Newly Formed Hamill Rink Task Force Elects Officers, Reviews “Charge”

On Wednesday a newly formed rink task force held its first meeting and elected its officers.

The group of nine was formed in the aftermath of the RTM’s January vote against the Municipal Improvement for a new Hamill Rink based on “the flip,” which was shorthand for swapping the location of the existing, outdated rink in Byram’s Eugene Morlot Park with Strazza ball field.

Four residents of Byram had exercised their right to appeal the MI to the 230-member RTM, saying they preferred replacing the rink in its current location if possible, and erecting a temporary rink during construction.

They cited the major disturbance to the park involved in ‘the flip’ and objected to having the new rink bisect the field in the densely developed neighborhood.

During the RTM discussion, several speakers urged that a new committee be formed to replace the Rink User Committee for Design who had met over 4-1/2 years.

The RTM vote on the MI was: 136 No, 52 Yes, 6 Abstentions.

First Selectman Fred Camillo, who had advocated strongly for ‘the flip,’ coordinated formation of the task force and welcomed them at their meeting Wednesday night.

“We have one venue that looks good – the Island Beach parking lot – for lots of reasons,” Camillo said, adding that there was at least one donor in the wings.

The nine-member task force introduced themselves starting with Matt DesChamps, who is a Democratic member of the Board of Estimate and Taxation, BET representative on the Energy Management Advisory Committee (EMAC) and former RTM Budget Overview Committee member.

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Javier Aleman from district 4 is representing EMAC on the task force. He said his sons are hockey players.

Peter Lowe, a non-voting member of the task force, is a representative from Greenwich’s Planning & Zoning commission. He said he had coached hockey.

Megan Cutler, a Byram native and parent of a 4-year old, is a representative of the Byram Neighborhood Association (BNA), where she is the acting vice chair and secretary.

Michael Armstrong said he represented the Byram Veterans Association, where he has been a member for 11 years, and commander for six years. He said he had played hockey most of his life, including some time playing minor league hockey.

Dan Izzo from district 6 is one of the two RTM representatives, and is also vice chair of the Budget Overview Committee. He has played in a men’s hockey league and has four children who participate in youth hockey.

Katharine Ashforth from district 1 is the second representative from the RTM where she serves on both the Parks & Recreation and Finance committees. She was a figure skater growing up in Canada, and transitioned to playing hockey. She later became a hockey coach and her three children were hockey players.

Steph Cowie is on the task force to represent the “ADA Advisory and Advocacy Committee.” Cowie is a past PTA president at several public schools and is a member of the Central Middle School building committee. Also, she is serving her first term on the RTM.

Ed Fuss, who dialed in remotely, said he is from Byram, played hockey and teaches at Hamill rink. He said he had visited hundreds of rinks in North America and had a construction background.

One member, Christina Schwefel, was unable to attend.

Election of Officers

RTM moderator Alexis Voulgaris ran the election for chair.

Mr. DesChamps was nominated and accepted the nomination. He thanked Mr. Camillo and Bill Drake who chaired the previous committee.

After Mr. DesChamps was unanimously elected chair, he ran the election for vice chair and secretary.

Ms Voulgaris said the secretary will have a Zoom Enterprise account enabling them to schedule Zoom meetings under the town of Greenwich system.

Both Ms Ashworth and Mr. Izzo were nominated for vice chair, but Mr. Izzo declined.

Ms Ashworth was elected vice chair and Steph Cowie was elected secretary.

The group agreed to meet weekly on Wednesdays, starting on March 26, tentatively at 5:00pm.

Mr. DesChamps said transparency was paramount and urged members to read the existing materials.

He said currently there is $24 million in the 2027-2028 budget for a rink. And while $1.2 million for work on ‘the flip’ had been removed by the BET budget committee, $50,000 had been allocated that can be used for task force expenditures.

“What I would like as a goal, if possible, is to move forward so we are not delaying that $24 million allocation,” DesChamps said, adding that it would be important to agree on a timeline, listen to the community and make use of previously completed work.

