11/11/2014

Council sets Dec. 8 hearing on school capital-improvement bond

The Town Council will hold a public hearing Dec. 8, 2014 on a proposed $1.75 million bond issue to fund school capital improvements. [See School Board Capital Improvement Website]

The School Department is looking to borrow $1.75 million to fund five projects, but because the cost of each project is less than $1 million, the citizen-referendum requirement for projects exceeding $1 million does not apply.

The bonds, to be issued in fiscal 2016, would fund:

• Repair and replacement of roofs at the High School, $800,000; Middle School, $175,000; and Pond Cove School, $175,000
• Upgrading electrical systems at the High School, $275,000; and
• Repair and replacement of heating, ventilation and air-conditioning equipment at the Middle School, $325,000.

School officials are scheduled to give a presentation on the bonding request at the Dec. 8 meeting, Town Council Chair Jessica Sullivan said at the council's Nov. 6 meeting.

The School Board voted in November 2013 to ask the Town Council for bonding to fund the capital projects, part of the board's 10-year capital improvement plan. The Town Council reviewed the request at a workshop in January.

The Dec. 8 meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the Town Hall chamber.