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Community Corner

ANOTHER SCHOOL BOND? WHY??

Tax and bond weary residents of Briarcliff will once again be dragged to the polls to vote on another bond referendum for their School District.  Recall that last spring residents were asked to vote for a $10 million bond to cover a laundry list of projects, upgrades and remediation around the District – including the remediation of tainted fields under a Consent Order by the NYSDEC.

 

Now residents are being asked to add another $2.3 million of surprises on top of the $10 million they approved last spring – a 23% increase necessitating the approval of a $1.5 million bond.

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What is this additional bond for?

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$200K+ of this bond is to cover expenses related to asbestos removal at Todd School.  Asbestos removal?  In this day and age why is there any asbestos left in any school building anywhere?  Why is this a surprise expense?

 

$2+ million of the bond is to cover the cost of remediating the practice field (adjacent to the HS/MS parking lot) under a NYSDEC Consent Order.  But, this was already budgeted in the previous bond!!  The cost of remediating the practice field was estimated below $500K.   Why has the cost of this project exploded by more than 400%?  Is there a less expensive solution?  Is there a cheaper way to satisfy the Consent Order?  Can’t we just pave over that odd shaped piece of land at a fraction of the cost?

 

While we are asking questions, and demanding answers, where is that $1.5 million Paul Wasserman insisted the Board of Education was hiding?  We could use that money now.  Paul?

 

And why is the PTA having a Q&A coffee instead of the Board of Education?

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