York Town News
Budget discussions underway on arts wing options, library staffing levels
By Jennifer L. Saunders
YORK - While the future of the York High School Arts Wing remains to be seen, the School Committee has taken a first look at potential options to meet both the needs of the school and the spending limits of the voters.Last Wednesday, Nov. 15, the School Committee met with Alan Kuniholm of PDT Architects in a workshop prior to its regular meeting to discuss the proposed $5.85 million project, which was turned down at the polls back in May by a vote of 2,098 to 1,687.
With the vote coming in the wake of the Mother's Day flood here in town, proponents of the project were left to wonder whether it could have passed, were it not for the millions of dollars in damage to local roads, bridges, homes and businesses brought by the May storm.
The School Committee agreed, however, that given that the need for a new auditorium and educational space has not gone away, the project had to be looked at anew to honor the will of the voters while attempting to meet the needs of the educational program.
As the School Committee members noted at their meeting following the workshop, the York High School Concert, scheduled for Dec. 11, will be held at Portsmouth High School in Portsmouth, N.H., because strong participation in the program means the musical ensembles do not fit on the York High School stage or in the local churches for performances.
While no decisions came out of last week's workshop, the board members present did get a chance to hear about some options that could cut the cost of the project by reducing its square footage.
Superintendent of Schools Dr. Henry Scipione said the workshop was a positive one, with a chance for the new School Committee members to learn about the history of the project, and for the board as a whole to consider options for the future.
Any project that is brought forward will need to go through the town's capital budget request review process and win Budget Committee support to be put on the ballot at a future town election.
The options discussed included eliminating one or two of the spaces proposed for instructional and rehearsal use or changing the configuration of the spaces.
"In the original design there was the auditorium, plus three spaces," Scipione explained, adding one option is to create smaller spaces for chorus, band and rehearsals, or provide more choral and band instructional space without an additional rehearsal space.
A third option presented by the architect was a model for an auditorium with 350 "fixed" seats and the option of space to be partitioned for instructional use or opened up for additional removable seating to be put in place.
"If we needed a full auditorium with 500 seats, we'd have that," Scipione explained of that option, adding these would be actual auditorium-style seats, not bleachers, which could be folded and stored unless they were needed. "It creates usable space."
The next step will be for the School Building Committee to consider those options and for the School Committee to make a decision of how to move forward.
When the School Committee's regular business meeting convened after the workshop, talk of budget-related matters continued as the committee heard a presentation from Terry O'Rourke of the York Tax Task Force on a new proposal to limit annual capital requests in an effort to address infrastructure needs while keeping property taxes in check.
Choosing what projects will be proposed and when is a key component, O'Rourke and the board agreed, citing a proposed 11-member committee to include Tax Task Force, School Committee and Budget Committee members, selectmen and citizens to prioritize such requests.
"It's critical … we're hoping to get a balance on this," O'Rourke said of a phased capital plan with set annual limits.
While the official start to "budget season" in York is usually considered to be January, such budget-related discussions continued on Thursday, Nov. 16, at the Budget Committee's monthly meeting.
The Budget Committee spoke briefly about the School Committee workshop on the auditorium, but did not offer a consensus on whether there would be support or not for a revised capital project coming forward.
The committee heard a presentation from York Public Library Board of Trustees President Jim Carter and Director Robert Waldman on the need for a new full-time position to provide some relief to a staff that is working unpaid overtime on a regular basis.
"The library is flourishing. The service levels are at a record high," Carter said, adding, "the library is just really booming, and we're delighted to have that be the case."
However, he said, the library is understaffed.
"In order to sustain the levels of service we are now giving to the community, we badly need to add at least one more full-time person," he said.
Waldman asked the committee for guidance on proposing a position in the months ahead, and whether it could be requested as a separate line item from the regular library operating budget. That way, he said, the voters could decide whether they support such an addition.
The operating budget itself, he said, he believes will come in under the Tax Task Force's target of increases of 4.7 percent or less.
The discussion will continue as the budget process moves forward, but the committee members offered different perspectives on new positions, while all voicing support for the work of the library to date.
Local resident Charles Stacy spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting, however, questioning the Budget Committee's willingness to accept budget increases over 4 percent in any department, and urging the members to think about retirees and longtime residents.
The committee members noted a key component of their work is to separate "needs" from "wants," especially with uncontrollable cost increases in such areas as fuel, electricity and insurance.
Acting Chairman Rudy Freitag urged Stacy to take an active role in the budget process rather than criticizing the committee.
"Why don't you put your name in the ring and join us," he said.
With the resignation of former Budget Committee Chairman Windol Weaver due to his election to the state legislature earlier this month, it will be up to the Board of Selectmen to appoint a seventh member to serve on the Budget Committee until a new member is elected in May. Anyone interested in seeking appointment should contact the Board of Selectmen through Town Hall at 363-1000.
