Tension High Over Bus Depot Site
“There is a tenor in this country at the moment where it has become acceptable to speak in a disrespectful way to anyone,” said Jacqueline Lowey, a member of the East Hampton School Board, at its meeting Tuesday evening, following an angry outburst by Paul D’Andrea, who took to the podium to lob some bombshells at J.P. Foster, the board’s president.
The issue once again was the proposed Cedar Street school bus depot. Concerned neighbors have formed the Cedar Street Committee, to which Mr. D’Andrea belongs, to oppose it, urging that the school district instead purchase a town-owned plot of land along the largely industrial stretch of Springs-Fireplace Road for its transportation hub.
Negotiations between the district and the East Hampton Town Board have been going on for several months, and the school’s failure to strike a deal and move away from Cedar Street has elicited mounting frustration. Members of the committee have at times suggested that the board be more forthcoming with details of the discussions.
The tension was further fueled during Tuesday morning’s town board meeting when Supervisor Larry Cantwell announced, “We were not able to come to a conclusion with respect to the school’s acquisition of the property. Based on our discussions, the [town] board should consider marking the property for sale to the highest bidder. . . . It’s been months now, and I’m not sure we will come to a conclusion that will result in a sale to the school.”
Mr. D’Andrea, who had seen the live-televised town board meeting, approached the podium that night and told Mr. Foster, “You met with Larry Cantwell earlier and basically told him to take a hike.”
“Were you in the meeting?” asked Mr. Foster.
Mr. D’Andrea did not seem interested in having a conversation. “You’re a liar,” he went on. “You tell the town one thing and then come here and say that you’re moving forward with discussions . . . You’re just one person on the board and you do not get to make decisions on your own behind closed doors. The taxpayers get to decide.”
“No decisions were made,” retorted Mr. Foster, “It was one meeting in the negotiation process. Negotiations can get tough.”
“It’s intolerable to me that people can come in here and call my colleague a liar. Let’s work productively and work together on this,” said Ms. Lowey.
Chuck Collins, another member of the Cedar Street group, followed Mr. D’Andrea to the podium and struck a more decorous note. “We want to stay involved and help push things through. But can we promise each other to work together on this and do so transparently?” he asked the board.
Just as it seemed that the board and the audience had arrived on the same page, John J. Ryan Sr., a board member, said, “We would have to pay $2 million or $2.6 million, or whatever the property costs, at a cost to the taxpayer. If we can save the taxpayer this burden and build safely on property already owned by the school, why shouldn’t we consider this?”
Shortly after that morning’s town meeting, Mr. Cantwell said that the school board had been in touch looking to resume negotiations and that he, together with his board, had agreed to hold off putting the property on the market.