There's been a change of plans: The Sag Harbor School District announced Tuesday that it will put the Sept. 29 Mashashimuet Park bond referendum on hold in favor of pursuing a land deal that would allow it to build athletic facilities next to Pierson Middle and High School.
That new plan includes the purchase of a lot at 12 Marsden Street for $700,000 along with a separate partnership with Southampton Town for the purchase of four more residential lots across the street. The town would pay 70 percent of that cost, or $6 million, using money from the community preservation fund, and the school would pay the remaining 30 percent for the $8.575 million C.P.F. deal.
According to Jeff Nichols, the district superintendent, Sag Harbor has enough money in a reserve account to cover the $700,000 purchase plus the district's $2,575,000 share of the four properties. All are currently owned by Pat Trunzo, a builder who originally intended to develop those lots into houses, under the name of a limited liability corporation, Marsden Street Property L.L.C. Those development plans were withdrawn on July 28 after several months of debate before the Sag Harbor Board of Historic Preservation and Architectural Review.
That means that instead of voting on Sept. 29 on a plan to borrow $13.5 million for a major overhaul of Mashashimuet Park, where Pierson's sports teams play, the community will be asked to vote on Thursday, Nov. 3, on the use of surplus money for the five Marsden Street lots. State law requires school districts to ask permission from voters to use money in capital reserve accounts.
"The purchases will have no impact on people's tax bills to the extent that we're not asking for more money. It's money we currently hold in reserve," Mr. Nichols said, later clarifying that these amounts are for the purchase of property only -- not the cost of actually building new facilities on Marsden Street.
Sandi Kruel, the Sag Harbor School Board president, acknowledged that there will still need to be improvements made at Mashashimuet Park. "We're not walking away from the park," she said. "We have work to do there. . . . It's important for us to make sure the community understands that."
The district recently signed a one-year lease with the park, covering the 2022-23 school year. The long-term lease associated with the $13.5 million bond vote was to have been for 17 years.
Asked whether the plan had been communicated to the park board, Mr. Nichols said the board's response was "'Congratulations, it sounds like a great opportunity for the school.' I reiterated to them, just like I said publicly, that this doesn't mean the school district is not going to partner with the park moving forward. I think it's in our best interest to do so, but it makes sense for us to take a step back and say, 'What does that partnership look like given the acquisition of Marsden?'"
Reached by phone Wednesday morning, Janine Rayano, president of the Mashashimuet Park board of directors, said "it is a little early" for her to comment in depth on the school district's new direction. "We're sort of getting up to speed" on it, she said.
The C.P.F. purchase of the four contiguous Marsden Street lots is not a done deal just yet. According to James Burke, a Southampton Town attorney, that town board will hold a public hearing on Oct. 11 at 1 p.m. for the use of the C.P.F. to help Sag Harbor acquire 7, 9, 11, and 15 Marsden Street. Recreational space is a permitted use of that money under the state law that established the C.P.F., which imposes a 2-percent tax on real estate transfers above $2 million to create a pot of money for towns to use on open-space purchases, historic preservation, and water quality projects. That pot is flush at the moment thanks to the pandemic-fueled real estate boom on the East End.
According to Sag Harbor Village's tax rolls, the four contiguous properties on Marsden Street total 3.37 acres, while 12 Marsden Street is .76 of an acre.
State law allows public bodies like towns and school boards to discuss real estate deals during executive sessions. That's why Tuesday's late-afternoon, special school board meeting for the outright purchase of 12 Marsden Street, as well as a resolution setting up the Nov. 3 vote, seemed to come across as a surprise to many.
"It was a couple of months" of discussion for the Marsden Street deal, Mr. Nichols said, which shaped up behind the scenes even as the school board was moving the Mashashimuet Park bond referendum forward.
Village residents had not been unanimous in favor of the redevelopment plan for Mashashimuet Park. "That's not what guided our collaboration with the C.P.F.," Mr. Nichols said after Tuesday's special school board meeting.
The school board has not yet formally canceled the Mashashimuet Park vote.
Whether the Marsden Street facilities will include an artificial turf field remains to be seen. A large group of school district voters rejected that plan in December 2016 on the grounds that artificial turf contained toxic materials — enough to vote down that proposal for the field behind Pierson. However, many parents and student-athletes are now in favor of installing such a field, saying that advancements in field technology have since changed to become safer.
Mr. Nichols said that artificial turf is "part of the discussion that we're going to have moving forward. Nothing's been decided yet, but those are things we . . . certainly discussed as an option."
Ms. Kruel credited Alex Kriegsman, a board member who is also a land-use attorney, for his key role in helping the real estate transactions come to fruition. Mr. Kriegsman, in turn, gave credit to Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. for being a champion of the C.P.F. program from its inception.
"Without the C.P.F., this wouldn't be an option for us," Mr. Kriegsman said.
The lone public commenter on Tuesday was Jeff Ziglar. "Thanks for being a board who is listening to what the community is saying and bringing up things that everyone is thinking of," he said. "You guys are doing a great job."