Three Lakes board pushes back on town’s proposed fee hike for park-field use and seeks details on plowing request

Administrators presented a January letter and follow-up meetings in which the town asked the district to increase its annual payment for use of town park fields from $4,000 to $6,000. Board members objected to what they described as double taxation — asserting the district already contributes labor and supplies for field maintenance — and asked administration to press the town for an itemized accounting of labor, supplies and hours that justify the increase.

Several board members contrasted local practice in neighboring municipalities and noted that some towns provide fields to schools at no charge while the district supplies maintenance labor. Members suggested options for response, including returning a detailed list of questions through the district attorney, offering alternatives such as moving events to other facilities, or exploring the cost of building and maintaining district-owned fields.

Separately the board discussed West School Street and whether the town would continue to plow the paved portion of that road versus the parking-lot area; options discussed included negotiating an easement, asking the town to abandon the road, or maintaining current arrangements with the district’s contracted plow vendor. Administrators were asked to prepare a coordinated response and to bring a list of questions and cost breakdowns back to the town.