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East Hampton School bus depot bond rejected
Mar 30, 10 7:31 PM
Community response to East Hampton school district proposed bus depot still largely negative
Mar 9, 10 3:52 PM
moreThe East Hampton School Board plans to ask voters to approve a $4.46 million bond to purchase property for a bus depot, according to Superintendant Raymond Gualtieri. The board voted in favor of the purchase at the November 3 meeting, contingent on a successful referendum vote on December 22.
The bond would be used to buy a piece of property at 29 King Street in East Hampton Village to house 35 school buses and 40 employees, and effectively make district transportation an in-house operation, Dr. Gualtieri said.
The school district began taking more control of its transportation operations in 2006 when Edward Schaefer and Sons, the company that had provided the district’s bus transportation since the 1930s, announced that the owners would retire and close the business. At that time, the district purchased its own school buses but continued to house them on the property on Route 114 that belonged to Schaefer and Sons.
In addition, the district’s transportation needs have outgrown the space available on the Route 114 lot, which can accommodate only 20 buses. The school district has been contracting bus service with three other companies to cover all its transportation needs, Dr. Gualtieri said. He said by taking control of these transportation costs, the district will save about $1 million over the life of the bond. He said the district currently pays $8,333 a month to Schaefer and Sons, but that amount could rise.
The bond is expected to be paid off in 20 years, Dr. Gualtieri said. For the first couple of years that would cost the average taxpayer $14.65 a year, he said. The amount would later drop to about $12 a year.
Dr. Gaultieri said that the bond is being introduced in the same year that the district has paid off another 20-year bond, for 1997 editions to district buildings, in just 12 years. The savings from that bond are included in the total $1 million savings figure.
If the referendum is passed, the board will purchase the 2.8-acre King Street property for $3.25 million. Dr. Gualtieri said because the building was formerly used by Verizon, it needs renovations mandated by the state Department of Transportation in order to be used by a public institution. According to a report prepared by Beatty, Harvey & Associates, the Hauppague architectural firm that designed the district’s current renovations, the total cost of the project, including renovations and an addition, will not exceed $4.46 million.
The lot will accommodate an office for 40 to 45 employees, parking for 50 cars and 35 buses, a bus maintenance area, storage, conference and locker rooms, and a bathroom, according to the report. The building currently on the lot will require a 780-square-foot addition, a new roof and an investigation into whether the layers of paint that Dr. Gualtieri said are chipping off the walls are lead-based or contain asbestos. It will also need to be made handicapped accessible. The lot will require general repair and a landscape buffer on the east and north property lines.
Dr. Gualtieri said the green buffer would help minimize the impact on the property’s neighbors, which, coincidentally, include the Schaefer family.
He said the decision to buy property is a long-term commitment that will prove cost-effective for the community because the cost of rent would eventually rise higher than the total mortgage payment.
“To buy a bus garage and hire 40 people with retirement packages and still be saving a million dollars just shows you the profit margin for someone owning a private bus company,” he said. “And we were working with four different companies.”
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