Politics & Government

Upper Southampton and Centennial School District Finalize Tamanend Park Deal

Years of wheeling and dealing come to an end as the two sides agree to place control of Tamanend Park entirely with the township.

After nearly two years of wrangling over the details, Upper Southampton Township’s Board of Supervisors and Centennial School District have finalized the deal regarding the district’s stake in Tamanend Park.

Following a lengthy discussion involving supervisors, representatives from the school district and members of the public, the board unanimously voted Tuesday evening to approve the revised Tamanend Park Agreement.

The agreement effectively places the rights to Tamanend Park, in its entirety, in the hands of Upper Southampton Township in exchange for roughly $300,000 and a few additional concessions.

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“We are very pleased with the work of our solicitor in drafting this agreement,” said Board Chairwoman Lola Biuckians. “He worked very hard to make sure all of our concerns were addressed.”

The History

While the new agreement has been in the works since 2006, the original Tamanend Park Agreement dates back to 1974 when Centennial paid the township $92,057 to lease 10% of the park for the next 100 years.

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The original agreement stated that the school district, for the duration of its lease, “shall have the right to enter upon the leased property, to use it for ecological studies, conservation studies, outdoor education, horticultural studies and other valid school purposes.”

If either party wished to propose a physical change to the agreed upon “Master Plan” for the park, both parties would negotiate the proposal, with neither party obligated to agree with the other.

This agreement also stated that should any portion of the district’s percentage of the parkland be required for a new school building, the township would not object, as long as the land required for the project did not exceed the district’s apportioned 10%.

In June 2006, the district expressed a desire to construct a new regional elementary school in the park. According to school district officials, the only problem was Centennial would have required approximately 13% of parkland to make the school a reality.

The board of supervisors was in opposition to the idea of a school in Tamanend Park and responded by offering to buy the district out of the agreement.

For the better part of the last two years, both parties have been going back and forth, haggling over the particulars of the deal.

The school board approved the new Tamanend Park Agreement at its last board meeting; the board of supervisors voted to approve the updated version of the agreement at its meeting Tuesday evening.

The New Tamanend Park Agreement

The following is a summary of the key terms of the agreement:

• The township agrees to pay $297,000 to the district. (This money will come from the township’s open space fund.)

•Centennial agrees to build the new Region 1 elementary school at the former Davis Elementary School site.

•The township agrees to grant waivers for several issues pertaining to its subdivision and land development ordinances.

•The district agrees to exercise “due diligence and proceed in good faith” to have all of the necessary plans and approvals in place to proceed with the

•The district agrees that it will not create an access drive to Lynne Drive, so that no vehicular traffic may enter and/or exit the Region 1 elementary site from Lynne Drive.

•The township agrees to waive all fees that may be assessed against the school district related to any aspect of the district’s land development application, building permit application and inspections.

•A reverter clause attached to the township's previous purchase of Veteran's Field will become null and void.

This agreement will be filed as a court order; meaning if either side were to violate the terms of agreement the opposing party could seek relief from the courts.

The Discussion

Supervisor Walter Stevens expressed disgust at the length of time this agreement took, as well as the amount of money it was costing the taxpayers. He said he would vote in favor of the agreement because it would finally end the belabored discussion and both parties could get back to “working for the taxpayers instead of their individual egos.”

Supervisor Marguerite Genesio said she was upset when she heard that a member of the Centennial School Board announced that this was done on purpose and there was never any intent to build a school in the park.

“That piece of property is the most dear piece of property in our town,” she said. “This was a ruse to get Davis school.”

Genesio said she thought the board had been shown “bad faith” in the way this was initially presented.

“The school district gets 80% of every tax dollar in Upper Southampton,” she said. “That is a lot.”

She said she would vote in favor of the measure so that we could stop wasting money, wasting time and playing games.

Biuckians thanked the school board for finally coming to this agreement. She said she understands that everyone just wants to do what is right in their heart for their community.

“I know being on the school board is a pretty big and thankless job, but we here in Southampton have some issues with our people on the school board in Southampton representing us,” she said.

She said the supervisors have often felt blindsided by the school board, noting how the school board worked very hard to gain approvals from the Pennsylvania Department of Education but neglected to consult with township officials during the planning process for the new elementary school.

“And now, after having gotten that approval, we felt, and do feel that this is being shoved down our throat,” she said. “That’s not a very good working relationship.”

She suggested that going forward, the school board show a little more consideration for the taxpayers who ultimately “foot the bill for these projects.”

School Board Member Mark Miller said he didn’t expect to speak at the meeting, but he felt the supervisor’s comments deserved a heartfelt apology from the school board.

Miller said for the eighteen months that Dr. Turnbaugh was the Superintendent of Schools for Centennial the school board had no interaction with Upper Southampton’s Board of Supervisors.

“Many things that we thought were taking place and being explained to you were not being explained,” he said.

Miller said he did not want go backwards and talk about Dr. Turnbaugh, but as of December 6, 2010

“There was no severance, no benefits,” he said. “He’s gone.”

He said the new team is working hard going forward to work with the residents, and as the building process continues he welcomed any input or comments.

 “The two boards should really work together,” he said. “Let’s start that dialogue now. Let’s make sure that everyone is on the same page."

 

Read the new Tamanend Park Agreement, in its entirety, in the photo section of this article.


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