H 5604

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 6272  FILED ON: 7/16/2026
 HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 5604
  The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
  _________________
  PRESENTED BY:
  Aaron L. Saunders
  _________________
To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
   Court assembled:
   The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
An Act restructuring the town of Ludlow recreation department and the town of Ludlow
  recreation commission.
  _______________
  PETITION OF:
NAME:  DISTRICT/ADDRESS:  DATE ADDED:
Aaron L. Saunders  7th Hampden  7/16/2026
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  HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 6272  FILED ON: 7/16/2026
 HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 5604
By Representative Saunders of Belchertown, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 5604)
of Aaron L. Saunders (by vote of the town) relative to the recreation department and recreation
commission in the town of Ludlow. Municipalities and Regional Government. [Local Approval
Received.]
  The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
  _______________
  In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
  (2025-2026)
  _______________
An Act restructuring the town of Ludlow recreation department and the town of Ludlow
recreation commission.
  Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1SECTION 1. Notwithstanding chapter 45 of the General Laws or any other general or
2 special law to the contrary, the Town of Ludlow’s Recreation Department shall hereby become
3 part of the Parks & Recreation Division of the Town of Ludlow’s Department of Public Works.
4 The Director of the Department of Public Works shall oversee the operations of the Parks &
5 Recreation Division and have all other authority over the Parks & Recreation Division that they
6 have over other divisions within the Department of Public Works.
7SECTION 2. Upon the effective date of this act, the appointed and elected offices of the
8 Recreation Department, including those of the elected Recreation Commission, shall be
9 abolished and the term of the incumbents in such offices terminated, provided, however, that
10 notwithstanding section 1., the incumbent appointed Recreation Department employees shall
11 become Parks & Recreation Division employees to the extent that their employment positions
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12 are established within the Parks & Recreation Division, and the elected Recreation
13 Commissioners shall be appointed to the same post by the Select Board for the remainder of their
14 previously elected terms. Once the incumbent Recreation Commissioners have reached the end
15 of their respective elected terms, the Select Board shall appoint new members of the Recreation
16 Commission, each for a three-year term, to be staggered so that each member’s term ends in a
17 different year.
18SECTION 3. Upon the effective date of this act, the Select Board shall become the
19 appointing authority of the Recreation Commission and the Parks & Recreation Division and all
20 its employees. The Select Board shall also have the authority to appoint and remove a Parks &
21 Recreation Division Director, who shall be charged with overseeing the daily operations of the
22 Parks & Recreation Division and who shall be subject to the supervisory authority of the
23 Director of the Department of Public Works. The Select Board shall appoint all previously active
24 members of the Recreation Commission at the time this act takes effect as Recreation
25 Commissioners for the remainder of their previously elected terms. The Recreation Commission
26 and the Parks & Recreation Division shall have all powers and duties contained in applicable
27 laws, including but not limited to chapter 45 of the General Laws.
28SECTION 4. No contracts or liabilities in force on the effective date of this act shall be
29 affected by the abolition of the Recreation Department in the town of Ludlow or the
30 establishment of the Parks & Recreation Division of the Department of Public Works pursuant to
31 this act and the Parks & Recreation Division shall, in all respects, be the lawful successor of the
32 Recreation Department so abolished or consolidated. All records, property and equipment of the
33 offices of the appointed Recreation Department shall be assigned to the Parks & Recreation
34 Division.
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35 SECTION 5. This act shall take effect upon its passage.
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