Page 4 THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, June 11, 2021 ~ Letter-to-the-Editor ~ City councillor responds to resident’s question on park spending Dear Editor, I am writing with the backing of fellow Councillor Camell to respond to the letter from Mr. Larson in last week’s June 4, 2021 Malden Advocate asking how funds at Trafton Park have been spent and about the status of the effort to complete work envisioned in the Master Plan. As someone who has pushed the last 29 years for our local Gerry D’Ambrosio Attorney-at-Law Is Your Estate in Order? Do you have an update Will, Health Care Proxy or Power of Attorney? If Not, Please Call for a Free Consultation. 14 Proctor Avenue, Revere (781) 284-5657 J& $45 yd. S LANDSCAPE & MASONRY CO. MULCH SALE! Discount Spring Special PICK-UP or DELIVERY AVAILABLE 617-389-1490 Premium Hemlock or Pitch Black BELOW WHOLESALE COSTS LANDSCAPERS WELCOME $4 yd. $40 yd. $3 yd. and Tartikoff Parks. Councillor Camell and I have already been working with the Mayor’s Office, our DPW and Youth Baseball to secure additional funds to undertake more work on the ball field at Trafton. Councillor Camell and I held 5 community meetings and worked with our Mayor and fellow Councillors to initially invest $641,800 in Trafton, the biggest investment the City has made in the park in the 30 years my wife and I have lived in Maplewood. This initial investment has proven its success, just go by the Park on a weekend morning of any afternoon and see the scores of kids using the playground and walking and bicycling around the revamped pathway. All funds were spent in accordance with state public bidding and prevailing wage laws. The City awarded the contract to a highly qualified lower bidder, JJ Phelan of Tewksbury experienced with many municipal projects including parks in Everett and Salem. How was that $641,800 spent? 1. Removing unsafe equipment, fencing and asphalt: a key priority was to eliminate facilities that fell into disrepair after the East Side Little League dissolved a decade ago including a collapsing batting cage, a broken asphalt path and associated fencing in the outfield, an unsanitary snack stand and dated play equipment. $105,000 2. Increasing the size of the playground and making it more accessible: residents who participated in the 5 community meetings overwhelming agreed that the playground was the top priority for funding. So the City funded a bigger, more attractive playground with a safer, accessible rubber surface that replaced a loose stone material. Worn out tot equipment has been replaced with a tot play structure and a new merry-go-round and multi-person teeter-totter that are a big hit for all ages. $207,000 3. An Improved Pedestrian Pathway: a new paved pathway for walking and bicycling has replaced the broken outfield path and the path by the playground was redone to allow expandSPENDING | SEE PAGE 26 bike trail, I can assure you that with community support and the right leadership projects can be done and enjoyed in phases and fully completed. Our City has capably performed multiple projects at the same time; between 2010 and 2017 the City built 17 park projects at 14 locations at a cost of $20 million, including two phase projects at Pearl Street, Coytemore Lea
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