Freedom of Information Act

Ms Voulgaris shared key information about the FOIA as it applies to conducting meetings, including noticing meetings, difference between public hearings and public meetings, having quorum, and use of email.

“You cannot discuss business over email. Please don’t do that,” she said.

She explained that attendees in the gallery were not required to sign in or identify themselves when they participate or attend.

“They can if they want to, but there is no requirement. If you have a public hearing and ask people to step up to the podium, then you ask them to identify themselves.”

Role of Town Staff

Seated separately from the task force and the public were town staff who introduced themselves, including 25-year Parks & Recreation director, Joe Siciliano; DPW commissioner, Jim Michel; and Director of Buildings and Maintenance, Luigi Romano. They are not voting members of the task force, but have been involved with the previous Rink User Committee for Design for several years.

“They’re here supporting our work,” Mr. DesChamps said. “The way to think about this project is as a DPW and Parks & Recreation project. They are responsible for it, at the end of the day. They put together the CIP sheet – the Capital Improvement Plan sheet – that has $24 million in it.”

Mr. DesChamps said the task force was not responsible for building the rink.

“Our job is providing a thoughtful process around site evaluation and putting together a cost estimate of what that may be, and submitting it back to the office of the First Selectman.”

From there, he said the task force’s job will be to “socialize” the group’s work to the community.

“Ultimately it will go to (Mr. Siciliano, Mr. Michel and Mr. Romano) to put the elements out to bid and to make sure the construction process is starting,” DesChamps said.

Costs

Mr. DesChamps said it was important not to waste time because the plan was to get $1.2 million back in the budget.

Also, he emphasized the importance of keeping the $24 million in the 2027-2028 budget to allow the Parks & Recreation and DPW teams to proceed once the task force makes its recommendation.

“Construction prices are going one direction, and that is up,” he added. “We need to give them the guidance and clarity they need to move forward.”

“The rink has had different prices at different times since I’ve been involved,” DesChamps said. “I don’t currently know what the cost of the rink is going to be. I don’t think anybody in this room really knows what it is because we don’t know what the site is and what the schematic ultimately will be.”

DesChamps said part of the phasing process will be to hire a cost estimator.

“I personally find it troubling that on many projects in town where a number gets mentioned and the town and people get anchored to that number. That number then goes out to bid and moves, and people start asking why does it cost so much money? The reason it costs so much money is the original number wasn’t right. In my time on the BET and BOC, I’ve seen it happen all the time. That is a massive disservice to the public.”

Public Input

Ms. Ashworth asked about public input and suggested the group not hold public forums in the summer.

Mr. DesChamps said public input was important but timing was also important. He said if input is sought too early there is nothing to opine on, and if too late, it “sounds like you already baked the cake, how do you like it?”

Mr. Lowe from the P&Z commission said it was important to wait to have something substantive to present to the public before seeking public input.

“I have a feeling that the schedule will naturally map itself out once you’ve done the first chunk of work,” Lowe said.

Mr. DesChamps asked members to get familiar with the task force’s Charge and the town’s POCD between now and the next meeting.

Mr. Izzo said the Charge referred to working in accordance with the schematics previously developed, and asked if it was beyond their remit to consider any changes to the design of the facility.

Mr. DesChamps noted item #8 in the Charge says, “The Task Force shall consider the current schematics and specifications, but may review and propose changes necessary for a facility expected to provide service for 50 years.”

He said one change might relate to food service.

At the recent RTM meeting where the MI was voted down, several people complained the proposed rink excluded a concession stand.

The existing Hamill rink has a concession stand, but no operator. The flip featured a place for food trucks to pull up alongside the building and pass food through a window.

“That’s something we need to take a good look at,” DesChamps said. “That’s not necessarily redesigning the entire rink, but that’s an example of something to take a look at.”

There was a question about how the public should contact the task force.

Town administrator Kate Buch recommended setting up a contact form rather than having task force members share their private email addresses and copying their emails into the town record.

Mr. DesChamps said the BET had recently changed its method of communication following an incident involving “noise,” and had set up a contact form in place of individual member emails.

See also:

Greenwich RTM Vote on Rink MI Fails: “Democracy in Action”

Jan 22, 2025