Full Speed Ahead on Cedar Street

The East Hampton School District’s plan to build a bus maintenance barn and refueling facility on the Cedar Street side of its high school campus has begun to take shape around options that the district says would reduce its impact on the surrounding residential neighborhood.

Mike Guido, the district’s architect, on Tuesday presented a preliminary site plan that would position a rectangular building lengthwise, parallel to the school property line, so that it would act as a sound buffer between buses and the houses immediately to the east of district property on Pine Street. He said trees, shrubs, and fencing would be placed strategically to limit noise and also limit the sight of the facility for those across the way on Cedar Street. A second option would place the building perpendicular to the property line, farther away from Cedar Street, though it was said that placement would offer less of a sound barrier to the houses to the east.

In either option, the driveway into and out of the facility would be maintained on the east side of the property, instead of being positioned at its center. The goal of that would be to “create a visual blockage from the street,” Mr. Guido said on Tuesday. “We’ll minimize the ability to see the building.”

The bus parking would be arranged on the west side of the school property. There the buses would be able to plug into heating units designed to warm their engines without having to idle them, and angled so that they would not have to shift into reverse, thereby avoiding loud beeping and other noises that would disrupt neighbors.

The plan also incorporates the existing two buildings, which are used for general campus maintenance and storage. J.P. Foster, the school board president, said the cost of tearing them down and adding equivalent square footage to the bus barn would be nearly half a million dollars.

“We’ve gone through quite a few options,” Mr. Guido said. “In order to locate the building anywhere else on the site, the two existing buildings would have to come down, and I believe that has been eliminated as an option, so it really limits us to where it fits and gives us proper access to where the buses can safely get in and out.”

Board members also discussed the likelihood that the bus barn itself would not produce much noise because it would be air-conditioned and its doors would be closed during the day.

Although much remains to be decided, Mr. Foster said, the cost of the plan is still estimated at $4.5 million to $5 million.

During the meeting, Ellen Collins, an East Hampton teacher and resident of Cedar Street, continued to object to the district’s plan based on the idea that it would put an industrial building in a residential area.

“I appreciate that the board has tried to work with us, but after a lot of going back and forth, I feel like the board is taking the path of least resistance,” Ms. taking the path of least resistance,” Ms. Collins said, adding later, that “the easiest thing to do is not always the most responsible way to conduct business, to really work with a neighbor, to make less of an impact on our lives. We were told, ‘You bought by a school.’ Yes, we did, with happiness. But we didn’t buy by an industrial complex. And that is something I think you need to think about.”

Reached by phone yesterday, Mr. Foster disagreed that the district was taking the easy way out, and pledged the district would continue to look for ways to minimize the impact on the neighbors.

“We looked at the whole thing comprehensively,” he said. “Now we are in a position where we have to put it on our property. We’ve talked to the town, we’ve looked at private sales, private rentals. . . . We’re trying our best to be a good neighbor, but we also have to be able to function.”

Also on Tuesday, the school board approved without discussion a resolution giving Richard Burns, the superintendent, permission to sign a lease on behalf of the school district with a business called 41114 LLC “upon finalization of that lease agreement between the parties.” Mr. Burns said it was related to the district’s existing transportation depot, which is located at 41 Route 114 in East Hampton, but said it could not be talked about in further detail. The school board later adjourned to an executive session to discuss real estate.