Roslyn Board of Education Trustees on Tuesday discussed amended proposals for $40 million in capital projects at the district’s elementary schools during a special meeting aimed at reaching a bond referendum budget.
Trustees heard a description of each project from Erik Kaeyer, the vice president and design principal of KG&D Architects which first introduced a $50 million capital plan for the district shortly after the start of the school year.
The item that received the most attention from the public was the proposed $3.8 million bus garage next to the facilities office at Harbor Hill School, which Kaeyer said would hold a maximum of four buses at one time and be used primarily for repairs.
“This facility is strictly for the maintenance of the buses,” Kaeyer said. “We’re not storing buses there, we’re not storing bus drivers’ cars there, we’re not fueling buses there and we’re not washing buses there,” Kaeyer said.
Roslyn Superintendent of Schools Dan Brenner said the district’s current bus garage on Roslyn High School’s campus, where buses are fueled and repaired, presents dangers to pedestrians and people parking in the lot nearby and has “been on the table to be dealt with since I arrived in July of 2005.”
Brenner said that the maintenance of the buses must be done on site at one of the district’s school campuses, but he is in negotiations with property owners about an off-site location for bus storage and fueling.
“I’m fairly confident that in the next couple of weeks we’ll be able to secure a place for our buses to park and be fueled off site. So the concept of putting fuel behind the maintenance building would come off the table if in fact I could secure that,” said Brenner.
In capital plan discussions dating back to the start of the school year, trustees had talked about different locations for the off-site depot. The most recent off-site location discussed was behind Roslyn High School, while a field near the Northern State Parkway on Roslyn Middle School’s campus was considered for bus storage.
Residents in attendance raised concerns over the proposed bus garage at Harbor Hill, especially if fueling would need to be done out of the same facility.
Residents spoke about the noise levels that would emanate from buses coming in and out of the depot throughout the day, as well as the environmental impact that could be caused by exhaust leaks and the storage of fuel underground. One resident in attendance even suggested the board convert its bus fleet to all electric buses.
The presentation also included the proposed renovations to the three elementary schools.
Kaeyer said that all three schools would be receiving security upgrades at their front entrances, including double-doored lobbies for visitors and canopies over the area where students wait for bus or parent pickup. There would also be corridor renovations to all the buildings, which would include renovations to the floors, walls, ceilings and lighting.
The board also discussed a $5.1 million gym renovation project slated for Harbor Hill School, which trustees said was too expensive for a project of its kind and residents said would be largely unnecessary.
“I think we have to look at this with fiscal prudence as our driver and ask where we can cut,” Trustee David Dubner said. “I view it from the standpoint of education, safety and security, those are the things that we should be asking the community to frankly, raise their tax bills for. This to me, doesn’t meet that criteria.”
