Waltham High School Project Before City Council Again

WALTHAM, MA — The question of whether to approve a second reading of a loan order for $375 million for the new high school is slated to come before city councilors Monday night.

The question comes two weeks after a Middlesex Superior Judge scolded Waltham lawyers, saying they needed to clean up a brief filed in court that was too long and didn't address the judge's main concern.

On Aug. 28, Judge Diane Freniere also recommended this might be a good juncture for the city and the Stigmatines to return to the negotiation table, with the Stigmatines mostly off the property. The lawyers for the Stigmatines are arguing that the city is acting in bad faith, but could yet waive their rights to a three-year statute of limitations for challenging the validity of the taking and the two could settle it out of court, she said.

"This could last" she said, telling attorneys for the Stigmatines that a bad faith argument 'Is going to be a steep road to hoe."

She also said it doesn't mean that the school can't be built.

"There is an easy way out of this," she said. "And that is to get the Defendant to waive."

The Stigmatines have three years from the taking to challenge the validity of eminent domain. So far they haven't challenged the validity. The city is attempting to cut that short, according to a transcript of a court session on Aug. 28.

But there is some concern about that timeline among city council members.

"If the Stigmatines have until the summer of 2021 to sue us over the taking, and there is potential they could get the land back, we are at risk moving forward with this site at this time. Plain and simple," City Councilor Dan Romard said in an email to his constituents recently.

A new court date has been set for the first week of October. The next MSBA vote is slated for late October.

"And again I encourage the parties to start talking again," said the judge. "There may be an opportunity to resolve the matter."

More background
For years, the superintendent's office has been beating the drum about a need for an upgrade to the high school in order to accommodate increased enrollment and deteriorating building conditions.

The current high school building is 449,700 square feet and was built in 1968, with additions made in 1998 and 2002. The current state of the high school falls below standards, and raises the prospect that the city could lose accreditation of its high school over the next few years, unless significant progress is made on the building.

After back and forth between the school district and the city council about a site, the MSBA, which helps pay for school building projects, imposed a timeline for the city if it wanted to get money from the state to help pay for any of it.

The City Council and the School Committee voted to go with the School Department's preferred location at the Stigmatine property, in large part because of the size of the property - it's 43 acres. At one point the owners put the property on the market, according to court documents. The city-owned Fernald property was a strong contender but fell out as an option after officials realized environmental issues were bigger than originally thought.

When it became clear that the religious order that owned the Stigmatine property was not interested in selling it to the city, a number of city council members had at first voted against taking the property. But, with the deadline looming last year, the city council changed course and voted to take the site by eminent domain.

In February, the Massachusetts School Building Authority gave the green light to Waltham to begin the Schematic Design phase of the $381 million high school building project across the street at the Stigmatine property. This summer the district trimmed the cost to $374.6 million.

MSBA full board will not vote on final funds, until a decision of this court is issued on the summary judgment, an attorney for Waltham told a judge on Aug. 28.

On Aug. 5 the budget went before the city council for a first reading.

Latest estimates put doors open September 2024.

Previously:

Waltham High School Project Edges Forward

And more on the school project:

• Stigmatines Must Move By June 30 For Waltham High School: Judge
• Crews Begin To Evaluate Waltham High School Project Site (April 2019)
• Stigmatines To Waltham: No Surveyors On Our Property (Aug. 2018)
• Residents Camp Out At Waltham City Hall For Latest On High School ( June 2018)
• Waltham High School At Stigmatine?: Possibility Edges Forward(May 2018)
• Waltham Residents Rally At City Hall With Message About Stigmatine (Feb. 28, 2018)
• Waltham Mayor Lays Out Case For Stigmatine (Sept. 28, 2017)
• City Council Denies Eminent Domain Taking of Stigmatine (May 23, 2017)
• Stigmatine Official: 'Our Property Is Not For Sale' (May 18, 2017)
• Mayor McCarthy: Why I Didn't Speak At The Stigmatine Meeting(May 17, 2017)
• Waltham City Council Committee Rejects Eminent Domain (May 15, 2017)
• Waltham Mayor Requests Eminent Domain of Stigmatine (Feb. 2017)
• Community Meetings On New High School At Stigmatines Begin
• State Board Gives Green Light To Waltham High School Next

Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).