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| Chairman,CAVE (Citizens Against Virtually Everything!) |
I would hate to be branded a member of CAVE -- I have long supported a new public safety building to replace the undersized, decrepit facilities now in use. But I can very easily see both sides on this one -- I can even argue this issue with myself:
Will the Building make us safer? Well, it will probably decrease Fire/EMS response times to somebody's house -- but not mine..
Is it necessary? There seems to be a growing trend towards building huge municipal edifices over the past decade. I know it has been said that the buildings are being built to some sort of new industry standard or accreditation yardstick. I would think a more important yardstick would be the number of "Boots on the Ground". People put out fires, rescue people, and capture Bad Guys -- Buildings don't. But, Buildings do provide healthy work environments that may allow people to do their jobs more efficiently as well as provide facilities for the continue training of people. Buildings also make a good place to store equipment in a manner that will make it last longer and/or work better (and provide a secure place to store Bad Guys until they can be given to somebody else).
Is it the right time? It's never the right time for anything Our local infrastructure is falling apart because nobody has agreed to spend anything on Town Buildings for decades. The Great Local Wizards of Yore saw Commercial Development as the Work of the Devil. They went out of their way to block commercial development -- which shifted a huge portion of the tax burden onto homeowners. And, then they started selling their land to new home owners who increasingly needed new expensive services -- like schools, police & fire protection.
We're also facing a rapidly escalating National Debt and a much-hyped "Fiscal Cliff" in January that will likely raise Federal Taxes and reduce Federal jobs & services (probably a good thing -- unless it's your job!). We're also looking at likely State tax increases, and stagnant interest rates (Good if you're paying it -- Bad if you're receiving it!). Locally, we're looking at a potential devaluation of the Power Plant which will automatically increase the taxes allocated to homeowners. We're also looking at capital costs related to restructuring the School District -- not to mention a potentially expensive lawsuit.
On the other hand, construction companies are bidding low, and financing rates are even lower. The cost will probably never be less. BUT, do we NEED something that big?
Is the building in the right location does it need to be studied more? Please, God, no. The issue has been studied to death. The proposed location is town-owned land in roughly the center of Town. In spite of the fact that this move could add a couple of minutes to the response time to my own address, this is one question I am not conflicted on!
So, What's the problem? The whole damn world wants more of MY money. Deval just gave illegal aliens a break on state college tuition. At the risk of sounding "un-PC" -- I'm here legally and have been paying taxes for years -- when I write those state tuition checks, it would be nice if part of it wasn't being used to subsidize the discount given to those who haven't earned it. We have not worked multiple jobs for multiple years to fund the education of somebody who broke the law to get here. (OK, off-topic; but it really pisses me off!).
Locally, I'm also seeing huge amounts of local tax dollars follow Sandwich kids to other School Districts in search of a better education. I'm not going to argue reality vs. perception -- every case is different. Education is now a commodity -- if the District wants to retain customers (and local tax revenue) they need to provide an appropriate product. If the Teachers Union continues to throw wrenches into the gears, more jobs and more local support -- will be eliminated. Unfortunately, the eliminations rarely impact those with Seniority that control the union. (OK, off-topic again; but I believe people should be employed based on their continued performance; not because they have tenure.)
What's the Public reaction going to be? Probably same as mine. I'm tired of paying more and getting less. I have had to cut back on personal budgets -- but I'm not seeing any cut-back on government spending. I'm suspicious of any special interest group and I'm fed-up with the non-stop, nonsensical babbling I see on local government channels. We can't seem to move past shellfish regulations and arguing about the Dump & snow plows -- how are we going to handle a multi-million dollar, multi-phase project? Are we wasting time discussing simplistic banalities to avoid discussing more complicated topics? Me thinks so
What would make you decide? I need someone to acknowledge The Big Picture. I am sure there is one; its just that nobody want to deal with outcries of a very small, very vocal minority. For every blathering idiot; there are 100 more people at home who are so fed up with (their perception of) local government that they completely ignore it -- until it is too late. Specifically, I would like to see a 4 part package deal:
1) As part of the approval of the Public Safety Building, Town Meeting will be asked to stipulate that the existing stations will be be sold to an outside entity as soon as the transition has been completed and that those proceeds be applied to the new Building's debt.
