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Wayne board weighs moving $54,344 in Ladd Recreation Center funds into town reserve; sends draft to lawyer
Summary
Board members debated how to treat $54,344 held in a Winthrop Area Federal Credit Union account for the Ladd Recreation Center, agreed to seek attorney review of draft article language to create a nonlapsing reserve account for those funds, and passed a motion to have staff get legal input and reconvene if needed before warrant posting.
On May 27 the Select Board discussed an unstaffed bank account holding $54,344.43 that the town currently maintains at the Winthrop Area Federal Credit Union and that has historically held Ladd Recreation Center (LRC) receipts and donations. Board members said the account has not been clearly reflected in the town's budget or reserves and asked whether the funds could be moved into a named nonlapsing reserve account to improve transparency and restrict use to recreation purposes.
A board member described the balance: "The town owns an account at the Winthrop Area Federal Credit Union that has $54,344.43 in it. There's nothing that I know of that says what this account is for." Staff said the account has received program revenue and occasional charitable contributions and that, in practice, some transfers were made historically from operating balances into that account.
Board members debated the legal mechanics of moving funds between banks and formally designating them as a municipal reserve. Shannon, a staff member, said the board could accept cash contributions to supplement a program appropriation now but that moving existing deposits into a town nonlapsing reserve for the LRC would require clear authority and likely review by the town attorney. A motion passed to send draft article text to the town attorney for review; if the lawyer advises changes that require a special meeting, the board authorized staff to call such a meeting before the warrant posting if needed.
No final appropriation or transfer was executed May 27. The board approved a motion to forward draft warrant language to counsel, then agreed to proceed with the warrant as posted unless attorney advice required an amendment and a short-notice special meeting.
