Waltham To Pay Stigmatines $11M More For Future School Property

WALTHAM, MA — The city council approved giving $11 million more to the Stigmatines for taking their property on Lexington Street, set to become a new high school, and in return the religious order agreed not to sue the city in the future. The agreement comes punctuates a years-long conflict, and edges the city closer to building a new school there.

"We've resolved the case and now the city council just has to get a bond," said attorney Peter Flynn whose firm represented the Stigmatines along with Attornies Jason Scopa and Adam Paton, of Zimble & Brettler, worked on the settlement and helped draft an agreement during a nearly 10 hour mediation session.

The city and Scopa signed a memorandum of understanding on Thursday, Dec. 5, Flynn told Patch.

The agreement resolves a years-long conflict and help give Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) what it needed in order to grant the $110 million in state funding for the proposed $374 million high school project. They next meet in mid February.

There was only one city councilor who voted against it.

"I do approve the city to purchase the land now that we have an agreement with the Stigmatines," said Councilor Daniel Romard during the vote Monday. "However, the order specifically states that this purchase is for educational purposes to build a school and therefore I cannot support that."

Everyone but Romard, who said he was against building a school at the Stigmatine property, also voted in favor of transferring the Stigmatine property's control to the Waltham School Department. Councilor Tom Stanley was not present.

This means the city will have paid $29 million for the Stigmatine property in total.

"This is a MAJOR step in moving this project forward," said former Waltham Superintendent Drew Echelson in a statement posted on social media. "A special thank you to the Mayor, SBC, SC and the Waltham Citizens for Education for their leadership. This would not have happened without a mobilized and engaged community."

A deal to purchase the property ends all the litigation over ownership and gives Waltham a definite cost for its acquisition, confirmed Councilor Bill Fowler told Patch.

"However, there are still issues to be addressed," he said. "MEPA has told the city that it must do a full Environmental Impact Report and the real cost of the ledge removal needs to be determined."
What is in the report could have an impact on the cost or even the ability to put the school on the site, he said.

It's not clear if the cost of addressing those potential issues will derail the project.

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 upgrade from 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 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 voted against taking the property. But, with the deadline set last year, the city council changed course and voted to take the site by eminent domain and paid the Stigmatine Fathers $18 million.

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.

In September, the Waltham City Council authorized the $375 million for the school.
Latest estimates put doors open September 2024.

The vote Monday, which was not on the agenda, came after a late request from the mayor dated Dec. 6, requesting the city appropriate $11 million. The council met in executive session and when they emerged, Council President Paul Brasco asked for a roll call vote on accepting a loan authorization and order in the amount of $11 million.

No one else spoke about what the loan might be for, and after the vote, the council took a break so that Brasco, who looked uncomfortable after Romard gave his reasoning for his no vote, asked to consult with city counsel. When he returned he stressed Romard should remember not to break executive session rules.

But Flynn said following the "marathon" mediation last Thursday both sides were well aware of all the details of the agreement.

"One of the keys to breaking the log jam was when Superior Court justice Judge Freiniere said in open court, she told everyone that this thing was never going to end," said Flynn. "It represented, in her words, a 'mushroom cloud' that was probably going to go on for years."

Flynn said after the city sued the Stigmatines it faced litigation that could come with extended delays and could risk losing the MSBA funding and having to foot higher costs for the school.

"We want to get this moving in the right direction," said Flynn. "It's clear cut: Everybody is going their separate ways,"

The Stigmatines will pay for their own relocation, and have until end of April to remove personal property, including statutes, tabernacles. But the memo provides that both sides release all potential litigation against one another.

"They can't sue us and we can't sue them. All the litigation in superior court will be dismissed," he said. It's a bittersweet ending for the Fathers, said Flynn.

"After all of these years, Father White who is the person who runs the Stigmatine order in New England, he basically after all of this wanted just to get fair and just compensation and closure on all of this so that it would end so everyone could go there separate ways."

The city has to pay the $11 million by March 6, or it will be responsible for $22,000 worth of interest each month.

There's more to read on this:

• Waltham High School Project: Stigmatines, City Agree To Mediation (Oct. 2019)
• Waltham City Council Authorizes $375 Million For New High ...(Sept. 2019)

• Waltham High School Project Before City Council Again (September 2019)
• Waltham High School Project Edges Forward - (August 2019)
• Stigmatines Must Move By June 30 For Waltham High School ... (June 2019)
• 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).