By Amanda Estes
Staff Writer
      After neighborhood concerns about an “intense use park facility” on Black Point Road sent architects and town officials back to the drawing board nearly a year ago, Scarborough Town Manager Ron Owens and Community Services Director Bruce Gullifer presented a new conceptual plan to the town council. Although the plan represents a preliminary design, Owens estimated the project could cost roughly $1 million and would most likely come forward in a referendum.
      During the Wednesday, April 18 meeting, Councilor Shawn Babine praised the plan, but had concerns about presenting a referendum to the public. He noted the 2008 capital improvement program budget already allocates $350,000 to pay for the initial costs.
     Owens said the intent was to present the project in a “comprehensive way” and abstain from spreading the funding out over several years. He also said this method would allow the public to take part in tweaking the design.
      Councilor Carol Rancourt said although it will be a new issue to bring to a referendum, it will allow the public to have a voice in the end result.
      “It’s an opportunity for people to vote on something they put their hearts and souls into,” she said.
      As presented, Black Point Park will be a “multi-generational park.” It will include one basketball court, one tennis court, a children’s play area, and a multi-use field. The plan also calls for a walking and jogging trail, a senior or picnic pavilion and a senior recreation area for activities such as horseshoes.
     Efforts will also be made to blend the park into the surrounding neighborhood and they include landscaping and buffering, off street parking, installing a sidewalk, relocating the access road, and improving access on Fogg Road. The parking lot would have 109 spaces, which would prevent cars from lining up along the road.
      “It’s not designed to be a major athletic complex,” Owens said. “When you would see this facility from ground level it would tend to look much greener.” The park is meant to be similar to Memorial Park in design.
      The design standards are the result of a series of focus groups and a workshop held last summer. The town solicited recommendations from community members and among their comments was a desire for a park without lights, a PA system, permanent buildings, or concessions. Participants also opposed private funding with strings attached and the leasing of the park to non-residents.
      Although the park will allow for a variety of recreational uses, Gullifer and Councilor Richard Sullivan also said the park would fulfill a need for more playing spaces for youth athletics. He said Scarborough has 74 recreational soccer teams or 800 students playing at the same time and finding available fields can be difficult. Sullivan said he frequently hears complaints from parents about the lack of fields.
      Gullifer said if the park does go to referendum, at the very least there should be some effort to clean the site.
 The council stressed the need to educate the public in the coming months on the park and the subsequent referendum. The park could appear on the ballot in November.
      In other business, councilors approved the first reading of a gross 2008 municipal and school budget of $73.7 million.