COA Votes To Delay Transitioning Rec Dept Staff To Beech Street Center; Town, Select Board Has Other Ideas

Photo: The Council on Aging voted 9-1 to delay the transition of three Recreation Department staffers and the Veterans Agent into the Beech Street Center

At first glance, the proposal from town officials to transistion the Recreation Department to the Beech Street Senior Center this fall appears straightforward enough. Due to space needs at Town Hall with the Retirement Board heading to the Homer Building, construction work – including adding a new entry specifically for Recreation Department use – will be performed so three Recreation Department administrative staffers and the town’s Veterans Agent can relocate into a corner of the Beech Street Center as town librarians – in the location temporarily as the new library is being built – are prepared to transfer out. 

While the request didn’t appear to be contentious, don’t tell that to seniors who contend the transition is part of a “power play” by the town to reduce or remove the Council on Aging’s control of the Beech Street Center. Many senior advocates point to last year’s placement of the once-independent Senior Center into the newly-created Community Services Department – which occurred only after a protracted debate – as another example of the town interjecting its will onto its seniors.

“A lot of us see this building as just being prime real estate, and the town is licking its chops and figuring out every scheme it can use to move inside,” said Bob McGaw. The chair of the By-Law Review Committee has spearheaded a successful Citizens Petition with more than 300 signatures to bring an article to the Special Town Meeting inside the annual Town Meeting on May 21 to ask the town’s legislative to approve the Center’s “change of use essentially.” 

COA member Maryann Scali

After a month of meetings in April, the COA on Wednesday, April 30, voted 9-1 to delay the proposed transition of the Rec Department employees in the Center until the completion of the ongoing University of Massachusetts Boston community needs assessment survey of town’s seniors, and the formation of a working advisory group made up of COA members, residents, and others would then meet to hammer out a new plan. 

“We don’t have enough detail [about the transition plan],” said COA member Andrea Paschal just before Wednesday’s vote. “The thought of having the Rec Department, library, and senior services here all the way through ’til November seems almost impossible to me. So I think if I had to decide today … let’s wait at least until the fall when the library has moved out and when we have more information about the details and then come to a decision about the best way to combine rec, veterans, and senior services.” 

Yet, according to two COA members, the vote—and the hopes of senior activists—was insubstantial at Wednesday’s meeting, as the final determination on the transition lies in the hands of the town’s administrative body.

“We do have our hands tied, because ultimately, we advise the Select Board, [but] the Select Board is the body which ultimately makes these decisions,” said COA Chair Karen Donelan.

At the COA public meetings, opinions sharpened as the assembled voiced its approval of speakers who blasted the proposed transfer and vowed to halt the move. Supporters contend that inserting the Rec. Department employees violates the long-standing agreement between the town and financial donors who brought in approximately $1 million that the primary use of the building would be senior-oriented. 

For COA member Maryann Scali, the sole purpose of the Center—approved in 2005 by a Town Meeting vote—is as a “senior center, and this is why it’s here and why millions of dollars was donated.” “Now the recreation department has moved in without our consent, without discussion,” she said at an earlier meeting.

Others believe the COA has only a single course to take.

“A resounding NO!”

“There’s nothing in your charge that allows you to have the Recreation Commission come in and do anything else. Your main function is to serve the elderly people in this town. So the answer to the town: ‘Can we bring the Recreation Department?’ should be a resounding NO!” said Mark D’Andrea.

Yet the town and the Select Board stand firm in their belief that there is reasonable cause to move forward with the transisition. While wanting to be very respectful of the COA, Select Board Chair Elizabeth Dionne said at its Monday, April 28 meeting that the board has long committed to continuing to have the Beech Street Center dedicated to seniors “from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.” For that reason, Dionne opposes the suggestion of bringing in a small number of town employees, which constitutes a full-fledged abandonment of the Center’s main role. 

“I really object to this claim that it’s a change of use. I don’t want that claim to go out there unanswered. To say there’s a change of use, in my mind, is to perpetuate a falsehood,” said Dionne. Town Administrator Patrice Garvin noted a recent reading of the 2011 Memorandum of Understanding by the town’s legal counsel refutes the change of use claims and renders the advocate’s challenge moot.

The board has pointed to practical reasons for the transistion. Select Board Vice Chair Matt Taylor said the move is coming at an opportune time as “there is a renewed energy and enthusiasm around our Senior Center” and the extra pair of hands and ability to extend the building’s hours that “there are real opportunities to serve our residents.”

“Bringing staff to the administrative offices would allow both staffs to share responsibilities while freeing up staff from the desk to help programming and services throughout the building, especially at later hours that seniors have been requesting,” said Taylor.

