Residents are asked to attend Special Town Meeting Monday night at 7 p.m. to vote to approve $15,500,000 of additional funds for the school building project.
The Board of Selectmen and School Committee held a joint meeting last Monday night to announce the new school building project total of $122,652,133. The town will need $15,500,000 more to complete the school the way it was originally designed.
If residents vote to approve the additional funds, the project will remain on schedule, items will not be removed from the budget, the MSBA will still reimburse the original amount planned and there will be no annual impact on the operating budget. The school will be built the way it was originally designed.
If residents decide not to approve the additional funds and vote against it, there could be up to a seven-month project delay at a cost greater than $400,000 per month, the project will not be constructed as it was originally designed and several items will be removed from the budget.
Residents are also asked to vote at a Special Election on March 22. Residents can vote at St. Theresa's Parish between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m.
According to the town's website, the ballot question will read as follows:
QUESTION #1
Shall the Town of North Reading be allowed to exempt from the provisions of Proposition two-and-one-half, so-called, the amounts required to pay for the bond issued in order to construct an addition and renovate the Middle School and construct a new High School to create a new integrated Middle-High School located at Park Street and Sherman Road?
John Intorcio
8:50 am on Monday, March 18, 2013
LET'S DO IT RIGHT!
Voiceofreason
9:24 am on Monday, March 18, 2013
Talk about holding people hostage...There should be a criminal probe after all is said and done...
JIM
9:31 am on Monday, March 18, 2013
NO MORE MONEY !
Frank
10:07 am on Monday, March 18, 2013
Just think what we could do for the entire citizens of North Reading with 15.5 million.
How about a new senior center? If all the supporters of the school would take a walk through of this facility they would be embarrassed that this is the best we can do for our seniors who have paid their dues.
How about elderly housing? How many of our citizens have actually looked inside one these housing units? It is beyond words that this is the best we can do for these residents. I’m sure if this group of residents had the political machine behind them as the schools have they would not be living in housing units built in the 60’s without any updates.
How about a new Town Hall? The pride of North Reading! Boy I bet the Governor was very impressed with this facility. The school supports always will express their compassion for the children and how they deserve the best we can give them. I do agree with this philosophy however at what cost? I would also counter that argument with the Town hall workers also deserve the best as well.
I’m not against reinvesting in our community; I just think we should prioritize our needs.
Concerned Momma
1:07 pm on Monday, March 18, 2013
The Town Hall is in deplorable condition and is a "Sick" building as bad as the ones in Boston and Cambridge.
Stev
1:32 pm on Monday, March 18, 2013
Stop all this nonsense and work within the original budget. VOTE NO !!!!
Pam
4:55 pm on Monday, March 18, 2013
A no vote still costs our town! Vote yes and do it right. Then we can focus on other needed projects as mentioned such as the senior center, town hall, etc.
Marci Bailey
5:25 pm on Monday, March 18, 2013
Years ago, there was a plan that would have moved Town Hall along with the police station to the Batch, built a school at Swan Pond, allowed more room for the fire department, allowed for selling the town hall property to pay for some of the expenses, and even allowed the opportunity for better senior citizen space on the Batch site. This was shot down by many of the people I hear shooting down finishing the school project properly. A lack of planning, foresight, and follow through has cost NR taxpayers in the past. Let's learn from that, move ahead, and finish what we started. If we spend the next 20 years fixing a brand new "broken" high school and middle school, our seniors, Town Hall workers, and others will never get the focus and space they deserve.
Thomas Dowd
9:01 am on Friday, March 22, 2013
Marci - my recollection was that none of the great alternatives you mentioned for the proposed Batch site move to Swan Pond reached more than speculation. What was put before the voters had none of those details and left the issue of a vacant white elephant on the table. They were all good ideas but no one put it in the referendum so no one got to vote on them - if I am mistaken as to the wording of the referundunm please let me know.