Needham Park Commission Holds Disc Golf Vote, Awaits Select Board Guidance

NEEDHAM -- April 27, 2026, Needham Park and Recreation Commission defers disc golf article decision after Finance Committee rejects it 8-1. Meeting in an abbreviated Monday session to make room for a League of Women Voters warrant forum, the three-member quorum left open whether to withdraw a $50,000 Community Preservation Committee-funded disc golf feasibility article from town meeting, agreeing to first hear from the Select Board at its April 28 meeting. Director Stacey Donahue reported that the Finance Committee chair initially supported the proposal but reversed by the end of the session, with the majority arguing the town should not fund design without committing to construction. Commissioners also discussed urgent drainage problems at Memorial Diamond, one of the town's only three 95-foot diamonds, and agreed the commission chair would write to the Select Board and Town Manager about the need for a capital fix estimated at $100,000 for an interim solution, with a full remediation potentially exceeding $1 million. The commission approved a preliminary priority list for four newly purchased AEDs, targeting Claxton, Mills, Cricket, and Walker Gordon fields, under a new state law requiring defibrillators at every athletic field, with a $25,000 warrant article planned for October to cover remaining sites.