The Kingston Common Council’s Laws and rules Committee met with Kingston City School District (KCSD) officials last week in an effort to get both sides on the same page over the ongoing Dietz Stadium renovation project. Representatives from the district and Board of Education will now be invited to Common Council meetings where funding increases for the project are sought.
In late August, the Board of Education agreed to seek an extension with the city that would allow them to scupper the arrangement.
On October 11, 2019, the KCSD signed an inter-municipal agreement authorizing the city to oversee the renovation project as a means of tapping into $2.5 million of state Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) funding. The transfer of the district’s half-share of Dietz ownership was approved by a 1,673-413 public vote. At the time, the cost of the Dietz project was estimated at $18.7 million; costs for the entire project have since risen to around $26 million, though some of those, such as improvements to Andretta Pool, are unrelated to the KCSD. Still, school officials had expressed concern that they have no seat at the table and want assurances they aren’t on the hook for more than their estimated contribution of $9 million.
The unanimous vote held during a school board meeting on Wednesday, August 23 authorized board president Marie Anderson to sign an addendum to the inter-municipal Dietz Stadium agreement in the hopes of being able to work with city officials to extend the deadline by three months to not renew the deal. The school board hoped to hear from the city by the end of August, and the Common Council’s Laws and Rules Committee held a special meeting on Wednesday, August 30 to accommodate that request.
“It is not the desire of the board to terminate,” said school board president Marie Anderson at the Common Council meeting. “It is the desire of the board to get it right.”
That sentiment was shared by Alderwoman Rita Worthington (D-Ward 4).
“We’re here tonight because we all want to find a solution,” said Worthington.
The committee meeting was attended by the full Common Council as nonvoting, as well as school board trustees and school officials, who expressed their misgivings with how the arrangement was laid out.
“Currently the inter-municipal agreement has no language in it that gives the district any say so if the cost goes up next week by $5 million dollars,” said Superintendent Paul Padalino. “We can’t say no we’re not going to pay that.”
Common Council President Andrea Shaut said that, because cost increases have to be cleared through the council, including representatives from the KCSD in those meetings would streamline the process.
“They want a seat at the table,” Shaut said, “And I thought that the resolution that you have in front of you now solves that problem a lot more than asking for a three-month extension that wouldn’t guarantee anything.”
One day after the summit, Padalino said meeting face-to-face helped clear the air.
“I think it was really nice of them, and we appreciate their time for inviting us in to talk about what the issues are,” he said. “I think there’s a lot of outside conversations outside the board and outside the city administration about things. And some of it is inaccurate.”
Tensions between the KCSD and city peaked in August, with Mayor Steve Noble releasing a statement on Friday, August 25 calling the School Board’s decision a “manufactured controversy” “meant to skew attention from their obvious lack of readiness for this years-in-the-making project to begin.”
“Not only as mayor, but as a KCSD parent, I am extremely disappointed in the school board’s pointless accusations and clear obfuscation of their own unpreparedness,” wrote Noble. “The School Board has had ample opportunity to prepare for the construction at Dietz Stadium, to secure fields for their athletics programs, and to ensure those fields were up to the standards that Kingston students deserve. In fact, the agreement stated that the school district would have a representative on the City of Kingston’s Recreation Commission to weigh in on Dietz Stadium issues and keep the board apprised, yet the board has not had a liaison present at these meetings in years.”
Noble went on to say that despite the district’s minimal involvement, the Dietz Stadium project has moved forward over the past few years through the efforts of the city to secure grant funding.
“Now, as construction gets underway, we have 11th hour finger-pointing and threats from the school board to pull funding from this project,” Noble wrote. “A project that would restore a crumbling facility for the good of its students and the entire community…While the city has taken reasonable steps toward necessary progress on this important project, rather than collaborate for success, the school board is now pushing for delay.”
Noble noted that signs of progress like the track, administrative building and snack shack being taken down, could be upended by the district’s actions.
“(T)hese petty allegations, which have already shortchanged students and families, will only waste more time,” Noble wrote. “While the school board’s concerns are unfounded, and we do not expect the Dietz Stadium project to need additional funding, if some future unanticipated request for additional funding should arise, I will work with the Common Council the School Board to address any unforeseen issues.”
In an interview with Hudson Valley One last week, Padalino said he wasn’t concerned about being able to work with the mayor moving forward.
“I think that as far as my relationship with Steve and our relationship with the mayor, we’ve worked collaboratively on so many things,” Padalino said. “Steve and I have a good foundational relationship, and I’m confident we will be able to get past this and get going on Dietz Stadium and do what’s right for everybody.”
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