Saugus school science labs up for vote

SAUGUS – Town Meeting member Wayne Brooks said he?s voting “no” at tonight?s Special Town Meeting for a feasibility study for new high school science labs.?After the walk-through and the information I got today from Wendy Reed ? we?d be locked into this location for 50 years,” said Brooks on Friday. “There?s nothing we?ll be able to do. We won?t be able to sell this building or tear it down unless we build another one around the labs. It?s a 50-year trap. It?s a definite no vote for me.”According to Massachusetts School Building Authority guidelines: “Any project for the construction of a new school facility, or for the addition to or renovation of an existing school facility for which an eligible applicant is seeking partial funding from the Authority shall have an anticipated useful life of at least 50 years as a public school in the eligible applicant?s school district.”Tonight?s vote is for a $250,000 feasibility study that will look into upgrading the high school?s nine aging science labs. The project is projected to cost between $4 million and $6 million with 53 percent being reimbursed by the MSBA.Calls to MSBA spokesperson Dan Collins were not returned.School Committee member Arthur Grabowski called tonight?s vote a “toss up,” and said he looks at the MSBA provision as pertaining to any project by the MSBA, whether it be a whole school or a portion of a school.?Anything that gets MSBA money that provision entails, in my opinion,” said Grabowski. “I?m not sure I want, as a School Committee member, to commit the community to that building for 50 years. If the will of the town is to commit to that 50 years ? then we have to start looking at how we?re going to rehabilitate the rest of the high school around the science labs. I think that?s a mistake to rehabilitate a whole building around a whole project.”Town Meeting member Sean Maltais said he has “a lot of questions” about the project, and is concerned about the future of the school “overall.”?I think a discussion needs to happen in this town about the future of the school,” said Maltais. “Whether we sell the land and build a high school somewhere else ? the land is very valuable. If 50 years is correct, I?ll be 87 years old before we can build a new high school.”Despite this, Maltais said he never makes up his mind until the night of Town Meeting.Town Meeting member Peter Rossetti also had questions about “locking into the building.”?There seems to be a question right now if we approve it, does that lock us into the building for the foreseeable future?” said Rossetti. “I think that?s an issue that needs to be settled. If it is true, then we need to think long and hard about upgrading just a portion of a building.”Rossetti, who acknowledged the labs do need to be upgraded, said a 10-year lifespan would be about where he would draw the line.?I think that?s kind of pushing the envelope,” said Rossetti.Tonight?s Special Town Meeting starts at 7:30 p.m.Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].