....................480 Adams Street, Suite #208, Milton Massachusetts, USA • 617.696.7758
 
 
 
 

Rink’s Future a
‘Moving Target’

By Scott MacKeen
Staff Writer
6/10/10
With town officials still expressing uncertainty over the future of the Ulin Rink, Selectmen are taking a multi-pronged approach.

The board took two votes relative to the rink on Unquity Road at its June 4 meeting.

The first was to authorize Town Planner Bill Clark and resident Tim Kernan, the organizer of a Ulin Rink Study Committee, to draft a response to a state Request for Proposals for future management of the facility. The deadline for the RFP, which has been extended multiple times at the town’s request, is June 15.

The second vote taken calls for a letter to be sent to the town’s legislative representatives encouraging them to support the Senate budget, which includes a lease of up to 25 years for the town to operate the rink at $1 per year.

State Sen. Brian Joyce, who was at the meeting to field Selectmen’s questions, said his bill has been included in the Senate budget for eight years but has always been shot down by the House.

The DCR is losing money by continuing to operate local rinks and the status quo is no longer an option, Joyce told the board.

“I’ve been trying to give this to the town for eight years,” said Joyce, adding that the town could sublease to a private or nonprofit manager under his bill.

Although Town Administrator Kevin Mearn was told two weeks ago by a DCR official that the town could not use an outside manager under the RFP – which is the preferred option of town officials – Joyce said it would be allowed. He said Mearn was given “inaccurate information.”

DCR spokeswoman Wendy Fox said the official to whom Mearn spoke was unsure of the RFP’s specifics, and encouraged Mearn to speak with DCR Commissioner Richard Sullivan.

Joyce said the Senate bill is the best option for the town because it offers a long-term plan and protects ice time for town users. All agreed it would be better than the DCR proposal, which is a five-year permit that could be rescinded at any time.

The 25-year lease is a “virtual no-risk option” for the town, according to Joyce.

“This language is as protective to the town as I could possible draft,” he said, adding that the Senate has accepted an amendment that makes the bill clearer about town ice time.

Under the bill, Joyce said, the state could save up to $12.5 million and the town could see up to $2.5 million in new revenue over the 25-year period. He added that the bill requires that 5 percent of gross proceeds on the rink go toward upkeep of the facility, meaning the town would not be on the hook for those costs.

Due to economic circumstances, the senator said there is an initiative in the State House to privatize all state-owned recreational facilities which he feels has a good chance of being approved in the next few years.
Selectman John Shields criticized the process by which the DCR put Ulin Rink out to bid. The original deadline to respond to the RFP was late February, but town officials only learned about it days before. Shields said his issue was not with Joyce, whose bill he previously criticized for not going far enough to protect Milton hockey users, but with the DCR.

“The RFP has been a sham. They don’t understand how the town works,” said Shields. “They don’t understand that we need more time.”

Fox said DCR has extended the deadline several times at the town’s request.

Kernan’s group is looking to establish a nonprofit foundation to either run the rink or advice Selectmen in the process of hiring private management.

The only question is timing. According to Kernan, the nonprofit is still 30 to 60 days from being operational. He said the group is finalizing its bylaws.

Meanwhile, the DCR deadline looms and the state must pass a budget prior to the fiscal year beginning July 1. In fact, the House and Senate must agree on a budget 10 days prior to July 1 to give the governor time to review it, Joyce said.

“It continues to be a moving target for the Board of Selectmen,” Chair Marion McEttrick said.

Although Selectmen oppose the RFP option, they opted to authorize a response in case the rink legislation falls through.