Board Split Over Spending $800k to Light up EPCAL Ballfields

Town board members are divided over whether or not the town should spend close to $800,000 to light baseball fields which are currently under construction in Calverton.

Four baseball fields, with infields and fences, are built, though work remains to be done finishing paving, dugouts, and new fencing along the property's northern border with Route 25A.

Recreation Superintendent Ray Coyne and some board members believe that opening a group of baseball fields without lights would be like "building a house and not putting in furniture." Coyne and Councilmen Jim Wooten and John Dunleavy agree.

Supervisor Sean Walter and Councilman George Gabrielsen say they would like lights as well. But the money just isn't there.

"We run the risk of a credit downgrade if we keep spending money we don't have," said Walter. Walter referred back to a Moody's credit affirmation the town received in November, as the town maintained its Aa2 rating. The supervisor has cited the rating, allowing the town to continue borrowing at relatively low rates (3.5 percent now, he said), as one of his main accomplishments during his tenure at town hall.

Wooten and Dunleavy - who participated in Thursday's work session via conference call - argued that the investment wouldn't be worth it unless the town purchased lights.

"It's not going to generate any money unless it has lights," Dunleavy said. "If kids start playing at 6 p.m., they'll be playing into darkness. There's not going to be anybody playing past 6:00."

No matter, said Walter. "That's irresponsible. We're talking about the credit rating of the town."

The supervisor, and Financial Administrator Bill Rothaar, said that conversations with credit rating agents during their fall meetings indicated that any future borrowing could adversely affect the town's rating, both said.

Councilwoman Jodi Giglio, the swing vote, said she would review the credit report and financial projections provided by Coyne and make her decision then. While Giglio originally said she favored spending the $800,000, further coaxing from Walter has her questioning the math.

"I really want to see the lights go up," she said. "They would be a revenue generator for the town, and I think that money would pay for the bonding. But the supervisor is telling me if we bond another $1 million in top of the other hundred we already have out, that might be the straw the breaks the camels' back. I don't know if that's a gamble we should be taking."