PARKS PROGRESS
Leominster Recreation Department receives $25,000 for tractor
LEOMINSTER » Brooks Pond Development presented at $25,000 check to the Recreation Department on June 6 at Fournier Field on Litchfield Street, funding that will go toward the purchase of a new tractor to be used for improvements and maintenance at the field and other recreation spots in the city.
“The Recreation Department is thrilled to receive a donation to help defray the cost of a new tractor and save on manual labor,” said Recreation Director Judith Sumner. “A tractor can be used for multiple projects and maintenance tasks for all city recreational areas. It will save time hauling and spreading material to maintain the walking paths at Fournier, Barrett, and Prospect parks.”
Several people gathered at Fournier Field for the check presentation including Sumner, Brooks Pond Managing Director of Activities Donna Balletta, Developer Peter Bovenzi, Mayor Dean Mazzarella, Planning Board Chair John Souza, Executive Vice President Liberty Rental Corp. Matthew Weagle, Leominster Planning and Development Director Elizabeth Wood, and Planning Board members Sal Ciccone, Patrick Perla and Paul Weizer.
“Fournier Field is the closest community owned recreation facility to the Brooks Pond, Pine Hill development and is a great and valued asset, appreciated by many Brooks Pond residents and their families,” Bovenzi said. “In conjunction with the public planning process Brooks Pond partnered with the City of Leominster in several other improvements to the surrounding area including over a half mile of sidewalks along Central Street, new traffic lights at Willard Street, new gravity sewer mains and connections along Debbie Drive, and to the groundwater infiltration mitigation program. Brooks Pond
‘The Recreation Department is thrilled to receive a donation to help defray the cost of a new tractor and save on manual labor.’
— Judith Sumner, recreation director
and all of its employees and residents are grateful and proud members of the community. We believe that this grant will help maintain this beautiful resource for all the city’s fellow residents for today and years to come.”
Sumner said they have a quote for a John Deere tractor and that the funding “will help defray the cost.” She said the department will use the tractor to clear walking trails at Fournier Field and other city recreation places and that having the tractor “to move materials that is very labor intensive” will be helpful.
“The tractor will improve all the recreational areas,” Sumner said. “We need it for mowing the hill at Fournier Park and other open spaces and it can be used to haul playground wood fiber safety surfacing at all the playgrounds, dig drainage ditches on trails, and move landscape materials at various parks throughout the city.
“These are just to name a few of the tasks that the new tractor will help enhance recreational areas within the city,” Sumner said.