Do You Want a Stadium at CB East?

The Central Bucks school board on Tuesday agreed to hold a town hall meeting to give the public an opportunity to ask questions and make comments about a proposed stadium for CB East.

The meeting will be held on Tuesday March 19 at Lenape Valley Middle School at 7 p.m. 

Superintendent Dr. Rodney Green gave the board a quick overview of the project's history and where it currently stands.

The district submitted plans for the stadium to Buckingham Township officials in 1999. After extensive review, debate and revisions, township supervisors approved a land development plan in December 2002.

But in 2003, neighbors Jeff and Mary Bretz filed a lawsuit over the project, launching what Bucks County Judge Clyde Waite would call in 2011 a "serpentine" course of legal challenges that had the case bouncing back and forth for years.

After Waite's decision in favor of the township and the school board, the Bretzes appealed to Commonwealth Court. But in 2012, that court upheld the decision from county court, finally clearing the way for the stadium project to move forward.

On Tuesday, Green highlighted to the board that Buckingham's approval is valid until July 2016. If a construction contract has not been finalized and approved by the board at that point, the township's approval would be invalid.

With the ordinance changes adopted by Buckingham since 2002, Green said the stadium plan as-is would not be acceptable for a new approval; the district would have to go back to square one.

The discussion amongst the board members on Tuesday balanced on the symbolic value versus the financial realities of the project.

School director Tyler Tomlinson said that building the stadium would go a long way to fulfilling the district's promise to give every Central Bucks student the same education and experiences.

"It's really difficult when every game is an away game," Tomlinson said, referring to CB East students who must travel to other schools to play.

The district received a $2.5 million bond issue after the project's approval, but the construction estimate has been projected at $5.6 million, leaving a $3.1 million deficit.

"I can't move forward with this project until I hear from the public that they want us to find that money," said school director Paul Faulkner.