Comment: Please read ALL the exchanges below to be completely informed of the issues. There is a Union Township meeting tomorrow, Monday, March 15th. There is also a Daniel Boone School Board Budget Meeting that may (or may not) discuss this topic. That meeting is Tuesday, March 16th from 7pm until 8pm at the Matthew Brooks Building in Birdsboro. Recommendations to cut areas in order to balance the budget are to be presented. Please consider attending.
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Sent: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 8:54 PM To: undisclosed-recipients Subject: Stadium Project Meeting
As you may have heard, at their last meeting, the Union Twp planning commission failed to act on the stadium project due to a Lack of quorum. Therefore, the School District failed to receive a recommendation for its $3 million stadium project. What appears to be a deliberate attempt to delay the process seriously puts the stadium project in jeopardy……….at this point, a Sept completion is doubtful, and we may lose all of the fall season. IF the stadium moves forward and IF you care about this project come out in support, especially if you are a Union Twp resident. Have your voice heard by YOUR elected officials. The next Supervisor’s meeting is Monday, March 15th @ 7 PM at the Township building (The old Monocacy Kindergarten). According to our solicitor, at this meeting, the Supervisors are REQUIRED to act due to a time limit. This means they will either have to approve or deny the project. If they deny it, we will need to start all over from the beginning, costing the school district even more money. I would like to clear up some misconceptions about the money for the project. The 3 million dollars is already in the capital improvement fund, and CAN NOT be used to offset the budget. It cannot be put towards the debt service; it cannot be used for salaries. It has to be used for capital improvements. If we do not build the stadium, the money will sit in an account earning less interest than we are paying for it. In addition, if we do not build the stadium, I have been told that the current stands will be closed off due to safety concerns, and we will not have anywhere to sit to watch sporting events. We must build this stadium so that our athletes can compete and hold home events, and our fans can safely watch them play. We are not asking to build a taj-mahal, we simply are trying to improve what we have and make it safe to use. If you are Township residents I encourage you to e-mail your supervisors if you cannot attend the meeting, and show your support for the project. Please do not leave this up to someone else to do, we need everyone to stand up and show your support.
Please forward to everyone you know in the district.
Thank You,
Bruce T. Monteiro,
Bruce Montiero-
As the president of the Sports Boosters Organization, I would ask that you please take a few minutes to consider what you are writing before using your position to influence public opinion on District matters. Some of the e-mails I have read recently misrepresent the circumstances and facts concerning the Stadium Project at Daniel Boone, and I fear only cloud the issue and possibly create controversy where none currently exists.
The Union Township Planning Commission did not have a quorum at their last meeting, so a meeting was not held. It’s that simple. This was not a deliberate attempt to delay the approval of the Stadium project and any characterization to the contrary is unwarranted and disrespects those who serve on that commission.
As a Real Estate Developer of 20 years I have attended hundreds of municipal meetings in townships and boroughs in more than 6 counties, and have experienced firsthand instances where quorums were not met. Yes, it is disappointing to show up to a meeting where one is on the agenda, and have engineers, attorneys, and other professionals with you (who are billing you by the hour) and not be able to discuss your project. However I have never found it to be intentional. Perhaps you should spend some time researching how often quorums don’t occur in municipal governments before accusing citizens who volunteer their time to serve their community of deliberately trying to delay the District’s plans.
In fact, the truth is quite the opposite of what you assert. Union Township has made every attempt to assist the School district move this project forward while working within the confines of its existing Zoning Ordinance, which I will remind you, IS THE LAW OF THE LAND. To subvert the ordinance opens the township up to a lawsuit by any citizen or applicant challenging any decision made by the Supervisors to either approve (or deny) a plan. Therefore the Township must act within the parameters of its ordinance. Or would you prefer a citizen or another applicant challenging a decision by the township to approve the Stadium plan, thereby delaying the project for months if not a year or more? Have you even considered that possibility?
