted on June 27, 2019.
The City of Somerville was awarded this $400,000 reimbursable PARC grant, made available through the Commonwealth’s Division of Conservation Services, in October 2019. However, as a condition of PARC grant acceptance, the City must authorize all construction funding by December 31, 2019, regardless of when the grant announcement takes place. Without a vote, the state grant contract cannot be awarded.
The plans and design for Central Hill Playground are being developed with input from the community, and upon acceptance of this PARC grant, the City may begin construction in spring of 2020. Assuring the highest quality open spaces and providing better access to parks and playgrounds for residents with limited physical abilities are City priorities.
My staff will be available to answer any questions you may have. Thank your for your consideration of this item.
Respectfully submitted,
Joseph A. Curtatone, Mayor