DIXFIELD – Selectmen and acting Public Works Director Tim Hanson got more than an earful from residents at Monday night’s meeting.
Several of the residents packed into the Ludden Memorial Library community room said they were upset that Hanson had bought and erected a blue fabric tarp in fencing around Harlow Park.
Hanson and SAD 21 Superintendent Thomas Ward said the tarp and a protective fence-top covering cap were installed for reasons of aesthetics and safety.
Hanson explained that the tarp, which, he said, cost $1,700, afforded SAD 21 baseball players a better view while playing.
“This wasn’t done to make anybody mad,” he added.
But a resident countered that ballplayers face the infield and home plate area not the fences.
Ward explained better what Hanson tried to say.
“I used to play baseball, and that fence wouldn’t have helped me, but as a hitter at the plate, what that blue mesh fence does is allow them to see the ball better that’s coming at them,” Ward said.
He also explained the cap atop the fence, saying it would prevent outfielders from ripping their arm on the jagged wires if they tried to emulate professional ballplayers by reaching over the fence to catch baseballs.
“My number one priority is safety,” Ward said.
Some residents complained that the tarp blocked them from looking through the chain link fence to watch baseball games.
Sarah Drury said that she and other townspeople, who own the park, felt like they’d been shut out. Others said the tarp degraded the value of their property.
Selectmen sided with residents, voting to have the offending tarp removed immediately, but the protective cap can stay.
tkarkos@sunjournal.com
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