Board of Ed appoints land sale committee
CLIFTON PARK, N.Y. >>The Shenendehowa School District Board of Education Tuesday appointed a three member committee to meet with representatives of the Town of Clifton Park to discuss the sale of the 34 acres of surplus district-owned land.
The three board members named to the committee were, Todd Gilbert, Bill Casey and board president Robert Pressly. They will be joined in the discussions with the town by Shen Superintendent L. Oliver Robinson and Assistant Superintendent of Finance Kathy Wetmore Chase. The latter two will be available to advise and clarify for the board.
The board’s vote on the committee makeup was unanimous, but came only after an extended public discussion on how the proposed committee should approach the meeting with the town.
That discussion took place after Pressly made an opening statement that indirectly referenced the board’s upcoming committee appointments. In his statement Pressly noted what he sees a “watershed time” in Washington, D.C., that will adversely affect funding across the country including New York State public education.
The board, he said, must become aware of the tone coming from Washington and the potential for a loss of funding.
“That is the tone we must adopt and that includes the land sale,” he said. “We have to fight for education dollars. No one else will. We have to bring that into the discussion of the land and where the money is used.”
Pressly’s position for getting a good price for the land was juxtaposed with that of Clifton Park resident Jim Ruhl who said the price should be the last item on any negotiation agenda.
“It’s like buying a house,” Ruhl, said. “Make sure of all the incidentals first. (Setting a price) should be done last. Fill the commodity before you set the price.”
Also making a statement on the issue of the upcoming discussions with the town was board of education candidate Alex Blais. Blais said her sense of the public’s feelings, now five weeks after the vote to reject the board’s position on the land sale, was that the time had been used inefficiently.
“Having the committee report back to the board and the public at each meeting will go a long way in restoring the public’s trust in the board, its engagement, and transparency,” she said.
During the ensuing discussion on selecting the makeup of the committee board member Deanna Stephenson questioned whether the individual members would go into the discussion with the town unified in a single goal.
That statement got Pressly to return to a point he had made earlier, setting parameters for the committee prior to any discussion with the town.
“The parameters are the board’s directions to the committee,” he said. “I’m concerned with the future climate, the watershed. What are the parameters we want to bring forth? We need to treat this as if we have a concern, the price, a cash amount and the valueadded portion.”
Casey agreed that the
value-added portion, the clearing of an additional piece of district-owned land for shared athletic use, and shared services were important parts of the discussion. However, he made a case for an expectation beyond that of the board, an expectation from the public.
“You have to look at this from the other side. If we’re serious about trying to make an agreement then it has to be a working relationship as well,” he said. “We want this to work. I think the community expects we’re working with the town and on the same page for the common good and I think the common good would show some shared use and maintenance, sharing of costs, responsibility and property. It’s the same kids whether it’s a rec league or a school gym class.”
Pressly countered that some of the board’s members had suggested in communications with him that a price range be part of the parameters given the committee. He said he’d like to see a price range as part of the parameters close to $1.5 million, the board’s appraised figure for the land.
Gilbert said he would like to go into discussions with the town “as open as possible”.
Robinson advised the board not micromanage a process for the town and one that is still in its early stages. He recommended the board hold off detailed discussions of actions it may take until there is an offer on the table.
“Then you can discuss the price and the valueadded portion ,” he said.
Robinson said he will reach out to the town to clarify how many members will be on their committee.