KENT—Last year, when the Park and Recreation Commission looked at its five-year capital plan, its vision was guided by Jared Kuczenski, former director of the town’s recreation programs.
Matt Busse has been the Park and Recreation department director since February 2024. Photo contributed
He focused on development of Kent Commons, the in-town park, and question marks were attached to development at Emery Park, located farther from town on Route 341. There was much discussion about whether to invest in a playground and swimming pool at Emery Park, which had been closed since before Covid, and about the installation of a splashpad at Kent Commons.
But Kuczenski was in the process of leaving at the time the discussions took place and the new director, Matt Busse, has a different vision. Busse sees Emery Park as the crown jewel in Kent’s recreation program and has worked vigorously with the Emery Park Subcommittee this summer and fall to clean it up, clear trails and gather data about reclaiming the pool and upgrading the playground.
A new capital plan
When the Park and Recreation Commission sat down to take its first stab at its next five-year capital plan on Monday, Dec. 2, Busse asked for the commission’s support in moving funds for the Kent Commons Park splashpad to the line item to restore Emery Park’s swimming pool.
The capital plan is the town’s look forward at the next five years so it can budget for large-ticket items. Monies put into the plan for specific items in the first five years are not meant to be used for any other purpose. The second part of the plan, for a second five years, is more speculative, a wish list that can be changed as needed.
The $100,000 for the splash pad is drawn from ARPA funds and was slated for use in 2025, as was another $100,000 for a renewed playground at Emery Park. Busse’s plan would cut both of those line items and reallocate the funds for other purposes.
The ARPA funds would be moved to help repair the pool, bringing that fund up to $250,000, while the $100,000 for the playground would be used to build bathrooms and showers, to install a septic system, and provide an improved office at Emery Park.
There are currently no permanent sanitary facilities at the park, and commissioners reason that because the pool will not be chlorinated, swimmers may want to take a quick shower.
“If we are going to upgrade Emery Park, we need to upgrade its facilities,” Busse told the commission. “We should redistribute the funds.”
Member Claire Love suggested that the proposed plan be evened out so that the public can expect approximately the same amount of requested funding each year.
Members agreed it would be good to have a baseline that taxpayers could expect, but Chairman Rufus P. de Rham said that sometimes the selectmen or the Board of Finance push items back to later years to control overall taxes.
de Rham noted that Kuczenski “spent a lot of time improving Kent Common and nothing on Emery. People want to use Emery, but we need to put the emphasis on a swimming pond rather than a pool. The splashpad and tennis courts are less important, to my mind.”
The 2025 plan includes $20,975 for tennis court maintenance at Kent Commons Park.
de Rham reported that installation of a splashpad at Kent Commons was “way more complicated than originally thought, with Kent Commons being wetlands.” He said a splashpad could be addressed later, but swimming is more important in Kent.
Bringing Emery Park up to a usable state “means we may have to ask the town for more now and less later,” de Rham said. “I understand the thinking that the budget should be even, but as a commission, we shouldn’t think that way. We should think of our priorities for this year and then the Selectmen might say, ‘Yeah, this commission needs more for the benefit of the people of Kent.’”
Member Kate Symonds asked if there is a sense that people would respond more favorably to improvements at Emery Park. “I’ve spoken to a lot of people, and I get the sense they support it,” said Busse.
Love said she had canvassed opinion in her own home. “From the kiddo perspective, there is a lot of enthusiasm for a pool,” she reported.
The commission planned to meet again within a week to refine the capital plan.
Continued look at commission bylaws
In other business, the commission discussed further changes in its bylaws based on feedback from the town’s lawyer. Lynn Mellis Worthington, the liaison member from the Board of Selectmen, questioned what she considered “weird” wording that requires the Selectmen to appoint members to the commission at the annual town meeting. Then the townspeople, as electors, actually vote on the nominations.
She suggested that Park and Rec members could be elected in off-year municipal elections. de Rham said he preferred letting the commission vet candidates to be recommended at the town meeting.
“If we ask people to come to us and we have the chance to find out what their interests are, we can gauge what the commission needs the most,” he said, “whereas if people just file a petition to run, we don’t know if they will add strengths where we may not be strong.”
Busse agreed. “We want to make the recommendation, based on specifics—someone who is engaged with other adults in town, or someone who represents seniors, or has kids in programs. We need to go beyond the two-party system.”
“If it’s not broken, why fix it?” asked member Kate Symonds. “We’ve been operating well. It seems to work better for the functionality of this group.”
