WETHERSFIELD - The Town Council will decide September 19 whether to dedicate COVID relief dollars to a Kycia Farm athletic complex, or use the money for a townwide improvement plan for all Wethersfield sports fields--but first, the public will weigh in.

       The Council will take public comments about two resolutions -- one, from the GOP Council majority, and the other, from the body’s four Democrats �" before deliberations that night.

       Both proposals are driven by a long-lamented shortage of field space in town �" and $7 million of the town’s available American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding �" with Republicans looking to commit to a covered multisport field somewhere on the 32-acre parcel and Democrats calling for a holistic look at the town’s larger recreation space and energy needs.

       The resolution calls for an unspecified ARPA amount to be set aside for the planning and construction of facilities �" including indoor and outdoor venues, artificial turf or otherwise �" with “the examination of Mill Woods Park, Kycia Farm, the Wethersfield Green, and Cove Park” as possible locations.

      

       Under the proposal, funding would also be set aside to assess Wethersfield’s energy infrastructure needs.

      

       “I love the idea of a sports complex, though I don’t love it there [at the Kycia Farm],” Democratic Minority Leader Ken Lesser said during the Council’s September 6 meeting. “I need more information.”

      

       He said his concerns were regarding impact to the surrounding neighborhood �" nearby Highland Street typically sees heavy traffic, especially during youth sporting events, and area homeowners are leery about the prospect of a dome with field lights and late-night crowds.

      

       “We bought our house knowing Highland was a busy road, but also that we’d be next to this peaceful farm. One thing I did not plan on was living next to a possible commercial property,” said Highland Street resident Lee Schwartzman.

      

       Schwartzman, whose kids play soccer and lacrosse, frequents such properties.

      

       “I’ve been to complexes like what is proposed, and I’m very worried about the massive parking lot �" the cars that will come in late into the evening. There will be lights that will be needed and possible outdoor fields,” he said. “Will Highland need to be widened? What about traffic lights? Have you thought about any of this? Can we not use the money to maintain and fix what we already have?”

      

       The details, as other residents have noted, are vague �" so the phrase ‘sports complex’ fielded different interpretations.

       “People are thinking the worst,” said local coach Giovanna Ulrich, who supports the sports complex proposal. “This is an opportunity to allow families and athletes to participate in a variety of community-based-programs, to accommodate the needs of everyone, and bring our neighbors together.”

      

       Wethersfield lacrosse parent Ryan Friend says he pictures something less intrusive on a residential neighborhood than, say, Sports World in East Windsor �" he pointed to Burnt Hill Park in Hebron, which used COVID relief funding to build a multisport field on one of their local farms.

       He says Wethersfield’s athletic facility portfolio is overdue for an upgrade.

       “The deficiencies include uneven playing surfaces, poor drainage, which leads to constant cancellations of practices in games,” Friend said. “My daughters can’t even play [lacrosse] on a regulation-sized field.”

       The details others are asking for typically come once consultants are hired to draft fuller conceptual designs �" but that takes money, which requires an approval.

       But that’s been little comfort to more than 50 residents that signed a petition against a Kycia Farm sports complex.

       “It’s too vague. Very little information on scope, details, which means if it’s approved, it could eclipse the other uses in the survey,” said town resident Mary Bretton. “The public can only assume the worst �" that it’s for profit, like those big bubbles you see, serving those from all over the state without any room for anything else.”

      

       Athletics was one of many things 473 residents �" surveyed by a Kycia Farm subcommittee-enlisted consultant last year �" said they wanted to see at the town-owned property. Seventy-seven percent of participants said they’d prefer a multiuse vision �" 36% favored athletic fields while 26% expressed a desire for walking trails.

      

       Part of the property will be maintained for agricultural use on behalf of the town by a Kycia Farm nonprofit, as agriculture and community gardens also scored high marks on the survey.

      

       “I absolutely think we need fields and sports �" my kids participated in sports,” Bretton said. “I think it’s a wonderful thing, but so are a lot of other things.”

      

       O’Connor says he expects all the envisioned uses to coexist.

      

       His Democratic colleagues want to make sure �" they urged Republicans to wait for the results of a Kycia Farm land survey being conducted by consultants from UConn.

      

       Beyond that, O’Connor said he was reluctant to seek another study �" he called the Democratic resolution “paralysis analysis”.

      

       “Cottone Field took 10 years, and it’s the most highly coveted site in town,” O’Connor said. “We can ad hoc this thing to death, but we know what people want. They voted on it. We have an opportunity to do something substantial for all the people in town.”