To the Editor:

Warrant Article No. 31 is about sports fields along Heron Pond Road that the BOS didn’t get approval to spend any money on to begin with.

They initially claimed it would cost $29K, but it quickly went to $60K because of poor planning, incompetence, and a lack of respect for the endangered wildlife and the environment.

They have tried to blame the additional cost on others who opposed the project, but that would be wrong. As I have pointed out before, the DPW crew were kicking up big clouds of dust in violation of New Hampshire’s fugitive dust regulations until DES forced them to comply. Maybe this cost more time and money, but is being cheap and fast more important than protecting the health of the young children attending Heron Pond School?

Selectman Fougere boasted that the town of Hollis is building a single sports field at a cost twice as much as what Milford did for two fields. What he conveniently left out was that Hollis got voter approval first and they will have the work done right by professionals.

In Milford, the BOS has spent $60K, and now think they are done. For instance, they didn’t get the drainage right, and that is evident from the flooding that has been observed in various places on the fields since the project stopped last fall. They seeded the fields at a cost of $6,800, too late in the season for the seed to properly germinate and take hold before the frost and snow moved in for the winter. In addition, the seed density was too sparse for good ground coverage that will probably result in excessive runoff from the spring snow melt and rain. I predict that what you will see in the spring will be a mud hole with very little grass growing, and in the summer you will see the mud hole turn into a $60K dust bowl.

If Warrant Article 31 passes, it is for $0, so they will not be able to spend another penny on the fields. They will need much more than that to correct the drainage and reseed the fields after trying and failing to build the fields on the cheap.

During the Deliberative Session, they hijacked this petition warrant article and changed its meaning in an attempt to trick the voters into thinking they are getting something great for nothing.

The smart voter would not reward the BOS for having spent their $60K without prior approval and would vote “No” on Warrant Article 31. Thank you.

Tom Gardner

Milford