Our purpose is to...complete a recreation area in the Town of Hinesburg Vt.   For decades our town has lacked adequate playing space in support of youth recreation programs and adult activities alike.  As a result, families are forced to travel to adjoining towns in order to participate in organized sporting events many times per week.   This excessive travel of course is wasteful in terms of fuel and time and runs contrary to our Town Plan which calls for a conservation and a reduction in the use of fossil fuels.In the mid 1990s a trust was created by a generous family for the construction of local recreation fields.  When the funds were finally dispersed they totaled over $92,000. In 2012, 9 acres of land near the designated village growth area was donated to the Town for the purpose of a high quality recreation facility.  Also in 2012, an ad hoc committee of motivated residents and one Selectboard member took on the task of creating the Bissonette Family Recreation Area through volunteerism and fundraising.  Through fundraisers and projects over the last four years, we have raised over $300,000 and hope to complete the majority of the project in the summer of 2017.Two multi-purpose (soccer, lacrosse, etc) fields and a little league baseball diamond are planned for the site.  As of this writing, one of the multi-purpose fields as well as the access road and parking area are complete.  Aside from the obvious advantage of having a more local place for sporting activities, there are many other benefits to our project.  With the location so close to our village growth area, many people will be able to walk to the site.  Additionally, the access road will provide connectivity to the rest of the town trail and sidewalk system.The site will also provide a buffer between a clay plain forest to the west and a planned development to the east.  Since the fields would only be used during the warm weather months, the buffer will be beneficial to the animals (deer, squirrels, turkeys, foxes, and many other birds) and centuries old Oak trees which call the forest home.  Another fringe benefit of our project will be an established turf stand which will protect the waters of the LaPlatte River and ultimately Lake Champlain.  The field site has traditionally been used for agriculture, specifically corn production.   Corn production requires annual tilling of the clay laden soils which leads to excessive runoff.  The new buffer will undoubtedly protect surface waters and allow for better management of storm waters.We believe the number of direct benefits to our community and fringe benefits to the environment make our project a good fit for funding through New England Grassroots.