How much does it cost to seed, fertilize, line and maintain Barrington’s collection of athletic fields? That question spurred confusion last week, after Town Manager Jim Cunha presented a cost analysis to the Barrington Town Council.

On Wednesday, Feb. 6, during a council workshop to talk about field use fees, Mr. Cunha made a brief presentation at the outset. He first outlined the town’s various fields, separating them into “Level I” fields (such as the high school and middle school fields, Chianese Park and Veterans Park) and “Level II” fields (such as Bicknell Park and the space behind the high school tennis courts).

Mr. Cunha then outlined the total cost to maintain those fields: $162,000, for labor, materials, irrigation and paint.

Finally, Mr. Cunha spoke about the revenues to help defray those costs. He said youth sports organizations paid nearly $22,000 in field use fees in 2018 — creating a funding gap of about $140,000. 

His proposal would close that gap by raising the cost to the sports leagues by 327 percent, estimating the town would collect more than $71,000 per year from youth sports leagues.

When he was done, two people asked Mr. Cunha and town councilors why their financial analysis does not include money transferred from the school district to the public works department to pay for its maintenance of school athletic fields.

John Alessandro, a former member of the Barrington School Committee, asked first. In response, council President Michael Carroll said the town runs a tight budget, but he stopped short of addressing Mr. Alessandro’s question. 

A moment later, Seth Fisher pointed that out to Mr. Carroll. Mr. Fisher, who serves as an official with Barrington Pop Warner Football and Cheer and East Bay Lacrosse, said the presentation should have identified money for the fields coming from the school department. 

Director of Public Works Alan Corvi said there is a line item in the budget, a credit from the schools to handle school campus maintenance. Mr. Corvi said he did not have the specific total in front of him, but estimated it at $236,000. 

Again, Mr. Fisher asked for town officials to be more transparent and questioned how much of that money is being used on athletic fields.

Councilor Steven Boyajian spoke next, but he did not address the school’s payment to the town.

According to Barrington Schools Director of Finance and Administration, Doug Fiore, the school department paid the town $178,554 for facilities grounds-keeping this year.

The morning after last week’s workshop, Mr. Cunha was asked again about the school money being allocated toward field maintenance. He attempted to clear up the confusion from the night before and indicated the $162,000 expense cited in his cost analysis was strictly for “non-school fields.” He said school fields include all athletic fields located on school grounds, while the “non-school fields” include Chianese Park, Haines Park, Sherwood Park, St. Andrew’s Farm Field, the Veteran’s Park softball field, and Bicknell Park. 

Mr. Cunha was then asked for a similar cost/revenue analysis for the school fields, but he said the person who has access to that information has not been available.