Gilford voters asked to fund new DPW building, baseball field upgrades

GILFORD — The town warrant going before voters next week will include a $20 million operating budget and two different union contracts, but the most contentious issues are likely to be a proposal to replace the Department of Public Works building, and a petitioned article that seeks to invest $500,000 in the town’s baseball facilities.

Mike Giovanditto, president of Gilford Youth Baseball, said the youth sports organization has been on a tear in recent years, investing $200,000 of privately-raised money into the town’s baseball fields, and has been growing in terms of both number of participants and length of season. Baseball in Gilford was limited to an April to June season in recent memory, and now starts in March with winter skills clinics, and can run into October if weather permits.

“It has been since 2016 that the baseball program has been trying to update and take care of our fields. We’ve been building dugouts and doing field prep almost every year, all the different things to make the baseball fields better, safer for the community. This is the next logical step in the direction that we’ve been going,” said Giovanditto.

The $500,000 article would support the replacement of the varsity field with an artificial turf infield, which is both safer for players and easier to maintain than natural grass. The measure would also pay for a new concessions and bathroom building for the varsity field, and a new concessions building with press box at Stone Field. The warrant article states 180 children participated in the baseball program last year, a record year and an indication of its growth trend.

The warrant article is unanimously supported by the selectboard. The budget committee also voted to support it by a 6 to 5 vote.

The article asking voters to pay for a new DPW building is more popular with the budget committee, which voted unanimously to support it, as did the selectboard, despite its price tag of $11.2 million.

That money would pay for the demolition of the current building, temporary relocation of public works operations and construction of a new facility on the current site.

In a previous interview, Richard Grenier, chair of the town’s DPW Space Needs Committee, said most people are aware of the work the department does to keep the 90 miles of road in town in safe condition. Residents might not be aware of the other work the department does, such as maintaining and repairing the vehicle fleets of other town departments, everything from fire engines and police cruisers to lawn mowers. Gilford DPW also maintains the town’s sewer systems and cemeteries, issues permits and provides engineering services to the town.

“It’s the best kept secret in town,” Grenier said. DPW "does its work quietly, and you don’t hear about it.”

Yet the staff of 26 full-time employees have been providing those services in a 50-year-old facility that is past its useful life, Grenier said. The building is prone to water intrusion and mold, doesn’t have adequate air handling or storage for hazardous chemicals and isn’t big enough for the operations of a modern DPW department. Issues within the building are significant enough that it’s more cost-effective to knock the current building down and start anew than to rehabilitate, Grenier said.

Gilford voters will decide on the DPW and baseball field articles, as well as the 26 other items on the town warrant, on Tuesday. Polls will be open at Gilford Youth Center from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on March 11.