Peat Meadow Park Quest Gets Starting Money

AnneMarie Rivera-Berrios wasn’t sure whether to accept $1,050 to restore the children’s playground at Peat Meadow Park. She’s been trying for four years to raise $25,000.

In the end, that’s how much the East Shore Community Management Team was offering.

So she took it.

The management team voted on eight proposals for spending the team’s grant money from city government’s Livable City Initiative (LCI)‘s Neighborhood Public Improvement Program (NPIP) at its monthly Tuesday meeting at the Lighthouse Road firehouse.

The team has dipped into the $20,000 grant only once since receiving it. The team used $500 in December to fund the donation of ten $50 holiday gift cards to the St. Bernadette Food Pantry. This made it so the team could approve to fund all but one of the grant money proposals completely.

At first, Rivera-Berrios was hesitant on accepting the award amount because it was less than a third of her asking amount. Rivera-Berrios requested $17,108.51 from the team to fund the replacement equipment for the playground. Rivera-Berrios had planned to later seek out other grants for an additional $8,000 to install the equipment.

Before Rivera-Berrios could decline the starter amount out of frustration, Cedar Hill advocate Camille Ansley promised her help to Rivera-Berrios and the project she has been passionate about for so long now. So she agreed to accept the amount.

“I’ve had at least 40 meetings with city officials and the team in the past about the area’s issues. I just want to help our East Shore kids,” Rivera-Berrios said.

After some negotiation from Ansley, the group voted to keep the remaining grant money in the team’s escrow for two years for Rivera-Berrios’ project.

After the meeting, Ansley and Rivera-Berrios planned their next steps for the project, asking, ​“Does the city know this area needs attention?”

Ansley suggested three next steps for Rivera-Berrios: formally inviting the team to do a walk around of the park along with some city officials, have ward 18 Alder Jody Ortiz write a letter to the team encouraging support of the project for the communities betterment, and form a committed team of peers invested in helping her continue to tackle the project in the future.

“It was a small win today,” Ansley assured Rivera-Berrios.

Team Chair Arlene DePino made the first proposal of the evening for how to spend the NPIP money, requesting another $500 for this year’s holiday gift cards for the St. Bernadette food pantry. DePino said the team has been helping the pantry by donating gift cards for five years now. Since the increase in NPIP grant money, the team has increased its the amount of donated gift cards to ten. In the past, the team donated either three or five gift cards. All but one voted in favor of the proposal.

Another project request came from the president of the Fort Hale Restoration Corps, Ned Taylor (top right). Taylor requested $5,500 to purchase materials to restore Fort Nathan Hale for a student program he is arranging to happen near the end of May. The program will offer an archaeology based course for all students of the Talented and Gifted (TAG) program.

“I need a place that’s gotta be sturdy enough for all these kids,” Taylor said.

The material will be bought to fix up the pavilion and replace the upper deck due to rotting. The requested amount that the team’s votes approved will fund the materials needed for the project while Taylor plans to have the work done by volunteers like himself.

A proactive request was made by a neighbor Howie Blau (bottom left), to create an emergency fund for the annual East Shore Halloween parade. Blau was granted his asking of $6,000 to fund the parade for the next four years. A motion was made to reduce the amount to $3,000 instead but it was not seconded.

While the parade organizers will still fundraise for the event, Blau said the grant money will help provide them with a ​“cushion” and ​“safety net.”

A fourth proposal aimed at providing the neighborhood with an additional historical marker. Sue Marchese (bottom right) requested $2,000 for a Fort Wooster project. Marchese said the money will cover the making and installation of a two-sided sign by Home Depot for the fort’s entrance at the top of Beacon Avenue.

The proposal was passed by the team to provide the community with a sign telling the history of the area and the Quinnipiac Native American tribe. The second side of the sign will be a bulletin board for neighbors to post community-related notices.

“It’s time now for the pinnacle of East Shore to be recognized with some better signage,” Marchese said.

The team also voted in favor of a proposal made by St. Bernadette food pantry coordinator, Rico Diamantini (above left). Diamantini’s request was for $1000 to purchase a freezer for the food pantry to preserve frozen meals for visitors.

While looking at his options Diamantini said freezers ranged from $649 to $1800. The particular freezer Diamantini has his eye on is from Lowe’s. When Diamantini checked last the 19.1 cubic feet standup freezer was on sale for $749. The standard price for the freezer is $849, with sales tax bringing it to about $900.

Next on the list of grant proposals was the Annex little league ball field project. Former league President Sal Punzo (above center) made a request for $1,500 to fund this season’s cost for field upkeep, this will include clay for the field, stone dust, marking chalk and more. These materials will be purchased for the amount of the three Annex fields, the third including the upcoming t‑ball field for youth.

Punzo said registration fees, donations, and concession stand funds only help to pay for uniforms, game materials, and to pay the umpires. State Rep. Al Paolillo Jr. said in the past the money for field upkeep has come from the pockets of volunteers like Punzo.

A motion to increase the project funding to $2,500 was made but not seconded. The team voted in favor of funding the original asking of $1,500.

The final proposal was made by team treasurer, John Abbagnaro (pictured above right). Abbagnaro requested $1,950 to fund three clean-ups up this year of the clock garden, located on the corner of Townsend Avenue and Lighthouse Road across the firehouse. Abbagnaro was granted the total amount which will cover three cleanups costing $650 each.