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Adams Seeks Better Organization To Park UsageBy Andy McKeever
iBerkshires Staff
09:50PM / Wednesday, February 15, 2012
ADAMS, Mass. — Organizations need to provide more information if they want to use town facilities.
The Board of Selectmen agreed on Wednesday to add a new page of required information to the facility request form in order to facilitate better communication. Led by Parks Commissioner James Fassell, the town now needs to provide contact information for an organization's board of directions, number of coaches and participants and a financial summary.
The decision comes from "issues" that arose in the past when the Parks Commission did not have enough contact information. Instead of being able to solve the problem with a simple phone call, the commission would be forced to take it through the Board of Selectmen.
"Everybody needs to have checks and balances," Fassell said. "I don't want to case a problem, I just want to find a solution."
The issues range from fields not being used right or conflicts in practice time and, at times, the town only had a single contact point such as a coach. Fassell said now the Parks Commission can handle the issues in-house by contacting the leagues' governing board if needed.
"It's strictly a communication thing," Fassell said.
The financial report is an effort to increase transparency by giving a synopsis of income and expenses for the organizations that are using town fields. The Parks Commission just wants to have a sense of where the money is going that is generated from the fields.
"The financial part, I'm not concerned about," Fassell said, adding that the organizations are non-profit and fund raisers are going to charitable causes. "It's really is to make sure everything is accountable."
The Board of Selectmen fully endorsed the effort and said the information will provide much better organization and transparency, which in turn will help everything run smoother.
"This is not a difficult financial form at all," Chairman Arthur "Skip" Harrington said. "I think it is a great effort on your part."
In other business:
- Town Administrator Jonathan Butler said he has been working on next year's budget and hopes to present it in a few weeks.
- When asked about the cost to taxpayers to clean up damage caused by Hurricane Irene, Butler said there are still projects to be completed and the town is still sorting out how much will be reimbursed federally. Butler said he does not have a good estimation of the final cost to the town.
- The town is also looking to fill a vacancy on the Retirement Board.
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Tags: Irene, parks,
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