In The Wake Of Field Of Dreams, What's Next

Perhaps the most resounding loss of this November's election was the defeat of the 'Field of Dreams' referendum. The unofficial count shows 2,858 votes were cast against it, while only 1,669 were cast in support of it.

At Monday's work session of the Mayor and Council, Mary McElroy and George Adelung -- both members of the Committee that worked on the Field of Dreams-- asked the council what their plan was now that the Field of Dreams referendum had failed to pass and given the fact that the town's current fields are often unusable after any type of inclement weather.

"Every time that our team has to relocate to another town because our fields are unplayable, that's money we don't get from snack bar sales," McElroy said.

Explaining that during the campaign, candidates talked about available grants to assist in the purchase the United Water property should it became available again, McElroy asked what those grants were and inquired whether there are grants available to rehabilitate the existing fields.

McElroy pressed, "During the campaign, many of you sitting around this table kept talking about grants that were available that could help with the purchase of the United Water property and rehab the current fields."

When faced with silence, McElroy continued, "I want to know what grants?"

The council agreed to have Marlene Casey, the borough's grant writer, come to the January work session to discuss grants that may be available to rehabilitate the borough's current fields.

Adelung told the council that the kids in New Milford deserve a decent field to play on and said, "You did nothing to support the Field of Dreams."

Councilman Diego Robalino said that the referendum was non-binding and it was up to the Mayor and Council to decide how to proceed.

Councilwoman Randi Duffie said that the council needed to come up with a plan to rehabilitate the current fields.

"We can't wait for the United Water property to maybe come up," Duffie said. "We need a plan."

Follow Patch on Facebook and Twitter or subscribe to our free daily newsletter.