City OKs deck at ballpark

Considering it's the holiday season, the Watertown City Council was not in the mood Monday night for gifts.

The council agreed to allow Paul A. Simmons, owner of the Watertown Wizards, to construct a wooden deck along the third-base side of the team's playing field at the Alex T. Duffy Fairgrounds, but declined to take ownership of the structure once it is built.

The council followed a directive given by Public Works Superintendent Eugene P. Hayes that if the city does not accept the viewing deck as a gift, it does not have to maintain the 800-square-foot structure.

"With the proposed material, there's just a lot of maintenance associated with it," Mr. Hayes said.

He suggested the deck instead be made of plastic. Mr. Simmons did not relent, mainly because the wood being used for the project was donated and already has been delivered to the site.

The council ultimately agreed, 4-1, to allow Mr. Simmons to build the deck.

Councilwoman Roxanne M. Burns, the lone dissenting vote, said she felt railroaded by the proposal, which was delivered to her Monday.

Mr. Simmons submitted the proposal to the city late Friday.

"I'm not going to have my feet held to the fire because this is the first I've seen this tonight," Ms. Burns said. "I'm not going to be forced to vote on this."

"Mr. Simmons, it would probably be a good idea to not have the lumber delivered before you get it approved," Mayor Jeffrey E. Graham said.

The council also agreed at the meeting to provide the Watertown Hockey Association with bulk ice time at the fairgrounds municipal arena using a one-time $43,000 fee for the season. The deal gives the group more time to use the ice while essentially charging the same price as if the association were billed using a per-hour rate.

In a 4-1 vote, with Mayor Jeffrey E. Graham opposing the ordinance, the council agreed to reserve 687 hours and 20 minutes in predetermined time slots at the arena for the association during the season.

The flat fee being charged is the same amount the city budgeted in the current fiscal year for rented ice time.

"Our current code is a per-hour rate," the mayor said. "We shouldn't be deviating from that willy-nilly, and so on."

The hockey association is the single largest purchaser of rented ice time at the municipal arena, City Manager Mary M. Corriveau said.

"It benefits the city because we get the budgeted amount based on ice time last year and it frees up staff time because they're not down there tracking time," Councilman Jeffrey M. Smith said.