The Waldoboro Board of Selectmen authorized Recreation Director Kyle Santheson to proceed with a public skating rink. The selectmen voted to accept a $5000 donation from the Alan & Tonia Gould Family Foundation to pay for the rink.
The rink will be approximately 100-feet by 50-feet; if a location can be finalized soon, it will be open this winter to any resident for free.
Santheson will explore putting the rink behind the town office because he deemed it the most suitable location on town-owned property. Other possibilities did not have an adequate water supply, could not support the necessary lighting, or were paved and would require altering the equipment supporting the walls of the rink.
Several locations on private property were offered to the town, Santheson said, but the town’s liability insurance would not cover them.
The estimated cost of the rink is about $2500. The ongoing costs to maintain the rink include: $300 per year for water and electricity for lighting and $950 every three years to replace the lining.
The site will require some grading, which Santheson said the Waldoboro Public Works Dept. has told him they can do.
Selectman Becky Maxwell expressed concerns because she said years ago a baseball field was proposed for the site behind the town office, but abutters on Depot Street complained.
Santheson said he will ask the residents abutting the property prior to moving forward with the site.
“A skating area would be a great opportunity for people to gather and have some fun,” Santheson said. “If it doesn’t go in this year, it would be disappointing, but I want to do it once, and I want everybody to give a big thumbs up when it’s finished.”
