Chilmark town officials are beginning to draft a request for proposals to help find an organization to run the summer programs at the Chilmark Community Center next year. 

The select board kicked off discussions on the RFP on Tuesday and have meetings planned for next week to hammer out finer points. 

The community center’s management has been a contentious topic in Chilmark in recent years, with some residents upset over how the center on South Road has been run. During the 2024 annual town meeting, residents voted to form a committee to investigate the center’s operations.

In February, the committee released a 142-page report that dug into the history of the community center’s governance. The report urged the town to become more involved in overseeing the center’s programs and also suggested seeking an RFP for organizations interested in taking over the facility. 

The select board will ponder the length of the lease, requirements of program offerings and what policies the bidders must have in place for community center participants. Other aspects the board highlighted were flexibility of the lease because of the town’s usage of the center, safety requirements and detailed tuition requirements. 

“We just want to make sure that it’s clear in the RFP what we’re looking for, what you’re looking for, so your input is going to be important,” town administrator Tim Carroll said to the board during Tuesday’s meeting. 

The Chilmark Town Affairs Council (CTAC), a non-profit organization, has run the center’s programming since 1959, offering summer and year-round programming for people of all ages. 

There are still placeholders and specific wording to iron out as each select board member continues submitting comments to Mr. Carroll to incorporate into the draft. 

“I think we need to meet more than twice a month to actually make genuine progress on this,” select board chair Marie Larsen said.