Recreation committee wants new bathhouse

The Charlotte Recreation Committee has developed a plan to build a new bathhouse and pavilion for the town beach. The multi-year project would cost an estimated $750,000.

If the Charlotte Selectboard agrees to warn the committee’s proposed Town Meeting Day article, voters will have a chance to weigh contributing an initial $40,000. On Jan. 6, the board heard a presentation without taking action.

“At present, the state of the bathhouse is disastrous,” said Brandon Tieso, a former beach attendant who now serves on the recreation commission. “It would be nice to have a facility that people could use and feel safe in and hygienic in.”

According to recreation chair Julie Phelps, the town’s circa-1980 building lacks Americans with Disabilities Act compliance. Slides suggested that its replacement might resemble the new Shelburne Beach House, completed in 2024.

That project’s conceptual phase began in 2016. Phelps floated a similar timeline.

In her vision, annual taxpayer contributions would join community fundraising dollars to form the required 50 percent match for a Land and Water Conservation Fund grant from the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, for which the recreation committee would apply in 2026 or, more likely, 2028.

Ultimately, the new structure would “provide accessible and gender-neutral bathroom and changing facilities” and “a covered, protected ‘stage’ area for musical performances, small gatherings or summer camps,” as well as office space for beach employees and storage for pickleball equipment. It could even include outdoor showers.

“I think we’re going to go through so many iterations. This is going to be many years down the road. Whatever we end up with may not be what we initially have sat in front of you and asked for,” Phelps said. “We’d like to start funding.”

At the same meeting, the Charlotte Trails Committee also pitched a potential Town Meeting Day article. It wants to ask voters for $62,000, which would cover about two-thirds of the cost of a new segment of the Town Link Trail, with the remainder coming from the trail reserve fund.

The funding would pay for a gravel path along the south side of Ferry Road between the old health center and the rail station access road. With the addition of a crosswalk, this would connect the Village Loop Trail to the Cowboy Lewis Trail.

“It’s important for us to remember that we want to have all these great things. There’s a price tag,” selectboard member Kelly Devine said. “I think we’ll do our best to try to squeeze everything in. But I’d love to see voters be thinking more about those choices as we try to make them as a town, and how we can come up with a balance that really works well for people across the community.”