West Bristol school committee minutes

Minutes of the West Bristol Site Selection Committee
On September 13, 2007

CALL TO ORDER
Chairman Audette called the meeting to order at 6:04 p.m. Present were Michael Audette, Michele Cole Currie, Ivonne Hamm, Donald Soucy, Mayor William T. Stortz, Gary Vontell, and Commissioner Christopher Wilson. Also present were William Smyth, Ken Cockayne, Ken Johnson, and parents of O’Connell School students: Rochelle DeKow, Lisa Reeh and John Reeh, Tamasa Roy, and Kristi Stergiotis.

DISCUSSION OF SITE SELECTION
Chairman Audette asked the committee for their views on three sites which had been forwarded from the Board of Education to the West Bristol School Building Committee. Chairman Audette said that he and members of the site selection committee had visited the following sites:

1) The site at Park and Divinity Street
2) The Robert’s property at James P. Casey and Perkins Street
3) The Scalia site off of Barlow Street

The Site Selection Committee expressed concerns regarding the taking of 35 properties in the Park and Divinity neighborhood probably involving eminent domain. The discussion also focused on more walking students to that property, the proximity to the O’Connell School, aspects of urban renewal, and the limited size of the property.

The discussion on the Scalia site focused on the number of buildable acres, the fact that the site lay between O’Connell and Bingham Schools, the cost to purchase, no urban renewal aspect, not a neighborhood school, and the difficulty of entering at Pequabuck Street.

The discussion on the Robert’s property included the fact that it was City owned, it was across the street from an existing K-8 School, the issue of reimbursing for “open space”, and the fact that this too would not be a neighborhood school.

Chairman Audette asked the committee for further discussion and BOE member Christopher Wilson suggested that the committee review the Center Mall site. Commissioner Wilson suggested that site was close to both downtown school sites, would be a walkable distance for many students, and would be as close to a neighborhood school as any site discussed.

Chairman Audette asked the committee to weigh the pros and cons of the sites discussed and to place the matter of site selection on the next scheduled committee meeting of September 24th at 6:30 p.m. in Room 36 of the Bristol Board of Education Building at 129 Church Street.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
Mr. Ken Cockayne and Mr. Ken Johnson questioned why the Center Mall site was not recommended to the School Building Committee by the Board of Education. Mr. Tom Doyle stated that he opposed large K-8 schools and the buying of property for school sites.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS/ADJOURNMENT
There being no other business,

VOTED: On a motion by Michelle Currie, seconded by Gary Vontell,
It was voted to adjourn the meeting at 7:23 p.m.

Respectfully submitted:
William Smyth, Assistant to the Superintendent for Business



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