Lynn school officials, residents discuss Marshall

LYNN – Communication and a building site dominated the discussion at the second public forum on building a new Marshall Middle School that was attended by as many city officials as there were residents.”I wish there were more citizens here,” said resident Peter Grocki.About two dozen residents sat in Marshall’s cafeteria Wednesday as School Department personnel explained why it chose the Brookline Street site as the location for a new Marshall Middle School.Gene Raymond of Raymond Design Associates told the small gathering that essentially the Brookline site was the least disruptive and would require the least amount of land taking by eminent domain. Other sites the Building Committee and School Committee considered were Keaney Park and the current site of the middle school, 19 Porter St.The current site is the school’s first alternative but it has its flaws, Raymond said. According to Lynn Stapleton from the project management firm Joslin & Lesser Associates, the city would have to take 19 properties by eminent domain in order to build a new school on Porter Street versus three with the Brookline site.Raymond said they looked at two scenarios with Keaney Park. One plan included relocating a little league field and taking three softball fields. The second required taking 27 homes and several businesses by eminent domain, which Stapleton called cost prohibitive.Federal law also requires that if a municipality takes park land it must replace it in kind, which means the School Committee would have to find five contiguous acres elsewhere to replace Keaney Park, which Stapleton said the city simply doesn’t have.Grocki, however, felt the School Committee rushed to judgment in its site choice, which he disagreed with.Superintendent Catherine Latham explained that the plan to build a new middle school is largely controlled by the Massachusetts School Building Authority, which keeps strict deadlines.”They will pay 80 percent of the cost of the building, which is a serious amount of money,” she said. “When they pay you play by their rules.”Grocki also took issue with what he feels is a lack of communication between the School Department and the public.”I was never informed, the public isn’t informed of this whole step by step process,” he said.Nehemial Brent lives two doors away from the proposed Brookline site and only knew about Wednesday’s meeting because his pastor mentioned it.Michigan Street parent Gardy Jean-Francois, however, put the onus on parents.”It’s really a shame that no one showed up,” he said. “Fourteen thousand fliers were sent out ? for a project like this we should have this place packed.”Parent Jessie Jaegar suggested the School Department take the Power Point show on the road and Ward 3 Councilor Darren Cyr said that was the ultimate plan.Cyr said he also planned to hold a meeting Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in City Hall Chambers for any resident concerned about the possible implications of eminent domain.”Cathy had done a great job and the School Committee,” Cyr said. “I know not everyone is in agreement on everything and I respect that but a lot of work did go into picking this site.”Chris Stevens can be reached at [email protected].