Bridgehampton Expansion Under the Microscope

With a $24.7 million bond referendum for a renovation and expansion project at the Bridgehampton School looming, the Bridgehampton Citizens Advisory Committee invited school district officials to its meeting Monday night seeking more information.

Residents of the hamlet will be asked on Dec. 13 to float a bond to renovate the current school building, built in the 1930s, and construct an addition, which would not only replace 40-year-old portable trailers that have been used for classrooms but also provide space for a full gym, a stage, updated science rooms, a cafe, and a fitness center.

Jenice Delano, a member of the advisory committee, estimated that about 60 percent of the proposal related to the sixth through 12th grades. The figure was not refuted. “You wouldn’t need all this,” Ms. Delano said, if high school students were sent, through tuition, to other schools. A new gym, for example, would be unnecessary, she suggested. 

“Pre-K through eighth grade need a viable gym” even if the high school were closed in the future, Lois Favre, the school superintendent, responded. “I still believe in a viable school now.” 

There are 211 students as of Monday, Ms. Favre said. When she arrived in 2010, there were 155. Expansion is “long overdue,” she said. “A real need for space, quality space, for our learners is what has brought the board to move to make the decision to go out for the bond vote.” She added later that safety was equally important.

When the subject of closing the high school was raised, Ron White, the school board president, protested that “with all due respect, we came here today to speak about the capital project.” He mentioned the 2009 school board election, when three candidates who favored closing at least parts of the school were defeated. Many residents of the hamlet have said they see that as a mandate for keeping the high school open. 

 “Our school, our community members have not pushed in that realm. Yes, there are pockets of us who have considered that. I, myself, considered it,” Mr. White said. He told the audience he had had “chills” recently while listening to Bill Stavropoulos, an alumnus who became chief executive officer of the Dow Chemical Company, speak at the Bridgehampton School’s inaugural Hall of Fame ceremony about the school’s important role in his success.

Pamela Harwood, the chairwoman of the advisory committee, asked Ms. Favre to explain why the vote was being held in mid-December, a time of year that had troubled committee members because many people are away or busy with the holidays. The superintendent answered that Memorial Day through Labor Day was a hectic time, not just for the community, but for administrators getting ready for the school year. By November, she said, they are starting to plan next year’s budget. “Any date chosen isn’t going to be a good date,” Ms. Favre said.

Absentee ballots have been available through the district clerk’s office since Nov. 1. If those ballots are to be returned by mail, the district needs completed applications by Tuesday at 4 p.m. If they are to be delivered by hand, the deadline is extended until Dec. 12 at 4.

 “This is not anything we rushed to go into,” Dr. Favre assured the committee. “You’re a board that does wonderful things for the community. Not everybody in Bridgehampton knows exactly what you’re doing, but we trust that what you’re doing is in the best interest of the town. You elect your [school] board members to represent the community, and you have to know they are truly diligent and have been diligent in vetting this project.” She said it had been an 11-year process, documented in board minutes and newsletters. In 2007, she noted, her predecessor attended an advisory committee meeting proposing an addition. 

In answer to a question about the project’s cost to individual taxpayers, Robert Hauser, the school district’s assistant superintendent for finance and facilities, said that a house assessed at $3 million would pay about $701 per year, or $14,019 over the life of the 20-year bond, with an estimated interest rate of 3.5 percent. The average non-waterfront home in Bridgehampton is assessed at $2.8 million, he said.

According to a newsletter mailed to voters earlier this month, on a home valued at $1 million, with a 3.5-percent interest rate over 20 years, the tax impact would be about $241 per year, or $4,820 over the life of the bond

A member asked how much the district had spent on the project so far. The two major expenditures, Mr. Hauser said, were for a demographic enrollment facilities analysis, done by Suffolk BOCES for $5,450, and a state-required environmental impact study that cost $7,500. 

As for architectural fees to date, John Grillo, the project’s architect, said, “I haven’t billed a penny. I promised the board I wouldn’t bill a penny before the bond passes.” If the referendum fails, he said, he would not receive any money.

Mr. Grillo was also questioned about different aspects of the design, ranging from the sanitary system to the solar panels. The committee wanted to know why a nitrogen-removing septic system had not been included. The architect answered that the district would need a variance from the county to install such a system, adding that it was not needed and would not work well in a building where it is not in continuous use, 24 hours a day, year-round. 

Julie Burmeister, a member of the advisory group who also serves on the town’s sustainability committee, suggested that the county health department sets the bar low and improvements were on the horizon. Mr. Grillo said that if a new requirement is in place before work begins in the summer of 2018, it could be included in the project, with funding coming from the 18 percent contingency line. 

Peter Wilson, a committee member who is also an architect, said after the meeting that it had covered a lot of ground and had persuaded him to vote in favor of the bond. “This school system is more than just the physical plant, it’s a symbol of this community,” he said. “We’re a very wealthy community — not all of us are, but many of us are — I think we are can afford this, to do this. To me, it’s not money here. To me, it’s community pride. I think on that level alone, if none other, having a school plant that is up-to-date, works, and we can be proud of it, is a very important thing.” 

Tony Lambert, another member who formerly served on the Bridgehampton School Board, put it this way: “If you don’t build, and you keep it like a ‘Little House on the Prairie’ school, and everything around you is 21st century, you’re not competing.”