State grant money being sought to help fund $728,000 expansion

As Steven Fowler, director of Parks and Recreation for the Town of Parma, puts it, "The Parma Town Hall Park is the jewel of the town." That jewel is about to get much bigger. Plans to add another 56 acres to the 70-acre park are underway and have already been unanimously approved by the town board.

According to Supervisor Rick Lemke, "The public demand for recreation facilities greatly exceeds the existing facilities at the Town Park, the only public park serving our community." To assist with the $728,100 cost of the expansion, the town has applied for grant money from the 2000 Environmental Protection Fund, the Clean Water/Clean Air Bond Fund and the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Statewide, $8 million will be dispersed from the Clean Water/Clean Air Bond and $6.9 million from the Environmental Protection Fund, according to Leo Downey, Regional Grants representative for the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Parma hopes to obtain a grant for $252,250.

"This is the third time we’ve submitted an application for this grant," said Fowler. "The last two times we were in the upper third of the applications submitted. So this time, with the changes we’ve made, we’re very positive about receiving the grant." The town sent its application in August and hopes to get an answer by February.

In addition to grant money, the town plans to use approximately $75,000 from the general fund to pay for the project. The remaining $400,850 would come from what Fowler terms "alternative funding" – volunteer and town employee labor, and money from organizations committed to the project. "The town often focuses on alternative funding with its projects," said Fowler. "Collaborating with the private sector and other entities is a very effective way of completing these improvements."

If the town isn’t successful in getting the grant, Fowler said the project will be re-evaluated and prioritized to determine how much can be done, then completed a little at a time.

The project itself involves the acquisition of three parcels of land. A ten-acre parcel south of town hall to Peck Road is being purchased from the Hilton Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post Number 6105 for $205,700. The parcel includes a building that is rented for public and private functions, and used for VFW meetings. "The town’s first priority will be to continue having the building meet the needs of the VFW, and to take care of its upkeep," said Fowler.

The second parcel is 42 acres southeast of the town hall. It was owned by Park Ridge (Unity Health System), which received the land as a donation. Park Ridge agreed to subdivide the parcel and sold 42 acres to the Town of Parma. The purchase price was not yet available at the time of this publication. "This parcel is key to the expansion because it gives us access to the VFW land," Fowler explained.

The town is acquiring a small third parcel from the United States Department of the Interior under the National Park Services Federal Lands to Parks Program. "The environmental review has just been completed, which was the last component prior to completing the quitclaim deed," said Fowler. Estimated to have a fair market value of $30,000, the .8-acre parcel will be used to develop a passive, rather than recreational, park. In addition to 200 feet of lake-frontage, it will feature picnic tables, benches, pathways and landscaping.

Plans for the 52 acres of land at town hall will include the construction of six multi-purpose youth athletic fields; a building containing restrooms, a concession stand and storage space; a steel and plastic playground; a launch for small, non-motorized boats and kayaks; a pedestrian bridge over one of the ponds; and more parking lots and roadways. The plan also calls for the refurbishing of an existing soccer field for use as a multi-purpose field; extending one nature trail and refurbishing the existing trail; and installing parking lot and volleyball court lights.

"We’re very excited about the expansion," said Joe Delorenzo, president of the Hilton-Parma Soccer Club. "Right now, we have 17 teams playing on fields at four different schools. We’re spread all over and it’s hard to keep track." The soccer club, along with the Hilton Raiders Football Organization, have committed themselves to furnishing materials for and putting up the concession stand building. They also plan to help with the grading and seeding of the fields, according to Delorenzo.

Fowler said that after the town gets word on its grant application, public information meetings will be held, and construction could begin in the spring. If all goes according to plan, the expansion project could be complete within a year.