Budgetary matters were the primary theme of Tuesday night’s Parks & Recreation Commission meeting as members discussed costs related to the Fruit Street fields and holiday lights on the Town Common.

Parks & Rec Director Jon Lewitus and program coordinator Colleen Allen gave a joint presentation to the commission detailing the revenues and expenses of the Fruit Street athletic complex. Lewitus explained the goal was to evaluate both the rates Parks & Rec charges groups to use the fields and the booking process.

“We’ve identified some things we’d like to change internally in terms of how we book the fields — specifically, the grass fields,” said Lewitus.

The presentation shared with the commission reviewed the income generated from groups that use the five 9v9 soccer fields. Two of the fields are turf, and the remaining three are grass. In fiscal year 2025, Parks & Rec collected $206,328 in revenue for Fruit Street. Associated expenses totaled $170,283, generating a net profit of $36,045.

Lewitus drilled down further, noting that the turf fields bring in around $160,000 in revenue versus $46,000 for grass. He added that the majority of the overall revenue comes from the Hopkinton Youth Soccer Association.

The largest expense associated with the athletic complex is maintenance of the grass fields, Lewitus shared. With all the other associated expenses, he estimated that the baseline cost to maintain the fields annually would start at around $158,000.

“It’s expensive to have excellent fields,” Parks & Rec chair Dan Terry remarked.

Following Lewitus and Allen’s presentation, the commission discussed the merits of raising field rates to generate additional revenue. 

“I think we have to kind of parse this out and recognize that we’re losing a lot of money on the grass,” said Terry. “My end run here is we need to adjust rates.”

Terry hinted that the money likely would go to other expenses, such as the maintenance of Pyne Field once that project has been funded and completed. Citing maintenance of grass at Pyne Field at around $80,000, Terry expressed worries over the Parks & Rec Department asking the town for the remaining balance after applying the net revenue from Fruit Street.

Letwitus backed up Terry’s concerns over the town supplying the remaining field maintenance budget. “I don’t think there’s an appetite for the town to fund expenses for any fields,” he said.

Terry also doubted whether the two major user groups of the Pyne Field complex — Hopkinton Little League and local cricket organizations — would be willing to pay enough in user fees to cover that $80,000 in annual field maintenance.

Another factor Terry cited in his comments was that user fees for Fruit Street have not changed in the last 10 years.

“I don’t think raising our town user group fees … is the right thing to do,” said member Amy O’Donnell. “Looking at how we can cut [expenses] down, if that’s possible, that’s the best we can do.”

O’Donnell went on to argue that residents would end up paying “on both sides” if fees were raised.

“I don’t think that will go well with people using the grass field,” added member Ravi Dasari. “We cannot just operate based on the profit motive.”

After further discussion, the commission determined it was not ready to make any decisions regarding user fee increases for the Fruit Street fields. Lewitus agreed to provide the commission more detail on cost and field usage, as well as look at ways of reducing expenses.

Holiday lights funding addressed

Lewitus updated the Parks & Rec Commission on his department’s program for holiday lights on the Town Common. “The contractor has reached out and said he was willing to do the same price [as last year],” said Lewitus.

“The bad news is we don’t have the funding for it,” he added.

The Parks & Rec Department eliminated the holiday lights program as part of its fiscal year 2026 budget upon recommendation from the town during the last budgeting cycle. At that time, the contractor had quoted the price for light installation at around $14,000, a significant increase from the $9,500 it charged in previous years.

Given the lower quote and interest from residents and organizations in town about bringing the holiday lights back, Lewitus informed the commission he had spoken to town leadership about the matter.

“I spoke with the Town Manager on this and asked what we legally can do in terms of soliciting and accepting donations or grants,” he explained.

Given a tight turnaround to accept the contractor’s offer and Parks & Rec’s other priorities, commission members were hesitant to encourage the department to engage in an active solicitation campaign.

“It looks like we don’t need to go around asking for donations,” said Dasari. “Put it up on Facebook or other social media platforms where people can just voluntarily come forward.”

Added O’Donnell: “I don’t think this should become someone’s full-time job, soliciting donations.”

“We’d be happy to do some general marketing things, put an email blast out or something like that, but that’s really the extent of what we’re doing,” Lewitus confirmed.

Vice chair Kyle Smith voiced the perspective that “you get what you signed up for” with the town’s recommendation to cut the lights from the budget. He also worried that soliciting donations from businesses could be viewed as quid pro quo.

Terry echoed Smith’s worries, noting that he wished there were more time for Parks & Rec staff to complete some manner of conflict of interest training.

Later in the meeting, the commission took public comment from Juanita Hanson, who joined the meeting on behalf of a coalition of organizations in town. Hanson informed commission members that the Hopkinton Chamber of Commerce, the Hopkinton Center for the Arts and others had expressed interest in covering the cost of the holiday lights via donation.

“If we get that amount covered, is that something we can move forward with?” Hanson asked.

Lewitus explained that the donation would have to get approved by the Parks & Rec Commission and the Select Board. Hanson agreed to follow up with Lewitus regarding the rules and requirements for making said donation.