By Katherine Massopust

PERTH AMBOY – There was a discussion at the 4/2/15 BOE Meeting about an Agenda Item approving the submission of the Schematic Design & Educational Specifications for the new Seaman Avenue School to the NJ Dept. of Education.

Board Member Ken Puccio continued to protest the construction of the school, “I cannot endorse building a school on a site that’s uncleanable. The property is a traffic nightmare. We don’t have the results of the study. We’re absorbing the cost of the cleanup for a site that cannot be cleaned. Until I leave the Board, I will protest this.”

Board President Sam Lebreault stated, “I would like Mr. Puccio to produce evidence that this site is uncleanable.”

Puccio said, “Until the meantime go to DEP in Trenton.”

Board Secretary Derek Jess answered Puccio’s concerns, “We are waiting for a report to come back. The property is not as bad as originally expected. The Board of Education owns the land, so we have to pay for the cleaning.”

“If this site proves to be cleanable, does this bind us to anything?” Lebreault asked.

“No, we are not bound to anything,” Jess answered.

“I would like a traffic study done,” Puccio said. He voiced concerns about the closeness of the Public Safety Complex and the traffic nightmare of a hypothetical fire or police emergency during school opening and closing times.

Jess answered, “The SDA is currently working on a traffic study.”

Puccio also mentioned the 1994 Edison Pipeline Explosion. “In Perth Amboy there is a yellow pole in the ground – the Colonial Pipeline next to the Firehouse. It goes north to Linden. Is there a rule to build so close to a pipeline?”

Lebreault agreed with Puccio’s concerns.

“I will ask,” Jess stated.

The Board agreed unanimously to approve the agenda item since it did not bind any agreement with the SDA.