The Tupper Lake Central School District school board met in the middle-high school library on Monday evening. From left are TLCSD Clerk Shauni Kavanaugh, Superintendent Jaycee Welsh, Board President Jane Whitmore, Board Vice President Jason Rolley and Board members Sabrina Shipman and Mary Ellen Chamberlain. Absent from the meeting was Board Member Josh Trembley. (Enterprise photo — Chris Gaige)

TUPPER LAKE — The Tupper Lake Central School District is planning for the future management of the Tupper Lake Memorial Civic Center, which is currently owned and operated by the school district.

TLCSD Superintendent Jaycee Welsh secured the school board’s blessing at its regular meeting Monday evening to move forward with organizing a task force to potentially solicit and work out an arrangement for a partnership between the district and an outside group to operate the civic center.

She added that the eventual plan is to open the task force to community members, but for now, the district will work internally to refine the group’s scope and charge. Welsh acknowledged it could take some time for the district to find an operating partner.

“I don’t know how easily those happen,” she said. “I don’t think they’re growing on trees.”

She added that given how much of a community asset the civic center is, serving far more than just the school district, it made sense to have more than just the school district managing it.

“I think joining with someone, an organization, something — I think it will help us see kind of the bigger picture, and will also help us continue to talk about Tupper Lake with tourism, with housing, with all of those things that we know can be a challenge to bring people to the area.”

The move comes on the heels of an economic impact survey on the civic center, which showed that while the ice arena is tremendously beneficial to the community — generating an annual economic value that’s five times its operating costs each year — there are troubling financial aspects that come with the school district operating it.

These include excessive labor costs relative to what would be expected at an ice skating arena — given the school district’s contractual obligations — and a lack of opportunity to seek grants and other forms of financial assistance commonly available to non-profit groups. The school district is also unable to receive any state aid for the costs, as it does with its other buildings, since the civic center serves no formal educational purpose.

The report can be viewed in its entirety at tinyurl.com/2nfsd5fr. Welsh encouraged community stakeholders to review the report, which was funded in its entirety by a community donation. In their discussion, TLCSD board members commended the report’s attention to detail. Board President Jane Whitmore said the 43-page report was a lot to digest, but she appreciated it.

“It was pretty intense, and I’m (of) a skating family,” she said. “But it was nice to see the thoroughness of it, diving into it and the potential that is there.”

Whitmore added that potential partner organizations could include the Tupper Lake Rotary and Lions clubs, the Regional Office for Sustainable Tourism, the town and village governments and local skating and hockey organizations.

Board Vice President Jason Rolley said the civic center was the original reason he joined the school board, and it was affirming to see how much of a community impact it makes each year.

“I joined this board (about) 15 years for that civic center,” he said. “So I was just really psyched to see what I always thought. It’s just great for the community, not just for the school.”

Welsh said she’d provide a subsequent update to the board at its upcoming Jan. 12 meeting.