Watertown Daily Times Article - Wednesday, February 20, 2008

School project vote set in March

New classrooms: Harrisville expecting little or no tax impact

By Steve Virkler, Times Staff Writer

Residents in the Harrisville Central School District will be asked next month to approve a $2,745,000 capital project that would add two classrooms and make numerous building upgrades.

And, by utilizing state funding and a district capital reserve fund, school officials expect the project to have little or no impact on local property taxes.

A vote on the project has been scheduled for 1 to 8 p.m. March 27 in the school cafeteria. An informational session will be held at 6 p.m. March 10 in the auditorium.

Many items in the project were identified in a state-required building conditions survey conducted by Watertown architectural firm Bernier, Carr and Associates, said District Superintendent Rolf A. Waters. Bernier, Carr also designed the capital project, while Bernard P. Donegan Inc., Victor, is serving as financial consultant.

Proposed upgrades include installation of security cameras, roof work to reroute rainwater, extension of the bus garage for a new lift and replacement of gym bleachers that were installed in 1981, auditorium seats and lockers in both locker rooms.

District officials also are proposing a two-classroom addition in the rear of its kindergarten-12 building.

One of the new rooms would be a special education classroom, while the other would be a new French classroom, Mr. Waters said. That would allow a few other classrooms to be shuffled, providing better separation between high, middle and elementary school sections, he said.

One existing classroom would be converted to an elementary computer room, while another would be changed to a life skills center for special education students, Mr. Waters said. The district now sends students to Edwards-Knox Central School for a St. Lawrence-Lewis Board of Cooperative Educational Services life skills program, but that program may be eliminated in a couple of years, he said.

The classroom additions also would provide more space for a pre-kindergarten program, Mr. Waters said. The district is slated to receive $82,571 in annual state funding if it starts such a program, he said.

The district would receive 84 percent state building aid for the project, along with $130,106 from the state Expanding Our Children’s Education and Learning program.

A $44,836 state shared Municipal Services Initiative grant that was jointly awarded to the school district and village is also included in project funding. The grant money is to be used to install a shared fueling station for local municipalities and emergency services. District officials decided to incorporate that item into the proposed capital project, rather than conduct a separate project, Mr. Waters said.

A capital reserve fund that was apparently started as a result of the district’s $9.2 million capital project in 2001 has generated enough interest to pay off remaining project debt, which is costing about $25,000 per year in debt service payments, Mr. Waters said. He was uncertain of the exact cost for early debt retirement but said the fund – which has gone untouched for the past few years – now contains about $400,000.

That money should allow the district to not only pay off the old debt but also help cover annual debt service costs from the proposed project., Mr. Waters said. By taking out a 15-year loan, annual debt service payments on the new project should also be about $25,000, he said.

If approved, work on the project would likely begin some time next year and take about 1-1/2 years to complete, Mr. Waters said.

“I certainly hope this is something the community can come out and feel comfortable supporting,” he said.