News
Pennell
probably not on Town Meeting warrant
By Elizabeth Prata
Gray--Pennell Institute is a 128-year-old building
in the center of town that the School Department has
owned for forty years. Prior to that, Gray owned it.
As with most old buildings, it has been hard to keep
up with the maintenance. The SAD may want to return
Pennell to Gray's ownership.
The School Department and the Town have been discussing
the impacts of selling the building back to the town.
They also have been discussing how to manage the trust
that comes with the building, which states that the
building must be used for educational purposes. The
School department and Town Office Departments have
been talking about sharing the building. The Town
of Gray would be the landlord and offer tenancy to
the School Department. They are discussing a lease
arrangement now.
There was supposed to be a meeting on April 12 between
Gray, New Gloucester, and the School Department, to
further refine the lease and to discuss the trust.
It was announced that the SAD is not ready to discuss
the issue at that time, since they were recently handed
information by the Attorney General regarding the
lease and trust. They want a bit more time so they
can disseminate the information to their eleven Board
members and Superintendent.
Councilor Richard Barter took issue with the delay.
He was all set to finalize the lease with the SAD
on April 12 so that the issue could be committed to
warrant in May, to be voted on at Town Meeting in
June. "This needs to go on the warrant,"
Barter said.
Chair Pam Wilkinson said that if the SAD needs more
time, then they need more time. "It is important
for all parties to feel they have had benefit of a
full discussion," she said. She said she didn't
want a rush job for May. "They need to be comfortable
with their process. Realistically, in my mind, it
is not going to happen in June."
Jim Monroe of Gray asked the Council some questions
regarding the process of transferring Pennell from
the SAD to the Town. He referred to his notes, and
stated that it seemed like the parties "are so
involved with the technicalities that you are losing
perspective." He continued, "It doesn't
look like a great space for joint office, have you
developed a 10-year space allocation plan for the
office space? I haven't heard of any plans for the
Lab, what are you going to do with that?" If
the SAD offers the Pennell property to the Town, the
Lab, which is a separate building, would come with
the package.
Barter took issue with Monroe's questions, saying
that Monroe was "Shooting from the hip. Your
comments are random and gratuitous." Barter said
that the Council did not have enough information to
create a context for a meaningful discussion. "It's
very inappropriate for the Council to make comment,
anything at this point would be strong conjecture."
Monroe said that since the matter was proposed for
June's Town meeting, that it seemed like a good time
to start asking questions.
