No Change In Fees At Wilmington Town Beach

WILMINGTON, MA -- Wilmington residents who want to bring out-of-town guests and non-Wilmington residents who enjoy using the town's beach rejoice: selectmen decided to not raise the $10 nonresident fee for next year. The town had considered raising the fee to help bridge a deficit for operating the beach, which topped $20,000 in 2017.

The beach is free for residents. Nonresidents can buy a daily use pass for $10. But that fee is not enough to cover the deficit, which is absorbed by the Recreation Department. In a presentation to selectmen last month, Recreation Director Karen Campbell attributed the deficit to a variety of reasons, including three consecutive yearly raises in the state minimum wage and fewer good weather days, meaning fewer nonresident passes sold.

Wilmington started charging the daily nonresident fee in 2014 after a summer when "all the problems came to a head," Campbell said. She outlined scenarios where trash accumulated, lifeguards were overworked and police were called to the beach. She said residents had complimented the department on the improved conditions at the beach since the fee was put in place.

Lifeguards were paid $13 per hour in 2017 and they are hard to come by: the uncertain working hours means many guards would rather take a lower-paying job with steadier hours. That has created a statewide shortage of lifeguards. Campbell said the town had to be aggressive in recruiting to hire 14 guards for this year.

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Patch file photo.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).