NEWBURYPORT — As supporters of a new Whittier Tech school lined Low Street outside Nock Middle School, hundreds of people inside listened to perhaps the project’s harshest critic, Newburyport Mayor Sean Reardon, argue why the project should be sent back to the drawing board.
A special election will be held Jan. 23 in the 11 Whittier district municipalities to see if voters will approve spending $444.6 million to build a new school building in Haverhill. Massachusetts School Building Authority grants, federal incentives and state rebates are expected to kick in roughly $180 million toward the project’s estimated $444.6 million cost, leaving the projected district share of roughly $267 million.
Whittier Superintendent Maureen Lynch, who declined an invitation to attend, has said in the past that the school’s current campus is in desperate need of a code upgrade, including full Americans with Disabilities Act compliance, the installation of a sprinkler system, a new wastewater treatment plant, as well as mechanical and electrical replacements, among other things.
Saying the project could cost Newburyport roughly $60 million over the course of a 30-year loan, Reardon has been leading the charge against it. With that in mind he put together Tuesday night’s information session, which saw Amesbury Mayor Kassandra Gove, Salisbury Selectman Chuck Takesian, Groveland Select Board member Edward Watson and Amesbury City Councilor Steve Stanganelli in attendance, among others.
Newburyport currently sends 29 students to Whittier, according to Reardon who said the proposed project would add roughly $270 a year to the average tax bill. The mayor also said the city and the rest the Whittier municipalities would be forced to pass a Proposition 2 1/2 override or debt exclusion to pay for its portion of the project.
A Yes for Whittier municipal ballot initiative committee has also been formed by Methuen-based Laborers Union Local 175 and has stated the proposed project would cost the average Newburyport homeowner $239 per year for a home valued at $825,000.
The union-backed group also sent a number of people to the information session and it made for some contentious back and forth with Salisbury Selectman Michael Colburn when he said he was concerned that the construction company that would be working on the project is advocating for a yes vote.
“When you’re being this disrespectful, that just makes me think about voting no on this project, and I was a yes vote before,” Colburn said, to a member of the audience.
Colburn added he believes the only reason why the Yes for Whittier municipal ballot initiative committee is advocating for the project is that union members will make money off of it.
“That’s extremely concerning as a tradesman,” he said before adding he wants to make sure that the students who go to Whittier can also afford to live in one of its 11 municipalities in the future.
“Most of those kids who I know in Salisbury are moving to New Hampshire,” he said. “They are not living in Massachusetts anymore, because of past expenditures.”
Newburyport Finance Director Ethan Manning, City Council President Ed Cameron and at-Large City Councilors Afroz Khan, Connie Preston and Heather Shand were also on hand.
While opponents of the project appeared to be in the majority, there were plenty in the crowd who came to voice their support. One local Whittier student told Reardon that the mayor’s opposition to the project has made her feel as if she’s not a member of the community.
Preston said she is supportive of vocational schools and Whittier needs a better campus. But she also said she doesn’t believe the leaders in 11 cities and towns have gotten it wrong when it comes to their concerns about the project.
“Clearly, there was not effective communication from Whittier leadership to the communities and now we are finding ourselves on our back heels, trying to figure out how to pay for this,” she said.
Manning told the crowd no funding mechanism has been put in place to pay for the proposed project if the yes vote carries the day.
“If it were to be approved on Jan 23, all 11 members need to go back to the drawing board to see how our communities would pay our projected share,” he said.
Reardon told those in attendance the voting process has been happening very quickly.
“We vote two weeks from tonight and there’s a lot of people from around here who don’t have the answers to questions they have,” he said.
Reardon added there is no guarantee that the price for the project will remain the same, moving forward.
During her time with the microphone, Gove ask those in attendance to familiarize themselves with their tax rate and debt schedule.
“For us, it increases our debt over 70% from what we are carrying now,” she said. “We are carrying a much-longer term than Newburyport because we have recent debt that was incurred to build our new (Amesbury Elementary School.) And for some of you, that’s going to be the case too.”
Georgetown Select Board Chair Amy Smith said her town is currently putting a fact sheet together for its residents and Merrimac Select Board Chair Chris Manni said it’s important for elected officials to get as much information to the public as possible.
“We want to make sure you have the information to make that decision for yourself,” Manni said.
Newbury Select Board Chair Alicia Grecco echoed her colleagues.
“Everyone get educated on what this means for you,” she said.