Community Services Director Brendan Fitts said the move would enhance efficiency while supporting cross-departmental collaboration. The COA and Rec. Department use the same software and share the same administrative backbone within the Community Service.

“[It] aligns with town goals,” said Fitts, as it is doing more with less with long-term savings, all the while maintaining the senior Center’s focus on serving the town’s elder community.

However, the chief cudgel the town holds over the COA vote are two past acts: stripping the independence of the Center and the COA, and Town Meeting passing changes to the Town Administrator’s position. After several seniors at the last public meeting suggested a much stronger response than a slowdown of the process – one going so far as suggesting the council resign en masse for failing its mission to promote elder services – COA member Joel Semuels told those attending that the COA is restrained by past presence from halting the move.

Samuels explained that the COA vote was only on whether to proceed with the construction project—including creating the new entrance and interior modifications—and on getting the Veterans and Recreation Department staff into this building. “That’s what this meeting is about,” he said. 

“The Recreation Department and the Veterans [Agent] and the COA are part of a Community Services Department. That is a reality right now. That horse has left the bar. The fact that the COA is not a free-standing Senior Center has already been decided. Last year, we fought that and lost, so we’re not returning.”

COA Chair Karen Donelan

“Town meeting by its vote a number of years ago, gave the town administrator the authority to oversee the staff of the Council on Aging,” added Our board can advocate. Our board can plead. Our board can suggest our board does not hire and fire staff. That is in the town administrator’s authority by vote of Town Meeting,” said Donelan.

“What we are saying [with the vote] is we want to delay until we can answer many of the questions that have been raised,” said said. “We don’t want to move ahead with what a legitimate policy process is. We’re doing our best to hear your questions and say, ‘Let’s answer them before we take a vote’.”

Rec News: Underwood Pool To Open At 100% With Unlimited Residential Passes; Outdoor Movies At Town Field After July 4th

Photo: The Underwood Pool from 2019

Responding to the re-opening of public places as state COVID-19 restricts are being pulled back, the Belmont Recreation Commission unanimously voted on Thursday, June 10 to open the Underwood Pool to 100 percent capacity on Wednesday, June 23 with an unlimited number of family and individual passes (aka tags) for residents seeking to cool off this summer.

Residents interested in applying for a pass or more should go to the Recreation Department webpage.

Due to the lifting of the restrictions, patrons will no longer need to pre-register to attend the pool at specific two-hour blocks of time. According to Rec Department Director and Assistant Town Manager Jon Marshall, two green areas will be sectioned off and have spaces marked off “for people who are a little less comfortable can go to.”

As of Friday, June 11, any resident wanting a pass will receive one with the department limiting the number of non-residential passes to those on the waiting list.

So far this season, the Belmont Rec Department has issued 598 family, 104 individual and 62 senior passes – a total of 2,600 people – as the town had prepared to open the pool at 50 percent of capacity. It also has 110 non-residents on a waiting list, according to Brandon Fitts, rec department assistant director. In 2019, the town issued 1,050 tags.

Residents who purchased tags in the belief the pool would be at 50 percent and wish to cancel their passes will only have until June 21 to receive a full refund. Passes will also be sold at a reduced rate later in the season. The cost of passes are $305 for families; $110 for individuals and $50 for seniors.

Films on the Field

At Monday’s meeting, Fitts also announced a free summer-long movie series sponsored by the Rec Department and the Belmont Council of Aging. Using a generous donation from a Belmont couple, the Rec Department has purchased a projector/sound system and screen which will be set up at the Town Field baseball diamond on Thursday evenings.

“We worked really hard with a number of town departments to make this all a reality,” said Fitts, saying the department will screen seven family friendly movies. The events will take place from 6:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. running from July 8 to August 19.

It will be an opportunity for residents to come to the field and bring a picnic dinner [Remember: Town Field is a Carry In, Carry Out play area so bring a bag to remove any refuse]. The town will also hire a group to bring games, set up basketball hoops and “Gaga ball” pits for kids to play until the film begins at 8 p.m. Residents will also be able to use the restroom facilities at the adjacent Beech Street Center. One commissioner suggested “off the record” bringing food trucks to add some culinary choices to the night.

Fitts also said since the sound system will be owned by the Rec Department, there are opportunities to use the equipment for other events around town such as having music at the Underwood Pool, special events, and a possible “Rock the Rink” skating party at the “Skip” in which skaters circle the ice as high school bands perform.

The movies for this summer are the live version of “Aladdin,” the “Parent Trap” with Lindsay Lohan, “The Secret Life of Pets,” “Honey I Shrunk the Kids,” “Finding Nemo” and the movie version of “Grease.”