Neighbor News
More Concerns about the Elementary School/Athletic Field Project
Tewksbury taxpayers deserve clarification and explanation regarding questions & concerns about the $97 million dollar school/field project.
The project for building the new Tewksbury elementary school on Pleasant St., to be built directly on the site of the current Doucette field, STILL has many more questions & concerns regarding the current Elementary School Building Committee plans. The Tewksbury Planning Board will be conducting an open/public meeting on Monday, November 18, 2019 at 7:00 PM, Tewksbury Town Hall and it is open to all residents.
Additional serious concerns about the elementary school building/ athletic field plan:
1. Loop road around complex: To alleviate the increased traffic congestion on Pleasant St. (adding an additional 750 students + administration & staff), parents will be funneled into a 150-car length, 1-way, loop road and forced to drive around the entire complex BEFORE leaving their child off at the front door.
2. Disrupting Ryan School operation: 5th & 6th grade students will be attending school in very close proximity to the new school construction site. Aside from exposing students to potential safety risks, this will increase noise levels that classroom learning environments will need to contend with.
3. Wetlands/swamp area: Part of the planned 2-story athletic field house/concession stand (estimated cost of $4-5 million) will be partially built over the current site of a 20-year old water retention area (located directly behind the Ryan School). This specific area is currently fenced off & appears to be a full-fledged swamp area with cat-tails & other wetlands growth present.
4. Wetlands/swamp area: A good portion of the $1.3 million synthetic turf field will be built within a designated flood plain (along with the 1000 seat bleachers & a section of loop road). Also, this parcel of land is located through 'do not disturb', 'do not build' and 'wetlands' topographical delineation lines, that eventually stretch into significant swamp areas. Note: Apparently a 'plan' was already agreed upon that the athletic field would be built 1st, even though it would be at the lowest elevation, in the wettest area of the entire Pleasant St. parcel.
5. Sewer lines: Sewer lines for the 750 student elementary school, and additional administration & school staff, will be connected to the 15-house Munro Circle sewer line & pumping station. Has the increased functional workload for this system been analyzed, to be sure the current system can handle the increased, significant workload?
6. Some Buildings too small: It was reported at a committee meeting that the size of the administration office section of the new building is not large enough for current administration office needs. Insufficient room size in the athletic field house has also been voiced by committee members.
Why are these new buildings being built, when they are already reportedly too small for current needs? Just to be clear, both the administrative offices and the athletic field complex (including the field house) ARE NOT REIMBURSED BY THE STATE. These are fully funded 100% by the Tewksbury taxpayers.
When the taxpayer portion of the allotted funds is all spent, and the elementary school is not finished, you can be sure that another request for additional funds (more higher taxes) will be on the Town Meeting schedule to be voted on next year !
To Tewksbury residents: Please attend the Tewksbury Planning Board open/public meeting on Monday, November 18, 2019 at 7:00 PM, Tewksbury Town Hall to voice your concerns about this project!
Phyllis Giblin, Tewksbury MA
