NEWBURYPORT — Wednesday’s announcement that the Institution for Savings has pledged $250,000 toward building a new recreation center on Low Street may have been met with praise from Mayor Sean Reardon – but three city councilors say it has done nothing to secure their support.
Reardon wants to build a $8.2 million recreation center where a former National Guard building now sits at 59 Low St. If constructed, the building would house the Recreation and Youth Services Department while also featuring an art and multi-purpose room, meeting and quiet study space, as well as large spaces for community events and a modular gymnasium.
To help pay for the project, Reardon has proposed putting a potential $4.5 million debt exclusion vote before residents during a special election on May 6.
The rest of the plan’s funding would come from a $2 million bond, along with – $1.8 million from the sales of the Kelley and Brown school buildings — funds obtained through opioid settlements and another roughly $2 million raised through donations. That includes $200,000 from the Mary Alice Arakelian Foundation as well as $200,000 to $300,000 a year for five years from the recently established Mayor Andrew R. Curtis Memorial Fund.
Mary Anne Clancy, senior vice president for marketing and communications at the bank, said the IFS had recently been going back and forth with the city about making a potential pledge.
She added the bank’s grants committee met Monday night, when it approved the $250,000.
Last month, the City Council voted 9-1 to send the mayor’s requests for the bond order, the debt exclusion, as well as the special election to put it before voters to a Budget and Finance subcommittee meeting of the whole.
When asked Thursday if the bank’s pledge was enough to change his take on the project, Ward 6 City Councilor Byron Lane pointed to the city’s presentation to the City Council’s Budget and Finance subcommittee on Wednesday, March 12 that already included a line item showing a $200,000 donation from the bank.
“It’s very generous that the bank is upping their donation by $50,000. But there is a lot more in private donations that we need to make this thing really fly for me,” Lane said.
Lane added he would like to see between 55% and 60% of the project funded by private donations.
“That would do a lot for me,” he said. “The cost of living has gone up tremendously for people lately and I don’t see now as the right time to be taking on more capital expenditures. As much as I stomp my feet and hold my breath, nobody wants to listen. We should start small and work with what we have, rather than impose more taxes on people that are already challenged.”
Reardon has previously said the debt exclusion would cost the typical homeowner with a property assessed at $1 million an additional $38 a year, or $3 a month, in property taxes.
At-Large Councilor Connie Preston has also voiced her concerns about the project’s financing along with whether or not Reardon’s administration will be able to keep the $8.2 million price tag where it is.
On Thursday, Preston said the bank’s pledge, although generous, doesn’t change her mind either.
“I’m extremely grateful to the Institution for Savings and their continued generosity, not only toward this project but others,” she said. “However, we were already anticipating $200,000 and $50,000 is a rounding error for this particular project.”
The cost of the project, Preston added, would need to come down by quite a bit for her to jump on board.
“To be clear, I don’t expect the IFS or anybody in particular to come forward with millions of dollars,” she said. “Given the overall cost and scale of the project, we are millions of dollars off from where I would feel comfortable with it.”
Ward 5 Councilor Jim McCauley also praised the bank for its support. But he added the city still has a long way to go to gain his vote.
“If people want to take on the debt, that’s great. But a pledge of $250,000 doesn’t reduce the amount of the bond,” he said. “That’s half of an annual payment on the debt and we’re talking about 30 payments. So, this is half of one payment on the debt.”
McCauley added he was happy the bank had pledged the $250,000, that way, if the rec. center project doesn’t work out, it could be used for something else.
“I think the city is really split on this right now and we’re going into a budget season that’s unknown with revenues down and the state having some hiccups in their commitments to cities and towns. So I think it’s going to be a challenge,” he said. “I also remain concerned about price. I’m hoping we can work through some sort of compromise to get there.”
Clancy said she didn’t want to comment directly on what three city councilors were saying, adding the bank made the pledge in good faith.
“We think this is a worthy project for the city that can help people,” she said. “That’s where charitable foundation dollars go, to projects that help the community.”
Ward 4 Councilor Ben Harman said he also supports giving voters a chance to decide whether they support moving forward with the plan through a debt exclusion vote.
“The administration has proposed sending the lion’s share of this project to the voters. I’m supportive of that, along with a mix of private and other funds,” he said.
Harman added the $250,000 pledge shouldn’t be taken in isolation, when it comes to the project’s total costs.
“We should think about those funds offsetting how much on an annual basis the taxpayers will pay on the interest on that bond,” he said.
Staff writer Jim Sullivan covers Newburyport for The Daily News. He can be reached via email at jsullivan@newburyportnews.com or by phone at 978-961-3145. Follow him on Twitter @ndnsully.