On Jan. 17 the Brunswick Town Council is conducting a public hearing on a bonding proposal for a new elementary school and repairs to Brunswick Junior High. There are at least a few concerned citizens in town who see this as an important and serious financial burden. We vote in all town budget referendums, unlike 95 percent of registered voters, who do not.

In the recent past, Brunswick has had four elementary schools. Two were closed early in this decade, one due to cost and upgrade issues and one to a drop in the elementary student population. Those buildings still exist. A third school, Jordan Acres, built in the 1970s, was abandoned due to either poor design or lack of attention to roof snow removal, and has sat idle ever since. The fourth school, which apparently has had few, if any, renovations since it was built in the late 1950s, is also on the “to be abandoned” list.

Something just does not make sense here. And now, the only option being given Brunswick citizens is a $28 million loan (bond), over 20 or 30 years, with interest, for a new school without any attempt to acquire state funding, rehabilitating or maintaining existing structures, or providing other alternatives. This town faces many other economic challenges in the near future, without rushing into a debt burden we cannot afford.

Jeffrey Runyon
Brunswick