2) In FY '15, The Wing will be closed and kids would be relocated to Forestdale & Oakridge. All 7th and 8th graders will move to the High School.
3) The School Administration offices, as well as Town offices currently located in The Annex, Jan Sebastian, Oak Crest Cove, and the Human Services Building would be relocated to the former Wing School and their former buildings, as well as the Clark-Haddad Building would also be sold to outside entities as soon as the transitions have been completed. Proceeds from these liquidations would be applied against the debt incurred to renovate the Wing into office space.
4) The Community School and Rec Department would be merged to eliminate the practice of having two Town departments compete with each other over duplicate offerings. The new Rec Department would take over all non-school field operations to allow the School Department to focus on education -- not providing subsidized regional entertainment. Rec would be encouraged to do long-term licensing agreements with local sports leagues who would take over all maintenance of "their" fields.
None of these concepts are rocket science. Private sector developers routinely model multi-phase developments and map sources and uses of development capital on both a long and short-term basis. But, private sector developers are also generally professionally-equipped for such tasks. They have professional training and experience in relevant fields -- engineering, finance and management. They were hired for their abilities -- not because they ran the best Booster Club fundraisers.
It's never too early to start recruiting candidates for the next election!
UPDATE: Somebody questioned whether Forestdale & Oakridge could handle the current Wing School headcount. According to the Mass DOE, based on 2011-2012 enrollment figures, projected headcounts are below -- this doesn't even include the further drop this year which isn't online yet
In reality, if grades 7 and 8 were moved to the High School, Forestdale and Oakridge could absorb the remaining Wing students and their populations would STILL be considerably smaller than they were in 2005.
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20 comments:
I am sorry Bob as I usually agree with you but your idea to close the Wing in 2015 does not make sense. There is not enough room in Forestdale and Oakridge to support all of the Wing students so what you are proposing will run even more students out of Sandwich (along with our tax dollars) as parents will refuse to shove their children into overcrowded classrooms and buildings.
The Mass DOE & I disagree with you --- see above. The HS might be more crowded, but Forestdale & Oakridge would actually be LESS crowded than they were in 2005.
Even now, well into one of the worst economic collapses in world history, virtually nobody in government at any level acknowledges the real pressures tax payers are living with daily. New and increased taxes are all the rage. Locally, we still see folks advocating for $30 million dollar safety buildings, and $18 million dollar school additions and $20 million dollar second libraries not to mention the $25 million dollar building repair fund taxpayers were asked for just a year or two ago. Amazingly, local town government has just about $100 million in new spend somewhere in discussion, at the state level government spending now is in the billions and federally we owe trillions.
And, typical of big, out of touch government, somebody in office suggests the Safety project is only about $20 a month. That’s insulting! Why not just say that this project, like every project ever proposed, is just about the price of a daily cup of coffee? Isn’t that always what project proponents say it will cost?
Thr Truth Maker would like to give brother Bob an A plus in his anaylsis of the present problems our town is facing and the remedy to correct it. It is rather a shame that the present elected officials of our town do not seem eye to eye on what should be done in regards to the new safety building, which once again may well not be placed before the people, because of the same person who made sure it failed to come before the people the last time. You would think it is his decision alone to make.
We need all FIVE selectmen to step up to the plate and provide the forward leadership that at least allows the taxpayers to decide the fate of this construction. It is the peoples choice, after all we are paying the bills as a community.
Now if once again it is decided that they want to stay in the horse and buggy days they should not be spouting how they want to increase our economic development growth as a town, when they kick this football down the road where another generation of Sandwich Citizens get to pay the cost of this decision. They had no problem supporting a new town hall, must be no glory in a combined safety building that will serve more of its citizens then just the historic part of town.
All is being asked, is to place the vote before the great town of Sandwich, to determine the value of the present proposal. Let the people [taxpayers]make the final yes or no vote that will seal our fate into the future as a progressive or regresive place to live.
In 2009 the median real estate tax bill in Sandwich was $3900. Or just about the cost of 2,000 medium Dunkin Donuts cups of coffee a day. Heck, what’s one more cup to us poor taxpayers?
As I have said often, build a new building sell the old. Sorry folks but if all town offices can move into Wing, at some point, the Town Hall also gets sold or leased. Any Chambers out there interested? A variety of options.
