Parking at Forbes Community Building Reserved For Recreation, Food Pantry Staff

Six parking spaces at Westborough's Forbes Community Building will be reserved for Westborough Recreation Department and Westborough Food Pantry employees from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, selectmen said Tuesday night.

The recreation department will move to the East Main Street building from Westborough Town Hall, which will be renovated shortly.

The six parking spaces are in a town-owned lot of about 20 spaces, Town Manager Jim Malloy told selectmen.

"There's some concern," Malloy said, "that if the parking area is taken up by recreation employees and food pantry employees, there's going to be no place for people who are trying to utilize the food pantry, to park."

"Oftentimes, at least right now, a lot of the businesses that are in that same neighborhood take up 100 percent of the parking spaces that are along Bay State Commons."

The town-owned spaces are "supposed to be for people who are using the park," he said.

Malloy proposed reserving, with signs, the four spaces closest to the building for recreation department and food pantry employees from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Selectmen opted to increase the number to six, as suggested by Vice Chairman George Barrette.

"Four isn't enough. We need six. We've got employees in and out, especially this time of year. We need as many as we can get," Barrette said.

Malloy said he sent a note to Alexander Aronson Finning, because "it's their employees that tend to park right there."

Police Chief Alan Gordon said the CPA firm has an agreement with Westborough to use some of those spaces, and also set aside some in his lot town use during events at Bay State Commons.