Newfields school building committee weighs drop-off flow, emergency access and set-plan timing before March vote

Members of a Newfields School District building committee debated how to balance student safety, emergency-vehicle access and traffic capacity as designers prepare set plans ahead of a vote expected in March.

Committee members spent the bulk of the meeting reviewing community feedback condensed by Pallavi, who had summarized three priority concerns: a suggestion for a two-lane circulation around the school, questions about vehicle access to the front door for emergency apparatus, and general neighborhood traffic and safety worries. "Pallavi was amazing this weekend and kinda condensed it down into...3 main points," a committee member said when opening the discussion.

Police-conducted measurements were cited by several members to show potential queue spillover: one participant summarized the figures as roughly "6–700 feet" in the worst-case drawing and said shifting the drop-off to the back could push queuing well toward Route 87 and the firehouse. Advocates for reversing the internal flow argued that the change could reduce backup onto the main road; opponents said reversing circulation would create new sight-line and ramp/grade problems and would require repainting parking and additional set-plan revisions. "It's absolutely gonna go up to 87," one member said describing the police perimeter measurement; another countered that he had observed about 20 cars during a visit and did not see a daily worst-case scenario.

Rather than immediate redesign, the committee agreed to two mitigation pathways: operational changes and further consultation with emergency services. Members proposed increasing faculty on arrival duty (three to four people) to speed throughput and reduce queueing; the group also agreed to arrange a follow-up meeting with Chief Jeff Buxton and Chief Wayne Young to confirm the minimum front-door access needed for fire apparatus. "I'll talk to Chief Buxton and Chief Young and go through with them, like, what needs to happen in the front," a committee member said.

Staff reported that TF Moran will prepare set plans in time for the March vote; having set plans ready would allow an immediate move to bidding if the vote meets the legal threshold. "Set plan will be done before the vote in March," a staff member said. The committee also discussed running a short-lived one-lane trial of back drop-off before finalizing plans; some members cautioned that a trial might not reproduce a true two-lane configuration without physical changes.

Members were urged to help with outreach: staff announced a bond hearing "on the fourteenth" and the deliberative session on Feb. 5, where registered Newfields voters can debate or amend the bond amount. Committee leads agreed to share contact details for Chief Buxton and TF Moran and to schedule a smaller follow-up meeting to confirm mitigation strategies and whether the flow should be reversed before completing set plans.

The committee closed by directing staff to have TF Moran produce set plans on the current specifications for the March timeline, while key committee members arrange the follow-up with the chiefs and begin community outreach ahead of the bond and deliberative sessions.