Proposed Swampscott elementary school fails at Special Town Meeting

SWAMPSCOTT – A proposal for a new, district-wide elementary school on Monday failed to receive enough support to put the matter before the town’s voters.Residents voted 140-95 at a Special Town Meeting in favor of plans for the four-level elementary school, but it was not enough.The proposal, listed in Article 8, needed a two-thirds vote to pass. There were 235 Town Meeting members present, which means that 157 would have had to vote in favor.Joe Crimmins, chairman of the School Building Committee, explained before the vote that the idea for a single elementary school arose out of a master plan that was put in motion seven years ago. Although the cost of building the new school was set at $52.6 million, $16.8 million would be covered by the Massachusetts School Building Authority, bringing the town’s cost down to $35.7 million.The school’s proposed location would have put it behind the middle school at 207 Forest Ave.”We have the opportunity to build a state-of-the-art elementary school,” said Crimmins.Speaking in opposition, Town Meeting member Scott Burke explained that based on the current specifications, the building would stand at 60 feet, 25 feet taller than the maximum height permitted by the town’s zoning bylaws. He added that he “strongly disagreed” with the opinion of town counsel in that Building Inspector Richard Baldacci would waive the special permit needed for a structure that tall. Burke pointed out that this kind of issue should be left to the discretion of the Zoning Board of Appeals as Baldacci does not have the authority to make such a decision.”This is going to get in front of the ZBA one way or another,” he said, adding that it could snowball into a legal matter as well.But Crimmins said the cost of renovating the three elementary schools would top out at $46 million with the full cost resting entirely on the taxpayers.”None of which is reimbursable,” he said. “You’ll have three schools that have been renovated at a higher cost.”Crimmins added that a renovation project would be difficult on the students as well, saying that they would need to be “put in trailers” while the work was being done.”There would be many, many years of construction going on,” he said.While “there’s no prohibition against applying again,” Crimmins explained that the town is currently in the MSBA program, therefore, the reapplication process could be much more difficult four or five years from now.”We don’t know who we’ll be competing against,” he said.Crimmins pointed out that the three schools that would be replaced have become obsolete and have long surpassed their life expectancy.”Right now, our students are being educated in buildings that are 100 years old,” he said.School Committee Chairman Ted Delano acknowledged that “there are no easy answers on this issue.” However, he explained that there is something crucial missing at each elementary school, and that only one of the three schools meets the standards of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.Another opponent, Town Meeting member Jeffrey Sprague, said there is a significant lack of space and “no relationship” for a building of that size.”Tonight’s vote is a big deal,” he said. “This is about legacy. I would rather have a three-year setback than a hundred-year mistake.”