By Theresa Knapp

On April 14, the Hopedale Select Board will host a joint hearing with the Hopedale Parks Commission to discuss a complete renovation of Hopedale Town Park. 

The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Draper Room at Town Hall, and will be accessible via Zoom The Hopedale Cultural Council, Historical Commission, and Community Preservation Committee have been invited to attend, co-host, and participate. 

In a memo to the Select Board on March 19, Town Administrator Mitch Ruscitti said, “The purpose of this hearing is to receive public input about a proposed complete renovation of Hopedale Town Park, with work estimated to be completed in the Fall of 2025. 

Ruscitti said the cost of the project – estimated “in the realm of $4 million” – would be covered within the town’s budget and would not require an override or debt exclusion” though it would require Town Meeting’s approval to borrow funds that would then be repaid with free cash over several years. His detailed plan requires the Town to: 

• authorize the borrowing for the project; 

• develop a stabilization fund specifically for this project; 

• allocate a recommended amount of Free Cash into said stabilization fund; and

• appropriate the free cash in the stabilization fund to pay for the annual debt service payments on the project.

Ruscitti’s memo explained that, specifically, the Town would borrow funds to complete the project all at once and then use free cash from the stabilization fund to make the debt service payments on the bond for the project. 

He said that, in 2032, the Town will have $5 million in intermediate- and long-term bonded debt coming off the books so, at that time, the project payments will be paid for through levy with no impact on municipal operations, as it will replace exhausted debt. 

“Therefore, this project will not require an override or debt exclusion and will have no impact on property taxes,” said Ruscitti, adding “Town parks are only revisited, really, once a generation; this is a fantastic opportunity for Hopedale residents to come together to put their stamp on the future of this Town."