Holland Elected Chair as Select Board Moves YMCA Lease Forward

Effort underway to resurrect the long range school space planning committee

The Select Board met last night with all members, including newly elected member Eric Ryder, in attendance.

The board reorganized, with Mark Kratman nominating Patrick Holland and Jayne Wellman nominating James Mackey for chair. Holland was elected unanimously and took up the gavel to elect the vice chair. Eric Ryder nominated Mark Kratman while Wellman again nominated Mackey. Kratman was elected 3 – 2 with Wellman and Mackey dissenting.

No one appeared for Origin Thai Bistro, at 1699 Shawsheen St., which is seeking a new common victualler license based on a change of ownership. The 20-seat eatery has received excellent reviews for its fresh spring rolls, soups and pan-fried dumplings. The license was approved unanimously.

YMCA Coming to Tewksbury
Randle Cassady, senior program manager with the Lowell YMCA, and Camp Massapoag assistant director David Dunne appeared for the Y.

Cassady’s program was inline with his previous presentation. He will oversee the Tewksbury programming and will hire a camp director for the town’s program.

Adult cardio, yoga and Zumba classes will be offered once appropriate flooring is installed in the rec center, hopefully in July. There will also be youth art, music and movement and sports programming. In the fall, there will be monthly events, including for grandparents and grandchildren. But the bulk of the presentation was taken up with the planned summer day camp for children 7 and above — younger children would require more staffing, said Cassady.

“About inclusion — how can we make sure everyone in our community is able to participate in these programs,” said Cassady. “The YMCA, part of our mission for years has been to be ‘for all.’ So we are aware of physical issues, developmental issues, neurodiversity, medical issues, and even some kids have behavior issues that are related to some of those other things, or may not be related to those things. And because of that there’s no such thing as one-size fits-all.”  

He encouraged anyone who has a child who may need some help fitting into a program to feel free to reach out and have a conversation.

The camp is scheduled for 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on a seven-week schedule. Initial enrollment will be 30 children per session; if those slots fill up fast, Cassady said he may look to hire additional staff. Rates have not yet been set but should be available in a month or so. Some one-off programming may begin as early as May 5.

Cassady has a few instructors lined up, and there are employment opportunities for those who would like to work at the program. As we previously covered, Tewksbury residents will have preference for the first two weeks, and you do not have to be a member of the Y. There will be no issue with residents not involved in the camp using the Livingston Street facilities.

“I know that this is a large step for the community,” said Cassady. 

Holland opened the floor for questions. 

“Will they have to sign up on the YMCA website or will they have to, be able to, we’re talking about setting up a website on our own, the town of Tewksbury?” said Kratman. 

Signup will be through the Y website via a link on the town’s site. 

Mackey asked about long-range plans, stressing that residents have asked about adult classes and sports, such as a volleyball league. He also suggested that Cassady reach out to local business Batter Up for any board or card game programs.

“This is a great initiative,” he said. “I’m glad we’re able to partner with you guys on this.” 

Wellman acknowledged the representatives of Tewksbury Families for Rec in the audience, including Kate Bugda Gwilt.

“Your work is appreciated,” she said.  “This is a testament to the power of our residents.”

She also thanked Cassady for his work to accommodate all children.

“I appreciate your approach on inclusion,” she said. “That’s very important here, and I’ve heard it from members of our special needs community.” 

Ryder asked about sibling discounts; Cassady said it’s likely, though they have not yet set rates. Ryder also asked Town Manager Richard Montuori about the capacity of the Rec Center. 

“If it is successful, and which I hope it is for the residents, I’m just concerned that we don’t want to get too big,” said Ryder.

Montuori will look into the capacity question.

Holland asked about provisions for families who may not be able to afford the rates. The Y does have a program for tuition assistance, said Cassady, and accepts state vouchers if that’s a program that a family already participates in.

“The YMCA itself does fundraising to help people who kind of fall in the middle,” said Cassady.

 They also do CORI checks and extensive staff training for security.

“Are you planning any trips at all?” asked Holland. Cassady said it’s possible that campers could take day trips to Camp Massapaug and potentially other low-cost locations.

The Rec Center lease contract would be for no more than three years, with the option to renew annually at the town’s discretion.

“Town counsel is drafting it as we speak, to make sure we have all of our liability issues covered,” said Montuori. 

Wellman’s motion to enter into the contract passed unanimously.

Town Planner Alex Lowder, who has been working with the Families for Rec group, will work to get the word out through the town and Library websites when rates and other specifics are available. 

