Should Ristuccia Purchase Decision be Repealed?

In December, Special Town Meeting overwhelmingly made the decision by a vote of 391 to 7 to give town officials the approval to purchase Ristuccia arena after the Bruins announced last summer they were leaving their practice facility to move closer to Boston. Now a group of 20 residents has filed a petition article for consideration at the May 2 Annual Town Meeting to rescind the actions taken by Special Town Meeting. Following the vote on Dec. 4, a motion to reconsider the initial vote was defeated.

In a letter to followers, the group Home Ice Advantage, which was created to help promote the purchase of Ristuccia Arena by the town said the objective of this petition is to frustrate the town’s goal of purchasing the rink.

“An unknown author once wrote, ‘Democracy is cumbersome, slow and inefficient, but in due time, the voice of the people will be heard and their latent wisdom will prevail,’” it says. “We believe this to be true. We believe in the democratic process, and we believe in the citizens of Wilmington.”

Article 54 on the May Annual Town Meeting Warrant, submitted by Kevin MacDonald and others (according to the warrant) states: “To see if the town will vote to repeal the vote taken at Special Town Meeting on December 4, 2014 on Article 1 and to vote to not authorize the Board of Selectmen to borrow money to acquire the Elinor M. Ristuccia Memorial Arena and those properties identified as Town Assessor Map 44, Parcel 178 and Map 53, Parcel 155 and numbered 190 and 190R Main Street in Wilmington; or take any other action related hereto.”

One of the questions raised, that led to the Dec. 4 Special Town Meeting decision revolved around the role the rink has played in town. Specifically, town residents and teams having the ability to use the rink. When it was built 30 years ago, the plan discussed and approved would allow access to the rink for both. However, the rink has catered more toward other interests over local ones. Local hockey teams play at rinks in other towns, as an example, not at Ristuccia.

The decision to purchase the rink will allow town hockey teams and ice skating clubs, as well as residents a place of their own.

With the approval at Special Town Meeting, town officials planned to make an official bid on the rink in upcoming months when the rink’s current lease is up, but wanted to be ready to be first in line to make that offer, hence Special Town Meeting asking voters to approve the funding. The current tenant has the right of first refusal which expires in June. By getting Town Meeting’s approval in December, town officials will be ready to make that offer.

The purchase of the rink doesn’t impact taxes as officials were not asking Town Meeting members for a debt exclusion or an override, rather they wanted permission to appropriate the funds to allow the town to use its borrowing power to leverage the cash that would be use to run the facility.

The town acquiring the rink means for the first three years, the town would be a landlord in essence. Town officials wouldn’t control the operations of the rink or have control of the schedule during that period. They would be making $12,000 a month in revenue during that three year time period, realizing in excess of $100,000 in net revenue from the facility.

The rink will cost the town an estimated $2.38 million which includes $2.25 million to purchase the rink itself, followed by another $130,000 in equipment costs once the current lease expires.

What do you think about the petition submitted by 20 residents to seek to rescind the actions taken by Special Town Meeting to not have the town purchase Ristuccia Arena? Let us know in the comments section below.