Waterbury wins nearly $57,000 state grant for recreation projects
June 5, 2024 | By Lisa ScagliottiThe town of Waterbury is among 51 recipients of $6.3 million in outdoor recreation grants announced by the state last week.
Standing water stretches across the soccer playing fields near the Ice Center in downtown Waterbury after the December flood. Photo courtesy of Katarina Lisaius
At a May 29 ceremony in Killington, Agency of Natural Resources Secretary Julie Moore and representatives of the Vermont Outdoor Recreation Economic Collaborative shared a list of the grant winners in the collaborative’s Community Grant Program.
The Town of Waterbury is receiving a $56,900 grant to be used for flood recovery and park accessibility improvements. The funding will allow the Waterbury Recreation Department to work on repairing flood damage at the Ice Center Arena soccer fields and to install new accessible playground surfacing at the Hope Davey Park playground in Waterbury Center.
“Flood recovery is at the forefront as the town continues to adapt to fluctuating weather and storms and with most of the town’s parks and fields in flood zones or wetlands,” said Recreation Director Katarina Lisaius.
“These grants are an investment in Vermont,” Moore said. “They will help communities revitalize their outdoor recreation assets, create jobs, improve access to nature for Vermonters and visitors alike, and build stronger, more resilient communities for years to come.”
Projects chosen for grants were divided into four categories: implementation, project development, outdoor equity, and flood recovery. The awards go to efforts in a variety of rural, mid-sized and urban communities across Vermont, with grants made to organizations and municipalities in 13 of the state’s 14 counties; eight projects will have statewide impact, according to the state announcement.
The projects will help launch new projects, expand outdoor recreation access and help with recovery from damage caused by floods in 2023.
“We are pleased to support so many amazing projects across Vermont,” said Becca Washburn, chair of the VOREC Steering Committee and Director of Lands Administration and Recreation for the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation. “The interest in the program, as well as the strength of the applications demonstrates the opportunity communities from Grand Isle to Brattleboro see in investing in the connection between outdoor recreation and economic benefits.”
Waterbury projects fit new grant category
The state grants this year were expanded to include a category for recovery efforts focused on flood-impacted outdoor recreation, Lisaius noted. The playing fields at the Ice Center arena were flooded in July 2023 and then fully again in December, after the grant submission deadline. The grant will assist with covering some of the recovery costs for the fields, Liasius said.
The fields will need work involving soil, seeding, fertilizing, aeration, and possibly leveling out the field, Lisaius said.
The grant also will be used to improve accessibility and resiliency at another park. The Hope Davey Park playground will receive new surface material that is ADA accessible, low-maintenance, and has a 20-foot critical fall height for safety. Lisaius explained that the grant proposal suggested using rubber material that fits together like matting to make it easy for mobility-impaired individuals to move around the playground. The material also would be durable to withstand severe weather, she said.
The 2023 Waterbury Hope Davey and Ice Center Area Parks Master Plan prioritized making the town’s parks accessible to all uses by improving ADA access, in this case between the parking lots to the pavilion and playground.
The grant funds are to be used by December 2025.
Other recent work at Hope Davey not specifically connected with the grant included some tree trimming near the disc golf course, some disc golf course adaptions, tree planting along the Thatcher Brook through a project with the Friends of the Winooski River, and deconstruction of the skate park last fall. The Waterbury Skatepark Coalition has ongoing fundraising for a replacement structure with a goal of building that in 2025, Liasius said.
In addition the town has received a grant in partnership with Friends of the Winooski River for tree plantings by Thatcher Brook to help protect against erosion and is working with the Waterbury Skatepark Coalition on a plan for a future skatepark.
Other Washington County projects
Gov. Phil Scott established the VOREC Steering Committee in June 2017 to assemble outdoor recreation stakeholders to promote stewardship and market state recreation resources while promoting responsible and sustainable economic growth. This latest grants announcement marks the group’s fourth and largest investment in Vermont outdoor recreation projects.
In addition to the Waterbury award, seven other projects in Washington County will receive funding including:
Nearly $124,000 to the Wrightsville Beach Recreation District to purchase and outfit a mobile outdoor gear rental facility to replace facilities damaged during the 2023 summer flood.
Just under $102,000 to the Friends of the Winooski River to create a master and design plan for river access in Barre City.
$75,000 to the Town of Cabot Trails Committee to replace two bridges in the Cabot Trails network that were damaged by 2023 floods.
One grant funding work in multiple locations is an award of $60,000 to the Vermont Mountain Bike Association for repairs and improvements on nine flood-damaged sections of its trail network to make them more resilient.
Nick Bennette, executive director of the Vermont Mountain Bike Association, said much of the work was done in the immediate aftermath of last summer‘s floods. “These dollars fortunately can be applied to those efforts,” he said.
The Winooski River spills onto River Road in Waterbury on July 11, 2023. The Waterbury Area Trail Alliance trailhead and supplies sit down that road and were inundated with floodwater. Photo by Gordon Miller
Round 2 of the 2023 flooding on December 19 along the River Road to the mountain bike trailhead and Ice Center. Photo by Gordon Miller
As part of the grant, the nonprofit Waterbury Area Trail Alliance will receive just over $5,000 to cover the cost of replacing destroyed equipment and gear, including items such as leaf blowers and trimmers used for trail maintenance, Bennette said. The Waterbury group’s trailer located near the Winooski River near the Ice Center was submerged by last July’s flooding, resulting in substantial losses of materials and equipment, he said.
A significant amount of the grant funds will be put toward work just downstream along the Winooski in Richmond. Bennette said the bike association’s Richmond Mountain Trails and Fellowship of the Wheel chapters did restoration after the flood on the Rivershore Trail, the Chamberlain Trail network, Cochran’s, and other spots throughout Chittenden County.
The grant will be applied to work across 14 different VMBA trail systems, he said, offering this assessment of the need after last summer’s damage: “Overall, our trails fared remarkably well, and that considering our 28 chapters steward over 920 miles of trail, $60,000 in damages is actually a testament to how well trails constructed to a high standard withstood the summer’s horrendous weather.”
Other notable projects with wide reach on the state grant awards list include:
$91,000 to the Vermont Association of Snow Travelers (VAST) for work across six flood-damaged sections on its trail system.
Just under $33,000 for Cochran’s Ski Area in Richmond to engineer and design a new surface lift.
$42,500 for the Franklin County Trails Alliance for future connections between the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail and the St. Albans region.
More information is online about the VOREC Community Grant Program.