The proposed agreement will be presented to the public and the select board on March 13. The initiative grew from discussions among a working group interested in expanding recreational options in Bennington and YMCA officials.
Select board member Jeannie Jenkins described the agreement as “an exciting opportunity for our community.”
Randy Kinnas, CEO of the Berkshire YMCA, which is based in Pittsfield and North Adams, Massachusetts, will speak at the next board meeting about the scope of services the organization offers and ways the organization can work with the community.
Three other YMCA presentations are scheduled on March 21 in Bennington — at the Senior Center, from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m.; from noon to 1 p.m. at the Recreation Center, and from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the Community Room of the Department of Public Health at the Community College of Vermont.
If the agreement is approved by town officials, the YMCA staff will conduct programs for youth this summer, such as the day camps normally offered by the town and based at the Recreation Center.
“Our goal is to see what the community needs and what services it will embrace,” Kinnas said. “We don’t want to duplicate things.”
Expanding opportunities for youth and development of a comprehensive community center were listed as top priorities in 2012 during a series of meetings about new initiatives with the Vermont Council on Rural Development. It was during that process, the local officials said, that they learned the YMCA nationally is encouraging the expansion of services from existing centers — such as those in North Adams and Pittsfield into the surrounding area.
“We were in the catchment area of the Berkshire YMCA,” Jenkins said. “So we contacted the Y and started talking to them.”
Town Manager Stuart Hurd said the preliminary agreement calls for the YMCA to run summer camps and operate the Recreation Center pool. He said the town “stands ready to subsidize program fees if that is essential.”
The Southwest Vermont Supervisory Union also is a partner in the effort, Hurd said, and programming might be developed to fill a void when renovation energy-related construction projects close Bennington elementary schools to regular summer programming this summer.
In the future, agreements might be considered to have the YMCA run programs at other facilities, parks and playgrounds in Bennington, as well as help develop plans for an outdoor pool, an ice rink or other new facilities, the officials said.
“One of the advantages of partnering with the Y,” Jenkins said, “is they have a lot of experience in developing programming, and we are hoping that what we are going to see is a really enhanced summer program that will have real meat to it and be more attractive to more kids in the community.”
Select Board Chairman Thomas Jacobs said the agreement would be more in the form of a vendor/service provider agreement with the organization.
Long-term, he said, “We’re hoping to start thinking about a community center rather than a recreation center.”
Jenkins said the YMCA is not trying to compete with local fitness centers, child care centers or other local businesses but to fill gaps in the Bennington area. “One of the things about a Y is they are very community oriented and work with [other] organizations,” she said.
Some YMCAs also have extensive programs for seniors and adults and provide comprehensive child care, among other services.
Anyone interested in offering suggestions to the working group on recreational programs can email those to info@benningtonvt.org, Jenkins said.
More information about the Berkshire YMCA is available at www.berkshirefamilyymca.org
