Residents in 16 communities will take one final vote this fall to decide the fate of a new $145 million building for Minuteman High School.
After failing to win support for the project from all district members at individual Town Meetings in the spring – Belmont rejected the vocational school’s plan — officials say this vote is the last resort toward saving a $44 million state grant.
“We tried the traditional Town Meeting route and won by overwhelming margins just about everywhere,” said Edward A. Bouquillon, Minuteman’s superintendent-director. “But we were unable to make the case properly in one town and, given the rules of this process, that was enough to require going directly to citizens through a formal referendum.”
The Minuteman School Committee voted June 27 to call the election for Tuesday, Sept. 20. Voting will take place from noon to 8 p.m. in each of the district’s 16 communities. The towns are Acton, Arlington, Belmont, Bolton, Boxborough, Carlisle, Concord, Dover, Lancaster, Lexington, Lincoln, Needham, Stow, Sudbury, Wayland, and Weston. The votes from each town will be added together to determine whether the project moves forward.
“If there are more ‘yes’ votes than ‘no’ votes, the project is approved,’’ Bouquillon said.
The Massachusetts School Building Authority has committed $44 million towards the project. The MSBA has given Minuteman until Nov. 30 to secure local approval or the grant funding could be rescinded.
Boxborough, Carlisle, Lincoln, Sudbury, Wayland, and Weston voted earlier this year to withdraw from the Minuteman district as of July 1, 2017 but residents in those communities will still vote in September.
Belmont’s Town Meeting voted against the project on May 4. Under Minuteman’s town meeting approval process, the project could only move forward if no member town voted to object.
Key stakeholders from throughout the district met with Belmont officials on June 20 to determine whether Minuteman should try to win approval at a subsequent Belmont Town Meeting or, alternatively, go to a referendum. Belmont officials informed representatives from the other 15 member towns that they would not change their opposition to bonding for the project. Based on feedback from that meeting, Minuteman officials said it was clear that the best course would be hold a districtwide vote.
“Fortunately, state law gives multi-town districts such as Minuteman a second option for getting capital projects approved,” said Bouquillon.
Belmont officials did not respond to requests for comment.
Jennifer Fenn Lefferts can be reached at jflefferts@yahoo.com.