Gansett Sets A Vote

The issue will be put to Amagansett voters on Dec. 9: Should the Amagansett School District purchase a parcel on Meeting House Lane, adjacent to the school, for an amount "not to exceed $170,000"?

The purchase will "provide greater flexibility in the design of future expansion of the school building," according to John Courtney, the School District's attorney, who reviewed the resolution with the School Board on Oct. 7. It has been discussed at recent board meetings and at meetings of the school's long-range planning committee.

"General Purposes"

The board chose not to include in the proposition a covenant restricting the use of the property, although members of the Amagansett Citizens Advisory Committee and Meeting House Lane residents had expressed concern that it might be used for school bus exits and parking. The citizens' groups had suggested a restrictive covenant.

Instead, board members said, the property will be used "for general school purposes," to be determined in conjunction with the development of the expansion.

Though board members chose not to limit the property's use, efforts will be made, they said, to keep school traffic off Meeting House Lane, and to use the property in concert with community wishes.

The board voted to levy, over 20 years, a tax to finance the purchase, rather than deplete an existing reserve fund, as had been discussed.

December Deadline

A daylong public information session will be scheduled for late November, before the vote. The owners of the parcel, the heirs of the late State Senator MacNeil Mitchell, have set a Dec. 31 deadline for the purchase; after that date the price may go up.

The school's long-range planning committee will turn now to plans for a proposed addition, a project that will require another public vote, after July 1, 1998.

Also last week, the board reviewed the school's computer program, before deciding to spend almost $20,000 next year to buy new computers and printers.