The Town of Lakeville Park Commission reviewed its draft fiscal 2026 budget Thursday and discussed several options to cover an anticipated shortfall if a planned transfer from the general fund is not available.

Commissioners heard that the parks department may be billed $4,000 related to Loon Pond and that replacement lighting at John Pond Park could cost roughly $10,000 to $12,000 for three poles and new brackets. The commission also discussed a $17,500 expected transfer from the town’s general fund that staff said may not come through; commissioners discussed using retained earnings or cutting hours or raising fees to cover the gap.

The discussion is significant because the transfer and retained earnings affect staffing, operating hours and planned capital work at Loon Pond and Clear Pond, and because the commission is weighing options — such as opening Loon Pond to nonresidents, increasing individual fees or changing hours — to avoid drawing down long-term reserves.

Most of the meeting focused on practical budget choices. Commissioners asked staff to flag line items to trim and suggested small fee increases (for example, raising resident adult daily fees by about $2 and nonresident fees by $2) and limiting guest privileges for season-pass holders. Staff flagged that season-pass pricing and guest limits were likely to affect public response, noting past complaints when nonresident season pass pricing was raised.

Capital items discussed included an office roof repair and a proposed perimeter fence at Clear Pond. Peter reported a contractor quote for the office roof of $9,800 plus up to $4,000 more if plywood replacement is needed, and noted prevailing-wage rules could raise that figure further. Separately, he proposed using free cash to replace leaning fence around Clear Pond, citing public-safety and security concerns.

Commissioners also discussed recurring operating items: lodge fixed fees that staff listed around $9,500 and expected to rise to about $10,000; gate fees for Clear Pond that are unlikely to meet budgeted targets because many users buy season passes; and bottle-recycling donations, which staff said have fallen (the draft FY2026 budget currently budgets $3,000 for bottle revenue). Peter said porta-potty service could be cut from two units per site to a single ADA-accessible unit to save roughly half the current porta-potty line item.

Staff explained indirect charges assessed by the town; the commission said it was currently being billed a modest indirect charge (about $5,700) but had received an estimate of what full indirect charges could look like under the town’s formula (figures reported in the meeting as much higher, on the order of tens of thousands), and commissioners asked for the detailed breakdown. Peter said he would forward the full list of indirect-charge components to the commission for review.

On staffing and seasonal operations, commissioners discussed hiring for Clear Pond, noting four job descriptions included in the packet for 2025 — a director, two lifeguard descriptions (one with water-safety-instructor duties) and an attendant posting. Lacey (staff) will add pay scales once the budget is finalized. Commissioners also raised operational details such as minimum lifeguard age, certification and drug-test requirements.

No final decisions were made at Thursday’s meeting; commissioners asked staff to produce a tighter budget draft and to bring fee-change scenarios and capital-prioritization options to the next meeting so the commission can present a clearer request to the select board during the upcoming joint review.

Ending: The commission scheduled follow-up budget discussion for a virtual session later this month, and commissioners asked that any budget suggestions be emailed to Peter before the next packet is finalized.