Parks & Recreation Department Prepares for Season Ahead

With only two part-time employees and a board of five elected commissioners, the Hopkinton Parks & Recreation Department packs in a wealth of activities for town members of all ages, and oversees the use and maintenance of all the public recreational areas in town.

The fall/winter season is just wrapping up with over a thousand kids having participated in the popular in-town basketball and youth ski programs alone. In addition, adults have enjoyed yoga, boot camp, tennis, golf lessons, and art classes while toddlers and preschool children got involved in craft, music and sports activities.

This busy town department is now gearing up for the upcoming season. Once again it includes a huge array of programs including weekly Concerts on the  Common, the Playground Group Camp and Red Cross Swim Lessons at Sandy Beach as well as sports clinics, horseback riding, and a women's softball league.

Warmer weather also means the parks & recreation department is readying itself for the daunting task of maintaining the parks, fields and town common within a limited budget.

While all programs are self-funded through participant fees, the maintenance of the fields, town common and parks comes from the department’s small budget of $47,000 -- a budget that also includes the salaries of the part-time Director and Assistant Director.

The department's budget has not seen an increase in years, despite having additional properties, such as the new Fruit Street playing fields, added to its jurisdiction.

“It has been a major challenge to properly maintain the facilities within our current budget,” stated Mike Priete, Hopkinton's Parks and Recreation Director.

To better manage the increasing maintenance costs, the department is looking to utilize an enterprise fund. This fund will allow them to cover expenses associated with the upkeep and repair of the town’s recreational areas through the revenues generated by the successful parks & recreation programs.

 "Our goal with the enterprise fund is to line-up the revenue and expenses of the programs and properties that fall under the Parks and Recreation Department," stated Ken Driscoll, Parks & Recreation Chairman. "This will enable us to maintain all the properties to a proper standard."

On March 24th the spring/summer activities brochure will be available online at: www.hopkinton.org/parks/index.htm. Sign up early as most programs fill up fast!  If you prefer a printed brochure, you can pick one up at the parks & recreation office, first floor, Hopkinton Town Hall. In an effort to go green this is the last year the brochure will be available in printed form.

More information on enterprise funds can be found at:

http://www.mass.gov/Ador/docs/dls/publ/misc/EnterpriseFundManual.pdf