Agenda Text
title
Requesting authorization to seek funding and enter into related agreements for Conway Park from the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and rededicate Conway Park to open space and recreational use in perpetuity.
body
Official Text
To the Honorable City Council:
I respectfully request that you approve an authorization to seek funding and enter into any understandings or assurances with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to receive funds to assist in the renovation of Conway Park, located at 550 Somerville Avenue, shown on Assessors’ Map in Map 45-Block B-Lot 14. The City owns the land by virtue of a tax taking deed dated March 30, 1937, as recorded in the Middlesex County (Southern District) Registry of Deeds in Book 6109, Pages 478. Conway Park will be re-dedicated to open space and recreational use in perpetuity according to M.G.L. c. 45, §14.
The estimated construction cost for the renovation portion of the project is approximately $3,000,000 and the Administration seeks the maximum grant amount of $750,000. The LWCF grant program is a reimbursement program requiring applicant municipalities to appropriate the total project cost in order to be eligible. The City Council has already fully appropriated the total cost of the Conway Park project through a bond resolution approved 10/22/2020 (Docket #210645).
The proposed grant funding would be used toward improvements to the playground, resurfacing of the basketball courts, new dugout shelters at the little league fields, new interpretive signage, and landscaping including over 60 shade trees. The proposed grant funding will also be used to reconstruct an improved splash pad-consistent with the State’s goal of increasing water-based recreation and the community-based vision for the park.
This application is for a LWCF grant to the Massachusetts Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, through its Division of Conservation Services. The LWCF grant application is due on February 1, 2021, to qualify for the FY2021 grant round. Since this is reimbursement funding, the City hereby assures the State that we have the funds to finance the renovation of Conway Park, and will provide the State with the appropriate documentation for reimbursement.
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