Greg Fuller

To the editor,

Alton will be voting on Tuesday on whether or not to approve $500,000 for land known as the Twombly property for the school. It has been described as a “jewel”, and maybe it is. My question is should we be buying over-priced jewelry in a recession? The answer would seem quite simple — no. The land and buildings are appraised by the town at approximately $320,000, yet the school board is looking at $475,000 to purchase the land. Why so much more than the assessed value? When I asked that question at a Budget Committee meeting, I was told that it would be worth that much with road accessibility to Rt. 28, which is does not currently have. Since there is no road cut now onto the property from Rt. 28, why are we going to be paying so much for the land? Isn't that sort of like putting the cart before the horse?

Why did the school board only get one appraisal on this land? This is still a question needing an answer, especially in an economy such as the one we’re in now. This question was asked as well by other Budget Committee members. We were told by the superintendent that they only needed one assessment.

Finally, when you go to the polls on Tuesday you will see a vote tally at the end of each question. This will show you how each committee voted on the question. The school got all of the vote totals correct except for one, the land. It will show as 3-0-1, when it should be 3-1. I voted against the land due to my concerns stated above.

The School District did put out a press release with the correct information, but the ballot is still incorrect.

Greg Fuller

Alton