The New Ipswich Farmers’ Market has officially become a Recreation Department program, and will be moving to a new home in the parking lot of the town offices this summer.
The Select Board revisited a discussion of whether the market should become a town program during its regular Tuesday meeting, according to a video of the meeting available on the town’s website. The decision whether or not to take up the market – currently a private entity – under the Recreation Department had been put off from the board’s previous meeting, as Selectman David Lage was absent.
Present on Tuesday, Lage said he had no objection to the proposal, and the board was swift in its decision to make the change official.
In its original discussions, however, the board and Recreation Department Director Nichole Talbot had discussed re-instituting the market at Memorial Field, in the grassy portion behind the playground, where it had briefly lived during its first year in operation. After receiving feedback from Police Chief Tim Carpenter that it would result in too much activity at the field, the board and Talbot instead discussed holding the market in the parking lot of the town offices. The board unanimously agreed to allow the market to use the lot.
In past years, the market has been held on Saturdays in the spring and summer on the grassy commons at the NeWest Mall, which charges rent for the use.
In other Recreation Department news:
The board also discussed with Talbot the feasibility of purchasing software known as “Rec Desk” which would allow residents to register and submit payment for recreation department programs online, instead of holding registration nights and sign ups.
Talbot said the software could be used for all registrations, including pool swim lessons and swim team, sports, the farmers market vendors, and volunteer forms, and would be linked through the town’s website.
The board was generally in favor of the implementation of the software, but said that the department hadn’t budgeted for it this year, and it didn’t find that paying for the software from the department’s revolving fund was an appropriate use.
Talbot said she calculated a charge with registrations would result in an additional cost of $5-$7 per child to cover the entirety of the fee.
Recreation sports programs currently cost between $50 and $75 for registration.
Selectman Jay Hopkins said that $7 could be “a lot of money” for a family, particularly if they had multiple children signing up for multiple sports or programs.
The software comes with an annual cost of $3,000.
Talbot suggested that the software could essentially pay for itself though a registration fee or by selling advertising space on the landing page, but even with revenue coming back, the board said that using the revolving fund for the upfront costs wasn’t what the fund was intended for.
“It’s not a cash account,” said Lage. “I know you need it, 110 percent, but it doesn’t fit the realm of what the revolving account is for.”
However, the board didn’t discount the possibility of attaining the software completely. The company has offered a two-month free trial, and the board told Talbot if she could negotiate with the company for a longer free trial to cover until January, when the town’s fiscal year ends, it could be covered from then on with the next year’s budget.
The board asked Talbot to negotiate with the company and see if there was any leeway to be had before moving forward.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.