Some residents want vote delayed

Brockport Central School District residents will vote January 24 on a $6.6 million bus garage proposal. The proposal includes the purchase of 130 acres of land on Redman Road, the construction of an eight-bay garage, the renovation of the old bus garage into a teacher training facility and the construction of new athletic fields.

The district has broken the cost of the project down into the following categories: cost of land -$670,000; bus garage - $5,400,000; athletic fields - $250,000; and renovation of old garage - $280,000.

Voting will take place January 24 from noon to 9 p.m. at the A.D. Oliver Middle School and the Barclay Elementary School.

The project was originally presented to the public last August, but the vote had been postponed due to delays in state education department approvals.

As the project did not change in any substantial manner since the August public hearing, the district was not required to hold another public hearing before the vote. However, some residents felt that the information presented in August was incomplete and urged the district to hold another hearing. The district declined to do so, instead it mailed a 16-page brochure detailing the project to residents the week before the vote.

On January 17, about 70 residents attended a meeting held at the Seymour Library by a committee that petitioned the school board to postpone the vote. The message at the meeting was simple: vote no on the proposition and force the school board to hold a public meeting before a re-vote is taken.

"We’re not voting against a bus garage," said committee member Eric Johnson, "we’re voting against a school board that hasn’t done its job. It has not been responsive…has not been diligent…has not been responsible."

The committee says several issues need to be addressed before a vote: the cost of the land, the need for so much land, drainage and environmental issues, and the need for playing fields and how they will be used.

Committee member Gary Skoog said that although the brochure may answer some of the questions, there isn’t enough time for residents to digest it and have remaining questions answered before voting on Wednesday.

Brockport’s transportation director Joe LaMarca told the group that safety is the number one priority of the proposal. He said the current bus garage is "unsafe" for his staff, and impacts the safety of everyone else – faculty, students and community members – traveling on the campus. While LaMarca admitted he didn’t have the answers to issues of land needs and costs, he did say that the need for a new bus garage is very real.

Many residents stated that they are not against the construction of a new bus garage, but rather against this particular proposal with what they feel are still incompletely answered questions.

Committee members urged the residents in attendance to participate by forming telephone trees, signing petitions and writing letters, although time is short before the vote.

In an interview before the meeting, Brockport School Superintendent James Fallon said he hoped the brochure, which he said was carefully compiled to include as much information as possible and does acknowledge some of the concerns raised by the committee, would help residents fully understand the project.