District leaders were told Monday OFCC needed to know by Friday the number of buildings the district would seek to construct. The exact locations of those buildings has not been determined and was not requested yet, said Sue Borchers, board president.
The board will meet again within the next two weeks for a vote, once received, on an OFCC conditional notice of approval of funding, she said.
The board was joined during Friday’s meeting by steering committee members and a couple of district residents. Discussion also included what would happen if the district chose to turn down the state funding offer and the best ways to sell a bond issue to the community.
The board reviewed costs for building configurations of three or four buildings before agreeing verbally to a plan with three prekindergarten through grade four buildings and one building for grades five and six. Today there are seven building housing those students throughout the city, including one sixth grade building.
The proposal as presented also would include work needed at the high school including new HVAC.
Cost estimates for the options were reviewed briefly with the four-building plan with a $153.5 million price tag. After state funding, the local cost was listed at $107 million. A 6.17-mill bond issue (37 years at 5 percent interest) would cost the owner of a home with a $100,000 home value $18 per month, according to information given to the board.
Those at the meeting mostly agreed the district needs to move forward on replacing aging buildings and having fewer buildings to maintain. The message to the community needs to be that Troy has a good school district but has buildings needing major repairs and posing possible safety issues, they said.
Board member Michael Ham said he was concerned about having enough time to educate the community on the need for new buildings and the rationale for the proposed plans.
Ben Poeppelman, a steering committee member, said the committee has reviewed information from past building campaigns and is ready to get to work. “You have to deal with the knowns. The money is here now,” he said.
Long-time board member Doug Trostle said the buildings proposal is similar to a plan before voters in 2020, which was defeated. “I feel comfortable we are ready to move forward with it,” he said.
Others said the costs for a project likely would continue to grow if a decision is made to wait.
Contact this contributing writer at nancykburr@aol.com
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