Borough athletes may be working with one less recreational field than they had hoped next year.

The open space on Gunntown Road, which is municipally owned, is facing controversy. The Committee for a Cultural Environmental Center hopes to keep the 39-acre area just the way it is now, as passive open space.

Leonard Yannielli, Community Outreach Director for the group, believes that both the historical significance of the land and the ecological effects any change would have are reasons to leave the space alone.

“It doesn’t mean you don’t use it,” he said. “You use it for low-impact activities.”

Such activities, according to Yanielli, include acting out historical moments that happened in the space.

Although he understands that the land has significance, Mayor Mike Bronko wants to go ahead with the plan that he was asked to complete when he took office.

“I was approached to facilitate the plan,” he said. “With the support of the Burgesses and the Board of Finance, we are hoping to appropriate money from an open space fund. It would have no effect on the taxpayers.”

This is something that Yanielli and the CCEC worried about, along with the cultural and ecological effects a recreational area would have.

“We were in coalition with the Taxpayers in Revolt,” he said. “We collected signatures. Many of the votes in the referendum were for keeping Gunntown a passive open space.”

Since then, Bronko and the Joint Boards have taken the money originally planned for the fields out of the proposed budget. Rather than hiring outside contractors for the project, borough employees will do the work. This has taken the cost of the project from $200,000 down to $75,000.

Bronko believes that with the borough’s growing population, new fields and recreation areas are necessary.

“Sports leagues in Naugatuck are crying for more space,” he said.

Bronko explained that new teams are being formed in the borough every year. In order to accommodate those teams, more fields will be necessary.

“Right now, we are doubling up on the fields and it’s wearing them down,” he said. “We need to give them a rest and properly maintain them.”

Bill Brown, president of Naugatuck Youth Soccer, sees the deterioration of the fields first hand. He agrees with Bronko.

“The fields are not a safety risk, but we do not want it to get to that point,” he said.

Brown thinks that as of right now, the fields are being pushed to the limit.

“The field space we have is very limited,” he said. “With the renovations to Naugatuck High School, there is an increased use of the fields because the high school students need somewhere to practice.”

Their upkeep will cost the taxpayers and athletes in the end.

“Naugatuck Youth Soccer, along with the borough of Naugatuck have had to spend a significant amount of money to refurbish the fields,” he said. “It’s not like a lawn that kids play on once a week,” he said.

Yannielli does not agree with the mayor and Brown. He thinks that the spot on Gunntown Road is not suitable for athletic fields. Of the 39 acres that the town owns, 40 percent is comprised of wetlands.

“Most people will not want their children running around out there due to the insect activity,” he said. “Too much of that space is wetlands. It really limits what can be done there.”

Bronko said that the seven acres that have been approved for the plan do not affect the wetlands at all.

Given that local officials have made promises about Gunntown Road in the past, Yannielli does not know what to believe.

“In 1999, the Board of Mayor and Burgesses voted to keep it as permanent open space,” he said.

He thinks that no more athletic fields are necessary in the borough. Areas like that set aside at Fawn Meadow should be put to use instead.

Brown believes that although Fawn Meadow has potential, it is not yet ready to be used.

“Fawn Meadow could be a safety risk,” he said. “It has significant ruts and boulders protruding. At this point it is a meadow. It has the potential to be a facility, though.”

In the end, Brown believes that the most important thing is to keep the youth of Naugatuck off the streets.

“The kids are dedicated to a sport,” he said. “It provides them with an environment where they have structure.”