Gatison Park, in a Valley Indy file photo.
ANSONIA – State Rep. Kara Rochelle’s office sent a press release on July 31 asking the community to fill out a survey on Gatison Park.
The survey asks participants to rank in order of importance 17 park features ranging from “trees and grass” to “please clean up after your dog” signs.
The survey also asks participants to rank how satisfied they are with the park, which is on the city’s north side behind a North Main Street shopping plaza that houses a Daily Mart and a Domino’s.
Click this link to take the survey, which is hosted on Rep. Rochelle’s landing page within the Connecticut House Democrats’ website.
“Residents of the First and Second Ward of Ansonia, along with anyone else who uses the park, are especially encouraged to participate, but all Ansonia residents are welcome to take the survey,” according to a press release.
Rep. Rochelle announced in May that the state legislature awarded $100,000 for improvements to the park.
In June, Rep. Rochelle, a Democrat, teamed with Ansonia First Ward Alderman Dan King, a Republican, to organize a public meeting to talk about how to use the money.
The survey grew out of that meeting, according to Rep. Rochelle.
Both Rep. Rochelle and Alderman King are quoted in the press release as saying it’s important that the public has a voice in what happens to the park.
The City of Ansonia is ultimately responsible for deciding how to spend the money from the state, according to the press release.
Rochelle is running for her fourth term to represent Ansonia and Derby in the state House of Representatives. She is being challenged by Ansonia Mayor David Cassetti.
In an interview with The Valley Indy in June, Mayor Cassetti said improvements to the park were previously funded by Burns Construction on Riverside Drive. Mayor Cassetti said he would be discussing how to spend the $100,000 with the Ansonia Board of Aldermen.
Cassetti previously chastised Alderman King for attending the Gatison Park meeting because he said it was held at the same time as an Alderman meeting. King said at the time he was serving the constituents who voted him onto the Board of Aldermen.
