MEXICO — The Board of Selectmen voted Tuesday evening to donate up to $500 to the River Valley Animal Advocates, pulling money from the town’s animal control account.
Town Manager John Madigan said Wednesday that the selectmen agreed that they would donate up to $500 from whatever is left over in the 2013-2014 account at the end of the fiscal year.
“I checked the account this morning, and it didn’t seem like there was all that much left,” Madigan said. “I know it’s under $500, so the money donated won’t be the full $500, but it will be something.”
The selectmen also voted to set Oct. 9, 2014, as the town’s annual Night of Appreciation.
In other business, Selectman Reggie Arsenault asked Wayne Sevigny, director of the River Valley Recreation Center, if the Recreation Department could plant some trees alongside the Tiny Tot Play Area at the Mexico Recreation Park.
“My daughter took her 22 month old kid down there the other day and was shocked,” Arsenault told Sevigny. “Kids couldn’t even play there because the metal was so hot on the playground equipment. Without those trees there to provide shade, it makes the metal too hot to use. My daughter said it looked like someone set off a bomb down there.”
“You know, I’m surprised to hear you saying this, Reggie,” Sevigny replied.
“Well, my daughter loved playing there from the time she was 7 to the time she was 14,” Arsenault said, “and she was heartbroken to see the playground the way it was. I didn’t know if you guys could do something about that.”
Sevigny replied, “You’re more than welcome to plant some trees down there, Reggie.”
“I’d love to, but am I going to be allowed to plant them where they used to be?” Arsenault said.
Sevigny said that a baseball field was going in that area, which would make it impossible for trees to be planted.
“You’ve been saying that for two years now, and I don’t see any baseball field,” Arsenault said.
“What do you want us to do, build it with a shovel and wheelbarrow?” Sevigny shot back.
No decision was reached in the discussion of the Tiny Tot Play Area.
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