 Board members present were Kenny Golden, president; Ben Roland, vice
president; Larry Hall; Leslie Starasta; Kenda Kitner; and Mark
Mathon. Superintendent Jennifer Hamm was also present.Before the
discussion could begin, Jeff Brooks addressed the board members.
Brooks was curious as to what exactly the night's business would
entail and what a debt certificate is.
Tom Crabtree of Stifel Nicolaus, who was present to explain the
final details of the bonding process, answered Brooks' question.
Crabtree explained that the term "debt certificate" is merely the
technical term for what the board would be signing so bonds can be
sold.
Brooks also wanted to state that he is still against the board's
decision to undertake such a massive series of renovations. "I think
the voters ought to have a say. It's not this building and what the
building is made out of that makes an education for these kids,"
said Brooks. "It's the people inside it, the faculty and the
students."
After Brooks' comments, the board turned to examining the sizable
list of renovations ahead to determine what can be removed from the
plans in order to make up for coming in over budget.
Prior to the meeting, the board approved a budgetary figure of
$2.7 million total in expenditures for this series of renovations.
After examining the actual prices of the projects, a total of just
under $2.9 million was presented with the contracts for
construction.
Jennifer Hamm presented her calculations to the board members,
and she said that the board would need to find $199,000 in
renovations to remove from the list. The board members agreed after
looking at the list to remove what would not be considered "brick
and mortar" renovations or anything that does not concern the
structure of the building.
After close examination of the list, Hamm was able to make
suggestions as to what should be removed and possibly added back at
a later date. The removed items include things like furniture, art
cabinets, a canopy for the entrance, soundproofing tiles in the
ceiling and new doors in the media center. With all of the
suggestions Hamm made to the board members, the bill would still be
$60,849 over budget.
The contract does include a contingency of $32,000, which can be
used to pay for part of the remainder.
[to top of second column] |
 One of the items that the board greatly wishes to keep in the
list of approved items is a Bradley sink, a sink that allows
multi-person hand-washing and uses foot-pedal activation instead of
handles. The purchase and installation of the sink would cost
$13,000, but that number could change. The board hopes to keep it in
the plans to help prevent another outbreak of illness similar to
what the school witnessed over the winter.
The question arose of where to find the amount of money to pay
for the rest. While the board could still find more items to deduct
from the list, the issue would be attempting to add them back later
on. After Hamm's suggested deductions, the items that remain center
more on construction. It was suggested by Hamm that the school use
some of the remainder in their health, life safety fund, which still
has $111,000 left. Hamm also mentioned using the working cash fund,
which has $196,000.
Another concern that the board addressed was the difference in
bids between asbestos removal contractors. The lowest bid for the
work came in $36,000 less than the second-lowest. Hamm said that the
company (which was not named) is relatively new, and they may be
trying to use such a price to make a name for themselves, or they
may have miscalculated. Should the board accept the lower bid, they
could use the money to help cover the $60,000 still needed.
The board members will need to decide on a list of removed items
by March 19 at the regularly scheduled board meeting.
After the discussion of renovations, Crabtree explained the final
step of selling the obligation bonds. Crabtree said that while the
interest on bond sales has risen slightly over the past month, the
rate is still at historic lows, and it is still a good moment to
sell bonds. Crabtree also said that if the board passes the final
resolution to sell bonds, he could have their money to them on March
26. The board approved the resolution unanimously.
[By DEREK HURLEY] |
