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The Public Works Committee met to review a major recreation proposal at Reynolds Field, discuss an energy reduction plan and consider changes to the committee’s structure and membership.
The committee, composed of department heads who work in public spaces or buildings, coordinates projects that span departments and aims to prevent duplicated efforts.
Recreation and Parks commissioners Shelly Bedrosian and Chris Kennedy outlined a three-phase project at Reynolds Field that includes a refrigerated ice rink, field improvements and accessibility upgrades.
“The intention is for it to be sort of a practice deck for Marblehead use Marblehead youth hockey and community skating,” Bedrosian said.
The proposed rink would cover about 85% of regulation hockey size on the current footprint to avoid triggering a change in use and to keep costs manageable. Bedrosian said a full-size rink would cost an additional $1 million and could draw valley league or high school games that may increase traffic in the neighborhood.
Phase one, funded by a $3.3 million bequest from Lars Anderson, includes the open-air pavilion-style rink with a roof, bathrooms, parking improvements and modular turf that can be rolled out during the shoulder season for spring sports.
“If you have kids in spring sports, you know that most of their practices are rained out in spring, so a lot of times they’re going to their first game without having practice,” Bedrosian said.
Phase two would repair the field and softball diamond with options for natural turf or synthetic two-toned turf. Phase three addresses Americans with Disabilities Act requirements and may move forward alongside earlier work.
Town Engineer Maggie Wheeler and Department of Public Works Superintendent Amy McHugh said the site poses engineering challenges, including significant drainage issues, a major drain line under the field and peat in the soil.
“We broke it into phases, because we don’t know what we’re going to be told on that field,” Bedrosian said.
Engineering assessments and neighborhood impacts
Subsurface investigations are scheduled for the week of Dec. 29, with wetland delineations completed and surveys underway. A noise study using staged street hockey games with older players is planned to measure impacts on neighbors.
Bedrosian said the proposal attempts to address concerns about traffic, noise and parking. The site has 41 parking spaces. The Marblehead Community Charter Public School agreed to make its 44 spaces available from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.
“With those spaces in the 41 that are in here, obviously we’re up in the 70s, which is going to take a big impact off of pickup drop off,” Bedrosian said.
Kennedy said the town lacks sufficient field space and youth sports are “far below state regulations as far as practice time, field space and everything.”
Energy plan review
Logan Casey, the town’s sustainability coordinator, recommended engineers evaluate geothermal systems for heating and cooling the rink. Casey noted the town qualifies for a 30% federal tax credit for advanced energy projects and said the system might connect to nearby public housing buildings, a model used in other Massachusetts communities.
Electric Light Department representative Jonathan Blair said coordination with engineers will be needed to optimize the rink’s heating and cooling system.
“You’re basically taking you’re pulling the heat out of the ice,” Blair said. “The other option you mentioned, like a district heat, you could go to the housing authority on green. Could go over to charter school potentially.”
The committee also reviewed a draft plan to reduce municipal energy use by 20% over five years. The nonbinding plan is required for the town to join the Green Communities Program, which would make Marblehead eligible for $150,000 to $170,000 in designation grants and up to $250,000 in competitive grants.
Casey said the plan focuses on the 14 highest energy-using buildings, primarily schools, and recommends near-term steps like adjusting heating setpoints and LED conversions along with long-term strategies such as electrification and deep energy retrofits.
McHugh raised concerns about costs and responsibilities for implementation, noting that many department heads manage buildings without dedicated facilities staff.
“There are things filled out that building managers are doing. Have to do, there’s costs in your budget,” McHugh said.
Casey said the plan is a menu of recommendations rather than mandated requirements.
Committee structure and next steps
The committee also discussed revising its charter. McHugh proposed adding the police and fire chiefs, shifting meetings to a quarterly schedule and focusing the committee on resource sharing, emergency coordination and reviews of major projects.
The committee plans to meet Jan. 5 to finalize a Town Meeting article that would either revise the committee’s structure or disband it.
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