Shelburne dissolves Parks and Recreation Taskforce, no longer needed

Written By Paula Brown

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The Town of Shelburne has officially dissolved its Parks and Recreation Taskforce. 

During a Town Council meeting on March 25, Lindsay Wegener, who sat as a council member on the taskforce, spoke about the decision to dissolve. 

“The taskforce was set in place to bring recommendations to council with regards to aspects of the town within parks and recreation, so things that they wanted to see and updates to certain areas. With the Parks and Recreation Master Plan we've already done that so we're struggling as a committee to find a purpose,” said Wegener. 

Wegener noted that the Parks and Recreation Taskforce has experienced difficulty in reaching quorum resulting in meetings being missed. 

“Although the committee members are great and we appreciate them wanting to be in the committee, devoting their time and effort, it just seems a little counterproductive because we already have a plan,” said Wegener. 

The Parks and Recreation Taskforce was originally formed as a way to identify and prioritize park and recreational needs within the community as well as develop funding strategies to meet those needs and to make recommendations to Town Council that maximized opportunities for parks and recreation.   

In September of 2023, Shelburne Town Council officially adopted the Parks and Recreation Master Plan, which is a 10-year working document focused on guiding future park and recreation projects in the community. 

“I think we actually framed it as a taskforce instead of as a committee because we figured the mandate would be limited and was not intended to be something that goes on,” said Shelburne Mayor Wade Mills, about the dissolution of the taskforce. “It did fulfill its mandate.” 

During the meeting, Wegener made a point of reassuring the community that despite the disbanding of the Parks and Recreation Taskforce, residents will continue to have the opportunity to share their opinions of park and recreation projects within the town. 

“There's always going to be an opportunity for the community as a whole to reach out to us as council or to staff and share their concerns or their wants,” said Wegener. “It's not like because we would be disbanding that there's no more conversation.”

Residents who are interested in the specifics of the Parks and Recreation Master Plan can find a detailed report on the Town of Shelburne website.