Old Town school plan has strong backing

OLD TOWN – Only 10 of the more than 100 people who turned out for a public hearing Wednesday night opposed the plan to build a new $13.3 million elementary school on Stillwater Avenue.

The proposed two-story building would consolidate the city’s four aging elementary schools, the newest having been built 40 years ago. The new K-5 school would be built behind the Stillwater Mall and be completed by fall 2003 if approved by voters.

The state’s share of construction costs is estimated at $10.1 million. The project was ranked fourth of 70 submitted in 1999.

Concerns expressed at the hearing were similar to those aired at previous meetings – location, impact on taxpayers and loss of small neighborhood schools.

William Damien expressed doubt that the proposed stoplight and additional turning lanes would ease the increased traffic on an already congested Stillwater Avenue. He suggested land next to the middle school would be a more appropriate location.

The building committee considered that site last year along with many others and deemed them all less appropriate than the Stillwater Avenue site. The district purchased the 18-acre site from the University of Maine for $377,000.

Judy Finchum urged the community to consider school construction as part of a bigger picture that includes property tax increases for new municipal and public safety buildings. Users of the Old Town Sewer District are facing large rate increases to pay for a new sewage treatment plant.

“I think we need to look at the whole picture,” she said Wednesday. “With the school, city and sewer needs, I believe we are looking at a whole lot of debt, and it makes me very, very nervous.”

Roberta Fowler disagreed. She said that the anticipated $10 or $11 increase to her monthly tax bill would be “a heck of a bargain.” The local share of the project is estimated to increase taxes on a $70,000 home by $100 per year beginning in 2002.

“Despite their claims and the best intentions of members of the building committee,” said William Livingston, “you can’t put 525 kids into a school and have it be the same as having 125 kids in a school. It’s not the same environment as the neighborhood schools we have now.”

Jamie Dufour disagreed. He said he has three children now in grades six through 12. A former school committee member, Dufour said his children never had been in the same school together at the same time. He added his son with special needs never attended school with his siblings because the old buildings were not handicapped accessible.

School board member David Wollstadt said neighborhood schools are defined by most parents today as K-5 schools rather than schools to which most children in a particular neighborhood walked. He said the proposed design meets the newer definition of a neighborhood school.

James Dill, chairman of the school committee, said the meeting and straw vote was “very reflective of the community. It was a very encouraging vote tonight.”

A referendum on the project is scheduled for June 5.