In a split vote Tuesday night, the selectmen refused to approve a new contract brought to them by the coaches and organizers behind Bromfield Acton-Boxborough’s championship rowing team.
The vote was 2-2, with Chairman Stu Sklar and Selectwoman Lucy Wallace voting in favor, and Selectmen Leo Blair and Ron Ricci voting against.
The proposed agreement called for several changes to the existing contract between the Bare Hill Rowing Association (BHRA) and the town, the most significant of which would have given the association greater flexibility in organizing its crews for the fall and spring rowing seasons. As amended in the meeting, the agreement would have expired on May 31, 2015.
The activities of rowers on the beach are currently regulated by a contract signed by the BHRA last fall. The BHRA has asked that some of those regulations be modified and, at the behest of the selectmen, has spent the past month getting buy-in from the Parks and Recreation Commission, the Bare Hill Pond Watershed Committee, and the schools, in the person of Superintendent Linda Dwight. Harbor Master Bob O’Shea has been consulted by the association, but was not involved in the current negotiations.
BHRA has reported—and others have confirmed—that the various stakeholders have agreed to the proposed modifications, with an understanding that terms of a separate agreement to govern the BHRA’s more controversial summer program will be worked out during the fall and winter, following a harbor master’s forum scheduled to take place Sept. 22.
What seemed like a done deal fell apart Tuesday night as Selectmen Ricci and Blair questioned the documents before them. Blair noted several errors in a spreadsheet of changes distributed by the BHRA and concluded they did not match the terms in the final contract. Ricci seemed opposed in principle to any changes, saying that the current contract had been signed only recently and that the BHRA should wait for the harbor master’s forum next month and his findings before proposing changes.
BHRA ‘disappointed’
In an email to the Press, BHRA board member Jim Ware wrote, “We are disappointed with the vote of the selectmen, as we had approval from all of the stakeholders on the specific changes BHRA was requesting last night.”
“The good news,” he continued, “is that we continue to have great support from the many families and friends of Bare Hill Rowing; we have quality coaches ready to start the fall season and a number of returning athletes eager to get back on the water.
“While our inability to get the contract changes approved before the fall season will not directly impact our varsity athletes, it may impact the quality of the experience for boys’ and girls’ novice teams. We are taking steps to make sure that all the athletes have the opportunity to be on the water,” he concluded.
