SWAMPSCOTT — During a joint meeting between the Select Board, Finance Committee, and School Committee on Wednesday evening, town officials discussed the Memorandum of Use (MOU) for the Recreation Department’s use of the Clarke Elementary School building.
Last October, the Select Board and the School Committee voted to accept the one-year MOU between Swampscott Public Schools and the Town, which allowed the Recreation Department to utilize the building for programs and activities.
Select Board member David Grishman noted that most of the Town’s MOUs are executed by the town administrator and superintendent of schools. He asked if there was a reason and rationale as to why the chairs of the Select Board and School Committee executed the agreement rather than the town administrator and superintendent.
“It’s related to property, and sort of the disposition of the property and the use of it… It’s not something that I can sign; the leases of property go through you all (the Select Board),” Town Administrator Nick Connors said.
Grishman said he was under the belief that, according to the Town Charter, it specifies that the town administrator would execute the documents upon the approval of the Select Board.
“That was a conversation that I had with KP Law and it would ultimately come before the Select Board because it was the disposition of property, and that’s not something that involved me in the charter,” Connors responded.
School Committee Vice Chair Glenn Paster said it was his assumption that the agreement was signed because the school building was owned by the school district, not the superintendent of schools.
“Sounds like what we’re saying is that most of the costs of the operation of that building will continue to be borne by the Town, because the town’s Recreation Department is benefitting from it… But then the MOU says, ‘The district will maintain existing building systems.’ It’s a nice little sentence… Does that mean that your team, Nick (Connors) will know if there’s some kind of maintenance cost going on that you’ll charge that to the school, or how do we execute on that?” Finance Chair Eric Hartmann said.
Connors responded that he believed the general discussions on the matter said during the first few weeks that a major instance was unlikely, and that it was not something that could be taken on financially by the Recreation Department.
“In (Facilities Director) Max (Kasper’s) opinion at the time, we didn’t have an immediate need… And things were not near the end of a useful life in a way that we were in danger of doing that one-year agreement,” Connors said.
Paster noted that when the Town goes to renew the MOU next year, a deeper conversation should be held regarding whether major maintenance issues occur.
“What happens, God forbid, if a boiler explodes? There’s only so much money to go around… And we don’t want surprises on anyone’s side, so I think when we go to do this next year, we’ll have to make it much more broad and definitive on who pays for what. As you guys plan the budget, that contingency may have to be built in on all sides,” Paster said.
Connors said he felt it was a “prove it” MOU, that if it didn’t work, the Recreation Department would not continue to operate in the space past the agreement.
Select Board member MaryEllen Fletcher asked at one point will a decision be made by the schools as to whether or not they want to keep the Clarke School building.
Paster responded that he was unsure.
“I think a lot of that will be determined by what happens with the middle school. Hopefully, in the next few months, we know where everybody lies on that, and I think that will really be the driving force,” Superintendent of Schools Jason Calichman said.
Paster said he agreed wholeheartedly with Calichman’s comment.
