Saugus aims to finalize ice rink deal

SAUGUS – Town Manager Andrew Bisignani is scheduled to sit down Monday with representatives from two state departments, an attorney and a selectman to hash out the final details for the Kasabuski Arena contract.Bisignani will meet with the Department of Conservation and Recreation, the Department of Capital Asset Management, Town Counsel John Vasapolli and Selectman Peter Rossetti for what he calls the third to last step in the process of subletting the rink.Noticeably missing will be the Lynnfield Partnership Group, which submitted the winning bid to lease the rink. Bisignani said they are not required to be there because the final issues are between the state and the town, not the renters.Once the contract is settled, Bisignani said it will be posted for one week so the public can comment. The Board of Selectmen will review the public comments then take its vote.”Once it’s approved we hand it over,” Bisignani said. “It’s a done deal.”While the Lynnfield Partnership will be getting the rink and all its money-making prospects, Bisignani admitted he would be getting some relief – $725,000 worth to be exact.Kasabuski has been operating under a $650,000 deficit that grew to nearly $800,000 in 2008. Initially the winning bid was to absorb only the $650,000 deficit, but the Partnership agreed to pay an additional $75,000 toward the rink’s 2008 operational deficit.”It will certainly help our financial statement,” Bisignani said. “The DOR (Department of Revenue) has been breathing down our necks about this.”The DOR has been keeping close tabs on the town and its financial issues for more than a year and the rink has long been a sticking point.Initially, Bisignani wanted to institute a plan that would have kept the rink as a town-operated entity, but the DOR pushed town officials to nix the idea after it determined it would not relieve the deficit in a timely fashion.Bisignani then decided leasing the rink was the town’s best bet.He said he expects the Partnership to take over operations at the rink within the next two weeks. The Board of Selectmen, however, are not scheduled to meet again until mid-August.”We’ll call a special meeting,” he said. “We’ll be done with this by the end of the month. That’s the goal.”