Board looks beyond new referendum BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP Staff Writer ALLENTOWN - The Upper Freehold Regional Board of Education has yet to formally discuss what would happen if the April 17 referendum fails with voters, but a flier shows that they are thinking about it. Voters will decide whether to allot an additional $13.2 million to the school district's new middle school project, which voters initially approved in 2004 with a price tag of $38 million. If the referendum passes, the school district would move the proposed school from the site on Ellisdale Road, which has soil remediation and wastewater issues, to a site in a sewer service area off Breza Road. Although the board has not formally discussed what it would do about the middle school project if the new referendum fails, an informational sheet given out at its March 7 meeting shows that the school district has options. Some of those options would preserve the $6.4 million the state allotted for the project with the passing of the original referendum, while other options would not. According to Board of Education President Joseph Stampe, the board's contract with Princeton Nurseries for the Ellisdale Road site would still be in place if the new referendum fails. However, Stampe said the board does not know what Princeton Nurseries would decide if the purchase is delayed until October. The board may have to wait until October for the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to render a decision on whether to approve or deny a Wastewater Management Plan (WMP) amendment for the Ellisdale Road site. The amendment is required for the school district to be able to get wastewater services to the Ellisdale Road site, which is not located in a sewer service area. In the event of a failed referendum, the school district could opt to keep the same middle school design and location that voters approved in the 2004 referendum. Because the project that voters approved is currently $10.7 million overbudget due to delays, soil remediation costs and increased construction costs, Stampe said the board would have to go to another referendum to build the same school at the same location. "Assuming WMP amendment approval from DEP, the board could decide to ask the voters to approve more money on Ellisdale Road for the school that has been designed," Stampe said. The second option would be to keep the same location and same budget that voters approved in the 2004 referendum but come up with a different design for the school. "The board could significantly redesign the school, staying at Ellisdale Road and cutting back to fit the current $38 million budget," Stampe said. This option, which would still require voter approval, would eliminate from the school's design all sports and recreation fields, an auditorium and additional team teaching spaces, and perhaps more, according to Stampe. The third option the board would have, according to Stampe, is to keep the same budget for the school but have a different design and location for the facility. "The board could decide to go to another site [Breza Road or somewhere else within district] for a new middle school design within the budgeted amount," he said. The school district would need voter approval for "a significantly redesigned school and a change in location" with this option, according to Stampe. Stampe said the school district could also opt to declare "Frustration of Purpose," which he described as throwing out the results of the first referendum and starting the middle school project over again. "This option might be considered if we wait to hear the decision from the DEP on the WMP amendment [for the Ellisdale Road site] and are denied," he said. If the school district tosses the results of the first referendum, it would no longer be eligible for the $6.4 million the state allotted for that project, according to Stampe. If the proposed referendum fails, Board of Education member Jeanette Bressi said the school board can put out another referendum to voters in September without jeopardizing the money the state has allotted for the project. The board could also put out a referendum question in December if it had to, she said. Bressi said the board could pose two questions to voters, asking them to choose between moving forward with the Ellisdale Road site or staying with the Breza Road site. She had urged the board to include the questions on the April ballot, but the board chose not to. "The board's attorney said it is quite simple to do so and it works well," she said. "Both questions can't get approved. It is a one-or-the-other question." Stampe addressed why the board decided against posing two referendum questions. In his view, he said, it would have been irresponsible for the board to put two referendum questions on the April ballot. "The board is aware of the issues with Ellisdale Road," he said. "Putting two questions on the ballot would be confusing to the voters." He continued, "I also believe that it would be irresponsible to ask voters to approve money for Ellisdale Road when we do not know if we will get the WMP amendment to put the treatment facility there."