A group tasked with reviewing the management of the Chilmark Community Center is recommending an overhaul of how the center is run, according to a new report released last week.

The Chilmark Community Center moderator’s committee unveiled its 142-page report examining the center’s operations on Feb. 13. The committee urged the town to get more involved with the running of the center, raised the potential for other entities to take over summer programming, and laid out several other suggestions to ensure checks and balances.

The management of the community center by the Chilmark Town Affairs Council has been a flashpoint in recent years, creating division in the community.

“For many, the [Chilmark Community Center] is a beloved institution, yet it is in the midst of one of the most challenging periods in its history,” the moderator’s committee wrote in the report. “For the Center’s singular culture to continue and thrive, the Town’s support for and partnership with the organization operating the [community center] summer program must become a priority.”

The Chilmark Town Affairs Council (CTAC) is a nonprofit that has run the town-owned community center since 1979, providing year-round programming for children, adults and families.

Under its stewardship, Chilmarkers have enjoyed summer camps free of charge, gone sailing on the town’s ponds and been able to use the center’s tennis courts. But there has been strife in recent years.

“Based on extensive information we received as a Committee, it is evident that there is a divide in the [Chilmark Community Center] community and that CTAC has been operating in a manner that contributed to the alienation of a portion of the community, including members, past Board members, and a large number of adult tennis players,” the report stated.

Anger with the CTAC leadership boiled over last year, when the nonprofit decided to not rehire longtime tennis pro Eddie Stahl, prompting a group of tennis players to bring a petition article to town meeting that proposed to carve the tennis program out of CTAC’s purview.

A compromise was made on town meeting floor to create the new community center moderator’s committee and task it with undertaking a top-to-bottom review of the center.

After more than 40 public meetings, the committee presented the report to the select board on Tuesday.

The committee recommended either issuing a request for proposals from organizations interested in operating the center after the summer of 2026, or revising the current operational agreement between the town and CTAC. Issuing the request for proposals could open up the possibility of another organization running the center.

The committee also recommended guidelines that would ensure that any entity that runs the center would create and empower “a broad and diverse committee of parents and other volunteers, so that members of the public can participate meaningfully in planning and overseeing aspects of the summer program.”

The committee suggested that the governing board should also have at least 13 members — the CTAC board has fluctuated between 7 and 25 members in the past — and members should have term limits to ensure that all of the town is represented in the center’s activities.

Other recommendations from the report include a nominating committee made of voters and summer residents, separate from the CTAC board.

The committee also found that CTAC had violated some of its own bylaws. According to the report, the organization has been operating without a governance committee, which is supposed to ensure compliance with the group’s bylaws and address conflicts of interest, as well as the finance committee that was entrusted with monitoring financial controls.

The lack of checks and balances within CTAC was a cause for uneasiness in the report. Until she stepped down at the end of January, CTAC board chair Suellen Lazarus was also the nonprofit’s treasurer, upending the financial oversight protocols, the committee wrote.

CTAC announced several new officers last week: Michelle O’Connor was elected as chair and Keith Fenner is the new treasurer.

The report also found that CTAC had broken its agreement with the town over the management of the tennis program. CTAC’s decision to not rehire Mr. Stahl, the tennis teacher, meant that CTAC no longer had the authorization to run the tennis program in the spring and fall due to a violation of a past agreement with the town, according to the report.

Because of this, another town committee took over the tennis courts last fall.

Questions remain about how the community center will move forward in the coming years, but town officials are trying to work out a plan for the coming summer. The select board and CTAC, with guidance from the moderator’s committee, have put forth short-term recommendations for this year. Those recommendations include the town determining dates of clay court closures, expanding the board and establishing a thorough grievance policy.

A scheduled public discussion about the report is scheduled for the select board meeting on March 4.

The select board acknowledged receiving the report at their select board meeting Tuesday, with all members thanking the moderator’s committee for their work.

“I appreciate the efforts you have done,” vice chair Marie Larsen said. “The report was beautifully laid out and beautifully written and easy to understand, so I want to thank you all.”

Select board member Jeffrey Maida echoed similar sentiments.

“You all did an incredible job and spent endless hours and time getting it done when it needed to be done, and it’s very much appreciated,” he said.

Janet Weidner, ex-officio member of the moderator’s committee, represented the committee at the select board meeting.

“We’re happy with what the work we did, and we’re happy to hand it on to you all,” she said.