The Skaneateles school district will hold two information sessions to get feedback from the public on the scope of the $2,577,876 capital project proposed to the board of education by the facilities committee at its Aug. 20 meeting.
The first session will be at 6 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 23 in the district office. The second will be at 7 p.m. during the board’s Tuesday, Oct. 1 meeting, also in the district office. Anyone who lives within the school district is welcome to attend to ask questions and learn more about the proposal from the district administration.
The new proposal, formulated in place of the $22.7 million project that failed to get public approval in a vote last June, includes five items in the middle school/high school building that the committee deemed to be the most urgent. They are: roof replacements, commons window-wall repair, masonry repair, areaway drainage repair and security upgrades. The district will also look at putting another small bond proposal before the public sometime in 2014, Assistant Superintendent of Business and Finance Dale Bates said at the board of education’s Sept. 17 meeting.
This potential “phase two” of the needed facility work could include items such as window replacements, asbestos abatement and upgrades to the school’s heating and cooling system including one new boiler, Bates said.
The board would also look to address other items from the failed 2013 proposal in coming years. These could include the middle school gymnasium, which has damage due to the structure settling into the ground. More than $5 million was included on the failed June proposal to replace the current building with a new, bigger one, making it the single biggest item in that proposal.
Following public feedback, the board plans to officially approve the scope of the project at its Oct. 15 meeting and hold a public vote on Dec. 10. The December date was chosen to give the board the most possible time to get public feedback, inform the public on the importance of the project and still be able to get state approvals for the work to be done during the summer of 2014, Interim Superintendent of Schools Judy Pastel said.
The board had previously approved money to be spent to have the district’s architect to draw up plans for the roof replacements. With the plans already done, work can begin on the roof as soon as school lets out in June 2014, Pastel said.
More information on the proposal can be found here.
Joe Genco is the editor of the Skaneateles Press. He can be reached at [email protected].
