A prominent Hermon family is donating $400,000 toward millions of dollars in athletic complex upgrades that include the addition of an eight-lane track and the installation of artificial turf, as voters weigh in Tuesday on borrowing money for the improvements.
The donation from the Pottle family — for whom the existing Hermon soccer field is named — means that the town would have to borrow less money to pay for the planned $5 million in renovations, lessening the effect on the local tax rate, Town Council Chair Steve Thomas said Friday.
The town plans to build the new track on unused land next to the tennis courts at Hermon High School. The town also would repair and install drainage and a well at Pottle Field, where Hermon High athletes play soccer and football. The work would also include installing artificial turf on the field, adding a storage building and bleachers, and renovating the concessions stand.
On Tuesday, the local ballot will ask two questions — whether voters will authorize borrowing up to $2.7 million to fund the track and upgrades to the athletic complex at Hermon High School, and up to $1.2 million to pay for artificial turf to replace the grass.
Voters also will be asked to authorize using $400,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds the town has received from the federal government, $295,000 from the Hermon Elementary School Recreation Reserve Account and $300,000 from the School Maintenance and Reserve Account for construction of the track and the field renovations.
Work on Pottle Field was completed in 2008 with funding from Barry and Suzanne Pottle.
Barry Pottle is a Hermon High School graduate and former school committee member who was president and CEO of Pottle’s Transportation until the company was sold to a Canadian trucking firm last month. If approved by voters, the athletic complex, not just the soccer field, would bear the Pottle name.
Pottle declined to comment on the donation through Thomas.
If the current project is to go forward, Hermon voters must approve funding for an eight-lane track and upgrades to the athletic field at the polls on Tuesday for a second time.
In June 2021, voters overwhelmingly approved borrowing $2.4 million for the project, but a year later, the bids came in nearly 30 percent higher than budgeted, so the project was put on hold. The deadline for issuing the bond to fund the work had also passed so the Hermon Town Council voted unanimously to send the proposal back to voters.
Thomas and other supporters of the project have said they want to raise as much as possible through private donations to avoid having to increase property taxes to fund the upgrades. Other fundraising efforts would begin later this month if voters approve the plans.
There is no organized opposition to the project.
If approved by voters, work could begin before Thanksgiving, Thomas said. The goal is for the work to be completed by the 2023 fall sports season.
