Carr: "New Morgan School Plans Disappoint Supporters"

This letter is written by Kirk Carr, Clinton Taxpayers Association Treasurer:

A note: Links provided by the CTA

Unreported by the local media is the brewing disillusionment of many new Morgan supporters with a proposed new design from Newman Architects that to one Morgan School Building Committee (MSBC) member looks like a “circa 1978 Econolodge. “

Valerie Nye, who was a cofounder New Morgan New Future and a member of Clinton’s Board of Finance put it this way at the Morgan School Building Committee (MSBC) public presentation held December 11, 2012:

[I feel like that’s the school we are in now]

“…if you saw the original preliminary conceptual design that the voters voted on…  This is actually a lot different than what we saw… I don’t know if you know the pain we have been through, but we all feel as if that’s the school we are in now.  It’s a very broken up school.  I think that’s kind of why people are having this reaction.”

Selectman Carol Walter added:

[It’s just not what we were presented a year ago.]

“To me this is like the little brother of this school [current Morgan].  It’s angles, it’s corners, it’s partitions and it looks frankly like a maintenance nightmare.   You are getting all of these roofs back; you have many, many, many feet of exterior areas that need to be maintained, very similar to what we have here… It’s just not what we were presented a year ago.”

In the MSBC meetings that followed on December 18 and January 15, no one mentioned anything about the public comments made on December 11 or promises made by Jerry Vece, the committee chair and Richard Munday, the architect, to take into consideration these criticisms and to refine plans accordingly.  Finally, on January 24, David Townsend and Peter Nye raised the issue, even though as Mr. Nye revealed, any perceived disloyalty to the committee’s party line may result in the threat of expulsion from the committee.

[I see what I consider a circa 1978 EconoLodge]

David Townsend opened the issue by saying: “I look at the exterior and for me, I see what I consider a circa 1978 EconoLodge.  I have a really, really hard time with it aesthetically.   There is no continuity to any facet of it.   It looks like a committee put it together…I am not seeing any aesthetic characteristic to me that has any appeal...I’m just not getting it.  It’s a mixture of 50s, 60s and 70s to me… I am talking about the exterior faces, the elevations of the entirety of the structure - and the rooflines.  The rooflines are just bizarre."

[We’re going to give you something that looks pretty much like what you already have.]

From that, Peter Nye may have gained the courage to add: “That is where the bait and switch sense comes from… We are going to have to answer to it – that’s all.  It’s just that we have half the population who avert their eyes and hold their noses when they drive by the Morgan School everyday.  They went out and voted because like we can’t let our kids in there.  There are all kinds of issues in there...And now we are going to go to them and say, hey look we’re going to give you something that looks pretty much like what you already have…

“You guys probably already know that I almost got thrown off the committee for having conversations with people in their own living rooms…

“When we interview people for these jobs and we say [to prospective vendors] hey is this feasible, is this number any good.  And they say yea, the number is a good number.  [We say] OK we’ll hire you and then when the time comes, they say oh well, no one really thought that through.”

Now citizens of Clinton can see where the MSBC and the new architect from Newman Architects are going.   As a consequence, many who not only voted for this school, but also lobbied their neighbors to come out and vote for it, are having second thoughts, at least about how the plans are now developing visually.

Since the referendum and 63 days after the main property was purchased on Killingworth Turnpike, results were released of tests of soil samples taken by ECS, which showed concentrations of chlordane, dieldrin and arsenic that exceed DEEP direct exposure criteria.   Jerry Vece had publicly promised that these tests would be completed BEFORE the property was purchased.  ECS has now been hired to develop a soil management plan that will not be completed for two to four months, at which time remediation feasibility and costs will be fully known, for the first time.

The historic home at 69 Killingworth Turnpike was later purchased to make room for the new school.  At the Town Meeting on December 12, where this purchase was narrowly approved, in part because of the historic significance of the home, (it was built in 1800 on the farm of a Minuteman) promises were made to make preservation efforts.  At the MSBC meeting held on January 24, Jerry Vece announced that only $40,000 was budgeted to demolish the entire structure, including historic portions.  Unless the Town can find some means to preserve it, the committee intends to demolish it this Fall.  These potentially significant costs will be in addition to the $64.75 million passed at referendum and without any state education cost sharing or Clinton will demolish another historic structure.

People should not be shocked.  The MSBC and the proponents of this new School have fabricated all sorts of reasons to justify building this new school that were simply not true.  The current school does not cost a million dollars a year to maintain.  The current location, portions of which sit on a level A aquifer, is not Clinton’s most promising undeveloped commercial property.  The Northeast Association of Schools and Colleges is not threatening to decertify the Morgan School due to building conditions or for any other reason.  The cost of building a new school will not cost less than renovating the current school.  The school now proposed doesn’t look anything like the school voters were sold before the referendum.

For all of these reasons the Board of Selectmen should abide by the Town Charter and respect the citizens right to petition to change their minds about the new Morgan that so narrowly passed on April 11.   The Town deserves another referendum to make a more informed and rational decision about a major expense that will add over $3 million to Clinton’s annual debt service for 20 years.  This will result in a tax increase of as much as 9% and/or will have to be absorbed in whole or in part within existing school budgets.

A court decision from the Honorable Judge Julia Aurigemma is due in mid-March.  It is now up to her to protect Clinton voters’ right to petition.

For more video links go to Channel CTA.

--- Kirk Carr