The New Bloomfield R-III Board of Education discussed the district's facility repairs wish list at its work session Wednesday. At its regular meeting on Thursday, Jan. 15, the board will decide if it wants to put a $2 million no-tax-increase bond issue on the spring ballot to fund repairs.
Superintendent David Tramel and the district's administration made a wish list of repair items for the board. The top two items on that list were replacing the district's HVAC units and repairing and replacing the district's parking lots - both costly projects.
Tramel said small schools have been struggling to keep up with the costs of routine maintenance. The district sets aside money for repairs each year and works on projects during the summer. In a normal summer, Tramel said the district spends anywhere between $50,000 and $125,000 on projects. However, the cost of deferred maintenance items like repairing parking lots and replacing HVAC units is projected at much more than the district's summer repair budget allows.
Projected costs for repairing parking lots district-wide are between $850,000 and $950,000 and estimated costs for replacing heating and cooling units is between $750,000 and $850,000. Those numbers are based on estimates the district has received for those projects from engineers and contractors.
For the heating and cooling project, the estimate includes replacing all 79 units in the district - which range in age from 30 to three years old. Tramel said when the district actually replaces the HVAC units, it will be able to look more closely at the units. It is possible, he told the board, that some might not need to be replaced quite yet. The potential ballot language, he said, would allot money to replace all of them in case the district isn't able to save any units. The district has received multiple recommendations to replace all 79.
For the parking lot project, most of the attention would be spent on the high school's lot, which needs resurfacing and some drainage work. The project would also allow for work on the elementary and bus lots.
If the district moves forward with the bond issue and if the community votes in favor of it, the district will solicit bids for these projects. The board plans to list only these two projects in the the ballot language of the potential bond issue because if those bids come in higher, it won't have the funds to do any other repairs. However, Tramel said it is also possible that bids could come in on the low end of those cost ranges or less than the estimates the district has received. For that reason, the ballot language for the bond issue would focus on the parking lot and HVAC projects, but would also allow the district to use the bond money on a variety of other, less-expensive projects - if funds allow.
Some other items on Tramel and district administration's wish list were roofing repairs, tuck pointing and sealing, replacing some entry doors, a new district-wide bell and intercom system, a classroom for health and weightlifting, funds to be put toward a greenhouse, remodeling elementary bathrooms and motorizing bleachers. The board added technology upgrades to the wish list as well.
The district's intercom system has some broken parts, but repairmen have told the district that the system is too old to find parts for.
"If something breaks, it can't be replaced," Tramel said. "You have to have communication (to the classrooms)."
At Wednesday's board work session, Tramel and Board President Terri Sweeten asked the rest of the board what feedback they have heard from the community and parents on the district's facilities. Board member Susie Hinrichs said she has heard negative feedback about the bathrooms in the elementary school.
What's next
Throughout the fall, Tramel and the district received feedback on its facilities from a handful of engineers and contractors. The district had a mechanical engineer assess its facilities and he gave the board his recommendations in November.
After receiving that feedback, Tramel told the board he recommends putting the bond issue on the ballot this year.
"At this point, I am fully recommending that we pursue this. I think at this point to wait - we've gone both ways on this - waiting isn't going to save us money," he told the board last month.
The school board will meet at 6 p.m. on Jan. 15 and will vote on the potential no-tax-increase bond issue. If the board votes to put the bond issue on the spring ballot, it must let the County Clerk know by Jan. 20. Then, the board would have to give the clerk ballot language and form a campaign committee, which would have until mid-February to register with the Ethics Commission.