Fact: CoventryDems on Town Council voted to support Softball Field #2, The Republicans on Council did vote against it on June 6, 2022

If that vote had gone the Republican's way, we would not have Softball Field #2

There are specific steps taken before securing a STEAP grant. The very first step is that the Council votes to select the project that the STEAP grant will fund. On June 6, 2022 the Town Council reviewed a list of potential STEAP grant projects, one of which was to apply for funds to build the second softball field.  You can read the minutes here (item 8.B.): https://coventryct.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_06062022-3247 (the minutes mistakenly are dated 6/16/23 at the top).

The vote to move forward and apply for the STEAP grant to fund the softball field was 5-2, with all Democrats voting yes and all Republicans voting no.  To be perfectly clear, if this vote had been taken under a Republican majority, it would not have passed and there would not have been funds to build the field.  Once the motion passed on party lines, the Republican Councilors hopped on board when it came time to vote on the authorizing documents for the Town Manager to move forward. That vote is recorded in the October 17, 2022  minutes here (item 8.F.) https://coventryct.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_10172022-3383  By that time they realized the bad optics of voting no to selecting the softball field as the STEAP project and backpedaled to vote yes to authorizing the Town Manager to submit the needed documents to the State.  They are attempting to rewrite history when they say they supported submitting the softball project for a STEAP grant.

Here is the vote from the June 6, 2022 minutes:

Motion:  I move that the Council select the second girls softball field for the STEAP grant. By: Hand Seconded: Milkovic Voting: For: Hand, Thomas, Milkovic, Kyer, Gallagher

 Against: French, Blanchard 

Abstain: None