TPS Requests Planning Committee
At last month’s School Committee meeting, TPS Superintendent Brenda Theriault-Regan discussed that in 2005, the district’s Long Range School Space Planning Committee (LRSSPC) brought in a consultant to assess conditions, needs, space, projected enrollment and capital improvements related to Tewksbury schools. The resulting report concluded that five schools had outlived their usefulness. Since then, three have been replaced with the new TMHS and the Center Elementary School, while the Dewing and Heath Brook are still in use. 

Last night School Committee Chair Bridget Garabedian, Business Manager Dave Libby and Theriault-Regan came before the Select Board, with the other School Committee members also in attendance.

“We believe it’s time to resurrect the LRSSPC,” said Theriault-Regan. She cited a need to review the population of children in Tewksbury and the impact on enrollment in our schools. “We want to really look at that enrollment projection, not only for the immediate future, but for the next two to 10 years.” 

She pointed out that the Dewing and Heath Brook are nearing 60 and 70 years old, respectively, while the Ryan is 25 years old, and the Wynn renovation was completed 24 years ago. She’s looking to ensure that capital planning is aligned with the educational services needed today. For example, there are more specialists, and Pre-K is likely to become mandatory.

“Certainly things have changed quite a bit in educational needs in our school buildings,” she said.

Libby outlined some of the major upkeep projects the district has done over the years using funding methods including grants, rental income, green community program monies and revolving and recreation funds. Theriault-Regan and Libby said the district has worked hard at maintenance but wants to look long-term.

One area of focus, said Libby, is students in outside placements.

“If there’s a way to create some programming that would bring some of those students back into Tewksbury, I think that that’d be an option we should definitely look into,” he said. 

Theriault-Regan recognized discussion in the community about facilities.

“These aging buildings are needing more and more of our attention to keep them functioning, and we want to obviously be fiscally responsible with how much money we are putting into those schools,” she said.

To that end, she suggested a committee comprising three at-large citizens with education experience, four parents of school age children attending various grade levels of Tewksbury schools, representatives from town boards and four nonvoting members: the town manager, superintendent, Libby and Jon Marchand, maintenance foreman, with the latter two sources of information on what work has already been done. 

Ryder praised the focus on potentially reorganizing grades and additions versus a new school, while Wellman asked if there would an educational visioning component.

“Absolutely,” said Theriault-Regan.

Wellman also asked if there is a plan to hire a designer or consultant and if so, what is the budget. Theriault-Regan said at this point there is no request for funding; that would be a matter of discussion for the committee.

Garabedian suggested having two Select Board and two School Committee members.

“Given the weight, I think, of some of this decision-making and the impact that it’s going to have for those students long term,” she said. The board was receptive to that suggestion. 

Mackey asked Theriault-Regan to keep in mind wider community use of the facilities, such as for walking the track at TMHS and use of gyms for leagues.

“We just got done building a new school, and you’re already thinking about one of the needs,” said Kratman. “We have aging facilities, but we also have budget crunches as we know, so thinking ahead is the only way you’re going to save money.”

Holland suggested further resident representation.

“I would like to see if you can encourage some seniors to be on this, because they’re the ones that are footing the bill also,” said Holland. 

The action item for Montuori is to connect with Theriault-Regan to compile a mission statement.

Resident Section
Bugda Gwilt rose on behalf of the Families for Rec group to thank staff for their work on the Y.

“We’d like to extend our deepest gratitude to both Mr. Montuori and Ms. Lowder for the time and effort that was put into designing this programming over the past year,” she said. “It’s really encouraging and exciting to see this all come forward in the next few weeks.”

TFR plans on on continuing its advocacy efforts and fundraising to help residents facing difficulties with the cost of enrollment, she said. Anyone looking to get involved with the group can visit its website. 

Board Member Reports
Members congratulated all those elected on Saturday, particularly Mackey and Ryder. The town did break 13% participation, a good bit higher than recent years. 

Wellman said that this week is National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week.

“I would like to do a special recognition and thank you to our dispatch center and all of our partners in public safety,” she said. “The work that our dispatchers do every day is incredibly valuable to our community; they are the first voice that people hear, they keep everybody calm and they are able to dispatch our services at times when our residents are particularly vulnerable.”

She also reminded the board of the TDEIAC meeting on Thursday and said a call will go out shortly for vendors and organizations to participate in the June 2 Pride Picnic.

“To echo the other board members, again, thank you to the residents that came out on Saturday,” said Ryder. “I know it was not a very nice day. I’m still warming up, as is my family. But again, through this process, I met some amazing people.” 

Holland gave a well-deserved shout out to Town Clerk Denise Graffeo and her staff for their handling of the town election, especially given the large number of write-in candidates. 

The board then adjourned to executive session to discuss collective bargaining.

The Select Board meets next on April 23.