Keegan: Parks-DPW Merger Plan on Hold

Town Administrator William Keegan agreed Thursday to put on hold a Town Meeting article to move the Parks Department to the .

Keegan reached an agreement with the Parks and Recreation Commission to form a sub-committee to study the proposed merger.

Keegan put forth a Town Meeting article for May’s meeting , but said Thursday that he would move to rescind that article and file a substitute motion to receive support for a seven-member sub-committee.

“There are concerns out there that still need to be addressed,” Keegan said. “It puts us in a position to understand all of those issues and educate Town Meeting in a way that they would have a better understanding as to what this would mean.”

Parks and Recreation Commission chairman John Maida, at a meeting on April 14, on hold until a fall Special Town Meeting and create a group to study it. Keegan said he had held ongoing talks with the chairman since then.

The proposed Parks-DPW merger came under fire from Parks and Recreation commissioners who argued that they would still retain ownership of the facilities, but not have the ability to directly coordinate the maintenance.

Extra phone calls to the director of the DPW would mean lost time, and the DPW might not have the maintenance of the parks as a high priority at all times, commissioners said at the April 14 meeting.

The Board of Selectmen recommended to Keegan – and Parks and Recreation commissioner Dan Hart, who was at the meeting – to agree to how they would fill the committee before May’s Town Meeting.

The sub-committee would ideally finish its work in time to draft an article for Special Town Meeting – should it back such a proposal – and if passed at Special Town Meeting, it would appear on the April 2012 town ballot.

“This is the value of taking a deep breath, and studying it,” said selectman Michael Butler. “We’ll be looking to consolidate more across the town. So why don’t we take the time to go through a process and see if this process is a good model for down the road.”