Forum Brings Recreation Factions to Table

by Amy Kolb Noyes

The list of recreation opportunities in Morristown goes on and on.
Between trails, open public spaces and commercial and public organized
facilities, the town has a lot to offer by way of recreational
activities. What is wanting is sufficient parking, adequate access to
some of those places and more equipment storage for fields in town.
These are some of the results of a brainstorming session held by town
government, Tuesday evening, April 26.
The Morristown Recreation forum was the last in a series of public
forums held throughout this winter. About 25 people attended the
recreation meeting, representing a diverse group of recreational
interests in town. The group inventoried the town's recreational assets,
then listed perceived needs and management issues.
As it turns out, Morristown has a significant number of recreational
assets, including ball fields, playgrounds, trails, CREW, the Nature
Center and many facilities at the schools. The number of recreational
opportunities is growing, as is the quality of the existing facilities.
As meeting participant George Cormier noted, the community's expectation
of quality has "risen dramatically" in the past 20 years.
Those expectations have been met in recent years by unprecedented
cooperation between the school maintenance staff and the town and
village highway crews. However, the park and rec workload has reached
critical mass. As the use of fields, parks and trails continues to grow,
so does their workload.
Town officials see the writing on the wall. Selectboard Chair Brian
Greenia said the town has added five new full time employees in the past
five years, "and," he added, "there is going to be more." Greenia said
the next step for Morristown will be the addition of a recreation
department.
In closing, Krantz asked participants to fill out a questionnaire
regarding recreation opportunities in Morristown. Those surveys will be
used to create a recreation plan for the town. Krantz also asked for
volunteers to sit on a committee which will compile the survey results
and begin work on the recreation plan. Additional surveys are available
at the Town Clerk's office.