Hampden board says Wilburham proposal for school facilities management is too vague to adopt

Select Board members on Feb. 3 reviewed a letter from Wilburham's town administrator and finance committee proposing that Wilburham take on facilities management for the regional schools. Speaker 3 summarized the letter and said the Wilburham committee "was wondering if we'd be interested in discussing, facilities management of the schools" and that the offer appeared intended to create efficiencies.

Board members expressed skepticism about moving forward without specifics. Speaker 3 said the proposal was "nebulous," noted existing lease agreements that make the regional district responsible for repairs up to $30,000, and cited the town's recent maintenance spending: "In the past 10 years, we spent a $134,000 on maintenance for the schools." Speaker 1 echoed concerns about the town lacking sufficient staff capacity and said he would prefer to see a concrete dollar breakdown showing what Wilburham would do and what Hampden would be expected to provide.

The board did not commit to participation and asked Wilburham to submit a written proposal with clear costs and responsibilities. "If they came back with something a little more concrete ... here's the dollar to you and the dollar to them, we haven't got a big enough department to participate," Speaker 1 said. The board agreed to read and consider any formal draft before agreeing to additional meetings.

Next steps: the Select Board will wait for a formal proposal from Wilburham before taking further action.