Pepperell recreation panel tables gazebo renaming, softball fence bid

Recreation Commission · Meeting of July 29, 2026

Pepperell Recreation Commission tables gazebo renaming and a softball fencing request, both pushed to August. Member Alan Leao relayed a request from resident Don Shattuck to rename the town gazebo for an ailing Eastwood Peak Band member, but Chair David Ganong said the idea needs Pepperell Business Association input and public hearings before it can move, calling it unlikely to happen by Shattuck's requested August timeline. A separate softball request to fence and gain exclusive use of a second Lower Varnum field was tabled until the league's president can attend the August 19 meeting.

Staffer Derek Flanders reported the Bartelson Field 1 well pump was rebuilt in-house for about $400, restoring irrigation ahead of fall baseball, and said fencing contractor Gate City Fence will rebuild the field's backstop this fall. Recreation Administrative Assistant Leanne Hansen said rental revenue rose about $300 and program revenue rose several thousand dollars year over year, with the sports-fields revolving fund at $8,241 through mid-June versus $6,145 a year earlier. "That's not going to help us because the process that that whole area will have to go through is going to be huge," Flanders said of the town's long-stalled old tennis courts project.

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Source: the Recreation Commission meeting of July 29, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.