TURNER – Diplomacy and negotiation prevailed Monday night when town leaders met with the SAD 52 Board of Directors to iron out an agreement about the school’s use of the town-owned Leavitt Institute building.

About 40 people attended the special three-hour school board meeting that was punctuated by six separate executive sessions. At the end of the evening, the negotiated agreement puts the district’s administrative offices in the historical building for the next 11 years and gives the town a paying tenant to help defray the maintenance costs of the building. It also settles the question of whether district residents would have approved a new administration building at about $400,000 plus debt service in local money.

“It would cost us $400,000 for a new building and with interest that would be a half a million dollars,” SAD 52 Business Manager Chris Trenholm said. “At the costs cited for leasing at the institute, this is much more beneficial to the taxpayers.”

When school and town officials met two weeks ago, the tone of the meeting was much different. At that meeting, Selectman Ralph Caldwell on behalf of the Leavitt Institute Committee, put forth a proposal that would have required the school district to allow a new road across the campus, a separate parking lot for the institute building, renovation of the current parking lot and made no mention of a long-term leasing arrangement. The intent of the proposal was to allow the school district administrative offices to stay in the building until July 2004 and then to move the town office to that location.

School officials on Monday night made it clear from the beginning of the meeting there would be no road. The proposal that Caldwell and others put forth cited traffic safety as a reason for the new road. However, school officials and parents said there are no traffic problems currently and that the road would effectively cut the mall area of the campus in half. This would restrict playground space for Turner Elementary School and Tripp Middle School students.

The district agreed to remove the two trees in the middle of the existing parking lot and to renovate the area. With these changes, extra parking spaces will be created and 20 of them will be designated for use only by library and history room visitors. In July of 2004, the library will move to the third floor and the Turner History Room to the fourth. The school will retain use of the three floors it is currently using until that time. Starting in 2004, at the beginning of the 10-year lease, the school offices will move to the second floor and will have use of half of the first floor space with the library keeping the other half for special programs.

Currently, one of three floors the district is occupying is used as extra classroom space for Tripp students. A referendum this fall, if passed, will allow an addition to be added to that school eliminating the need for that space. The district is currently using two floors for administrative offices including the superintendent, special education, business and transportation. Those offices will be concentrated into the one and a half floors. The district will do the renovations to their new space. An additional 10-year lease will be negotiated at that time.

“I think from the board’s perspective, the goal was for everyone to give a little and they did,” Trenholm said. “We were very concerned about ensuring the preservation of the institute, maintaining the campus, offering a cost effective solution to the taxpayers and maintaining a positive relationship with the town. Together we accomplished those things, I believe.”