Van Detta Stadium project

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the concerned City School Taxpayers for your many valid comments regarding the proposed Van Detta Stadium project.  I would also like to remind the majority of you that it is not enough to speak out about it, but to get out and vote on Tuesday, March 29^th.  In numbers, we can tell the school district exactly what we think of this idea.

I have remained publically silent, until now.  I was unable to attend the school district meetings, however I received the information that was distributed, read with great interest all of the articles and taxpayers comments published by the local media outlets.  Many of the taxpayers made very valid points and yet we are still waiting for a straight answer from Ms. Puzio and the school administration.

In her latest ploy, she shows the poor students practicing in the parking lot.  If they can practice in the parking lot then why can’t they practice on the lawn.  It does not have to be a regular field made for this purpose, but any grassy area (I am sure the parking lot was not lined for the purpose of their practice).  You also indicate that the football field is too wet and gets torn up during practice and games.  If it is too wet, then modify the automatic sprinkler system (maybe they can point the sprinkler heads to the field instead of the track and save some money on your taxpayer paid water bill too).

I was able to attend the tour of the proposed changes to the Stadium itself and would like to inform the rest of the taxpayers of a few things.  The shower area looks brand new, almost like it has never been used.  If it hasn’t been used, then why do we have to replace it, maybe if you moved the boxes you have in there it could be used, or if privacy is needed, then you could install stalls for the wall mounted shower heads, instead of tearing the whole thing out.  Most of the athletes that would shower there are City School students and live within a reasonable distance.  Can’t they go home to shower? 

Do the taxpayers know that the entire stadium building is heated all year long (about 58 degrees)?  Wouldn’t it be more cost effective to hire a plumber to set up a system so that the water lines could be easily drained for winter and turn the heat off?  After all, according to the tour guides, the work out room has a separate boiler system and could still be heated for the one day per month that the room is used. Why do the coaches need new offices?  They all ready have offices at the stadium and I would think they have offices at the school, how much would they really use these offices?  And, you want to re-do the handicap ramps, again.  Yes, the ramps at one time went up the side of the stands, and I believe when you either revamped the track or added on the workout room, you modified the ramps to the way they are now.  Why didn’t you bring them into compliance then?

- Where do you think grant money comes from?  The taxpayers!!!

- As with most “Capital Projects” did you figure in the overrun expenditures (when was the last time anyone heard of a project coming in at or below the proposed dollar amount).

- We will begin to pay the Bond off in 5 years and it will be paid off in 10 to 15 years.  So, when the turf needs to be replaced (according to the people giving the stadium tour) in 10 years do you increase our taxes again for this purpose?

- If the project gets approved and funding gets cut, do you increase our taxes even more to cover the cost?

I also want to point out that Ms. Puzio stated that the school district stopped contributing funding from the General Fund to the Debt Service Fund in 2008.  However the city school district website states “up until this year, the district transferred between $215,000 and $315,000 from the General Fund into the Debt Service Fund each year.”  Why would you do that?  Why would you put money into another fund if you can’t get it back out?  My feeling is that it is the taxpayers money.  We should have the final say as to where it goes.  If we need that money in the General Fund, then we should have the right to move it back there, to lower our taxes.

I too, wonder why we are having this vote separate from the school budget vote.  Are you trying to raise our taxes for this project, then wine for another tax increase because the State cut your funding?  Maybe it is to push this project through because you don’t think you will get enough turnout to vote it down?

One thing you need to remember Ms. Puzio is that just like North Street, this too is a residential neighborhood.  With a proposed 250 events scheduled for the new stadium, do you think our property values are going to go down?  Are your school employees going to be out there picking up the trash on our lawns?  Are you going to pay for our reduction in quality of living, including additional traffic, noise pollution (playing music over the loud speaker system so loud you can hear it on Main Street), etc…..?  Are the games going to be over at a reasonable hour and not 1 a.m. like a prior track meet?  What about public use of the track, won’t that be cut down so that taxpayers cannot use it?  You have also proposed a new 75 car parking lot.  Do you think that parking another 75 cars in one lot is going to take care of the problems you all ready have, and have had for years but never addressed.  Guess again.

My last question is why am I paying $22.16 (plus an additional $1.48 for the Library) per thousand for my school taxes, and yet I pay $20.17 per thousand for City and County taxes combined.  The City and County offer me more services than the school district.  Maybe it is time the Batavia City School District became more fiscally responsible.