WILMINGTON, MA — The Wilmington Ice Rink & Recreational Facility Committee is keeping the taxpayers in mind as it goes about trying to secure an ice rink for the town.
“If this is going to be a realistic endeavor, we’re not going to be buying land and we’re not going to be building a rink,” said Town Moderator and Committee Member Rob Peterson at last month’s meeting. “It’s going to have to be land we already own that we aren’t going to use, or perhaps land that is donated to the town [by the state or a private individual or business].”
“And it’s a forgone conclusion that if we do locate viable land, we’ll need to find an entity to build the rink and run it. That has to happen,” continued Peterson. “But the first step is to identify the land before we start thinking about everything else.”
Peterson noted that while he’s a “hockey guy” and wants to see a rink built, he’s aware of all of the town’s other needs.
“Our school department is talking about renting space. Our seniors are coming to the Selectmen with well-founded needs. A new rink would be great, but it’ll be seen more as a luxury than a need,” added Peterson. “I wouldn’t call it the path of least resistance, but we need a plan where the rink’s financial impact to taxpayers would be at or close to zero.”
“I want to be as frank as possible. If we don’t have town-owned land to use and have a private entity come in and do the Wellesly-type formula, then I don’t see us needing to have this committee any further,” echoed Selectman and Committee Member Kevin Caira. “Unless town administration says lets re-look at town-owned land that’s at least 5 acres, or we get a land donation, what are we doing here? I want to be as honest as possible.”
The Wellesley Model
Committee members, including Chair Mark DiGiovanni, are particularly interested in crafting an agreement like the one in place for Wellesley Sports Center, which saw a private company build and operate the facility.
The Wellesley Sports Center, located in Wellesley, Massachusetts, is a 130,000 square foot state-of-the-art sport and recreation complex housing twin ice sheets, an indoor synthetic turf field with elevated track, two pools, a strength & conditioning center, sports pro-shop, full service concessions and ancillary tenants.
The Center was built and is managed by ESG Associates Incorporated, an established operator in public/private recreational facilities.
Wellesley High School, Wellesley Youth Hockey, Wellesley Youth Lacrosse, Wellesley United Soccer, Wellesley Swim Association, Dana Hall School, and Charles River Aquatics are “anchor tenants” of the Center.
The center’s lease stipulates that it shall provide “preferred hockey rink use time in favor of the Town of Wellesley, its schools, Wellesley Youth Hockey, Dana Hall School, and any successor organizations.”
According to DiGiovanni, the town of Wellesley signed two consecutive 50-year leases with ESG Associates that prioritizes ice time for the youth of its community at the Center.
What About The Shriners?
Scott Audette, President of Wilmington Youth Hockey and Committee Member, would like to see the town approach the Aleppo Shriners to see if they’d be willing to build a facility on their land, or donate the land to the town for a rink.
“I think the Shriners land could be a viable option. They have something like 63 acres. And you can’t ask for a better location for a rink. It’s in an industrial area, not residential, so no one will be bothered,” said Audette. “There’s already a set of lights there. There’s easy access on and off the highway. And there’s potential expansion [for other recreation uses].”
Committee members agreed that contacting the Shriners and possibly inviting them in to a future meeting would be a worthwhile endeavor.
Similarly, Selectman and Committee Member Mike McCoy said he would reach out to Charlie Benevento, owner of Benevento Companies in Wilmington, to see if he would be willing to donate any land to the town for a rink.
A TIF (tax increment financing) agreement could potentially be offered to a private entity willing to construct a rink. Under a TIF, the town continues to collect 100% of existing real estate tax revenue, but allows for a tax exemption based on the increased assessed value due to property improvements. The tax incentive is a discount on projected future taxes during the life of the proposed TIF. A TIF was recently used on the Analog Devices headquarters expansion project.
Committee Asks For Town Manager’s Help
The Committee has asked the Town Manager and his team to recommend 5-6 pieces of town-owned land that could be considered for a hockey rink and another 5-6 pieces of privately-owned land where the owner might be approachable. The Committee hopes the recommendations will be received by their next meeting on Wednesday, October 2, 2019 at 7pm in the Town Hall Auditorium.
The Committee has spent portions of its first three meetings discussing various pieces of town-owned and state-owned land, but haven’t come up with any suitable locations yet.
“I think we’ve discovered there’s no perfect piece of property out there,” acknowledged Rob Peterson. “All the land we’ve looked at thus far has had various issues. What we need to find out is if any of these issues can be overcome.”
Opening Up A Dialogue With New Ristuccia Owner
Chair Mark DiGiovanni and member Dan Ardito, working alongside Town Manager Jeff Hull, will serve as pointpeople to start discussions with Richard Gallant, the new owner of Ristuccia. Discussions will focus on concerns over the price of ice time and accessibility of ice time for Wilmington Youth Hockey and Wilmington High School.
“We’re being charged $385 for a 50-minute sheet of ice,” said Scott Audette. “Woburn just offered me $245… And we need more weekday ice, not weekend ice. We have some teams having a game in the morning and then an afternoon practice the same day… We have 11 full-time teams, plus mini mites on the weekends. Ideally, each team should be getting two practices a week.”
DiGiovanni and Ardito will also discuss with Gallant a suggestion from Selectman Kevin Caira about building a half sheet of ice for practice only, similar to how there’s a small sheet of ice at the Flynn Rink in Medford. It’s believed a second full sheet of ice may not be feasible due to space restrictions, but a half sheet of ice hasn’t been publicly considered yet.
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