Mashashimuet Park Project Moving Along, Sag Harbor Superintendent Reports

Sag Harbor Schools Superintendent Jeff Nichols provided a brief update on the plans for the capital improvement project at Mashashimuet Park in Sag Harbor, which hosts many of the district’s interscholastic sports teams, at a very short Sag Harbor School Board meeting on Wednesday night, April 27.

He shared that the school district architectural firm, H2M, has had preliminary discussions with the Department of Environmental Conservation, and the proposed plans for the park fit within the DEC’s acceptable parameters.

H2M is currently working on construction plans to formally submit to the DEC, and while that is going on, the firm is also working on a determination under the State Environmental Quality Review Act. The results will be made public when that is complete, Nichols said, and community members will have time to review those results and provide any comments and ask questions.

Nichols also said that the district had shared a draft copy of a long-term lease agreement with the park board’s negotiating committee, and they were all scheduled to meet and go over that agreement some time during the first week of May.

After their previous contract had run out, the district and park board negotiated and came to agreement on a one-year contract at the end of last summer, specifying that they would only enter into a long-term lease with the park after that if the park agreed to a capital improvement project, which will be funded, if a bond vote passes, by the district.

School Business Administrator Jen Buscemi gave only a brief update at the meeting on Wednesday, April 27, stating that nothing has changed with the budget for the 2022-23 school year since the last meeting, and pointing out that every aspect of the budget is currently available for viewing on the school district website, under the heading “more” on the right hand side of the homepage.

Buscemi will go over the budget in detail once more during the budget hearing, set for May 9. The budget vote and board of education election is set for May 17.

There are two open boards seats, as incumbents Chris Tice and Yorgos Tsibiridis did not seek reelection. Only one candidate, Grainne Coen, submitted a nominating petition, meaning the second seat likely will be filled by a write-in candidate.

There was no public input at the meeting.