At a Special Town Meeting on Sept. 23, Hopedale voters gathered to address municipal park funding, the proposed development of sports fields at Draper Field and the establishment of a committee to oversee the project.

The meeting had a delayed start because of a long line of voters waiting to enter the building, according to Town Moderator Eugene “Gene” Phillips. 

Changing “Town Park”  

The first article amended a vote taken at the May 20, 2025, Annual Town Meeting. Residents unanimously approved substituting the words “Town Park” with “Municipal Parks including Draper Field.” In her reading of the article, Select Board Chair Glenda Hazard added, “And that such appropriation may be used for renovations or improvements at any municipal park, field or facility, including all costs, incidental and related thereto.” 

“Even since we set the warrant, there’s been more information,” said Hazard, as she introduced resident Gordon “Duke” Lewis who provided a brief summary on the history of the issue. 

“I don’t know if this is the result of mismanagement, misinformation, incompetence, all of the above, or just a lot of honest mistakes,” said Lewis, who questioned the sequence of contracts and decisions, raised concerns that the project was overbudget from the outset. He also noted that the original project called for post-tension concrete tennis courts but asphalt courts are now planned for the project.  

Mike Bresciani, a former resident who served on four fields committees, explained that the hot mix asphalt (HMA) court is cheaper, high maintenance, moves with the underlying soil with the freeze/thaw cycle, and has a lifespan of about 15 years. He said, “The post-tension concrete, which was bid, which was preferred, has a higher initial cost (20-30%) but it lasts …30-40 years” and has low upkeep. It has steel cables to keep it tight. 

After speaking for 15 minutes, Gordon said, “We are now “$200,000 upside down on the park project. We got a very poor decision on the tennis courts, we don’t have a baseball field, we don’t have youth sports…This town needs to find another $200,000 to cut out of the pot, which is just a sin.” 

The article passed unanimously. 

Draper Field Building Committee

Under the second article, voters established a Draper Field Building Committee consisting of five to seven members to include “the High School Athletic Director, the Parks Department Chairman or their delegate, and 3-5 other members with no more than 2 being non-residents, to be appointed by the Town Moderator, and to be authorized to spend funds for the purpose of constructing sports fields at Draper Field and/or Lot A in Harmony Estates Development.” 

During public comment under this article, Lewis explained there will be “some money” to complete various fields, including baseball fields and a multi-purpose field (for field hockey, lacrosse, and soccer). “We are trying to meet the needs of all the children in this town who I think have been robbed, robbed, of seasons that could have been avoided.” 

Hazard said the committee being appointed under this article “has a significant amount of expertise,” and Phillips said, “I can assure you that we’re going to oversee every penny that’s going to be spent.” 

Hazard added, “We’ve had a lot of ugly financial surprises over the last few months…For those of you who were at the last Town Meeting, I had mentioned that I had called the District Attorney’s Office and there is an investigation going on through the Attorney General’s Office; and, yes, we do have the stomach to pursue whatever they tell us that they find. Once we turn that over to them, we no longer control the investigation and what happens, and they don’t report back to us. But, rest assured, we’re not going to take it easy on anybody who has harmed the town.” The audience responded with a round of applause. 

The motion passed unanimously. 

CPA funds for sports fields 

The third article authorized a $255,000 grant from the Community Preservation Commission for recreational land development or rehabilitation to be granted to the Draper Field Building Committee “solely for the purpose of creating and/or rehabilitating recreational land by constructing sports fields located at Draper Field and/or Lot A in the Harmony Estates Development.“

The motion passed unanimously. 

To watch the recording of the meeting, visit https://townhallstreams.com/stream.php?location_id=56&id=76987