Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Controversial school sale put on hold in Mount Hope
At its final workshop meeting of the year Monday night, the Town Board attended to its usual business of paying bills, hearing reports from department heads and the like.
Yet, the nearly 100 people who turned out apparently came to hear about one particular, highly contentious matter — the proposed sale of the former Otisville Elementary School to a Satmar Hasidic congregation.
Town Attorney Zachary Kelson reported the town had received signed contracts from the long-vacant school's prospective buyer, Congregation Rechovos Hanohor, as well as a down payment of 10 percent on the $325,000 purchase price. But, Kelson said, the town would table any action to complete the contracts because of an overwhelming number of signatures — at least 500, he said — on petitions filed Dec. 23 seeking a permissive referendum on the sale.
The town is obligated to wait five business days in order to hear any objections to the petitions — or until today; within 20 days after that, those objections must be heard in court, Kelson said.
If enough signatures are deemed valid by the court — only 84 are required — the town must schedule a referendum not less than 60 days and not more than 75 days from the date the petitions were filed, Kelson said. This would put the window for a vote roughly between Feb. 24 and March 7.
The school, vacant for at least eight years, was deeded to the town in a land swap with the Minisink Valley School District that was orchestrated by town Councilman John Bell, who died in January 2006.
As the board moved into executive session "to discuss personnel and litigation issues," Bell's widow, Cecilia Bell, addressed the crowd from the audience, reading a letter she'd submitted to the Times Herald-Record:
"... John wanted to move the police station, community center and Town Hall to the old school building. We would have been able to receive grant money to pay for the renovations," she said. "... Why do we have to sell the school, which has been our history for decades?"
As the meeting resumed, outgoing six-year Councilman Ed Fairweather and 22-year Supervisor Bill Novak Jr. thanked the board and the community for the opportunity to serve. The new supervisor and two new board members will be sworn in at 4 p.m. today at Town Hall.
http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20131231/NEWS/312310338/-1/NEWS
Yet, the nearly 100 people who turned out apparently came to hear about one particular, highly contentious matter — the proposed sale of the former Otisville Elementary School to a Satmar Hasidic congregation.
Town Attorney Zachary Kelson reported the town had received signed contracts from the long-vacant school's prospective buyer, Congregation Rechovos Hanohor, as well as a down payment of 10 percent on the $325,000 purchase price. But, Kelson said, the town would table any action to complete the contracts because of an overwhelming number of signatures — at least 500, he said — on petitions filed Dec. 23 seeking a permissive referendum on the sale.
The town is obligated to wait five business days in order to hear any objections to the petitions — or until today; within 20 days after that, those objections must be heard in court, Kelson said.
If enough signatures are deemed valid by the court — only 84 are required — the town must schedule a referendum not less than 60 days and not more than 75 days from the date the petitions were filed, Kelson said. This would put the window for a vote roughly between Feb. 24 and March 7.
The school, vacant for at least eight years, was deeded to the town in a land swap with the Minisink Valley School District that was orchestrated by town Councilman John Bell, who died in January 2006.
As the board moved into executive session "to discuss personnel and litigation issues," Bell's widow, Cecilia Bell, addressed the crowd from the audience, reading a letter she'd submitted to the Times Herald-Record:
"... John wanted to move the police station, community center and Town Hall to the old school building. We would have been able to receive grant money to pay for the renovations," she said. "... Why do we have to sell the school, which has been our history for decades?"
As the meeting resumed, outgoing six-year Councilman Ed Fairweather and 22-year Supervisor Bill Novak Jr. thanked the board and the community for the opportunity to serve. The new supervisor and two new board members will be sworn in at 4 p.m. today at Town Hall.
http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20131231/NEWS/312310338/-1/NEWS
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