Charlotte voters are weighing whether to raise $50,000 in taxes to study the viability of a proposed community center, a project that advocates say could become a hub for town events and provide a host of new local recreation opportunities.
Plans for the community center have been in the works since November 2020 when a group of town officials and residents first met to hash out ideas. But now, the committee feels it has done all it can and wants to bring on a consultant, who could produce more concrete plans for the facility and address concerns about how it would be funded.
Charlotte Recreation Director Nicole Conley, who’s been spearheading the project, said people in the 4,000-person town are used to driving to other communities for services. But an important question, she said, is: “What can we do within Charlotte?”
Conley said the recreation department does not have a large space for programs other than the town’s school, Charlotte Central. But the department has to pay a fee to the Champlain Valley School District — which includes Charlotte — to use school facilities, she said, which can translate into higher recreation fees for town residents.
The committee has proposed a number of uses for a community center.
Some include facilities such as an indoor pool, multisport courts and an exercise studio. Others include space for community events such as summer camps and adult education classes. They also discussed municipal uses including Town Meeting Day proceedings, a polling location and an emergency shelter.
A survey of about 325 town residents in December 2020 found 55% were interested in using a community center, and about 60% said they would do so weekly.
Respondents had the most interest in indoor aquatics and a fitness center, followed by multisport courts, the survey found.
There’s been another year of pandemic-era life since the survey results, Conley said, so people’s opinions and priorities may have changed.
The $50,000 on the ballot this Town Meeting Day would fund an architectural feasibility study, she said, which would help officials determine whether the proposed community center would be financially viable.
Conley said some residents have raised concerns not just about the proposed cost of the study, but also about the costs that would be incurred by building — and then maintaining — the community center in the future.
The study likely would determine what private fundraising options are available for the center, whether or not it would be staffed by the town, what the center could actually look like and up to three sites where it could be located.
Most survey respondents said the location of the center was not important to them.
“It would hopefully engage the community more,” Conley said of the feasibility study, “in trying to figure out exactly what you would want a community center to entail.”
Charlotte Selectboard members have said previously that the bid they select for a feasibility study may cost less than $50,000. At the same time, the committee has said the cost of a study should not exceed that amount.
The board approved the ballot article at its Dec. 13 meeting.
At the time, board member Matt Krasnow compared the project to building the town’s senior center and library. He said both received a lot of donations from the community and have improved the town.
Including the article on the ballot, Krasnow said, would only give more people in town a chance to weigh in on the project.
