Present: S. Heinrich, M. Morrison, T. Koenig, C. Morrison, W. Morrison, School Board Liaison
P. McGrath
Excused: J. Heinrich
S. Heinrich called the meeting to order at 7:40 PM.
The vote to approve the minutes as corrected was 4 - 0 - 1.
S. Heinrich made a motion, seconded by C. Morrison, to approve the minutes of March 21, 2000. The vote was 4 - 0 - 1.
S. Heinrich made a motion, seconded by C. Morrison, to approve the mintues of April 4, 2000. The vote was 4 - 0 - 1.
P. McGrath told the committee that two pieces of property owned by Flatley are currently posted as for sale. He asked if any member of the committee might want to investigate this land. He noted that members of the administration are also looking into this land. S. Heinrich offered to attempt to contact Flatley. He asked whether a definite location for the airport access road that been determined and how that would affect the Flatley land. It was suggested that Jay Minkareh should be contacted for further information. Further, P. McGrath noted that the 10 acre parcel adjacent to the Buker site is also available.
P. McGrath reported that S. Issabelle will be making a report at the next School Board meeting regarding the status of the field behind the high school. Combat is redoing the field with sod. There were questions about the cost and who was going to pay. P. McGrath indicated that the lights and new bleachers have been ordered and will be installed soon. Finally, he told the committee that the high school graduation will take place on the Mastricola Elementary School field.
S. Heinrich told the committee that M.Chiafery has indicated that the PBC assistance will not be needed at the district computer/media technology "yard sale."
W. Morrison noted that the areas of Buker that are wet are not where the school district has proposed developing. However, if a middle school is proposed, location of athletic fields will need to be worked out.
S. Heinrich reminded the committee that both town sewer and water are now available at Buker.
C. Morrison asked how long before the survey is complete. P. McGrath offered to check into this with the administration.
C. Morrison further suggested that there may be environmental or conservational issues that need to be addressed before developing this land. She said that they walked to the back of the property where it is dry and the stone walls disappear. Further, in her opinion, while the site is not perfect, it is buildable and not borderline buildable either.
M. Morrison said he felt that further professional evaluation is needed. He suggested the professionals to be consulted should include a surveyor and an architect. He felt this was a nice location for a school. Further, he said he had seen the land before the logging and that wet areas seem to have been affected by the logging project. He also noted that on the map wetlands are defined by the soil type rather than the amount of water present.
S. Heinrich said that some water issues can be alleviated by proper drainage. He referenced the high school parking lot.
M. Morrison stated that Buker is a great location within town for a centralized school. He noted that, while the Flatley property is big, flat and dry, it is not centrally located.
S. Heinrich asked the committee to think about what information should be included in the final report. He suggested that the committee recommend a grade 7 -8 middle school be built. He wants the report to show plans with and without kindergarten to show the cost factors. He suggests that reasonable renovations to MMS be included as well.
W. Morrison suggested the incremental costs (staff, books and equipment) for kindergarten be included in the report as well as the cost to build for kindergarten without the 75% building aid.
M. Morrison suggested that the report should include reasons to build a middle school instead of building an elementary school and reasons why Mastricola can't be one large 5 -8 complex.
It was decided the report should list each potential solution and give the pros and cons for each. The list of solutions should include
C. Morrison reminded the committee that the School Board will be asking the Broad Based Committee to come up with a ten year plan. She said that a ten year plan would address space for the Superintendent's office, Maintenance, and an auditorium.
T. Koenig had a concern about that building a middle school would be expensive enough without adding other options. He suggested the items C. Morrison be included as an addenda. Further he suggested that it would be difficult to justify a 1,000 pupil school without including kindergarten. He felt that, without kindergarten, the district might be looking at building a 500 pupil school for just 8th grade.
W. Morrison agreed that the extra items could be included as addenda, but not part of the main proposal. He suggested that ball park figures for these items could be included. He thought this was one way of keeping these items in the public's eye.
C. Morrison then asked about alternative schooling space issues.
W. Morrison suggested that the commitee make note of this issue, but he felt that alternative schooling was not part of the committee's current project. Further, he suggested that an auditorium might be something to discuss with the representatives from the Parks and Recreation Committee.
T. Koenig wanted to be sure that the cost of administering any new space is included in the proposal, especially the costs for administering kindergarten for 20 years as the kindergarten building aid requires that kindergarten space built with this aid be used for kindergarten for 20 years.
S. Heinrich guesstimated that the additional administrative costs, if a 7 - 8 middle school were built and each elementary was K - 4, would include 10 kindergarten teachers, probably 2 each principal, guidance, secretary and maintenance and then other support staff: library, nurse, special subjects and SpEd.
T. Koenig asked what the anticipated staffing impact of the new high school addition would be.
There was discussion about the possibility of presenting the final report to the School Board at a special meeting called just for that purpose as the School Board is only meeting once during July and August. The also was discussion about whether the final report is still due in July as the Broad Base Committee will be working with the PBC and is just getting underway.
S. Heinrich reminded the committee that representatives from Parks and Recreation will be at the next meeting on June 13 to discuss town and school fields.
On a motion from T. Koenig, seconded by M. Morrison, the committee voted unanimously to adjourn at 9:35 PM.
Last Updated: July 22, 2000 by Wayne Morrison