Letters

Vote no Thursday, November 3, until 9 p.m. at Pierson High School gym to prevent the Sag Harbor School District from using $3.325 million of its reserve fund for another athletic field. This top-down decision by our public school has had essentially no public input.

Why is the school rushing to close this deal? We’re told this is a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” but these properties have been on and off the market for many years. Our village architectural review board would not let the owner build 6,000-plus-square-foot houses in its historic district. He could have returned to the ARB with smaller houses but didn’t.

How did the school prioritize building another athletic field over its many other needs, one of which is a long overdue renovation of the high school gym? Why hasn’t the school developed a master plan and needs assessment to help prioritize its spending?

If the school can justify the need for an athletic field, what will it look like? Will there be a synthetic or grass playing surface? What is the environmental impact? What will it cost to build and maintain? The School Board says the school teams will still need to use Mashashimuet Park: How will that affect the now abandoned $13.5 million Mashashimuet Park bond?

Vote no today. Let’s vote again, but only after the school district taxpayers better understand what they are voting for.

John Oppenheimer

Sag Harbor