Published in the May 25, 2021 edition.
By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD — After insisting on more than 10 weeks for the public to provide input, the Town Council deliberated for less than 10 minutes last night before deciding to award the boat rental concession on the Common to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Stoneham and Wakefield.
Councilors chose the Boys & Girls Clubs over the only other bidder, Boston Outdoor Recreation, which has run the boat rental operation in Wakefield since 2009 in addition to hundreds of similar concessions on public and private grounds nationwide.
Town Administrator Stephen P. Maio said that he had consulted with Recreation Director Dan McGrath, and both he and McGrath agreed that the better choice was Boys & Girls Clubs.
Maio cited the Boys and Girls Clubs’ strong record of running programs in Wakefield and Stoneham. He also pointed to the experience that senior staff has had with operating a waterfront program in Marblehead.
Maio cited the Boys & Girls Clubs’ strong relationship with the local business community and noted that the Boys and Girls Clubs’ proposed rental fees were lower than those of Boston Outdoor Recreation.
Maio stressed that the fee to be paid to the town to use the space on the Common was not a priority consideration. Vibrancy and support of the business community was a more important factor he said. He expressed confidence that by working with the town’s new Economic Development Director and the new leadership of the Chamber of Commerce, the long sought-after synergy between the boating operation and the downtown business district could be achieved.
Councilor Jonathan Chines spoke in favor of awarding the boat rental contract to the Boys & Girls Clubs. He said that the Boys & Girls Clubs’ proposal had confirmed his hope that the boat rental concession would go beyond just a vendor service and become part the fabric that makes the Lake such an important part of the of the town.
But Town Councilor Ed Dombroski was not in favor of awarding the contract to the Boys & Girls Clubs.
“I wholly support the mission of the Boys & Girls Club,” he said. “This is not the mission of the Boys & Girls Club. This is operating a business on the shores of Lake Quannapowitt. The Boys & Girls Club is not a business.”
He maintained that the Boys & Girls Club has absolutely no management experience with a boat rental operation of this magnitude.
“It is a daunting task to run this kind of operation,” he said.
Dombroski insisted that the Boys & Girls Clubs’ programmatic goals could be achieved by working in partnership with the more experienced Boston Outdoor Recreation.
He cited Boston Outdoor Recreation’s resources and connections as well as their ability to hit the ground running.
“We are losing the experience of a company that knows how to rent out boats,” he said. He questioned why the town would “go with a vendor that’s not even a vendor.”
Dombroski pointed out that some of the local groups that lined up to support the Boys & Girls Clubs’ proposal never reached out to Boston Outdoor Recreation.
“We all love the Boys & Girls Club,” Dombroski said. “They do tremendous work. This is not about how good the Boys & Girls Club is. This is about who is a better fit for renting out boats.”
Town Councilor Ann Santos said that she was on the fence initially.
“But I trust Dan McGrath completely,” she said. “I support the Boys & Girls Club taking this over.
Santos then made a motion to move to a vote, which would have ended further discussion, but no vote was taken on her motion to move the question.
Instead, Town Council chair Julie Smith-Galvin went directly to a vote on the matter of awarding the contract. She, Santos, Chines, Mehreen Butt and Anne Danehy voted for the Boys & Girls Clubs. Dombroski was opposed.
