Deferred maintenance strikes again
The ghost of deferred maintenance has returned to haunt us once again. First, it was the middle school and the cold classrooms. Next were pictures of a deteriorating clubhouse at Beaver Meadow. Lately it is the grass growing in the cracks at the Memorial Field track, rendering it unsafe for use. All of these have one thing in common: regular upkeep by the city or school board could have prevented these issues at a lower cost to taxpayers, likely avoiding strain on their bonding capacity.
Splitting Memorial Field repair costs 50/50 between the city and school board doesn’t benefit taxpayers. Except for the people living in the Merrimack Valley School District, most do not care if the money comes from their right pocket or the left. The best approach is to have the entity that can handle the bonding impact and secure the best interest rate cover the entire expense and maybe save the taxpayers a few pennies!