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| May 05, 2024 |
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General News: Public Gets First Look at School Plans
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| Superintendent Rehm described the need for new facilities at the meeting. |
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| Engineer Bill Hauser shows a drawing of the proposed expansion of the football field area. |
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| Anthony Incanno, a member of the Cornwall Conservation Advisory Council, questioned whether the new facility at the middle school would create too much congestion. |
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| Coach Glen McGinnis said the district does not want to return to the crowded classrooms of an earlier day. |
November 05, 2010
A crowd of about 75 people listened to a presentation of draft plans for new facilities at three of Cornwall ‘s five public schools on Wednesday evening. Schools superintendent Timothy Rehm said that the informational session was called to reach out to leaders in the community, including those active in sports leagues, to get their input on the planned facilities. Superintendent Rehm explained how class size has grown from three-to-five percent yearly since 1999, putting pressure on existing facilities and pushing him to plan for expansion.
He discussed the work of the facilities committee, made up of members of the school board, the district and the general public, that has proposed 12 new classrooms at Lee Road elementary school and a re-design of the middle school that includes a new multi-media center and additional classrooms. Central to the middle school plans is a proposed 59,000 square foot athletic and community center and a revamping of its football field. A new athletic facility and expanded parking are proposed for the high school. (See more on the plans here.)
New Cornwall Foundation to Raise Additional Funds
Lisa Strine, a development consultant and Cornwall resident, described her vision for the Cornwall Community Foundation, a charitable group formed earlier this year, that will work to raise funds to pay for a portion of the facilities, whose cost is now pegged at $39.1 million. Strine talked about matching gifts and tax-deductions that contributors will be offered. “We are a community of do-ers,” she said, “and I am optimistic about what we can do to support our community.”
A dozen members of the community spoke, many of them in favor of building the new facilities to meet the growing demand. Several praised the concept of using the middle school facilities to attract tournaments and people who will spend money at businesses on Main Street. They also asked if other communities have studied the benefits of adding a sports venue.
Speaker Urges Coordination with the Town
One speaker, Colin Seitz, a realtor, described what he predicts will be a growing population in Cornwall and the sorry state of soccer fields around town. He also questioned how the increased traffic flow will impact Mailler Avenue, which will become the site of the main entrance to the middle school. “You have to work with the town to plan this,” Seitz said, and talked about the need for new sidewalks, better roads and more parking.
Town leaders were busy at a public hearing at town hall on the 2010 budget, but councilwoman Mary Beth Greene Krafft arrived at the end of the meeting, just in time to start a list of projects that the town may have to address if the school facilities are improved.
Cornwall-on-Hudson mayor Joseph Gross did attend the meeting and he spoke early in the meeting to ask if the district had included the cost of maintenance, additional staff, and energy costs in its planning. Superintendent Rehm said that those costs would be covered in the general budget. Gross’s deputy mayor, trustee Barbara Gosda, spoke against the new facilities, saying “you are asking more than the taxpayer can bear, school taxes are killing people.”
State Aid Expected to Reduce Costs
Superintendent Rehm referred to projections that put the cost to the taxpayer at as little as $206 a year for a property valued at $250,000. The total cost could be reduced significantly, from $39 to $13 million, if everything is approved for state aid, he said.
“We’re not lost on the fact that this is expensive,” Dave Carnright told the crowd. Carnright, who is a member of the facilities committee and the school board, continued “but as a life-long resident I believe it is good for the community and the best thing for the kids.”
The school board and district will continue to get input from the public on its proposals before a final plan is adopted and the public is asked to approved a bond to finance it.
To review the information presented at the meeting, visiit www.cornwallschools.com and click on Facilities Planning Information.
Comments:
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Really? 39 million dollars at this time. A charitable foundation that will directly compete with charitable organizations that provide FOOD and health care to our school children. Proposing to escalate taxes. These are the concerns of your residents. Matching Gifts? Who matches gifts in 2010? This leadership is frightening.
posted by Regina McGrade on 11/08/10 at 9:34 AM
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