Residents voice concerns over new school site

SWAMPSCOTT – The School Building Committee announced the cost of the proposed elementary school project Thursday, but town residents seemed more concerned with problems posed by the chosen site on Forest Avenue.The committee announced the price tag was $52,644,414 for a consolidated, district-wide elementary school for 635 students next to the Swampscott Middle School. The Massachusetts School Building Authority would contribute $16,713,594, pending its vote of approval for the project later this month. Though one resident, a contractor, commented that the price seemed high, others among the 100 attendees of the public forum were more concerned over other costs, like that of congested streets during the twice-daily pickups and drop-offs with double the amount of cars.Committee architects presented a plan based on traffic studies that would allow for double the amount of parking on the site, three entryways and extra lanes with “holding areas” for drop-offs and pick-ups, plus more efficient “walking lanes” for more pedestrian-friendly access. The plan also included staggered start times for the middle school and elementary school students. But despite the planning, neighbors were not convinced it would be enough to fix congestion on Forest Avenue with the majority of Swampscott parents driving their children to school.Resident Steve Riley said there seemed to be “little incentive for (the committee) to organize a plan” that was feasible for the area and doubted that commuters would take the time to get in the drop-off lanes and instead park on the street.Chairman Joe Crimmins said in the beginning, when the proposed school opened in 2017, there would have to be ticketing by police to enforce the driving rules, but Riley was convinced regulations would not be followed.Crimmins said if the plan goes through, busing would be an option to decrease traffic, a cost that would come out of the school?s operational budget.Planning Board Chairman Angela Ippolito spoke as a resident when she said the committee needed two objective reviews of the site in terms of its traffic and drainage concerns. She was concerned that the committee had chosen the site before closely evaluating the problems that were posed, though committee member Glenn Paster assured the audience the committee had spent “60 meetings trying to put a square peg in a round hole.”Joe Ford, a neighbor of the middle school and father of four, acknowledged the traffic problems on the street but said he left his home early or later to work around it. He earned applause from the crowd when he said the public?s traffic concerns were “short-sighted when you think of the educational quality the kids are going to get.”Though traffic and other site concerns dominated the meeting, the committee still heard from those who question if sending their children to a larger consolidated school instead of a smaller neighborhood school was the right move.Others were concerned still over the cost of the debt exclusion, which Town Administrator Thomas Younger said would increase an average taxpayer?s bill (based on a home assessed at $460,000) by $550 a year for 20 years.Thursday?s meeting was the first in a series to be continued to inform town residents on the project, said Selectman Barry Greenfield, who also serves on the committee. Even with only two months until Town Meeting must vote to accept the project and three months until voters approve a debt exclusion, Greenfield said there is still “a long way to go.”