East Hampton School District officials announced Tuesday they have planned a Monday closing date with East Hampton Town for the purchase of the town’s former scavenger waste site on Springs Fireplace Road, which the school district is buying for $2.3 million to build its own bus barn and auto mechanics classroom.
“Thankfully, it’s coming to a close. It’s almost done,” J.P. Foster, the school board president, said during Tuesday’s meeting. “Once we’ve got the closing under our belt, we can expedite this. . . . We need a place to work on our buses and a place to provide better vocational education A.S.A.P.”
Jon Heidelberger, the school’s attorney, said the original contract for the sale was dated about two years ago. Richard Burns, the district superintendent, said the school will use a special service to accelerate the approval of the building’s architectural plans by the New York State Education Department.
The planning process for the transportation depot was at one point a hot topic among residents, who did not want the district to build it on the campus of the high school off Cedar Street. The matter was settled when then-Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell worked out a plan with the school district for the former scavenger waste site.
“We’re ecstatic. We’re thrilled,” said Encie Peters, a member of the Cedar Street Committee, a group of residents who came together to oppose the original plan. “All that time and effort and energy that the board put into having that come to fruition has been wonderful.”