Therefore, be it RESOLVED, that the 2019 Annual Town Meeting:
ACKNOWLEDGES that a more comprehensive and community-wide and/or region-wide approach to addressing the development of and access to recreational resources available for use by Town residents could produce valuable results for the citizens of the Town; and
REQUESTS that the Board of Selectmen, at their next meeting after this Town Meeting, create an ad hoc Recreation Resources Committee, consisting of seven (7) voting members plus two ad hoc non-voting members as follows:
  • two (2) members representing the citizens at large, selected by the Board of Selectmen;
  • two (2) members of the Recreation Commission, selected by the Recreation Commission;
  • one (1) member of the Planning Board, selected by the Planning Board;
  • one (1) member of the Conservation Commission, selected by the Conservation Commission;
  • one (1) member of the Advisory Committee, selected by the Advisory Committee;
  • the Recreation Director, as an ad hoc, non-voting member;
  • one (1) member of the School Committee, selected by the School Committee, as an ad hoc, non-voting member
; and


FURTHER REQUESTS that the Board of Selectmen, no later than sixty (60) days after the creation of the Recreation Resources Committee as requested above, completes the appointment process for the members of this committee; and


FURTHER REQUESTS that the Board of Selectmen, establishes the charge to this committee including, but not limited to:
  • Creating and maintaining a current, ongoing community-wide and/or region-wide inventory of existing and potential recreational resources of all types potentially available for use by Southborough residents, including relevant information for each, such as location, characteristics, current and potential uses, capacity, ownership, etc. (with a target completion date for the initial inventory no later than 6 months after the committee is formed)
  • Creating and maintaining a plan for utilizing all such available resources in a way that is likely to be implementable for the benefit of Southborough residents (with a target completion date for the initial plan no later than 12 months after the committee is formed);
  • Planning and executing the process of initial and ongoing communication of the plan to Southborough residents and to Southborough government organizations;
  • Determining and recommending the initial and ongoing most advantageous next steps for implementation of a new/expanded approach for providing access for Southborough residents to additional recreational resources (with a target completion date for the initial recommendations no later than 18 months after the committee is formed); and
  • Working with the Board of Selectmen, the Recreation Commission and other applicable local and regional entities to implement the initial and ongoing phases of the initial plan and updated versions of the plan.
; and
FURTHER REQUESTS that the Board of Selectmen, requires that this committee provide a report of their activities to date and their progress to the Board of Selectmen no less frequently than every six (6) months, and that these reports be published in such places as on mysouthborough.com and/or the Town of Southborough website.”


Summary: Creating a Recreation Resources Committee can identify opportunities for expanded access to recreation assets that the Town may not currently be in a position to afford.  This non-binding article seeks to gain a “sense of Town Meeting” relative to creation of this new committee, and thereby begin the process of a more comprehensive look at possible additional recreation assets for access by Town residents.”