District explores revote and temporary housing for bus fleet following failed proposition
The purchase of an existing East Northport bus yard by the NEN school district was voted down by residents during the annual budget vote last month.
A “transportation facility lease agreement” listed on the agenda for tonight’s board of education meeting comes just one month after a proposition to purchase an East Northport bus yard failed; details on the new business item, however, are not yet publicly available.
In an email sent to Northport-East Northport UFSD residents earlier this month, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Dave Moyer provided an update on the proposed purchase of the former Baumann transportation facility located at 24 Railroad Avenue in East Northport.
The proposition, which was listed on the annual budget vote ballot, would have authorized the district to acquire the approximately 1.75 acre parcel of land at the cost of $3,950,000. It failed by 304 votes at the May 19 vote.
“At this time, the district has an immediate and urgent need to determine where to house our transportation fleet when our existing lease expires on June 30,” Moyer stated in his email.
The topic was discussed at length by Assistant Superintendent of Business Bob Howard at the June 4 board of education meeting, during a scheduled presentation. Following the presentation, board members voted to permit district administration to “begin exploring potential short-term housing options for the fleet while continuing to evaluate a path forward.”
One path forward discussed at the meeting would be to present the purchase of the East Northport transportation facility to voters in a revote as early as September or October.
“We recognize and respect the outcome of the vote. At the same time, we believe it is important to provide additional information regarding the district’s transportation needs and the challenges we face without a permanent facility to house and maintain our buses,” Moyer wrote. The former Baumann transportation facility at 24 Railroad Avenue is unique, the superintendent said, because it already possesses the infrastructure necessary to house, maintain and repair school buses. “The purchase price is lower than the cost of constructing a new facility.”
In his June 4 presentation to the board of education, Howard offered financial analyses of several alternate options for transportation, comparing them to the purchase of the 24 Railroad Avenue property. Some options, he said, were discussed at previous public meetings. Others were based on discourse that was recognized/heard by district officials after the no vote, he said. Many of those options were not viable, Howard added.
Options presented included to continue renting the Brightside Avenue facility currently used as a bus depot by the district; to use Bellerose or Dickinson Avenue elementary schools (both of which would involve canceling the leases of current tenants Variety Child and Little Angels, Howard said); and outsourcing transportation.
Also discussed at the board of education meeting was whether or not the William J. Brosnan building on Laurel Avenue could be used as a bus yard, something Trustee Dave Badanes asked Howard about.
Howard responded that it was not yet known whether the existing parking capacity at the Brosnan site could accommodate the district’s entire transportation fleet, and that utilizing the site for that purpose would likely require the relocation of administrative offices and other programs and groups that currently operate there, including Island Kids. Building a transportation facility on the Brosnan property would cost an estimated $7 million to $8 million, district officials said in a follow-up email to the Journal.
At the board meeting, and in his follow-up email, Moyer spoke about what he believed was both the circulation of misinformation about the transportation facility online and the district not effectively communicating the details of the proposition.
“As we move forward, our commitment is to ensure that residents have access to clear, accurate and transparent information,” the email read. “We will continue to keep the community informed as we evaluate short-term solutions and determine the best path forward for the district’s transportation needs.”
More information on the topic will be shared at the June 18 board of education meeting, which begins at 7pm in the Brosnan building. The meeting can be viewed live here.
Bob Howard’s June 4 presentation to the board of education starts at approximately 1.35:00 into the board meeting video here.
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