By Jim Boylan
I was a Mad River Valley Youth Soccer Association coach in the early 2000s. When I coached we used fields at Moretown School, practice and games; Waitsfield School, practice; Couples Club Field, practice and games; Fayston School, practice; Warren School, practice and games; and in my final year we used the Mad River fields.
Since then Waitsfield has added the Flemer field and may be subtracting the Mad River Park fields. This would seem to be an even exchange. In addition, Waterbury has added several fields at the Ice Center of Washington West and at least four fields at Crossett Brook Middle School.
According to the Vermont Agency of Education, the number of children in both the Mad River Rec District and the Harwood Union community has dropped since the 2005-2006 school year.
School Population
2015-2016...2005-2006
Waitsfield Elementary: 142...182
Warren Elementary: 187...143
Fayston Elementary: 108...112
Moretown Elementary: 135...172
MRRD total: 572...609
School Population
2015-2016...2005-2006
Thatcher Brook: 454...426
Harwood HS: 511...669
Harwood Middle School: 140...155
Crossett Brook Middle School: 254...312
HU total: 1,931...2,171
Waitsfield owns the Flemer field. It’s behind the new town office and is available for public use. I have reviewed a copy of the Flemer Field Use Form. A plain reading of the document indicates the field is completely available for youth sports programs. The field will accommodate four to six fields for smaller kids and three to four fields for older children. According to the document, goal posts may be placed on the field as long as they are removed.
My experience with youth sports is that all goals are easily movable and that sports fields are fungible and sizes are flexible.
Recreational youth sports are an important entry point for children to get involved in sports. As kids move through the process there is a clear sorting process. Essentially you have kids in grades two and three who in soccer play “everyone chase the ball.” In grades four, five and six, the kids begin to sort themselves out – some drop out, some keep playing for fun and some decide they like the sport so much and have some skills that they want to join a developmental program and also continue on through high school. In middle and high school there is another sorting out as some kids go on to play sports in college.
We have a great athletic program at Harwood that serves kids from grades seven through 12. Administrators at Harwood report that in the fall Harwood has well over 50 percent of their students participating in sports and in the winter closer to 40 percent. Over the course of six years at Harwood (grades seven to 12) about 75 percent of students participate in some level of sports or other extracurricular activities.
I held a Massachusetts real estate license for a number of years and worked as a member of a team that managed, marketed and created value for investors in a number of industrial and office parks along the 128 and 495 corridors in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
I read the appraisal of the land done by Keller & Associates. The appraisal is based on the highest and best use of the land – which a good appraiser should conclude. The value of the land, according to Keller’s appraisal, is $725,000.
Page 18 of the appraisal states:
“The highest and best use of the subject property has been carefully considered. Highest and best use has been defined as ‘The reasonably probable and legal use of vacant land or an improved property, which is physically possible, appropriately supported. ...’ The potential uses for the subject are either outdoor recreation or commercial/light industrial development for one or more entities. The most productive and profitable use is commercial/light industrial development as most recreation fields are part of the school property or a public park or lot. Few land parcels are acquired for recreational use when a more intensive use is available.”
It’s clear that Keller & Associates carried out their fiduciary responsibility and valued this land at its highest and best which is commercial/light industrial development.
In addition Keller & Associates addresses the problem of downgrading the use of this parcel:
“The potential uses for the subject are either outdoor recreation or commercial/light industrial development for one or more entities. The most productive and profitable use is commercial/light industrial development as most recreation fields are part of the school property or a public park or lot. Few land parcels are acquired for recreational use when a more intensive use is available.”
This section appears to be a tacit admission by Keller that they have no idea what land that is zoned “commercial/light industrial development” is worth when downgraded to a playground.
The pricing of this land at $550,000 is a bait-and-switch price. The appraised value of $725,000 is based on the land’s highest and best use. The appraisers essentially admit they don’t know what the value is as a public playground.
The Mad River Park site is the only industrial zoned land in The Valley remaining for development. There is a small section of industrial district in Fayston, but it is already developed. It is the backside of the successful Mad River Food Hub buildings and not available for development.
Spending money on the Mad River Park property would be a double burden on all Valley towns as it would cost them taxpayer money and take a potential job-producing property off the market. This proposal represents a triple burden to Waitsfield taxpayers. The town would not only be paying taxpayer money and taking a potential job-producing property off the market; it would also be removed from the Grand List, which will increase all property taxpayers’ annual tax bill.
It’s time for some adult supervision to be exercised and for one of the select boards in The Valley to take a leadership position and say that the proposed purchase of the industrial land at the Mad River Park to create a playground using Valley residents’ tax dollars is a very bad idea and should not be further discussed.
Boylan lives in Waitsfield. (This piece has been edited for space. To read the entire piece, email Boylan at
