Wednesday, January 7, 2015

TEMPLETON CENTER NAMED NEW SCHOOL SITE

TEMPLETON CENTER NAMED NEW SCHOOL SITE
 Eryn Dion
News Staff Writer


After a decade spent searching for adequate land, the Templeton Elementary School Building Committee voted last night to move forward with the existing Templeton Center Elementary School property as the future site of a new school.

The recommendation comes after the owner of 411 Baldwinville Road withdrew from negotiations with the town, citing a low appraisal figure that valued the property at $340,000 well below the original $750,000 asking price.

“He just felt that we were too far apart,” explained Superintendent Ruth Miller. “It’s a business deal for him and it’s his land.”

The recent turn of events left the committee with only one other viable option Templeton Center School.

“We pretty much expelled all other avenues with the exception of T.C. as the only logical alternate site,” said Chairman Kirk Moschetti.

The committee had previously named Templeton Center as its backup choice should negotiations for 411 Baldwinville Road fall through. However, Ms. Miller said she wanted to ensure the other members were in consensus before putting the site forth as their official recommendation to the Board of Selectmen.



Some members were concerned about the limitations of the existing school property, which sits on only 12-acres of land with few parking spaces and little room for expansion.

“I think there’s going to be a lot of compromise on that site,” said Henry Mason.

Mr. Moschetti agreed, saying that the committee needs to explore the ways it can maximize the space available.

“We need to see how we can best situate the school on that site,” he said.

Previously rendered drawings showed the existing school building being extended down South Road towards the police station and over the existing skate park. The building could then form an “L” shape and reach back towards Wellington Road. The plan did not include the police station property, but Ms. Miller said she would meet with interim Town Administrator Bob Markel to potentially develop a strategy to move the department’s headquarters.

“That opens up a lot more opportunities,” she said.

Even without the additional land, Ms. Miller said that there were a number of ways the committee could alter the project to best use the available land, including having the school house pre-K through fourth grade, instead of fifth. “There’s still a lot of decisions that this committee will have to wrestle with, in conjunction with the School Committee and the select board,” she said.

Dr. John Graziano, principal of Templeton Center and Baldwinville Elementary schools, said the site has two distinct advantages it allows the town to put some vacant land to use, and it was by far the cheapest option offered by the project’s engineers.

“The bottom line on any building project is the cost,” he said. “And I think we’re there.”

According to Ms. Miller, once selectmen approve the recommendation, a proposal for the necessary survey work can be sent out, which will need to be completed by April so it may be reviewed at the Massachusetts School Building Authority’s meeting in June.

“That’s our next benchmark,” she stated. “They’re geared up to get going if this is the direction that the committee wants to go.”

The committee voted unanimously to put forward the recommendation to selectmen, who will take it up during their meeting next week.

 


****************************************
MBW SALVAGE APPRAISAL
23-ACRE PARCEL EYED FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Eryn Dion
News Staff Writer


In what will likely be the final push for a new elementary school, the former MBW Salvage property located at 411 Baldwinville Road has been evaluated and assessed, with the final numbers arriving late last month.

According to Interim Town Administrator Bob Markel, the 23-acre property was appraised at $340,000 by Leominster-based Central Mass. Appraisals Inc. Mr. Markel said the results were a “surprise”, and that he was optimistic about a future, beneficial purchase and sales agreement “It’s doubtful we will not be able to reach an agreement when the owner is asking for $750,000 and the assessed value is $409,000,” he said.

The Board of Selectmen signed the appraisal contract in late November on the recommendation of the Elementary School Building Committee, who named the property as their preferred site for a new school.

The committee had put out a request-for-proposals last October once it became clear that construction on the Crow Hill land located on the Templeton Developmental Center property would not be feasible due to “astronomical” site development costs in the millions and complications in the land-swap agreement with the state. Several other sites were discounted in the search due to an abundance of wetlands, leaving the committee with the MBW Salvage parcel. Although there is no formal timeline in place, the land purchase will likely go before voters in the Spring for their approval, once a purchase and sales agreement is negotiated by Mr. Markel and members of the school building committee. Because of the property’s history as an auto salvage business, the agreement will also be contingent on the completion of a 21E environmental test, paid for by the owner.

Should voters reject the land purchase, committee members have stated that the project will fall out of the Massachusetts School Building Authority pipeline, and future attempts at a new school will be met with less favorable reimbursement rates.

 

7 comments:

  1. We are crazy to get into another project with Ruth at the helm, with her track record it is sure to hide a few more surprises.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AND so much for "Being for the Kids" now they are going to TAKE away what little the kids have and enjoy, with the skate park slated for removal.

      Delete
  2. That has been part of the problem, a majority of the BOS have been too willing to let the district run it. This is/was a town project with Philipston not wanting to take part financially.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We will have to see how the residents of Templeton Center feel about this. There is no room as it is for buses and parents who pick their kids up in the afternoon,as it is. Oh yes, didn't someone have the bright idea to take Bob Whalen's house at one point ? It would have been nice if he was asked first, and just where is our Police Dept. going to go ?? Maybe we should fix what we have ?? I doubt the population is going to increase in the future, and I agree this has developed into a first class mess. It is no wonder people have less and less faith in Ms.Miller and company. Bev..

      Delete
  3. Was the 21E done and were the results made public. Could the low appraisal be due to what the 21E shows? Did we spend money again for nothing? We should have a clean 21E prior to a dime being spent. This appraisal was not free and if it included the 21E results as good or bad it would be a good appraisal. If done prior to the 21E results the money we spent was again wasted on nothing. I think with the wasted money on this project so far we could have done a great amount of renovations at TC and still had the support of the tax payers to do an expansion to the building there now.
    After all the setbacks we see now with the projects the school system takes on what make anyone think this is the way to go? So lets destroy a good building to put up a new school for the main reason because we can't do it any other way.
    Another way to look at this is what a great town hall we now have that was pushed aside by the school users and rehabilitated be the towns people for short money and no 40 year "LOANS"

    ReplyDelete
  4. It seemed that once the decision was made to build new schools the old schools were no longer taken care of. It was said of East Templeton that it was full of mold and the smell was just awful: this was not my experience with that building and I was in there prior to the dehumidifier being installed and the other improvements. Accurate information is hard to come by.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We should fix what we have !! What have we the taxpayer's' spent to come up with nothing ?? I can tell you it has not been cheap. The thirty thousand the School Building Committee spent looking for land, leaves me with a better taste in my mouth, even today. At that time there were a number of large acres, to choose from but the guy they hired could not find a thing !! What have these appraisals cost us ? Maybe Kirk can let us know. Bev.

      Delete