Supervisor's Note: Town Board advances several projects at December 6 meeting

Although the year is winding down and the holiday rush is here, your Penfield Town Board continues its work moving forward with projects that will benefit our community.

At the Wednesday, December 6 Town Board meeting, we acted on several items that focus on improving the quality of life for residents here in Penfield.

Shadow Pines improvements

Most notably, we approved a resolution authorizing the bid opening for the pickleball project at Shadow Pines. The project, set to go out for bid in January 2024, includes 10 pickleball courts (two ADA accessible), a picnic area, open-air pavilion, inclusive playgrounds, and restrooms. Once bids have been received, the Town Board will determine how best to move forward. More information is available on our website.

Also at the Shadow Pines, we commissioned a study to develop plans for multi-use mountain biking and hiking trails on the south side of the property (back 9 of the old golf course). We’ve previously discussed developing a mountain biking trail, and this study will help bring us closer to making it a reality. The study has been generously funded by a donation from a community member.

Finally, a condition study was authorized for the Clark Road Barn. Information collected will then be used by the Town Board and Clark Road Barn Advisory Committee to determine the most appropriate future use and/or construction activity related to the structure.

Replacement of wooden walkways at Channing Philbrick Park

If you’ve been to Philbrick Park, you likely walked along Philbrick Trail which runs along Irondequoit Creek. A section of the trail includes wooden walkways/bridges in need of replacement. The Town Board selected MRB Group to design a replacement walkway. The project will improve the trail system and ensure it can be utilized for years to come. This is especially important as we expect increased trail usage following the recent trail connection to Spring Lake Trail in the Town of Perinton.

New parking lot at Rothfuss Park

Rothfuss Park is one of our busier park locations with multiple athletic fields. Recently, we added three new fields that are expected to be ready for use in early 2024. With the expansion, we must have sufficient parking. To meet this need, we are building a new parking lot in the northeast corner of the park which is expected to have roughly 88 parking spaces. The goal is to have the project completed in time for use during the spring sports season.

I am happy to see numerous projects moving ahead, and I know this work will continue as the new Town Board begins its work in January.

As always, if you have any questions please reach out and I will be happy to discuss. I also encourage you to continue to keep up to date with the latest information by monitoring our website, www.penfield.org.

Debbie Drawe, Supervisor