While plans for a town community center in New Ipswich are near completion, the Select Board sent Recreation Department Director Shawna Kutyla and Library Director Michelle Pelletier back to the drawing board Tuesday to hammer out more-concrete funding agreements before giving their final stamp of approval.
The community center project formed as an idea when the New Ipswich Library applied for a grant through the Institute for Museum and Library Services’ “Grants to States” program, as part of American Rescue Act Plan funding. The library, feeling the crunch of space limitations, particularly amid COVID-19 restrictions, proposed to partner with the town – specifically the Recreation Department – to kickstart a community space with $30,000 in grant funding.
The original plan was to start running programs as soon as January, but after the originally planned-on space to host the center fell through, the library and recreation department have spent the last two months trying to secure a new location.
During Tuesday’s meeting, Pelletier said the groups have been working on securing a lease for the former Be Fit gym space at the NeWest Mall, though the lease has yet to be signed.
As Kutyla and Pelletier outlined the programs that would be run in the center, and the potential costs and revenues, board members said they needed more information before fully entering into the partnership on behalf of the Recreation Department.
The anticipated rent for the use of the NeWest Mall space is $1,800 per month, with another $454 per month for utilities, including internet and telephone. The lease, as currently proposed, offers a five-year contract with the option to back out after 12 months.
Kutyla, speaking by teleconference with the board, said she plans to set up several programs, including an after-school program, a summer camp that includes swim lessons, vacation camps for December, February and April school vacations, a theater program and one-time programs such as a breakfast with Santa and breakfast with the Easter Bunny, all of which would be revenue-makers for the community center.
Kutyla said some of the programs would not be able to start immediately after opening, but would, by the end of July, when the grant funding must be spent, be able to carry the full cost of running the programs, including staff, and the facility costs.
“When we had summer camp a few years ago, we had a waiting list, where we could have opened another camp. If we had the space we would be able to filled up our summer camp and bring in a good amount of money during the summer to help the rec department pay for our costs … I believe we would be able to cover the cost of the space,” Kutyla said.
“The concept of an after-school program, I think, is something everyone wants,” agreed Pelletier.
The proposal, as presented by Kutyla and Pelletier, was to split rental and utility costs down the middle for the first six months, with the library contributing grant funding and the town contributing Recreation Department revolving funds and community center programming revenue.
Library Trustee Chair Brenda Pellerito said that after grant funding expired at the end of July, the library would essentially step back and the Recreation Department would officially take over.
Select Board Chair Shawn Talbot said when the board had originally spoke on the concept of the community center, he had gotten a different impression – namely that more grant funding than Recreation Department funding would be used for the first half of the year, and that it would be at least a year-long partnership between the town and library.
“That wasn’t the pitch,” Talbot said. “I find it unsettling that you can walk away after six months.”
Talbot said it also wasn’t clear to him exactly where the grant funds would be used, and wanted more specifics about the town’s potential liability if programs couldn’t cover the full cost, calling the plan “haphazard, with no clear vision for the future.”
The Select Board tasked Pelletier and Kutyla to present the board a finalized draft of the lease agreement for the NeWest Mall space and an agreement between the library and Recreation Department about the library’s access to the space after the end of the grant funding, as well as a clearer outline of the costs, who would pay them, and how the community center would continue for the rest of the year while the town was attached to the lease for the space.
The refined plan is expected to be presented to the board March 1, during its regular meeting.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.