Greenport voters will decide Tuesday on a$1.97 million upgrade to the district’s aging athletic facilities— a project school officials say would be paid entirely from a capital reserve fund and would not raise property taxes.
The proposal would reconstruct and resurface the school’s cinder track and add new bleachers with accessible seating, along with a press box, comfort station and concession area. Improvements would also be made to locker room ceilings.
Greenport Superintendent Beth Doyle—who has lobbied for the project at school board, village and civic meetings—previously told The Suffolk Times the district’s existing facilities no longer meet current safety, accessibility or program needs.
Ms. Doyle said the district can maintain its facilities while strengthening its fiscal outlook, calling the proposal “the fiscally responsible thing to do.”
She acknowledged residents may find it confusing to hear warnings about a difficult budget year while the district is also asking voters to approve a capital project.
“There’s a little bit of probably cognitive dissonance here,” she said at a Village of Greenport meeting on Feb. 26. “‘You’re asking us to spend money on a capital project, and you’re also telling us that we’re going to have a tough budget year.’”
Ms. Doyle said about $1 million would remain in the capital reserve fund after the work is completed. The reserve is restricted for capital improvements and cannot be used for operating expenses such as salaries or benefits.
The project also calls for replacing locker room ceilings in the girls’ and boys’ facilities, constructing a new restroom building and replacing a wood storage barn with a 30-by-30-foot metal building.
Plans also include replacing a 20,000-gallon underground fuel tank and demolishing an existing grounds building. The area would then be repaved to create a half-court basketball court.
The track would remain non-regulation size, meaning the school would not be able to host meets there. Making it regulation size would require relocating field lighting and a well pump on the site.
Source: The Suffolk Times
