By Jim Devine
Staff Writer

Observer/Bruce Preston From left, Salem High sophomores Aaron Brubaker, Ryan Scenna and junior Katelynn LaSalle discuss limited parking options that underclassmen face.

Ross Trecartin, president of the Field of Dreams board of directors, hopes a parking lot may be the solution to raising park money this year.

The board is looking for something different this year in its annual lease agreement with the town — permission to raise money by selling parking spaces to high school students.

The parking permit is modeled on the Boys & Girls Club parking permits that are offered to Salem students for $45 a month. Trecartin hopes the the income from offering 25 of the park’s 30 spaces could help pay for maintenance and operational costs of the park from April 15 to Oct. 15 each year.

If each space is sold at the expected price of $45 a month, the nonprofit organization could raise close to $7,000 a year for selling the spaces between Oct. 15 and April 15.

The Field of Dreams, which is a privately funded park, leases the land from the town for $1 each year, while the nonprofit group takes care of operational costs, such as maintenance, summer concerts and insurance.

“We’re trying to raise funds to help cover the expenses of the park,” Trecartin told selectmen at their Sept. 18 meeting. Selectmen worried that residents who want to visit the park during the day may face towing if they park in student spaces.

Trecartin said the group plans to post signs notifying citizens of spaces that are for students.

The group plans to enforce the paid permits through a towing company that would make one pass through the lot to check for permits a half hour after school begins.

Town Manager Henry LaBranche said parking is in high demand among high school students, and will continue to be even after Windham students leave with the construction of their own high school.

Currently, about 500 seniors receive priority when it comes to parking, but they must maintain a certain GPA as an incentive to keep their parking permit.

Although several selectmen were in favor of allowing the nonprofit park to charge for parking during the school day, the board tabled the matter until counsel could look at the new lease agreement. Parking spaces could be available to high school students by the end of October after the indemnity clause of the lease agreement is revised and approved by both the town and the Field of Dreams board of directors.

At the high school, the school district allows parking for seniors who qualify with a certain gradepoint average, charging $10 for the year. Juniors and sophomores are allowed to have parking if they participate in an internship that requires them to come and go during the school day.

Junior Ryan Woelfel said he has several friends that pay the $45 a month to the Boys & Girls Club for parking while they try to find a way out of paying for parking.

“They try to sell their pass and they try to get an internship,” Woelfel said.

Although he parks at the Field of Dreams parking lot when he can, a $45 per month price tag is just too much, he said.

“No way, I would rather have my mom bring me every day,” Woelfel said. “I need to get to school, and I have volleyball after, but that’s too much.”

Junior Katelyn LaSalle said she’d consider paying the price because the park is so close to the high school. In the past, she’s parked at a friend’s house just to be able to drive to school every day.

“It’s definitely worth it,” she said.

Students could cut costs by spreading the parking fee by carpooling with other students.

Sophomore Ryan Scenna said paying $45 a month to park for only six hours each school day was outrageous and compared it to expensive meter parking at the beach. Six hours of parking at Hampton Beach costs $9 at 25 cents per 10 minutes.

“It’s crazy to park for only six hours a day and pay that much,” he said.