Select Board December 18 Meeting Recap: Board Reviews Community Pool Recommendations for 2024, Hears Update on Regional School Agreement & Tuition Agreements
Brewster Community Pool. The Select Board held a joint meeting on Monday December 18 with the Bay Property Planning Committee and the Brewster Recreation Commission to hear about the inaugural 2023 season and to review staff recommendations for the Brewster Community Pool in 2024. Town Manager Peter Lombardi noted that the Town gathered extensive data this summer and heard overwhelmingly positive feedback from residents about the pool. Based on the success of the first year, the Town is looking to make limited changes to the program next year, applying some lessons learned to improve the overall program.
In terms of the schedule for 2024, Recreation Director Mike Gradone noted that the pool is planned to be open from June 15 to August 18, extending last week’s season by more than least one week. The 2024 hours of operation are recommended to be extended by an hour next year as well, opening for lap swim at 6AM. The Recreation Department expects to increase pool programming next year too, with more swim lessons and water aerobics classes and elimination of pool membership requirements for lesson participants. Private pool rentals for kids are proposed for Friday and Saturday evenings.
Mr. Lombardi reviewed the 2023 pool financials, reporting that the Town brought in a little over $113,000 in total revenues while operating expenses were just over $100,000. The pool is fully self-funded through a separate revolving account. Based on the 2023 financials, Mr. Lombardi recommended limiting access to Brewster residents and Town employees only in 2024, keeping the same fee structure, and increasing the maximum number of guest passes to 25 per membership.
Update on Regional School Agreement & Tuition Agreements. In May 2023, the Brewster Select Board requested the Nauset Regional School Agreement be reopened, recognizing that it had not been amended in 20 years. This foundational document outlines the terms under which the four member towns participate in the school district. Town leaders from Eastham, Orleans, and Wellfleet expressed their support for Brewster’s request. This fall, the Nauset Regional School Committee began reviewing the agreement with their legal counsel. A sub-committee has been created to lead this process and Brewster’s representative on this sub-committee, Rick Draper, provided an update on their work to date. This sub-committee is set to meet again in January. Ultimately, any changes to the regional agreement require state approval by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and Town Meeting approval in all four towns. Members of the Select Board expressed their interest in the School Committee seeking public input from residents and feedback from Town leadership going forward given the significant policy implications of this document.
As part of the Select Board’s request last May, Brewster also asked the Regional School Committee to see if Provincetown and Truro were interested in fully joining the district, so that these two towns would pay their proportional share of the region’s debt for the new high school. Superintendent Brooke Clenchy told the Brewster Select Board that both towns declined to join the district at this time.
Superintendent Clenchy also provided an update on the tuition agreements that Nauset has with Truro and Provincetown that specify the level of compensation those two towns provide to Nauset to allow their middle and high school students to attend Nauset schools. The current 5-year agreements were set to expire in June 2024. New agreements were recently finalized and approved by the Regional School Committee. They call for a 12% increase in FY25 and 3% annual increases in FY26 & 27. The financial terms of the agreements can be revisited for FY28 & 29.
Select Board Vice-Chair Mary Chaffee asked if the new tuition agreements with Provincetown and Truro could include some funding to help cover the cost of the high school project, in order to offset a portion of the other towns’ contributions. Superintendent Clenchy responded that state regulations prohibit debt from being included in tuition agreements.
2024 Captains Golf Course Rates. Jay Packett, Director of Golf Operations, reviewed the proposed daily fee rate schedule for the 2024 season for the Captains Golf Course as recommended by the Golf Commission. Based on the most recent 5-year financial forecast for the golf course, the proposed rate schedule consists of a 5% rate increase in green fees and an 8% increase in cart fees next year. Mr. Packett also recommended allowing an additional 25 non-resident memberships in 2024. The Select Board voted to approve these changes.
Changes to Non-Commercial Shellfish Rules & Regulations. Following up on the Select Board’s decision last month to honor senior lifetime shellfish permits purchased before December 2022 at no cost going forward, the Select Board asked Town staff to develop suggested changes to the non-commercial shellfish rules and regulations to better define how to address certain scenarios for family and senior shellfish permit holders. Assistant Natural Resources Director Ryan Burch outlined several proposed changes which clarify that permit holders need to be physically present and active engaged in shellfishing while the permit is being used. The language changes allow families to purchase both a senior and family permit for one household. The Select Board voted to accept the recommended changes to the rules and regulations.