Updated Sept. 2, 2009 at 12:20 p.m.
The Orcas Island School District Board is proceeding full-speed ahead to select an architectural firm for the final design of the long-awaited new school construction, and to decide upon the bond issue that will finance the undertaking.
At the School Board meeting on Aug. 27, the Board voted quickly and unanimouslyto make available funds from the previous bond’s unspent VocTech building amount, which is around $400,000 to pay for the costs of searching for a firm, architectural drawings, cost estimates, etc. to nail down a dollar amount for the proposed Orcas Island Educational and Activities Center bond election in February. “We are trying to find what will this dollar amount buy us in terms of what the vision is for this center,” said Board Member Tony Ghazel (see comment following article).
After advertising for proposals last month, the District has received bids from 18 architectural firms, and plans to conduct interviews from the top candidates on Sept. 23 and 24.
The Board emphasized that it wants the prospective design to include considerations for local employment and environmental efficiencies.
Also at the meeting, Trevor Carlson, senior Vice President of Seattle-Northwest Securities, again spoke to the Board about bond issue planning. The board discussed the bond amount required for the project, estimated earlier this summer to be between 20 and 25 million dollars, and the term of the bond issue, from 12 to 15 to 20 years. Carlson said that he expects “the next 18 months to still be a great time to issue long-term debt on behalf of taxpayers.”
Members of the board brought up several times that they do not expect the bond debt to substantially increase beyond the current bond obligation. They plan to request voter approval for the bond in the Feb. 2010 election.
In addition, Superintendent Kline reports great expectations for a national Federal Stimulus, or American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), grant for [intlink id=”school-district-to-apply-for-grant-for-energy-collection-and-hvac-replacement” type=”post”]renewable energy funds[/intlink] to install solar panels and a demonstration wind project.
“We have requested $1.6 million dollars, which we expect through a state program of bond funding for such matches.” Part of the application requires an “investment-grade” energy audit that will take place this Tuesday, Sept. 1, conducted by the Plant Operations and Support Consortium – a “hybrid” Washington State University Extension Energy Program/ State Department of General Administration, managed by Bob MacKenzie, who reported to the district board at a meeting on July 23.
“This grant was an amazing joint effort, mostly organized by [OISD Administrative Assistant] Cathy Ferran, who just called people right and left,” said Kline at the School Board meeting on Aug. 27.
Dear Margie,
The funds that were released did not specify the amount of $400,000 for architects. What we did was vote to make available funds from the previous bond’s unspent VocTech building amount, which is around $400,000 to pay for the costs of searching for a firm, architectural drawings, cost estimates, etc. to nail down a dollar amount for the proposed Orcas Island Educational and Activities Center bond election in February. We are trying to find what will this dollar amount buy us in terms of what the vision is for this center. Thank you. Tony P. Ghazel
Dear Margie,\
The funds that were released did not specify the amount of $400,000 for architects. What we did was vote to make available funds from the previous bond’s unspent VocTech building amount, which is around $400,000 to pay for the costs of searching for a firm, architectural drawings, cost estimates, etc. to nail down a dollar amount for the proposed Orcas Island Educational and Activities Center bond election in February. We are trying to find what will this dollar amount buy us in terms of what the vision is for this center. Thank you. Tony P. Ghazel
Dear Margie,
The funds that were released did not specify the amount of $400,000 for architects. What we did was vote to make available funds from the previous bond’s unspent VocTech building amount, which is around $400,000 to pay for the costs of searching for a firm, architectural drawings, cost estimates, etc. to nail down a dollar amount for the proposed Orcas Island Educational and Activities Center bond election in February. We are trying to find what will this dollar amount buy us in terms of what the vision is for this center. Thank you. Tony P. Ghazel