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Date: 8/2/2023
BELCHERTOWN — The Select Board met with members from the Family Center Committee at its July 24 meeting to discuss options after they continue to face problems with the roof.
The Belchertown Family Center is located at 51 State St. and Town Administrator Steve Williams said that over the last few months there have been multiple attempts to temporarily fix the roof but nothing seems to work and it keeps leaking.
Getting a brand new roof would also be too costly.
The town has received an estimate that the building needs approximately $400,000 in repairs.
It would cost $150k for roof but also $50k for a boiler, and the rest for floors, bathrooms, kitchen, and other needs.
Williams added, “I have been a supporter of the Family Center. It is not about the Family Center, it is about 51 State St. I still support the Family Center. I feel that the safety concerns that were identified with the ceiling being wet probably outweigh the continuance of that building.”
Williams recommended that the Family Center building should be shut down until the roof can be fixed and has also been looking for other spaces in town for the activities at the Family Center to take place.
Members from the Family Center were also present at the meeting, and they said they appreciate everyone’s support and understand that the building should be closed until the roof is fixed.
The Select Board all agreed that the building should be closed but Select Board member Jen Turner said they should look to fund fixing it.
“This is a building in the middle of 202 on the main drag and if we just close it and let it decay, its just going to be another hazard and its not a good look right on our main road. I think we need to address it and I think we need to fix it,” she added.
The Select Board expressed that even though they agreed to shut down the Family Center until further notice, it only has to do with the building and not the work they put in.
Select Board member Peg Louraine added, “I have a huge emotional investment in the continued existence of the Family Center for the services it provides and for the part of that wonderful campus that is being developed over the last 15 years including the [Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant] playground, the basketball courts, the pickleball courts, the McPherson Garden, all of that is a huge part of the cultural town and I think has become a magnet for community activities.”
The Family Center members added that they will look to continuing working on a plan to still provide its services and added they are not done and will not leave the community members hanging.
Select Board Chair Ed Boscher said the discussion to fund the fixing of the building is a larger conversation to have at a separate meeting.
The board then shifted to continued discussion of creating a diversity equity and inclusion task force.
Select Board member Lesa Lessard Pearson has been working on a draft of the task force idea.
Pearson proposed that the board puts out a request to see if there is interest in the community in developing a diversity, equity and inclusion task force committee.
The committee would have three goals, the first would be to develop a diversity, equity and inclusion statement for the town to consider adopting, the second would seek out opportunities to acknowledge and or celebrate the diversity within the community and welcome all to join and the third would be to offer suggestions on how the town might address specific or potential acts of violence which include hate speech.
Pearson also suggested a seven-member committee that includes one representative from law enforcement, one from Town Hall and five community members “that represent diversity in one or more of the following categories: racial and ethnic background; social positions with respect to gender identity and sexual orientation; social positions with respect to disability and age groups and prior vocational experiences.”
The Select Board approved creating and finding letters of interest for a diversity equity and inclusion task force.
Louraine added, “Nothing jumps out at me as missing from this, but the committee usually gets formed and then they get their charge from a member of the Select Board so this is a really good start. I don’t see any gaps in it.”