CPC Inaction Could Impact Tech Satellite Campus Plan

 HARWICH – The community preservation committee’s failure to act on a funding request by Cape Cod Technical High School to help develop a satellite campus could have an impact on a proposed environmental science technology and veterinary science program at the school.

 The community preservation committee (CPC) took no action on the request for $987,000 from the recreation and open space category of Community Preservation Act (CPA) to assist in developing a satellite campus on town-owned conservation land at 374 Main St. in North Harwich. 

 In the March 6 session, the committee remained silent on the Cape Tech request. The committee voted to recommend that 10 other requests for CPA funding be placed before voters in the annual town meeting in May. 

 “If there is no motion on the floor, that’s the end of discussion and we move on,” committee chair David Nixon said at the start of discussions on the application request. When the Cape Tech funding application was brought up, no motion was offered and the funding request was not considered by the committee.

Cape Cod Regional Technical High School Superintendent Robert Sanborn said on Tuesday that the school was hoping to have the funds available to do the necessary work at the 33-acre site, which includes grounds improvement and building a classroom to have the satellite campus open by September 2026. 

Cape Tech had been pursuing use of the 33-acre conservation site for two years. It consists of two parcels, one with buildings and the other consisting of open space. The school has secured a 25-year intermunicipal agreement to lease the property from the town.

Whether the project will face delays now will depend on availability of the necessary funding to create the new campus. Sanborn said there is another round of state funds that will be coming out in June and the school is seeking $4 to $7 million for the project.

“I know we qualify for them and we’ll see if we get them,” Sanborn said.

The cost of the project is now estimated at $10 million, but Sanborn said he is working to reduce that number. Several grants have already been approved for the project. A $1.25 million Capital Skills Grant has been approved by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Education, and another grant round is coming up. A Massachusetts Clean Energy Center grant was initially approved for $555,000, but has since been reduced by $300,000. The school has a private commitment for a $590,000 donation, and there is $67,000 in the state budget dedicated to the project.

 The CPC did not specifically cite a legal opinion issued by Town Counsel John Giorgio for the lack of action on the tech school funding application, but the opinion challenged the ability of the committee to recommend funds for the requested purpose.

 “In my opinion, CPA monies may not be used for the purpose of funding the construction of educational buildings and structures,” Gorgio opined. “Although the application submitted by the school to the community preservation committee is not entirely clear, it does appear that the school intends to use at least a portion of the CPA funds for this purpose.”

 Sanborn said he has not had the opportunity to read Giorgio’s legal opinion, adding that there were no plans to use CPA funds for any building construction related to the project. The plan was to use CPA funds for entrance and trail improvements, to address the three cranberry bogs and outdoor classrooms, he said.

 But Sanborn said he fully understands the committee’s decision based on the legal opinion. The town has been very supportive of the school, he added.

 When asked if the school would seek CPA funding in the next round, Sanborn said that would depend on the funding status after the state grants are announced.

 The satellite campus, which would be located 3.6 miles from the tech school, seeks to add environmental and agricultural programs to the curriculum. The programs would incorporate water and natural resource management, which dovetail with preserving the town’s “natural assets,” including improvements to natural trails, preservation and enhancement of unique natural and manmade features and resources, and enhanced opportunities for passive and active recreation, according to the application.

 In Thursday’s CPC meeting, there was a brief discussion on the Cape Tech request earlier in the evening during the public comment period. 

Resident Matt Sutphin took issue with the Cape Tech funding request, saying the purpose was a surprise to him and not what he thought he was voting for when the article seeking an intermunicipal agreement was before town meeting last spring. People voting at that time didn’t know what they were voting for, he claimed.

“They could not have envisioned an $8 million construction project with a $2 million disruption to the grounds,” Sutphin said. “I didn’t.”

He said while it is difficult to oppose education, the grounds of the conservation lands should not be disturbed in the headwaters of the Herring River.

Resident Jon Chorey agreed with Sutphin. He questioned how the request falls under a recreation funding category. There are 12 towns in the regional technical school district, he added, and asked if the other towns asked to provide funding. It now costs $28,000 annually to educate students at the tech school, he said, and Harwich’s contribution covers 11 percent of the school’s budget. 

“To take on a project we don’t know the scope of, cost or design of, and how it will be used, I don’t think it’s a good place for the $1 million they are asking for this project,” he said.