That being said, the ordinance required a certain number of parking spaces be available for each use at the high school. The High School lacked the on-site parking to meet the requirement of the ordinance. The Stadium project could have ended right there (last October), until such time as a new plan was submitted with ON SITE parking (at great expense to the district). However, Union Township (NOT the District engineer, architect, or solicitor) pointed out that their ordinance did provide off –site parking, essentially assisting the District with a less expensive alternative to on-site parking, and an opportunity to get the plan approved within the deadlines the district had established for itself.
In addition, on the issue of off-site parking, they worked creatively with the District to accept the district’s plan for off-site parking. The district off-site parking plan only provides off-site parking at certain times and dates during the year- it is NOT available 24/7/365. Union Township could have interpreted the ordinance to mean that like on-site parking, off-site parking would need to be available 24/7/365. THEY DID NOT. In addition, they took on good faith, a commitment that the district would come forward with a second plan providing for long term on-site parking. The District plans to present that sketch plan to Union shortly, but has not done so as of yet.
Further, Union Township has gone beyond anything I have ever witnessed in other municipalities and actually offered some great advice on ways for the District to SAVE money on its on-site parking plan. It was Union Township that suggested restriping the parking lot on the East Side of the High School to accommodate more parking spaces. That was not our architect’s or engineer’s brain child. That suggestion provided the District with 40 additional parking spaces at almost NO cost. They further suggested widening the drive in front of the High School (North Side) and install perpendicular parking as well as overlay parking. That added another 140 spaces to the District’s on-site parking at a very low cost. Those suggestions provided 180 parking spaces for the district’s onsite parking plan and they came from Union, NOT the District or its experts.
Rethink you characterizations, because quite simply they are baseless. If Union Township officials wanted to “deliberate(ly) attempt to delay,” or prevent the Stadium project, they did not have to suggest an off-site plan, and they did not have to accept the temporary off-site parking plan the district provided. They could have legally denied the plan and forced the district to either install ALL of the required parking on-site (at considerable expense and delay), go through a zoning hearing (also at considerable delay and expense), or abandon the site for the new stadium entirely. THEY DID NOT DO THIS. They did not have to provide creative suggestions helping the District save money on its on-site parking, however they did. Rather than imply that Union Twp officials are up to some nefarious scheme, it might be a nice gesture to show up to the next Township meeting and simply say “thank you for saving the school District approximately $300,000 in parking costs.”
Additionally, it is very rare for ANY board of supervisors in ANY municipality to approve or deny a plan without some kind of recommendation by their Planning Commissions. The very purpose of Planning Commissions is to work with the applicants to provide the best plan that meets the requirements of the ordinance to the Supervisors. Supervisors want that input and advice from those commissions. School Districts should not be treated any differently than any other applicant. Are you suggesting that Developers of housing projects, shopping centers, and race tracks should also get approvals by Supervisors without input from the Planning Commissions? Would that be in the best interests of the residents of Union? When arguing your case for the stadium, I would recommend taking a less myopic and more global view of the consequences of what you suggest. I can assure you, the Supervisors are. And even with a deadline, Supervisors always have the option to provide an extension as opposed to denying a plan as you propound in your e-mail. Again, let’s refrain from creating a sense of panic where none is required.
Finally, our architect has stated to the Board repeatedly, and again at the meeting last Monday night, that even if the District has to wait until April to receive full plan approvals by the Union Township Supervisors, we would still be within our operating window for completion of the Stadium in time for the fall sports season. Yes, weather or construction scheduling could delay its opening beyond that date. However all an April approval means is that there is less cushion in the construction schedule to absorb delays. It does NOT mean that the Stadium won’t be completed in time, or if not that the entire fall season is at risk.
I am not speaking on behalf of the entire school Board – they can speak for themselves. However as a resident of Union Township, and as an elected representative of Union Township to the School Board, I would suggest that going forward please refrain from making misrepresentations concerning the process for stadium approval or the intentions of the people administering it while doing their jobs. And please, take the time to ask the questions necessary to fully understand all of the facts before communicating hyperbole and innuendo to the public for no other reason than to serve an agenda. We are all entitled to hold different opinions, but we should all possess the same facts, and treat others with respect in the process.
