BATH
Regional School Unit 1 is preparing to move forward with the design process for the construction of the new Morse High School, part of which may be located at the Wing Farm business park.
The majority of that property is located within city limits, however, there is a portion that lies within neighboring West Bath.
The school district has a signed option agreement with the city of Bath. RSU 1 officials have met with the town of West Bath to discuss the property already, but that town has yet to sign off.
The matter is further complicated by the fact that some of the land is located within an Economic Development Administration grant that requires the land be used for business purposes only. RSU 1 Superintendent Patrick Manuel said building a school on the property may mean that some of that grant money may have to be returned.
“The EDA, if you’re going to do something besides building a business in here, then there’s a buy back, or pay back, so we’ve been working with them in order to get their signature,” he said.
“West Bath welcomes a new Morse High School and is committed to work through the grant amendment process, along with the City of Bath,” said West Bath officials in a press release in October. “The town has dedicated itself to expedite that process and to facilitate the necessary meetings and discussions … to pave the way for the new school facility.”
RSU 1 is also considering buying a number of other properties new to or near the Wing Farm property in Bath. Those properties, which are not owned by Bath, may need to be purchased to accommodate traffic needs for the new high school.
“There’s a couple smaller pieces of property that are in the City of Bath adjacent or close to Wing Farm that we’re looking at,” said Manuel. “For example, where the entrance may go to this new high school there’s a piece of property that we might be interested in buying because it would allow us to have a better and safer entrance to the high school.”
The next step after dealing with those two property issues would be a straw poll to show local approval for the Wing Farm site as the home of the new Morse High School. No date has been set yet, but Manuel said that the district is hoping to hold it soon, possibly in January or February. After the straw poll, the project can be brought to the Board of Education for approval.
In the meantime, RSU 1 is preparing to create a concept design of the actual building. They will be putting together design and sustainability committees which will hold public meetings to hear from parents and residents. From now until around May, RSU 1 will hold a number of meetings to gather public input about the new design. A schedule of such meetings and dates is currently being put together by school officials and should be prepared near the end of the week.
“We’d like to have people get involved as much as possible,” said Manuel. “They’re all public meetings and we’d love to have people come to them. The more people involved, the better.”
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