This "get it for me mommy" mentality is not the general point of view of the Senior Citizen or other fixed income group.

Maybe Mr. & Mrs. Hill would be gracious enough to pay my tax bill every quarter ! People like them who live on cloud 9 and live a fairy tale life should take a good look at the reality we live in . WE DO NOT NEED THIS COMPLEX ! Enough spending in this town ! Time for this town to wake up and start living within it's means and not through the taxpayer's wallets ! We will be voting NO on April 14th .

Two things the authors "forgot". One is that many of us opposed to the tax increase are FOR the new facility. We just don't believe taxes should be raised to accomplish it. Two is that there is an epidemic of forgetting that there is a new facility in the plans for the new high school. This proposal is for an upgrade to those.

I guess they don't get what is being disputed. It is not that we don't want the field, it is paying for it at this time that we are against. Just as an example, if you haven't already heard, the lights in the tunnel that goes through Boston have to be replaced at the cost of 54M. This field will also have to be maintained and as they have in the past, the Town will come back to the residents to ask for more money. At this time, we don't have the available funds to pay for this field. Maybe after careful consideration in the future, we can put the field in and acquire the materials that are not going to cost us a small fortune to replace. I don't think they put enough research into it. Let's not make the same mistake as the underfunding of the sewer system.

Malcolm, if the money has already been allocated, then why don't they just put in what we can afford at this time. It is like buying a new car, the more options you purchase, the more things to break down. Keep it simple, and don't overdue. I have a feeling they didn't ask for enough money for this field in the first place. If the school came in under budget, then use the leftover money to put in the type of field we can afford. That should cover the expense without asking for additional support!

BM stated: Wilmington is so much better managed and fiscally responsible . No fees for kindergarten ,trash ,etc . If the timing was right , I would move there in a second and say good riddance to " Taxbury " !
You must be joking. Wilmington tax rate is much higher than Tewksbury. The reason you haven't moved there "in a second" is because you can't afford it.

Absolutely NOT. I don't agree with changing our minds. You get exactly was voted on and that's it! Don't throw something new into the mix. I am not going to be intimated by a bunch of parents that want something we cannot afford. I am beginning to believe that it is not the kids fighting for this state of the art field, but it is the parents. This is exactly what the new generation does, buy now and worry about paying it later. I absolutely don't buy into this way of thinking!!

By the way, this is exactly what our President of the US is doing to us. Keep spending more and more money without worrying about who is going to pay for it at the other end. I pity our children that are growing up today. They better be ready to work their rear ends off to pay all of this debt back!

I am unaware of anyone that plans on purchasing a house asking if there is a state of the art athletic field. I have children and the first thing I would ask is what is the quality of education in the town. Not what sports do they offer.

Property values down 30%, but property tax rate is up what %? There is no balance here!

Ron and Adrienne, if you abut the property, this is the equivalent of putting the stadium out in the street outside your house. Literally, it's that close for some of these houses (like mine). There is already slated to be a track there. There is no objection to that because everything is done by sundown.

There is an objection to football games, large scale regional or state meets, large scale anything in people's back yards at night. That's how the FTCAC has packaged this thing -as a 'revenue enhancer'. There would be a hell of a lot less objection if the School Building Committee hadn't seen fit to cut trees to the edge of the property line leaving no real border. There are also serious traffic issues for events of the size I just described because Pleasant St. is a one lane street and there is only a single access road to the property.. People will park on abutting streets because it will be the easiest way out. Anyone at the town meeting when we approved the school will know exactly what I'm talking about.

There's also the issue of PA, music etc blaring at night. If they wanted a complex like this, from the start the School Building Committee should have sounded out the abutting neighbors. This complex was never publicly discussed until after construction had begun. I personally have no issue with better facilities. But I have a big issue here. This was poorly planned.

Also talking about the community aspect of this. I've been pretty heavily involved in youth sports for years and I've never seen one of these 'complexes' open to the public in off hours. They usually chain them up, I'm assuming to protect the turf. With the previous (and currently planned track) you can walk on them at any time. If I made a 2 million dollar investment in this (which I may be forced to do) I sure as heck would want it protected. As for community, Livingston is a pretty darn good rec area and there's even more land available there if I'm not mistaken - if the town feels it needs more space.

No. Until we pay off all of what we've bought. If you're so bent on spending money, how about securing some money to make the elementary playgrounds safer and put in a visible security system to keep vandals from destroying what volunteers use their time and money to build and repair for the kids? You have a new football stadium coming. Be grateful with what you got. Stop asking for more!

I don't live in close proximity to the high school and my children are out of school. I don't even think I would set foot in the Athletic Complex.

It would simply be another tax increase.

This is a good upgrade, well thought out, at a reasonable cost. I support the project and look forward to voting yes.

Bruce explain to me how this is so well thought out? There isn't even a plan that's been released to the public yet...just a proposal to cram a 1600 seat stadium with lights, pressbox etc..etc. into an area that was set up to hold a track similar to the previous track and that's also been pushed as close to the property line as it can possibly get. There's one access road and the only way to put another in is to put a road through the existing baseball field. You're being asked to vote on a concept with a 'trust us' for the price tag.

Bruce, I think a great upgrade would be to do the things on the list that the Town of Tewksbury really needs. Full-time South Street firehouse, repair of elementary schools, repair of our roads, etc. That would be a great upgrade!!

Indeed, Mary, those would be great upgrades. But at the moment the town is focusing on the high school project...and this athletic complex (if passed) would be part of that project. The new high school is amazing, and will be even more amazing if there is a grand athletic complex sitting right next to it. Once we finish the high school project, we can focus on the fire station, elementary schools and roads. One thing at a time. Vote yes on question one!