By Elisabeth Strillacci

SPENCER — The town took another step forward in its plans for outdoor life in the community at its Board of Aldermen meeting Tuesday when it approved the creation of a Parks and Recreation Advisory Board.

Joe Morris, special projects coordinator for the town, has for years worked to both help design and create a number of outdoor spaces in the town of Spencer, and the public works department, under the able leadership of Joel Taylor has maintained the spaces wonderfully, said Town Manager Peter Franzese.

“But up until now, we’ve not had a department overseeing full calendar plans of events that larger cities have had,” said Franzese. “Like a summer concert series or movie nights or ongoing events. We have had groups of amazing volunteers who have planned individual events for different parts of the community, but not an actual department or official within the town to oversee our outdoor spaces and events on an ongoing basis.”

In November 2023, the town adopted the Creating Outdoor Recreation Economies (CORE) Strategic Plan, which was a step toward putting in place some actual oversight. That plan included recommended goals and objectives related to the creation of a Parks and Recreation Advisory Board.

A public hearing on Feb. 6 gave residents the chance to let the town know if they were behind the creation of such a board, or not, and two people submitted statements in support of it.

Because the board will be all volunteer, it is not expected its creation will have any financial impact. However, as with the creation of any board that acts in an advisory role to the aldermen, there are certain parameters that the town has laid out.

The new board will consist of five members. Anyone who lives within the “planning and zoning jurisdiction of Spencer” is eligible, and anyone interested in submitting an application can find them at the Town Clerk Anna Kanode Ward’s office in city hall.

According to the resolution creating this board, “a majority of the members of the board shall have demonstrated special interest, experience, or education in parks, recreation, special events, planning, land stewardship, natural history or related fields. The board may appoint advisory bodies and committees as appropriate.”

Terms will be for four years, and the terms will be staggered. Board members can serve two consecutive terms before they must take a year off.

Once the board is created, they will determine a meeting schedule and as with all other meetings of public bodies, the meetings will be posted and open to the public.

It is important that any potential board member understand it is a commitment of time and energy. “Any member of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board who misses more than three consecutive regular meetings or more than half the regular meetings in a calendar year shall lose his or her status as a member of the commission and shall be replaced or reappointed by the Board of Aldermen. Absence due to sickness, death or other emergencies of like nature shall be recognized as approved absences and shall not affect the member’s status on the board except that in the event of a long illness or other such cause for prolonged absence, the member shall be replaced.”

In addition to the creation of the advisory board, the town is moving forward with the plan to hire an Active Living Coordinator for the town, who will be directly involved in the planning and execution of events, recreation opportunities and operations of the town’s park facilities.

“We were hearing that we needed to hire a director of parks and recreation,” said Franzese, “but in reviewing the process, it was clear we need someone who can be hands on, can be in the middle of things. Which is why we came up with the title of Active Living Coordinator. A director might be appropriate down the road, but this is what we believe is better for our community right now.”

New York City uses nonprofits to manage parks in a variety of ways, including advocacy, maintenance and fundraising. While living in New York, Ward worked with one of those non-profits to manage one of the city’s parks, according to Franzese. With that experience, it seemed natural to have the new Active Living Coordinator report to her in addition to being the liaison between the new board and the aldermen and town management.

The new position will be in the budget beginning in the final quarter of this fiscal year, from March to June.