Concerning the $30 million request for the Safety Complex, NO.
I am in complete agreement that we need new Fire and Police stations, but not this extravaganza!
It is way to big. Take a look at the designs on the Town website.
Wouldn't any of us like a 296 sq. ft. office, with a table to seat six and two more seated at our desk. Plus have access to two conference rooms that seat twelve. What is the Community Service Division? 409 sq. ft. Bet that space will spend more time empty than occupied. Fire Prevention Office 421 sq. ft. A Workroom 176 sq. ft. (with all the training/conference/interview rooms do they really need a workroom). Dispatach 848 sq. ft. - Send it to the Sheriff's Office. 967 sq. ft. "Day Room/Kitchen" huh, I thought these folks were working not hanging around the building watching TV and cooking, space can be smaller. Captains Office 542 sq. ft. Training Room 723 Sq. Ft. Community Room 1004 sq. ft. Why two such spaces? One would suffice. I mean really, I thought the room above the Town Hall Offices was for Community Events. And on and on it goes.
Does anyone else see the waste of space which equals a waste of money?
Many parts of this building will be empty the majority of the time! It's crazy!!
Bob, thanks for your endorsement of what we plan to do.
I was once a real person, in the private sector. I could propose stuff like; build a factory in Taipei, build a laboratory in Yokohama or lease some land in Dougguan. We'd present a "white paper" to the board of directors. In a relatively short time we'd have a factory, laboratory and land. Sandwich clearly doesn't have that kind of resources to draw on.
Over here on this side of the looking glass, we have to turn complex issues into questions that can be answered aye or nay. And, we have to keep resource limitations in mind. Then we need a 2/3 vote to get the question on the Town Meeting Warrant. Then we need a 2/3 vote at TM and a majority vote at the ballot box.
Please have a look at the draft long range capital plan presented to the BoS on 11/29. Most of what you state as the "Big Picture" is in the executive summary on pages 6-8. It's stated differently, but, it's there.
Do we have the will and the skill to formulate the right questions and do the 2/3, 2/3, majority thing? All we can do is try. The voters will decide, if the Board of Selectmen asks them.
The school numbers are a bit different. In 2004-2005 the portables at FD and OR were part of the equation. They shouldn't be now. So, the numbers don't work until fall 2016, FY17. See numerous public statements by yours truly and R.C.Canfield regarding Phase II of the long range facility plan. First we have to get Phase I behind us.
Things appear to move at a somewhat more glacial pace in the public sector ;-)
Jim, I'm not endorsing anything -- I'm just pointing out what I think are going to be major flies in the ointment. I suspect this will go down in flames, and everybody will wonder why, and then somebody will fire up the same presentation again for the following year.
I guess my argument is to be more realistic the first time out -- this is big money at a bad time.
AND -- it is imperative that there be some sort of trade-off.
We bought Agilent with the intent of funding it with Golden Triangle Sale -- it hasn't happened.
We abandoned Clark-Hadadd with the intent of selling it to fund Capital needs -- it hasn't happened.
We paid for numerous Public Safety studies over the years --- nothing has happened.
We have discussed what to do when the Power Plant taxation stream shrinks -- nothing has happened.
We have talked about Golf Course area development, more athletic fields, etc. -- nothing has happened.
Instead, we've dumped some dirty clams in the river to make a few clammers happy, and talked about building silly Board Walks to Nowhere, gigantic Libraries (to recharge our Kindles in?), and we've spent a fortune to renovate Town Hall to make it less efficient than it was before. On the bright side, we've added a public meeting room at Town Hall that allows meetings to be televised with the same quality as you would find on Uncle Vinny's Camcorder in 1981 -- assuming he had a weak battery and bad lighting!)
Are you sensing a theme?
You are right about the portables needing to go. But I also believe it would be more cost-efficient to repair or replace them rather than wait until enough kids have been driven out of the system. The cost of repairing/maintaining the Wing (particularly if the boiler goes) is far more than the cost of adding a few new modular units to Forestdale or Oakridge.
I am confused as to how your concerns of repairing/maintaining the Wing School is not STILL going to be a concern if the town or the senior center move into it. My understanding is that if the Wing school is closed as a school, it would become a town building which means that the repairs that have to be made to it as a school still have to be made. You can not have the senior center or town offices not have a boiler.
