Resignations After brief discussion, the board accepted
three resignations. The school board does not have to take action in
the case of a resignation, but as stated in regulations, they do
have to accept resignations at a public hearing.
The first resignation was that of Karen Beverlin. Beverlin will
step down from her position as the school's business and compliance
director on Dec. 20. Superintendent Jennifer Hamm said that Beverlin
will continue to assist the school with the transition to
treasurer's reports beginning in January.
The other two resignations accepted by the board were from board
members.
Joel Vinson has decided to step down from the board due to
conflicting priorities in his personal life. Hamm said Vinson told
her he was working on a special homeland security project that he
could not openly discuss. Vinson also told Hamm that he would be
more than happy to help the school in any capacity that was open to
him in the future.
The other resigning board member is the board president, Keith
Birnbaum. According to Kenny Golden, who has been the vice
president, Birnbaum is also facing conflicting priorities outside of
CEL, though he did not provide exact details.
Public comments
Jeff Brooks, former CEL school board president, stepped forward
to voice some concerns.
Brooks expressed his concern over the financial capabilities of
the school as they move into the future. Brooks said that while he
understands that the potential building projects would not be a
drain on the education fund, other upcoming expenses, such as paying
for teacher retirement, will.
"I understand that that won't affect your (the school board's)
building project, but that's going to affect the ed. fund, it's
going to affect the amount of money you've got coming in, and you're
not going to be able to afford all of that and keep the ed. fund
up," Brooks said.
Brooks also said, as to the school's finances, he has looked at
the figures that have been released to the public, and he does not
believe that the school will be able to pay off the costs of these
projects.
"You're (the board) making a lot of assumptions over a 20-year
period," he said, referring to the idea of the 1 percent sales tax
remaining stable over the likely amount of time it would take to pay
off the building projects via financial bonding.
Brooks did say to the board that the recent upgrades to create a
more energy-efficient school -- such as the new windows that have
been installed in the oldest wing -- are a good idea, but overall,
he thinks that the school needs to re-examine their priorities.
Brooks also told the board that he is not satisfied with the lack
of up-to-date meeting minutes on the school website. Furthermore,
Brooks considers the minutes to be vague and lacking in a summary.
"I can't make heads or tails of those minutes," said Brooks.
Paying for the projects
Ann Noble of Stifel Nicolaus was present to address the board.
Stifel Nicolaus is a finance company that will be working with CEL
in trying to sell bonds to pay for any potential building projects.
Noble provided a little more information as to their options.
The school would be using fixed-rate bonds to pay for the
improvements. The bonds would be paid back with a likely, though not
definitive, estimated interest rate of around 3 percent.
Before the school can sell any bonds at all, a third party will
need to be brought in to complete a feasibility study as to the
school's ability to repay. Should the borrowing be deemed feasible,
the school could borrow an amount up to 80 percent of the annual 1
percent sales tax received. The remaining 20 percent would be left
as a cushion, which could be used to pay for different projects that
were not specified as being paid for with bonds.
Usually, bonds take 20 years to pay back. Should the school wish
to pay the money back sooner, the interest rate would be higher.
[to top of second column] |
Renovation costs and floor plan
Mark Graves, an employee of CTS Group, was present to inform the
board of a few suggestions to make the most out of their financial
situation in relation to the renovation projects. CTS Group is an
engineering firm that would be working with BLDD Architectural on
the improvements.
Graves echoed statements from previous meetings with the board by
saying that the existing building is structurally very sound, and
the school is fortunate to have a solid structure to work with.
One of Graves' biggest concerns with the existing building is the
heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system, or HVAC. As it
stands currently, the school operates with one boiler, no internal
air-conditioning system and poor ventilation. Graves also said that
members of the public who have been engaged in the design process
share the same concern.
Graves suggested that the board could install the new heating
system first and wait to install an air-conditioning system until a
later date. The air-conditioning system would make use of existing
pipework within the school.
Other issues Graves touched on were the outdated electrical
systems in the school, the lack of a secure main entrance to the
building and easier access to the cafeteria during the school day.
Graves also provided some figures to the board as to how much
money is available through grants. There are Illinois Clean Energy
Community Foundation grants available in a total amount of $20,650.
Federal grants could provide another $78,056.
Finally, Graves suggested that the board could defer certain
parts of the project to a later date. Currently, there is no plan
set in stone for which improvement is made to the school first.
However, Graves also warned the board that delaying too much of the
process could result in increased building costs and interest on the
bonds needed. Starting over entirely would cost the school more
money in trying to come up with new designs.
At the previous meeting, the board was shown a potential floor
plan for the school improvements. Jean Underwood, an employee of
BLDD, was present to show the board a slightly altered floor plan.
The largest change in the plan concerned the cafeteria. If the
board sticks with the new floor plan, they could feasibly fit more
students into the new cafeteria and reduce the number of lunch
periods in the school day to two. As a result, students would have a
longer time for lunch than with the current schedule of four lunch
periods.
The other major change to the plan was the inclusion of a larger
storage room. This storage room would likely be used for school
records, which are currently stored off-site due to a lack of space.
Hamm said that storing the records on-site would save the school
around $1,400 a year.
A new public hearing will be held on Monday at 5 p.m. to provide
the public with another opportunity to weigh in on this process.
Board members present were Kenny Golden, vice president; Tina
Warfel; Larry Hall; Ben Roland; Leslie Starasta; and Superintendent
Jennifer Hamm.
[By DEREK HURLEY] |