Recreation Director Scott Tavares met with the Marion Open Space Acquisition Commission on April 6 to discuss emerging needs, especially where it concerns places to play lacrosse and soccer.
MOSAC Chairman John Rockwell asked Tavares to inform the commissioners on the department’s programming. Indications at the time were that the Recreation Department did not need any more space.
Primarily in the fall and spring, Marion runs its soccer program. In the fall season, there were 145 children playing on Saturday mornings at Dexter Lane fields in Rochester.
“The Rochester Parks Commission has been gracious in allowing us to use those fields, but we’re also competing against other outside programs to use the same field space,” said Tavares. “In terms of, like when we look at trying to grow our programs, last year we had four teams that went on from the fall and competing in the more-competitive league in the spring, and it’s really a battle for any type of green, field space.”
The Marion Recreation Department has access to Washburn Park, primarily a baseball facility with two fields and a small softball field in the back.
“You can fit a soccer field or a lacrosse field in there, but it’s diagonal. Usually between the two infields and if you do that, you can’t have any baseball going on at the same time,” said Tavares, who said Marion has been working with the Old Rochester Youth Lacrosse League, including “entry-level” discussions on the lacrosse league being managed or assisted by Marion Recreation.
“One of the reasons we don’t do that is because we don’t really have the field space to offer them,” said Tavares. “There’s limited amount of green field space for kiddos in Marion. We really utilize Dexter Field for the majority of our field stuff, primarily lacrosse and soccer.”
The field area at Silvershell Beach, said Tavares, has been used for some youth-lacrosse programs but is not of adequate size for what those programs need. That is similarly true of spaces under consideration at Washburn.
Competition for field space, says Tavares, comes from private organizations as well as travel teams. He alluded to a situation in which Marion’s age 9-10 girls’ competitive soccer team was using a field that was bordering a softball field. When softballs were bouncing and rolling into the adjacent soccer field, it became a safety issue.
“There’s a desire, I think, to expand our programs and our offerings, but I think one of our significant, limiting factors is our field space, and then obviously there’s other limiting factors in terms of people volunteering to coach and things of that nature,” explained Tavares.
Marion, he said, has no other dedicated sports space besides Washburn Park, which is built to accommodate baseball.
Rockwell said a recent, two-field proposal was figured to cost approximately $1,000,000. He said the flat property along Route 105 in Rochester recently dedicated to farm use would have been a perfect site, also because of its water-holding capacity. He suggested searching for similarly flat land that would mitigate construction costs. Such a location would have to be “wetlands-free,” said Rockwell, who told Tavares that MOSAC would keep the recreation department in mind.
One such project, said Rockwell, was pitched by the Select Board but with the caveat that MOSAC would make the purchase. The town, said Rockwell, had earmarked Community Preservation Act funds for other projects. “That and the fact there was no real plan to bring it from ‘We buy this piece of land, and how do we get it to the end result?'”
Tavares acknowledged that any such procurement would be a lengthy, expensive project.
“Realizing that there’s a lot of kids in the Tri-Town that play soccer and lacrosse … I think a lot of kids go down to Mariner Soccer down in Fairhaven. They have a much larger complex … what I hear is that the youth soccer league used to be a lot larger out at Dexter Lane,” said Tavares. “More organizations have started to ask about and have started to use Dexter Lane, and our numbers continue to get smaller and smaller.
“Some of that could be tied to field space, and some of it could be tied to maybe different programming that Mariner has offered. But there’s always folks that reach out and ask if we can add to the soccer programming. Even lacrosse programming, I would love to take that over, but … looking at recreational space for kids, there’s not a ton to offer.”
Rockwell asked if, from a theoretical standpoint, multiple towns could be involved in creating recreation space. Tavares considers it a good idea and noted ongoing involvement with the Mattapoisett Recreation Department on particular programs. Rockwell said he’d put feelers out for the whole Tri-Town area.
“It’s a tough find,” they agreed.
Off topic, Tavares asked on behalf of adult programming if MOSAC would be aware of appropriate space for disc golf. Rockwell alluded to Washburn Park, and the two agreed to explore the park in May.
“One of the things we’ve been working on recently is … looking at our criteria for purchasing land … we redo it every once in a while, and that’s one of the things we’re doing right now,” said MOSAC member Amanda Chace, noting the struggle in past interests simply because “we didn’t know what the need was.”
Lacrosse in the Tri-Town, said Tavares, has grown over the last two or three years. Grades 1-8 are now fielding two competitive teams of 20 players each. “We have waitlists as well,” he said, explaining a lack of coaches and field space are the two major limiting factors.
Tavares said he has approached Tabor Academy, which has worked with Marion on some things, he said.
In other business, Rockwell spoke with Jim Arne about the Point Road Path, noting that the bidding threshold is $50,000. He said procurement would be easier for MOSAC if the projects can be split up at less than $50,000. He hopes Town Administrator Geoff Gorman and Select Board Chairman Randy Parker can visit the site.
MOSAC’s forestry plan has been completed, and all associated paperwork has been sent to the town accountant’s office.
The commission entered Executive Session to discuss a potential land acquisition.
MOSAC did not announce the date of its next meeting upon adjournment.
Marion Open Space Acquisition Commission
By Mick Colageo