Thank you Jim for pointing out that the modulars need to go AND the administration from the high school also has to be moved somewhere if the 7th and 8th graders take over their current space.
The Truth Maker would add that presenting the right proposal before the voters is key in getting it passed in regards to the safety building, the first time.
Bob, every one in this game of selling must present a proposal that is both fair and workable. Some have pointed out the extra space being sought for what ever reason, those areas need to be presented to the people that makes sense and once again justifiable for every one that looks at the plans.
Hard decisions may still need to be made on behalf of the actual working space on the present drawing board, but this needs to be sold that it is or is not needed.
We the citizens of Sandwich, still need to have something of substains we can determine for oursleves if the cost is over the ball park or in it. The Selectmen still need to show some progress for all of the money we have spent in rehashing three studies to see where it fits in and make proposals that are real and honest. The voters will determine if the proposal the selectmen submit has undergone due dilligence or not.
With the cost of debt the new public service building it is a 47 million dollar project.
I wish that the proponents of the safety complex had offered one or two “alternative” models.
Perhaps a no frills, steel or modular building designed without aesthetics or “wish list” items and a second more middle of the road option.
Let’s say advocates published three options priced at $7, $14 and $18 million. Wouldn’t this have actually presented taxpayers with a real choice?
Wouldn’t this have been better than another all or nothing request?
If taxpayers are the decision makers shouldn’t they actually be given choices?
Three words that Sandwich is hemorrhaging more money than ever...Sturgis Charter School. What Sandwich is now seeing the "fruits" of their self imposed voucher program.
Anyone know where Sandwich Town Hall puts it's state paid Charter School reimbursement meoneys which are sometimes referred to as “Chapter 46 reimbursement”?
It is also sometimes referred to as “100-60-40” because when tuition increases the formula reimburses districts for 100% of the increase the first year, 60% of the increase in the following year, and 40% in the third year.
Yes, Mr. Gee, they are in the discretionary aid line and were forecast at just short of $700K for FY13, up $15K from FY12. They are no longer 100/60/40. They are now 100/25/25/25/25. Our friends up on Beacon Hill are doing the time-value-of-money thing and delaying reembursement. The draft letter discussed at last weeks BoS meeting (in the agenda packet) has a graph of the impact on the first page. For the first time in history, what Robin Hood taketh is greater than what he restoreth.
Jim - CAn we assume that these state dollars have stayed with teh "town side"?
Anon, the discretionary aid dollars become part of the general fund. The school system employs about 2/3's of the people and spends about 2/3's of the money in the general fund. The dollars do NOT stay on the "town side".
The Truth Maker would comment in regards to last nights meeting between both boards in regards to the next years budget problems.
I think that the tape mentioned above had better be a rubber band, because both sides have some great wishes on the present budget proposals.
The tape will get stregthed out and then reality will set in and both sides will be looking at less then a 2 percent increase from last years budget. Will that be enough? who knows. Unless an unknown benifactor shows up we will see who ends up with the cash in hand to do the jobs both sides are addressing.
DR. Canfield must have read your above posting, as he assured every one last night that he will be looking at reducing the bus runs and its cost to be more in line with the present financial picture with a reduced student work load that have left our school district. This should be a good start at closing the financial gap from his 4 percent budget to what the selectmen will spout when the feet hit the road of reality.
It would also be benificial to perhaps also work up a charge for parking at the high school, that is unless it is decided to actually charge for the use of the bus rides themselves.
The chair for the school committee did ask for guidance as to what they can expect for a financial increase, but the selectmen did a little two step shuffle and stated that it is to early for that number. Yet it would appear they were all speaking about lower numbers then what the schools would be asking for.
Here we go on the grand merry go round ride and it is a good thing they have decided to start early in my opinion.
At the risk of injecting some math ... If we're looking at a $26 Million project (according to the proposal), the debt service would be less than $10 million assuming a COF of 2.75% over a 25 year life -- so $26 Million becomes $36 million.
I still don't like the project, but I didn't want the earlier $47 million comment to go uncorrected.
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And ...
I agree the Wing should be closed. Sell it off to a private developer for elderly housing and keep the fields -- with the stipulation the developer includes a Senior center.
It would be less expensive to build a new Town Hall than to attempt reconfigure the Wing.
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