Saugus resolves Kasabuski dispute

SAUGUS – Life has been a little bumpy at the Kasabuski Arena since a new owner took over but Town Manager Andrew Bisignani said it’s all working out.Selectman Michael Kelleher said he received an e-mail regarding a discussion over ice rates for Saugus Youth Hockey that made him very nervous. The concern, Kelleher said, is that rates for the local hockey organizations would be going up significantly, which Kelleher said was not supposed to happen.Kelleher said when the deal was brokered with Daniel Maniff to take over the operation of Kasabuski from the town it was to include a clause that rates for Saugus Youth Hockey and the high school would be kept affordable.”It’s a huge concern,” Kelleher said Tuesday. “A big premise of the deal is that Saugus High School, Youth Hockey and the Little League field would be taken care of.”Bisignani said Kelleher need not fear a deal has been worked out.He said both Saugus Youth Hockey and Saugus High School are using the ice at “favorable rates.””But when the season ends in April, all the different groups will have to sit down with the rink and negotiate for next season’s rates,” he said.Bisignani acknowledged that the transition of power from the town to Maniff has not been without glitches but blamed much of that on the fact that Maniff didn’t take over the rink until October.”That was well into the (hockey) season,” he said.He said had Maniff been there from the start of the season things would have undoubtedly gone smoother.”Everything is working itself out,” Bisignani said regarding the changes. “I’m sure there are some ruffled feathers on both sides but there have been some improvements made as well.”Bisignani was also quick to add that although the town has abdicated management of the rink it has stayed involved to act as a sort of mediator between Maniff and various groups.Another group that is being affected, favorably, by the change in ownership is Saugus National Little League.Another part of the deal with Maniff was that the baseball field behind the rink be retained as a Little League field.Bisignani said he sat down with Maniff and Little League officials Friday to discuss the field and learned the baseball club planned to invest a substantial amount of time, effort and expense in upgrading the field.”And the plan has all the blessings from the Department of Conservation and Recreation,” Bisignani said referring to the landowners.Kelleher said he was relieved to know that the children’s interests were still being protected. He said he understood that with new management would come new changes but he hoped the kids would not be lost in the shuffle.