By Wayne E. Rivet

Staff Writer

Ken Murphy admits “recreation is my passion.”

He hopes to see a Rec Center built, someday.

He would like to see more recreation options developed.

But, Murphy is somewhat frustrated by the lack of real movement. To give citizens an avenue to be more involved, be it developing fundraising for a new Rec Center or assist with the direction of new recreation programming, Selectman Murphy proposed the creation of a Rec Committee.

The idea pitched at Tuesday’s Select Board meeting initially received a lukewarm reception from Board members Paul Tworog and Carmen Lone.

“We currently have a lot of committees. We are in the development of a Comprehensive Plan that includes all the different departments and all the different avenues. At some point, be it through the CDAC or a separate implementation committee, we would have the opportunity to consider, not in a vacuum recreation, but to consider a Comprehensive Plan that would involve the recreation component, public safety as a component, changes to the transfer station, Open Space. The intent of the Comprehensive Plan and follow up to the Comp Plan should be comprehensive,” Tworog said. “I’m hesitant to say that we need to create, first and foremost, one specific avenue in advance of the others — putting one thing before many other items that the town needs to consider as a whole.”

Murphy disagreed. “Holding off and saying we have too many committees and we can’t do this and we can’t do that continuously, nothing happens. We talk about the Ham Fields being developed, but it’s going to be a 10, 20, 50-year plan. When is it ever going to be completed?” Murphy asked.

Lone feels “it’ll always be a work in progress because recreation changes over time.” She added, “I feel that our Rec director has done a good job doing community engagement, coming up with a plan…There is nothing stagnant about what’s going on at the Ham Field.”

Lone then pointed out that the Select Board has had conversations regarding top priorities facing Bridgton as the town grows, and a Rec Center failed to make the Top 5 on that list.

Tworog added that “there’s nothing that precludes fundraising…there’s no need to stop any effort on those activities absent a recreation committee.”

Chairman Bob McHatton is a very strong believer in committees, and feels such a group could be an asset to Rec Director Gary Colello, not a hinderance.

“It could help him in formulating the directions they can go and the avenues they can travel to improve it (Rec), to get money for it, whatever that is…Who knows where recreation will go, but a committee can help. A department committee does not hurt a department. We need a committee.”

Lone agrees that committees “are useful,” but she doesn’t believe the time is right to create on for Recreation.

Tworog followed suit feeling an “emphasis” should not be placed on one town entity. “I don’t see us creating a public safety building committee. I don’t see creating a transfer station improvement committee. There’s a lot of items that everyone knows are important and need to get done. I just don’t see where now is the time to form a committee for each one of those.”

Rec Director Gary Colello welcomed the idea, feeling the department has a lot of “moving parts” and is facing “constant change.” A committee could assist him in developing Rec’s direction, as well as put a spotlight on issues that seem to get “lost in the shuffle.” One example Colello cited was lack of appropriate work space for Rec staff. One Rec staff member has a tiny office, which has a janitor’s sink in it. Office spaces were created at the town hall in spots that once were maintenance storage space.

“I’ve been working in recreation for a long time and recreation gets dropped to the bottom of the discussion on a regular basis,” Colello pointed out. “It would be nice to have more public input to make decisions on what’s important to move forward with. Maybe a Rec Center is not on the table for the next 10 years or next five years, but there are other things that come up (such as office space).”

Tworog pointed out that every department head can cite problems created by the town’s growth affecting their operations. He added that “there’s no way you can factually say, based on any evidence, that the Rec Department has ever fallen to the bottom of the pile. The budget growth in the Rec Department has exceeded the budget growth in any of the other departments over the last several years.”

McHatton, the town’s longest-tenured elected official, remembers when recreation was an afterthought with the town’s primary focus on police, Public Works and the dump.

“Our society finally realized that recreation — dealing with our children — is just as important as a police department, a fire department, a plow department. Recreation is equal to all of those departments,” he said. “To have a committee, with the growth we’ve had, which is doubled over the years, is needed.”

When asked if he believed Rec needs a committee, Colello supported the idea. Unlike other departments, recreation veers in many directions from presenting special events such as Festival of Lights, maintaining the ice rink, to developing new facilities (such as pickle ball courts) to offering more programs for adults (trips).

“There’s so many different ideas out there. A committee, I think, can reel that in a little bit,” he said. “I think there’s more than enough people in this town that could join in this in a very specific advisory role. I think there is a need to figure out what services and what investments the town is going to need to keep recreation moving forward.”

Before the question was moved for a board vote, Lone reiterated that she feels the timing is wrong, and the board should wait until the new Comp Plan is in place.

Tworog chimed in, “The Recreation Committee is clearly an expanded recreation advocacy committee… I don’t see the need for a recreation expansion committee. The board has weighed its priorities, and that is not the priority of the moment. That is the way the process is supposed to work. Rather than recruit a handful of citizens who want to expand every way possible recreation and have them come before the board and push that agenda, we have a Comprehensive Plan. It has recreation components. It has components for each and every piece of town operations. They all need to be weighed together.”

Select Board member Carrye Castleman-Ross liked the idea of a Rec Committee because she has heard from citizens who would serve on such a group, as well as others who might get behind efforts to raise funds for a new Rec Center.

“I've got someone who has come to me with a very measured plan to collaborate on some specific project at the recreation field with ideas for private partnership or funding. I feel like we should include those people who have that enthusiasm and vision in the discussion prospects of it,” she said. “I do get a lot of feedback about the Rec Department. People have a lot of ideas and not to derive the other departments I mentioned. Of course, they just aren’t open to public inclusion or discussion like the Rec Department is. I’m just thinking if we have people who are motivated or enthused about putting together a committee, it’s not going to cost us anything to have a committee if they want to do it. I just don’t see why we don’t open the door for consideration of it.”

The board voted 3-2 to form a committee — Lone and Tworog casting no votes.