Ellington Turf War Ends, Referendum Results Tabulated

ELLINGTON, CT — Nay-sayers in Ellington marked their turf on a $2.625 million ballot question on Tuesday and it wasn't in support of turf. That means a plan to renovate part of the Ellington High School athletic complex will likely be put off. It seems Town Hall won't be renovated anytime soon either.

Two major expenditure questions failed in a big way on Tuesday. The most contentious was a proposal to borrow the $2.25 million to partially fund a project to install artificial turf on the existing football field at Ellington High School. Accompanying lights would have illuminated the field, a practice pitch and adjacent tennis courts, according to a project description. The funding would have been in addition to a state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection grant valued at $1 million.

The votes were:

• Yes — 2,278
• No — 5,065

Campaigning — both for and against — was intense for weeks, seemingly pitting those who wanted the low-maintenance field for high school and youth sports amid a rainy spring, summer and fall versus those who were unwilling to justify the expense.

An example of the weather argument was on Election Day itself, when the top-ranked EHS boys soccer team had its state tournament game postponed until Wednesday because of soggy conditions at home. If the Knights win Wednesday, they will have to play back-to-back games in the Class M tournament. Lacrosse coaches at the polls lamented an unusually wet spring that forced several postponements.

The Town Hall renovation question asked voters to approve or disapprove of $1.635 million in bonds for a 5,930-square-foot addition to Town Hall on the north end of the municipal complex. A $500,000 state STEAP grant would have supplemented the borrowing.

The votes were:

• Yes — 2,564
• No — 4,665

Photo Credit: Tim Jensen

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