The Timberlane Regional School District board voted Jan. 2 to approve a Phase 3 project list under the district’s multi‑phase lease program and heard legal guidance about a citizen petition seeking to limit future lease phases.

The board approved the Phase 3 list, which the facilities subcommittee described as seven prioritized projects — six at Atkinson Academy and one at Sandown North — and instructed administration to begin drafting requests for proposals for the work.

Facilities planning and rationale
A facilities presenter told the board the subcommittee had worked since the previous summer to prioritize projects and that a rebate from Phase 2 would be applied to Phase 3, lowering the net cost this round. Committee members said it was more cost‑effective to group large HVAC and roofing projects at a single site and to use coordination and contractor mobilization to reduce overall cost. The committee presented the Phase 3 list so the district could begin RFPs and contracting work.

Legal guidance on citizen petition to limit leases
Administration presented legal guidance about a citizen petition (Article 4 on the draft warrant) that would, if enacted as written, restrict the district from entering future lease phases. District counsel advised four key points: the district may lawfully restrict itself from entering future leases; not making payments on already executed leases (Phase 1 and Phase 2) would trigger non‑appropriation and default; authority to enter lease agreements vests with the school board (the governing body); and voters exercise the power to appropriate annual payments for leases at town/district meetings.

Administration recommended petitioners consider revising the language so that it targets appropriation for a specific future phase (for example, Phase 3) rather than attempting to limit the board’s general statutory authority to enter leases.

Actions and outcome
The board approved the Phase 3 project list and directed staff to prepare RFPs (vote recorded in meeting: 8 yes, 0 no, 0 abstain).

Clarifying points
Board members and administration noted that Phase 1 and Phase 2 are already executed and that any failure to appropriate or pay executed lease obligations would carry legal consequences. The presenter also said Phase 3, if executed as currently proposed, would bring the total taken under the lease to about $15,000,000 toward the $25,000,000 authorization voters previously approved.

Quotes
"Facilities Committee has been meeting since the summertime…they have whittled their way down to 7 projects they would like to push forward into phase 3," a district facilities presenter said.

"It's explicitly outlined in our master agreement. It's section 3 0.04d. It really says that the school board has the discretion…whether they're gonna enter into any more phases of the lease," the district administrator explained when summarizing legal counsel's guidance.

Ending
With the Phase 3 project list approved, the district will proceed to draft RFPs and bring project language forward; administration will also work with petitioners and the district’s legal counsel to clarify the practical and legal effects of any citizen petition before voters weigh it at deliberative sessions and at the polls.