Marine advisory committee readies survey and public hearing to shape school-site master plan

The Marine Multigenerational Education District Advisory Committee on June 10 continued work on a master plan for the former school site, added questions to a neighborhood survey and set tentative dates for a public hearing to collect community input.

Lisa White, a member of the Planning Commission, told the committee she had reached out to neighborhood residents to recruit additional participation on the advisory group and that members had added two questions to the draft survey to better gauge local views. The committee reviewed seven draft survey questions covering current uses of the property; support for growth of Marine Village School and Marine Mill Folk School; other uses the City should consider beyond those already permitted by zoning; concerns with current users; factors the City should consider if a new use were proposed; whether tax-funded improvements should be considered in the future; and possible additional outdoor uses for the site.

Jake White said Suzanne is assembling 'as-built' documents and expects those to be available by the next meeting. Fire Chief Glenn noted there are three cisterns on the property and indicated he does not anticipate those cisterns would prevent future building on the site. Lisa White provided copies of the Marine zoning regulations that apply to the property, including rules on permitted uses, parking, screening and lighting.

Bill Miller, a City Council member who spoke with Lisa before the meeting, reminded the committee that its charge is to develop a master plan for the site but not to decide how any future improvements would be financed. Committee members agreed it would be useful at the public meeting to explain that the City’s role over the property changed after 2017 and to summarize differences between traditional public school districts and charter schools, noting that charter schools do not have fixed neighborhood attendance boundaries.

The committee assigned several outreach and coordination tasks: Jake White will contact Scandia for information about how a multi-use ice rink is regulated and operated; Lisa White will draft an email to the City planner seeking guidance on public hearing format and survey wording and circulate it for committee review; and Robin Brooksbank will check Village Hall availability for the tentative hearing dates (Thursday evening, Oct. 2, or Saturday morning, Oct. 4) and ask Suzanne whether the current lease or ordinances limit renting the school yard for events not associated with Marine Village School or Marine Mill Folk School. The committee set its next meeting for Thursday, July 17, 4:45–6 p.m., and noted meetings will generally move to the first Thursday of each month beginning in August (tentative Aug. 7).