Amenities building heads to special election after Town Meeting approval
“The fact that CCHS does not have a bathroom on the fields has limited so many aspects of how I go throughout my day.”
As she walked out of Town Meeting with a friend, longtime resident Mary Clarke said she was happy voters approved borrowing nearly $1.42 million for a new bathroom building on the Acton-Carlisle High School campus.
“It should have happened before,” Clarke told The Acton Bridge, referencing another effort to advance the amenities building last year.
Her buddy said he voted “no.”
The friends’ split tracked with Monday night’s results, which showed a narrow margin of victory — and still needs to pass at the ballot box.
Final arguments
The amenities building would be a concrete block, 16-bathroom structure at Memorial Field stadium. It would replace three portable toilets that officials say violate the state plumbing code and aren’t compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
After a mandate to find cheaper options last spring, school officials returned with a $1.85 million proposal in the fall and pushed to pay for it without turning to taxpayers. Those avenues didn’t bear fruit. School officials also backed off a possible last-minute amendment to use free cash to fund the building after Town Moderator Carmin Reiss said she probably would have ruled the change out of order.
With other options exhausted, schools Superintendent Laurie Hunter made her pitch, highlighting the risk of litigation over non-compliant bathrooms and higher costs if voters delayed.
“Let’s not kick this can down the road anymore,” said Anne Umphrey after Hunter’s presentation.
Carlisle is footing some of the bill. The cost per household for Acton’s share would total $271 over 10 years.
As some Concordians balk at new debt, critics also questioned why the schools couldn’t get Community Preservation Act funding. School leaders say they initially heard they shouldn’t apply. They got different advice later. But the Community Preservation Committee declined to accept a filing made after the application deadline.
Unanswered questions also remain about the amenities building’s sewer connection (or lack thereof).
Resident Gail Hire said she would probably vote no and wished the schools put forward “more creative” solutions.
For all the talk about costs, Acton resident and CCHS graduate Justin Moy argued that “fundamentally, this is about providing access to people so that they can use the bathroom.”
Moy, who uses a wheelchair, said finding proper restroom facilities is a daily challenge. “The fact that CCHS does not have a bathroom on the fields has limited so many aspects of how I go throughout my day,” he said.
‘I couldn’t be happier’
The amenities building might not have come up for discussion until Tuesday had it not been for a motion from K-8 School Committee chair Carrie Rankin to re-order school budget articles. The move bumped up Article 13 and ensured it got heard on day one of Town Meeting, when attendance is often highest.
The final vote tally for the amenities building was 276-111. The measure needed a two-thirds majority to succeed, meaning it passed by fewer than 20 votes.
The Select Board met on Tuesday and agreed to schedule a special election on August 19 to consider the amenities building and a multimillion dollar road maintenance package.
School officials continue to seek approval for a sewer connection amid a townwide wastewater capacity crunch.
In the meantime, CCHS School Committee chair Julie Viola said she was thankful for Monday’s result.
“I think this is going to do great things for the entire community,” she told The Bridge, “and I couldn’t be happier.”
Trace Salzbrenner and Christine M. Quirk contributed reporting.
