The Naples Select Board met in late December to discuss the formation of a committee to look again at financing the long-gestating community center project.

The idea for a community center was first brought up a few years ago, when the town sat down with three different contractors and asked them if they could build the community center for $4.5 million. Eventually, Great Falls Construction came in with the lowest price, and the town formed a working group to develop a design. However, both times the project appeared on the town ballot, it was voted down, with Naples voting in 2024 against funding the community center at a cost of $7.2 million, with 1,043 votes in favor and 1,431 against.

Select Board Chair Ted Shane would like to see the town form a working group that would be made up of members from the board, the Budget Committee, the town manager and the recreation director; members would sit down with the information they have, keeping the $4.5 million price tag in mind, and see what can be done with the conceptual design that they already have. This group, Shane hopes, will lead to building the exterior of the community center as soon as possible, with a gymnasium, bathroom and an office for the recreation director to be budgeted at a later date.

At the Dec. 23 meeting, board member Stephen LaPointe told Shane that there was a property over by the American Legion building that the town owns where they could build a community center, with an existing parking lot owned by the Legion and the town. The outside of the building, he noted, would be less of a concern since the location is less public than Route 302, meaning the committee could put something together for under $4.5 million. He also encouraged the project to be completed sooner rather than later, as the price tag would constantly be going up because of inflation.

Vice Chair Colin Brackett was concerned about the viability of the project. He said that forming the committee was fine as long as they have information, but noted that this was the town’s third attempt to fund the community center, with the price tag starting at $11 million, going down to $7.2 million, and now having decreased to $4.5 million. He wondered at what point the board should decide they need to focus on other things, bringing up investments in things such as a potential fire or police station that would cost the town a significant amount of money. Pointing to the close ballot question results, Brackett said he felt that the town was split on what they wanted, saying that a grace period was needed for this project to decide what they could realistically build with the money they had.

Former Select Board member Jim Turpin pointed out that the last two attempts to put the project up to vote had failed not because people didn’t want a community center, but because the projects offered to them were overpriced and overambitious. He also said that a major expenditure would not fly as a fall ballot item no matter what it is, and suggested that the board instead include it in the spring budget as soon as possible. Shane responded by saying that he wasn’t sure they could add it to the budget in the next three months.

Others also weighed in on the project. One resident recalled that when the town met with the developers years ago, the developers had said that $4.5 million was very doable, predicting that the building would come in at well under that number, and even less if it was built next to the American Legion. Others suggested that the committee have full transparency and communicate with the town manager weekly, and that a code enforcement officer should be part of the committee to make sure that all rules were being followed.

Eventually, Shane made a motion to establish a working group that would consist of Kevin Rogers from the Select Board, Jim Grattelo of the Budget Committee, Town Manager Jason Rogers and Recreation Director Brian Crockett. The group would meet every two weeks, where they would take the information given to the town by the contractor, evaluate the project’s immediate priorities, and report back to the Select Board. The board voted 4-0 to establish the new committee.