I am happy to speak directly with you or anyone else from the public who may have questions or concerns regarding the approval process, the stadium project itself, the monies set aside to fund it, the costs of those monies, how the project impacts the school budget, or any other matter related to District business. It is important that all stakeholders get as much information as possible in order to make intelligent and informed judgments on any issue where their tax dollars are at risk. Please feel free to use me, or any other Board representative, as a resource for that information.
Sincerely,
Andrew Basile, Union Township School Board Director
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It was not a gift, what happened, was they refinanced the debt and in doing so kept the debt service the same monthly amount, but gained 12 million dollars. This money is basically free money and 9 million is being used for the Amity Primary Center, and 3 million for the stadium. We can’t send it back, and we can’t use it to make payments, it has to be used for capital improvements. As for the field, the reason for turf, is that we will be able to use the field more, and during bad weather, and the cost to maintain it will be a lot less than grass. It is almost like having many fields in one spot. The current field is only used for football and a few soccer games, the new field will be used for Football, Soccer, Lacrosse, Field Hockey, Band competitions as well as youth sports when available. I hope that helps, and if not feel free to call me. Thanks.
Bruce Monteiro
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Mr. Monteiro-
Please take more time to understand the facts concerning the district’s debt structure before disseminating erroneous information to the general public concerning the stadium project.
First, the monies currently set aside for capital expenditures are by no means “free money,” and any assertion to the contrary to is patently false.
You are correct, the capital raised during the bond refinance of 2008 included an additional $12 million of debt that can only be used for capital improvements in the District, like new buildings, or a new stadium. And yes, those monies cannot be used as part of the operational budget (salaries, electricity, transportation, etc) and it can not be sent back. However it can also be used for much needed capital expenditures such as roofs, computers, parking, lighting, or geothermal HVAC systems that would reduce our operating costs in the district. And the debt service on that money comes out of the Operating Budget (so the costs of that money can not be used to pay salaries, electricity, transportation, etc).
This is NOT “free money.” There is a very real and enormous cost to the district for these additional funds. $12M at 3.5% amortized over 18 years is $16.3M in total principal and interests payments or about $909,000 per year. That $909,000 comes directly out of the operating budget for the district (where we have a current deficit of $4M). This equates to about $100 in additional taxes per year per $100,000 of assessed value of one’s home. I think you will find this is a very real cost to everyone in the district.
Further, the bond refinance of 2008 extended the current debt service an additional 7 years beyond what had existed previously. So instead of watching the District’s debt service drop from $6M/ year to essentially $0, it maintained the debt service at roughly $6M/year for an additional 7 years. Not only is the district paying another $22.5M in interest payments over the same time period, but consider the opportunity costs as well. Instead of paying debt service during this new extended period, the District could have used those funds on better programming – something sorely needed if one looks at the declining SAT and PSSA test scores in the district. I know it’s hard to put a price tag on a good education but certainly I think most would agree we would rather see tax payer monies go towards increasing test scores than paying interest to bond holders.
Last, there is one more item for you to consider when using the term “free money.” Take a good look at the current economic environment and what impact it will have on the District’s financing for the next few years. With declining assessed values, almost non-existent Real Estate transfers, lower earned income tax revenues, zero new construction real estate tax revenues, the District is looking at projected deficits in the operating budgets to come. This means it is likely the District will not be contributing any additional funds to its capital reserves for many years. If the district spends its capital reserves on a new stadium ($3M is allocated so far, and $9M has already been committed/spent at APC) it leaves few dollars in reserve accounts to cover capital needs going forward (about $3M). Should an unforeseen capital issue present itself, the District will be hard pressed to fund it. Last year for example, the Birdsboro elementary school required a new roof at a cost of over $500,000. Once the monies are spent on the stadium, the District will have to be VERY careful in rationing its capital reserves for years to come because the same 2008 bond refinance also put the school at its debt limit. It cannot borrow any more money (yet another opportunity cost). Needless to say, the additional $12M of debt puts serious constraints on the District.
I understand you want the stadium built.
However before disseminating erroneous information to the public in an effort to build support towards that goal, please take the time to get an accurate understanding of both the short and long term ramifications of what the true costs of building this stadium will be on the resources of the District and the tax payers who fund it.
Sincerely,
Andrew Basile
Union Township School Board Director
