"At this point the secretary had some issues about the whole plan," Heidi Perlman, a spokeswoman for the state's Department of Education, tells GlobeSt.com.
The move took the university by surprise as the deal only needs the secretary's signature to be completed. "It is a rare occurrence for a bond issuance to stop at this late stage but [Kriss] could not do it," Nicole St. Peter, a spokeswoman for Governor Mitt Romney, acknowledges to GlobeSt.com.
St. Peter says that the administration was not aware of the bond issuance. The plan had been approved by former governor Jane Swift's administration and includes a dormitory project at the university's Boston campus; a science research center at the Amherst campus; athletic fields at the Dartmouth campus and a parking garage at the Lowell campus.
St. Peter also notes that the governor's administration didn't have enough information about the various projects. She contends that many of the projects in the university's five-year plan weren't listed on the bond but were on the ten year plan. She points out that bond is required to be for five years. "The secretary is waiting for additional information," she says.
But Ed Hayward, a university spokesperson tells GlobeSt.com that the university is still "moving ahead with the planning process. We invested a lot of time and effort and the chancellor feels confident that when the governor gives the full review we'll see the project advance."
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