[RP TownTalk] Dog Park, Old Club House and Proposed Field "improvements" at Riverdale Community Park

[Melissa Avery]

Friends,

Our town has owned the "Boys and Girls Club House" for 90 (Ninety) years.

One of our former mayors, Guy Tiberio, who was the longest running mayor in our 
history, has advocated a different approach to our towns prized and important 
property. He has advocated acquiring the adjacent land from MNCPPC, which is 
possible, not through direct purchase, which is not possible because of 
legislature passed in the 1930's, but can be accomplished through other avenues.

Our town's treasured property, which has been held since its inception, like the 
Riversdale Mansion, should not be valued like a common real estate. Property 
values throughout our country are at an all time low. We shouldn't sell  this 
precious part our our town's beginning, which has been held onto through over 30 
Mayor's stewardship's, just because one mayor thinks differently for a rather 
questionable goal.

Once, this precious parcel is sold, it will, like our formal town center 
property, no longer be under our control and this town sees the results of that 
decision for the last 20 plus years. The "Boys and Girls Clubhouse", will be 
sold to MNCPPC, which has the right to "rezone", resell, and maybe sellnto 
WMATA, which intends to run the "Purple Line through our once wonderful "Park 
Land". Maybe MNCPPC will turn the towns historic "Boys and Girls Club" into a 
parking lot for WMATA and sell the land to WMATA an amount more valuable than 
the proposed $150,000, low ball price, the current administration intends to 
sell it off at. Maybe if our community wants to sell this precious piece of 
historical property to WMATA, the town would take in more revenues, than this 
ridiculous proposed sale price, from the "Purple Line" for decades to come 
whereas a MNCPPC sale would prevent us from any future revenues.

We have a true town center, one that has remained vacant for more than 20 years 
and certainly through our present administration, and those buildings could 
become our new community center. The very successful "Farm Market" has operated 
out of the parking lot, at the original town center, for years, proving that 
that location is a place for success in this this town.

This town sold our town center years ago and yet it still proves to be the place 
for success for community events.

Proving that one mayor, (who sold our town center) and one mayor, (who wants to 
sell another part of of history) is not acting in the best interest of our town 
from not only an historical point of view but from a modern practical point of 
view.

This is a serious issue that impacts not only our current residents, but 
generations of residents in the future.


Don Lynch
Manager
Historical Association of Riverdale Park
HARP


      
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