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River Ridge facilities project

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River Ridge School 

Board moves forward 

with mandated upgrades

By Ted Pennekamp

 

The River Ridge School Board voted unanimously July 15 to rescind a resolution for a $2 million state trust fund loan that was approved by the board on May 26 for an energy efficiency project in order to address building safety and compliance issues mandated by the state.

District Administrator Jeff Athey said that a petition with approximately 690 signatures, of which 617 were accepted as valid, was presented to the school district on June 29. Athey explained that if a petition against exceeding the revenue cap is signed by at least 20 percent of the district’s residents who voted in the last governor’s election, the board must drop the energy efficiency project resolution. 

“There were more than enough signatures,” said Athey. 

The board also discussed a possible referendum for the $2 million, but dropped the idea because it would take too long and the district would incur the entire cost of such a referendum when done not in conjunction with a regular election. Some board members also said that such a referendum would probably fail. 

“We have to move forward to appease the state requirements,” said Board President Dave Breuer who asked the board to repeal the May 26 resolution. 

The Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services has mandated that River Ridge make a number of repairs and upgrades for code violations, which include electrical needs and fire hazards, HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning concerns), Americans with Disabilities Act compliance and other health and safety issues. 

The board then heard a presentation by representatives of McKinstry Engineering/Construction of Madison regarding the state mandated repairs and upgrades, which need to be resolved by the start of the 2015-16 school year. If the issues are not resolved, the district could be ordered by the state to shut down buildings or parts of buildings or be fined.

A report by McKinstry, which was handed out to the approximately 80 people in attendance, stated that there would be a guaranteed maximum price of $1,589,452 to complete all of the required projects. If the project were to run over budget, McKinstry would “eat” those costs. 

A schedule was given whereby state officials will visit the district on Aug. 18 to see what is or isn’t being done. There will be a state inspection on Sept. 1 when the state might issue a second set of orders to the district. McKinstry’s preliminary schedule said that construction would begin on Aug. 1 providing contracts are in place with the district. On Sept. 1, it is expected that the electrical work will be 20 percent complete and the HVAC work would be 50 percent complete. According to the preliminary schedule, the final project completion date would be Aug. 1, 2016.

The school board voted unanimously to approve of the McKinstry project scope and guaranteed maximum price. 

The board then voted 6-1 to approve up to a $1 million state trust fund loan and levying a tax in connection with the loan to help pay for the project. Board member Ken Nies voted against the measure. 

The loan would be for five years at 3 percent and would have a tax impact of $87 per year on a property worth $100,000. The loan falls within the energy exemption and raises the district’s revenue limit ability. 

The board then voted 4-3 to use up to $500,000 of Fund 49 to further pay for the cost of the state mandated project. Fund 49 has $549,000 which was to be used for roof repair. Kerri Schier, Ken Nies and Leah Breuer voted against the measure. The district will now need to raise the required money for roof repair in the future.

It is not yet known if the state will be closing buildings or parts of buildings due to non-compliance, but the board voted unanimously not to have any grade configuration changes for the 2015-16 school year.  

“We should not have a knee jerk decision,” said Superintendent Athey regarding possible grade re-configuration. “We can do it down the road, possibly next year or later.” Athey also said that he is confident that McKinstry will get the mandated project completed in a timely manner and will show enough progress to satisfy the state so that there will be no penalties incurred by the district.

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