Amherst officials are hoping the state will assist with repairs at the War Memorial Pool and a study of Puffer's Pond.
Tom T. Ray, of Huntington, fishes for bass at Puffer's Pond in Amherst in this file photo.AMHERST – Amherst officials are hoping the state will assist the town with repairs at the War Memorial Pool and a study of Puffer’s Pond.
Officials have applied for two Parkland Acquisitions and Renovations for Communities grants – one seeking $297,600 for the pool and $35,000 Those figures include the town’s required 30 percent community match, said Town Manager John P. Musante. He said the town should hear in time for the fall Town Meeting in November. If successful, the town would seek the local match there.
The grant program – formerly the Urban Self-Help Program – was established in 1977 to assist cities and towns in acquiring and developing land for park and outdoor recreation purposes, according to the grant website.
The pool has been closed the last two summers because of budget cuts. Town Meeting increased the $1.5 million Community Services fiscal 2012 budget by $65,250 to pay staff to open the pool this year, but officials said the pool needed too much work and it wasn’t safe.
Stanley Ziomek, chairman of the town’s Amherst Leisure Services and Supplemental Education Commission, said earlier this year that the concrete decking is cracked, and that someone could fall. He also said the filter hasn’t operated for two years and there is a problem with the piping that carries the water, which if not fixed “means the town would lose a lot of water.”
Others however, wanted the pool to open anyway despite the initial $175,000 price tag for repairs.
The town instead worked with the schools to open the Amherst Regional Middle School pool and increase the swimming lessons at the town’s other pool at the Mill River Recreation Center.
Musante said the town is committed to reopening the War Memorial pool and will work on a timeline for the repairs.
The town is also hoping for money to pay for design work for Puffer’s Pond “to get a better sense of the cost” of making improvements to the popular recreation area, Musante said.
A committee studying the pond last summer released a report and found that much work is needed. The study, for example, found that the Julius Lester Trail between Mill River and the pond is in terrible condition, and the trail around the pond perimeter is broken down and slipping into the pond.
“The pond has not been dredged in 20 years, and if it is not dredged fairly soon, more and more of it will become an unswimmable wetland rather than open water,” the report said.