Girls' Little League Needs to Clear One Last Hurdle

Girls' Little League got over its most difficult hurdle early this morning when the Representative Town Meeting voted 22-20 to spend $350,000 to build a home field for the league at 520 Hoyden's Lane.

The RTM was the last town body required to vote on a funding request for the field, but the field still requires approval from the Town Plan and Zoning Commission, one of three land-use boards in town. The TPZ hadn't scheduled a public hearing on the plans as of this afternoon.

Approval from the TPZ, an elected board of seven voting residents,  isn't considered to be in doubt - the TPZ wanted the 520 Hoyden's Lane property used for active recreation when the town bought it in December 2007 for $1.8 million, and TPZ Vice Chairman Bryan LeClerc was a vocal supporter of the field during RTM committee meetings last week and the full RTM late Monday.

The town's Conservation Department approved the field without sending it on to the Inland Wetlands Commission, but Yvonne Zeisler, of Hoyden's Lane, filed a petition to ask the Inland Wetlands Commission to overturn the department's decision and hold a public hearing on the project. The commission is expected to discuss Zeisler's request at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Sullivan-Independence Hall.

Opponents of building the girls' Little League field and infrastructure for a park at 520 Hoyden's Lane have options if the Inland Wetlands Commission denies Zeisler's request (or approves the project after a public hearing) and the TPZ approves the project. But challenging either commission's decision in court would likely take years and the town could move forward with the project while an appeal was pending, though that would be somewhat risky because the town could lose in court.

Opponents could also challenge the RTM's approval of the $350,000 funding request by trying to hold a referendum, but that would require them to collect signatures from 5 percent of the town's voters within two weeks.

The latest tally from the Registrar of Voters' Office in Old Town Hall says the town has 35,310 voters, so opponents would have to gather signatures from 1,765 voters who wanted to have a referendum by July 13.

The Town Clerk's Office said, as of this morning, that no one had picked up a petition for a referendum.

Overturning a decision by the RTM in a referendum isn't easy. At least 25 percent of voters have to vote against the RTM's decision and those votes also must be a majority of votes cast.

Assuming the town had 35,310 voters on the day the referendum was held, 8,827 residents would have to vote against the RTM's decision and those votes also would have to be a majority of votes cast. If 8,826 residents voted against the RTM and only one resident voted in favor, the referendum would fail because the threshold of 25 percent of voters opposed to the RTM decision would not have been reached.

Larry Jursch, of Hoyden's Lane, threatened last week to sue the town if the girls' Little League field were approved, but he was the only one to do so publicly.

Kirk Manley, of Hoyden's Lane, one of the leading opponents of the project, said publicly that elected officials would face consequences in the next municipal election but never publicly brought up the possibility of a referendum or litigation.

The following is a breakout of how each RTM member voted on the $350,000 funding request early this morning:

District 1:

David M. Becker (R) - No

Bruce Challinor (R) - No

Carolyn Richmond (R) - No

Eric G. Sundman (R) - No

Michael Herley (R) - No

District 2:

Peter Ambrose (R) - No

Alexis P. Harrison (R) - No

Jeffrey R. Steele (R) - Yes

Chad Stewart (R) - Yes

Keith Storm Varian (R) - Yes

District 3:

Edward J. Bateson, III (R) - No

Thomas P. Conley (R) - No

Francis "Hank" Ference (R) - No

Mary I. McCullough (R) - No

Richard L. Santalesa (R) - No

District 4:

Joseph M. DeMartino (R) - No

Richard Parker (R) - No

Stephanie Parker (R) - No

Arthur G. Hug (R) - Absent from Meeting

Joseph J. Palmer (R) - Absent from Meeting

District 5:

Joshua Garskof (D) - Yes

Ruth A. Smey (D) - Yes

Ann Stamler (D) - Yes

Joseph Gall (D) - Absent from Meeting

Christopher M. McAleese (D) - Absent from Meeting

District 6:

Christopher J. Brogan (D) - Yes

Brenda Kupchick (R) - Yes

Joseph M. Luciano (D) - Yes

Sheila H. Marmion (D) - Yes

Cristin McCarthy Vahey (D) - Yes

District 7:

David L. Cullen (D) - Yes

Keith L. Hoffkins (D) - Yes

William Llewellyn (R) - Yes

Timothy C. Lynch (R) - Yes

Harold G. Schwartz (D) - Yes

District 8:

Kathryn L. Braun (R) - No

Elizabeth P. Hoffman (R) - No

Lawrence C. Kelly (R) - Yes

Thomas E. McCarthy (R) - No

James Takami (R) - Absent from Meeting

District 9:

Faith Dillon (R) - Yes

Joseph L.A. Felner, Jr. (R) - Yes

James Millington (R) - Yes

Mark McGinty (R) - Absent from Meeting

Nicholas D. Mirabile (R) - Absent from Meeting

District 10:

Erin E. Harrison (R) - No

Michael Mears (R) - No

Matthew Rubino (R) - Yes

Carol J. Way (R) - Yes

Brian R. Farnen (R) - Absent from Meeting