Late Wednesday night the Rye City Council voted in favor of advancing the artificial turf plans for Rye Recreation’s Nursery Field on Milton Road. The proposed turf has been a contentious topic among the Council and among various groups in Rye between those that want the extra playing time turf provides versus those that see Nursery as the wrong location due to flooding, historical, traffic or other concerns.
In a 4 – 2 vote, the Council approved a negative declaration for Environmental Assessment Form (EAF) and Coastal Assessment Form (CAF). The move allows the City to proceed without further environmental review. In the same action, the Council also moved to moved forward with the project in its entirety contingent on the receipt of the full project cost from the Let the Kids Play group. Let the Kids Play, a local resident group and proponent of artificial turf fields, has told the City is has raised funds and will provide up to $3 million dollars to cover the project.
Mayor Josh Cohn and his Gang of Four voting block – the Mayor, along with Councilmembers Johnson, Souza and Stacks – voted in favor. The group was expected to advance the plans this month prior to the departure of Johnson from the Council on January 1st, which will upset the group’s voting block. Councilmembers Fontanes and Nathan voted no, arguing more time was needed for consideration. Councilman Henderson was absent due to concerns over COVID exposure. He has aligned with Fontanes and Nathan on the issue.
After the initial vote, Councilmember Souza advanced a second proposal to allocate up to $100,000 from the City’s capex funds to immediately move to a 100% design phase (the project is currently at a 60% phase) so the City can more quickly bid the work and collect the funds from the donor group. The proposal was approved along the same 4 – 2 voting block.
The City Council action is a clear win for both the Mayor and the Let the Kids Play donor group. The Mayor spoke at the conclusion of the vote:
