Letters to the Editor: Bus Depot 11.10.16

Industrial Complex

East Hampton

November 6, 2016

Dear Mr. Rattray:

The Cedar Street site for the East Hampton Union Free School District bus depot had the most disadvantages of all the original sites proposed by the architect hired by the school board earlier this year. Now, after pressure from neighbors, local organizations, and the sale of the Schaefer bus barn, how did it become the board’s “best” and “only” option? 

It became the “only” option because the board actually believes that it is fiscally responsible to build an industrial complex on our high school campus for a cost of up to $6 million. The proposed industrial complex will house a parking lot for school buses as well as for the drivers’ personal vehicles, plus a fueling station and maintenance barn. The maintenance barn will be used to maintain not just East Hampton’s fleet of buses but also other districts’ buses. This is not your mom-and-pop gas station; this is a huge highway truck stop.

The town and village recently agreed to build a shared fueling station, which offers the same services at a lower cost to the taxpayers. The school district did not accept the shared fueling services. The district seems to believe that it is fiscally responsible to build a disaster at the taxpayers’ expense.

Furthermore, it is detrimental to virtually everyone in our town to build a school bus complex so close to the aleady dangerous and congested intersection at Hand’s Creek Road and Cedar Street. Such a blunder will forever adversely impact traffic on Cedar Street and Hand’s Creek Road. Other crossroads and residential areas will be affected; there will be more traffic on Cooper Lane and other side roads surrounding the school. (The residents of Miller Lane East and West have felt the devastating and dangerous impact of increased traffic caused by drivers taking a detour trying to avoid the intersection of Cedar and North Main Streets.) 

Finally, is it responsible to put an industrial complex comprised of fueling stations and automotive maintenance wastes adjacent to active playing fields? Do we want to add another layer of environmental concerns to the fields surrounding our schools? 

I am convinced that this proposal is irresponsible to the taxpayers, current students and future students, the drivers using Cedar Street, Hand’s Creek Road, surrounding side roads, and all those residents living on these roads. Did I mention that East Hampton Village’s fire trucks and ambulances are housed at 1 Cedar Street? Responsible? I think not.

CHUCK COLLINS

A Bad Idea

East Hampton

November 6, 2016

Dear Mr. Rattray:

I am a homeowner in East Hampton, and have been for over 17 years. I have not felt the need to write to you until now, due to the East Hampton School Board’s proposal of constructing a bus depot and diesel fueling station behind the high school on Cedar Street.

This is a bad idea for so many reasons, and it should not happen.

The proposed building, parking lot, and fuel pumping area are an extreme change of usage of the existing property. This is a residential neighborhood, not an area suited for an industrial complex that will most likely have a significant adverse impact on the environment and quality of life for the residents who live near it, and so many in the surrounding area, not to mention all the traffic, safety concerns, and deforestation that goes along with it. Who could possibly think this is a good idea? There are other options the board should look into, even though it claims to have already done so. 

Does the East Hampton School District really need a private diesel fuel pumping facility in a residential neighborhood? I don’t think so. Perhaps to start, the board could speak to Larry Cantwell, who may support the idea of sharing services using the recently opened joint fuel facility for East Hampton Town and East Hampton Village on Springs-Fireplace Road in East Hampton. 

The board has claimed it will be “good neighbors.” Good neighbors do not change the usage of a mostly wooded area in a residential neighborhood into a large building complex with a maintenance bay to house at least five buses at a time. They also don’t create another unnecessary, large paved parking lot to host more than 30 buses, while spending millions (approximately $7 million) to do so. They also don’t propose servicing dozens of buses from other districts, which will even further increase the difficulty of travel on that crowded road for everyone who uses it. 

The East Hampton High School parking lot currently has about 185 unused parking spaces on a typical weekday. Anyone can go there and see this for themselves. Buses make a lot of noise, idle for a half hour or more during colder months, spit out diesel fumes, and beep every time they back up. Would any board member want to live near this complex? If they really think about it, I believe the answer would be an emphatic and resounding no. 

In addition, is this proposal even economically beneficial to the district or East Hampton taxpayers? Has anyone scrutinized the numbers yet? I have begun the process, and I’m certainly not convinced. Further inspection by the public, I believe, will prove that in the short and long term, there is no benefit to our citizens.

The board needs to find a different and better solution that does not waste taxpayers’ money and ruin an existing, beautiful community. A solution that benefits all concerned is out there, and I’m confident if the board keeps its options and mind open, it will find one. If it doesn’t, and it comes to a vote, I’ll certainly be voting no, and I hope many others in the community will speak up, voice their concerns, and do the same if this horrible proposal ever comes to a referendum.

Sincerely,

JOHN T. COSSENTINO



 

More of a Burden

East Hampton

November 7, 2016

To the Editor, 

The proposal by the East Hampton School District to locate a new bus depot at the north side of the school property is troubling for a few reasons. First, the extra traffic will be evident most of the day, but especially four times a day, when the fleet of buses enters and exits in the early morning and after school hours. Cedar Street, as anyone who must travel on it any time of day knows, is an extremely busy two-lane country road. A large bus fleet, entering and exiting numerous times during the day, will be nearly impossible to ignore, in safety terms and in visual and aural impact on a longstanding residential area. The entrance being close to the intersection with Hand’s Creek Road, a difficult spot already, only adds to the potential for accidents.

Second, I find it curious how the district selectively decided not to inconvenience two other areas adjacent to the school property in recent years, yet is willing to put this sizable project in a busier location than both prior proposals. The first property was directly across from the school — farmland that the district put a large nonrefundable deposit on and ultimately lost, when the neighbors complained the use of the property as playing fields would harm the peace of their backyards. 

Newtown Lane and Stratton Square residents felt the after-school use by our students playing and practicing sports would degrade their quality of life. What would they have said of a bus parking lot, repair building, fueling station, and the attendant noise, traffic, and pollution? Their voice was heeded, and we lost a reasonably priced contiguous piece of property, along with a large amount of money.

The second time the district decided not to inconvenience another faction occurred with a proposal to add lights to the largest playing field on the west side of the school, which would have let the school use the turf field more and real grass fields less, in order to save on field maintenance and overuse of natural grass, and ultimately provide safer facilities for our teams. Oh, some adult sports leagues wanted to play games up to 8:30 p.m. for some seasons during the year also. No. The neighbors on the west side protested and were heard. How would they react if, instead of some students and adults playing sports, they were asked to put up with the proposal for a bus depot? My guess is they would have been even more irate.

The bus proposal is much more of a burden than either one of these two neighbors faced. Why is it now okay to put a much noisier, much higher use, more polluting, and more accident-prone facility on the Cedar Street property? Are these neighbors not “connected” enough? 

There is a property the school should consider purchasing for this project, which is coming to market. The town-owned scavenger waste facility on Springs-Fireplace Road is a cleared piece of property in a much more appropriate commercial location. Perhaps the town and school can come up with a price fair to both, and fair to the taxpayers who ultimately pay the bills.

Let’s leave Cedar Street for any possible later need the district may face. Fields come to mind.

ROBERT MOSS