Saugus rink deal still on ice

SAUGUS – That sigh of relief that everyone took when legislation passed extending the town’s lease on the Kasabuski Arena has turned to one of exasperation.Contract negotiations between the Department of Conservation and Recreation and Kasabuski Partnership of Lynnfield, which won the bid to take over the ice rink, are still dragging on and have raised some concern.Town Meeting members voted in the spring to file for legislation that would extend the town’s lease with the rink to a total of 20 years. The idea is a 20-year lease would make the rink more attractive when put out to bid for subletting, which the town was anxious to do since a mounting debt was attached to it.Town Manager Andrew Bisignani initially said he expected the negotiations to go quickly, wrapping up at the latest by the end of this week. Wednesday, Bisignani said it was unlikely that would happen now.”We’re still in negotiations and there might be amendments to the legislation required,” he said.Bisignani declined to elaborate on what the amendments might be, but said they might be necessary to meet the needs of the potential vendor.”It’s like I said, the devil is in the details,” Bisignani said.What was originally a five-page lease is now a 50-page contract that would bring Kasabuski in line with the other rinks subleased by the state.”They want them all under the same umbrella,” Bisignani said. “The lease has gone from five pages to 50 so you can imagine what’s in there – everything.”If the deal falls through, which some town officials fear might happen, the town will be faced with a nearly $800,000 deficit.The town has barely crawled out from under a nearly two-year tidal wave of financial difficulties and reached a level of stability. The demise of the Kasabuski deal could send the town’s finances back into the red zone.Bisignani said he is still optimistic a deal can be worked out and hopes to have the issue settled soon.