A recently formed committee tasked with looking at the management of the Chilmark Community Center held a public forum this week, giving residents a chance to voice their concerns and opinions about the center’s future.
The Chilmark Community Center moderator’s committee was created in April, after town meeting debated taking the tennis program out from the Chilmark Town Affairs Council (CTAC) – the nonprofit that oversees the center’s programming.
Oversight of the community center, which has recreational programs for children and adults throughout the year, has been a sore subject in Chilmark and sparked intense debate at town meeting. Throughout the summer, the new committee has met with town officials, past and present members of the town affairs council and people who use the center to gather background information and personal recommendations, Janet Weidner, the town moderator, told the 25 people assembled at the town hall meeting Thursday.
“This is an opportunity for our town to take a look at our community center, where we wanted to go and what we wanted to be going down the line,” Ms. Weidner said at the start of the meeting.
The public expressed concerns about the pricing of summer programs, the programming diversity year-round and the current management of the center.
The cost of summer programs for children was a hot topic at the meeting, with some members of the public saying rising costs have led to drops in inclusivity.
“When you talk about inclusivity, we all agree that everyone should be able to go [to the center],” town resident Nancy Grundman said. “When we talk about the summer program, the fees have gone up a lot [and] there is a cost barrier to join the center.”
This summer, the weekly rate per child to take part in the morning youth program was $275, according to the Chilmark Community Center website.
Sandy Broyard, former chairman of the community center program committee, had concerns about the town affairs council’s involvement with the summer program.
“It seems to me that [CTAC] was more involved in the day to day, and I have concerns about that,” Ms. Broyard said. “I think there’s something that’s really helpful about having a really active program committee that has hands on a weekly basis so something doesn’t spiral out of control.”
Summer camp director Susan Andrien said the town affairs council wanted to have a director who would handle the operation of the camp, while the council focused on the big picture.
“I think the goal is to get back to CTAC being more of an umbrella and having an executive director who can handle more of the day to day,” she said.
Resident Kathleen Lee worried the community center was straying from its mission and losing its community focus.
“We’re going to have young kids, we’re going to have young families, and we need to create a place and a home for them to thrive,” she said. “To me, that’s it. That’s the primary function, to make a welcome place for young families. They need to feel supported. They need to feel heard.”
In a potential solution, resident Jim Rubens suggested the reformation of a parks and recreation committee.
“I think that having professional people who are professionally trained and educated in recreation would be something that this committee should take it into account going forward,” he said.
Bliss Broyard encouraged everyone to broaden their perspective and was hopeful about the center’s future.
“I would hope to retire in the Vineyard one day, and I hope that there’ll be some vibrant programming at the center that maybe do a skill, share, go and teach a writing class, or something like that,” she said. “I would love to just kind of think big at this moment, because when are we going to have the opportunity to do this again?”
The committee is seeking to hear additional programming ideas from public as the committee works to meet its deadline of giving a full report to the select board in January.
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