Is the Kelley Park land "deal" just a way for the City of Gaithersburg to get an artificial turf football field out of the MCPS Operating Budget?
Today, December 3, 2020, MCPS Superintendent Jack Smith will once again bring a land deal before the Montgomery County Board of Education without disclosing that the deal will actually cost the MCPS Operating Budget upwards of $2 million dollars.
Superintendent Jack Smith is once again telling the Board of Education that the land deal with the City of Gaithersburg is "no cost."
Yet, as the Parents' Coalition has shown, the contract for the transfer of this very small parcel of land to be used for an elementary school actually comes with a lot of costs. Included in the contract for the transfer of this land are the following costs required to be paid for by the Board of Education.
• MCPS must pay for the cost and expense of all off-site easements.
• MCPS must pay for design and construction of an artificial turf football field up to $800,000.
• MCPS must pay for the rough grade of the field, storm drainage and a sub base for the artificial turf field.
• MCPS is required to pay up to 25% for the future replacement of the artificial turf field. [25% of future replacement could be upwards of $250,000.]
• MCPS must pay for new, additional bleachers for the City of Gaithersburg baseball field.
• MCPS must pay for 5 parking spaces dedicated to the City park visitors 24 hours a day.
• MCPS must pay for a City tot lot.
This "deal" for an elementary school site will only provide MCPS with land for a school building. The elementary school will not have any playground area outside of the school. All of the land around the elementary school will be owned and controlled by the City of Gaithersburg.
It is perplexing as to why Superintendent Jack Smith would agree to a land deal that robs elementary school children of dedicated play ground land when he could be building an elementary school right down the street on a 100% paid for and dedicated elementary public school site that would provide room for a school and dedicated play ground.
Here is the Land Deal that Superintendent Jack Smith signed that requires the Board of Education to fund upwards of $2 Million Dollars in gifts to the City of Gaithersburg. This is the deal that he is telling the Board of Education is "no cost."
2020 June Land Acquisition ... by Parents' Coalition of Montg...
Well....I bet the BOE didn't expect to get emails with a subject line "Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire".
ReplyDeleteIt's time for the BOE to realize that Jack Smith is not their friend. He has a HUGE agenda, that excludes those of us who live near parks that MCPS wants for free. MCPS could use their own 11-acre property on Woodwards Road just down the street. It even has a sign that says "Future Site for School Growth.
OR [brilliant idea] they could put the new school on the Forest Oak site and build a Campus that would get them some cost savings...not to mention share the planned health facility between the TWO schools--each with high numbers of FARMS kids. They own their own Forest Oak land, and the City would be willing to share the underdeveloped Victory Farm Stream Park with them. The City and MCPS even have $10M in disputed road funds that would pay for a new entrance and get school traffic out of the neighborhoods.
But wait....that would be a win, win. Something that Jack Smith doesn't want. He wants Kelley Park because its flat. He's taking all of the build able land along with a baseball/soccer field, volley ball, basketball, and two tennis courts and the tot lot. It's the only multi-use park on the City's East Side...and he's stealing it.
We need to pepper the BOE with letters telling them that Jack Smith shouldn't commit scarce construction dollars, especially in these uncertain times with declining enrollments, on "gifts" to the City so that in return he can take prime land that has been a park for over 30 years.
Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire--We caught you!