Windham official suggests Whitewater Park could cost town $500,000

An estimate to build and extend trails as part of the Willimantic Whitewater Partnership’s goal to transform the Willimantic area into a recreation hub is more than $1 million over budget, a town official said.

The project would connect trails with surrounding towns, with the WWP  purchasing a site that would be the future home of a Willimantic River park.

Windham Town Engineer Joseph Gardner said the estimate from Fuss & O’Neill, the Manchester firm chosen to design the project, shows it would cost roughly $3.1 million to complete.

The trail network would be from Mackey’s to Bridge Street and include fixing a bridge by the Connecticut Eastern Railroad Museum. It would then extend to Lebanon.

Gardner said the town has $2 million in federal grant funds administered by the state Department of Transportation and a $500,000 match that the town has an agreement from the WWP to pay.

He said in a memo that the construction budget for the project is $1.9 million, but Fuss & O’Neill’s cost estimate came in at more than $3.1 million.

The memo also states that options for scaling the project back include eliminating the bridge near the railroad museum and eliminating landscaping.

He said if the project proceeds to final design and doesn’t get completed, he believes the federal government may require the town to repay the final design fee of $81,500.

But the taxpayer impact could grow, according to Gardner.

“If we proceeded to final design without adequate funds in place and then stopped the project, the federal government may require the town to repay [the federal government's] share of the design fee in the amount of $225,000,” Gardner wrote.

“If we continue with the project and Whitewater fails to meet their commitment then the (taxpayers) would be responsible for up to $500,000 (WWP’s match).”

Gardner added if the town backed out now, the town wouldn’t owe any money.

However, members of the Willimantic Whitewater Partnership Inc.  said the project is on track and disputed Gardner’s figures.

WWP President Dan Mullins said original estimates for the project came in at $2.4 million, but extras - which include paving a driveway between Bridge Street and the railroad museum - inflated the cost.

He said WWP members didn’t want the driveway to the railroad museum paved because it wouldn’t be environmentally sound and wasn’t needed.

Mullins said Gardner was “overstating” the cost of the project, and said the project is a “high priority” for the state Department of Environmental Protection and future federal and state grant funding would be available to cover the costs.

Mullins said Gardner was “throwing out numbers” to make the project look more expensive than it is.

In regard to the WWP’s $500,000 match, Mullins said the partnership received a $125,000 grant from the state DEP to help offset the match.

To make up the remainder, Mullins said once current grant funding is spent, he believes additional grant funding would be appropriated.

State officials echoed Mullins’ sentiments.

“This is a good project,” said Laurie Giannotti, state DEP recreation trails and greenway program coordinator. “It’s a project that everyone wants to see done.”

She said while she couldn’t offer a firm guarantee of future funding for the project, she said it could be funded if money was available.

“This is a high priority project,” she said, adding future funding would be federal funding, administered by the DEP.

In July 2007, the partnership closed on a 3.4-acre parcel slated to be the future site of the Willimantic River park, located at 28 Bridge St. It was purchased for $213,000 from Boland Oil Co. and is on the eastern side of Bridge Street along the Willimantic River.

The Whitewater project would link it with the East Coast Greenway, a series of trails that run from Maine to Florida, with approximately 195 miles in Connecticut.

To donate or get more information about the project, visit www.willimanticwhitewater.org.

Posted Feb. 3, 2010