By Madison Butkus
Hometown Weekly Reporter
The Dover Town Library (DTL) welcomed Town Administrator Michael Blanchard to discuss and review articles on the town warrant for the May Town Meeting and hear updates on Town projects. This event was in co-collaboration with the Dover Council on Aging (COA).
Residents of Dover gathered together in the DTL Community Room, many bringing along their “blue books” that were sent out to them earlier that week. These books include the FY25 budget and article recommendations that are through the Warrant Committee Report and Recommendations. When these were sent out, everyone was encouraged to bring them to town meetings, like this one, to promote anyone to ask any questions they may have.
Throughout this discussion, Blanchard hit on an array of different topics that were happening, or plan on happening, within the town of Dover. One of the major topics of discussion stemmed around the construction of the Dover Community Center (DCC), which began back in July of 2023. “I think all of you can see it [ the DCC],” Blanchard stated, “and it is coming along really well. We are really excited about it. As of right now, I am happy to report that it is well within budget and being constructed on time which is really wonderful.”
If all goes as planned, the DCC should be opening up in late fall of this year. With the opening of this center comes three new job positions that need to be filled and are included within the town budget. These jobs include a Community Center Director and two Custodians. According to Blanchard, there are plans set into place when it comes to fulfilling these positions. To start, the plan (which was just officially agreed upon this past Tuesday) is that they are going to have the Parks and Recreation Director act as the Community Center Director and start with one Custodian to first see exactly what the building needs. These positions will go through a trial period in which the Director will continuously report to the Selectman.
Upon talking about this topic, citizens expressed either their concerns and/or their praises of this proposal. A couple of Doverites wanted to make sure that the Community Center was a place for all, not just for Parks and Recreation and the COA. Blanchard, understanding these concerns, expressed his utmost belief that there will be no upper hand when it comes to decision making within the DCC, and all of these goals of it becoming a place for the entire community would be accomplished without having to hire a third party director.
As this discussion went on, residents continued to voice their opinions and ask questions. Blanchard was happy to address and answer all of them so that everyone could leave this meeting with peace of mind of what was going on in their beloved town.
For more information of what is happening within the community, please visit the Dover, MA website at www.doverma.gov.
