The beach concession stand will open. At its May 4 meeting, the Town Council unanimously approved Paul Orsini as the operator of the stand for the 2022 season.

At a meeting in mid-April, the Parks and Recreation Commission (PRC) warned that there was a possibility of not opening the concession stand at the town beach. At a Town Council meeting on April 27, Town Manager Karl Kilduff announced that a potential vendor was in place. The contract was finalized on May 4.

The contracts states that for a fee of $1, Orsini has the right to operate the snack bar from May 28 to Sept. 5. Additionally, the town will waive electricity costs and a rental fee for this period, but Orsini must pay the propane costs. Orsini must also pay costs associated with modifying the stand if he chooses.

Orsini will be given the right of first refusal to run the stand again in 2023, but must let the council know by March 2023 if he is interested in running the space again.

Orsini, who is the executive director of the Clinton Chamber of Commerce and also owns Doc’s Bar and Grill in Clinton, said he was “excited” to be able to run the stand this year.

“It’s something that needs to be opened. I’m in a position where I can do an extension of Doc’s and open the stand, too,” said Orsini. “It just seemed a natural fit and something I wanted to be involved in.”

Orsini said the stand would offer basic beach eats like burgers, hot dogs, grilled cheese, and breakfast sandwiches on the weekends.

“We’ll also be at the Clinton Job Fair on [Saturday,] May 14 looking to hire about four or five people to help with the stand,” Orsini said.

Concerns grew over the winter when Hog Wild, after two years of running the beach concession stand, determined it would not return for summer 2022, citing the high utility cost.

Last month, PRC Chair Joe Schettino wrote a letter to Kilduff that asked for the town to agree to charge no fees to anyone interested in running the stand and to agree that the town cover all utilities for the stand besides propane.

Schettino also wanted the town to put out a request for proposal for possible vendors, however Kilduff said on April 27 that he had recommended a list of several possible vendors to the Parks & Recreation Department.

The PRC had been talking about finding a recommended vendor for the concession stand for months and was fearful that the town would have to go a summer without one in place, which the commission agreed was a bad look for the town.

“If we don’t get someone in place by the first or second week of May, I say we close it down for the year,” Schettino said in April.

Schettino said that to him, the beach concession stand “is a service, not truly a business.” In other words, Schettino said that whoever operates the stand can’t go in expecting to make a large profit. The rest of the PRC agreed with the assessment.

The PRC pointed out that the beach is not only a seasonal facility, but also a weather-dependent facility, which works against vendors since they don’t know how many days the stand will be opened. Furthermore, because of where Clinton Town Beach is located, it’s susceptible to water closures.

The commission said the beach was closed to swimming more than five times during summer 2021 alone. With the beach closed to swimming even if the weather is cooperative, it’s still unlikely people show up at the beach.

The possibility of having the Parks & Recreation Department run the stand was also briefly discussed by the PRC, but Schettino said it wasn’t feasible for this year. The money to run the stand wasn’t in the proposed budget, and Schettino said anecdotally there doesn’t seem to be as many people willing to volunteer as in years past.