Board hears levy needs

The Wahkiakum school board opened its October 21 meeting and almost immediately asked for input on its proposed maintenance and operations levy set for a vote this February 9, 2010.

“I’ve asked Bob McClintock from the school’s maintenance department to provide input on levy items for consideration in 2010,” said school Superintendent Bob Garrett

Garrett said he realized not all the items on the wish list could be funded but felt that some of maintenance items must be dealt with right away.

“If we don’t address some of these problems now we are going to have serious trouble down the road,” said Garrett.

McClintock told the board most of his recommendations should be considered as deferred maintenance. His priorities would be the high school’s lower roofs and the heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, which, he said, all need replacing. Also included are vents, hatches, downspouts and glass.

“That’s budgeted at a little over $402,000,” said McClintock.

“Right now the school's ventilation system is about 17 years old. Some of the heat pumps on the gym are a little newer but they're of poor quality so if we’re going to replace the roof we might as well do the entire ventilation/heating system too.”

McClintock wasn’t done. He told the board the high school grounds need almost $375,000 in repairs, and the school’s interior repairs will add another $500,000 to the total dollar amount of repairs.

“If you can remember,” said Garrett, “we put together a committee to explore remodeling the high school building.” At the time, he said, the economic climate wasn’t good and the plan was tabled. The school has had to place some of the items planned for the remodel into the school deferred maintenance column.

Garrett said it only makes sense to try and incorporate a few of the schools “big ticket” repairs into the next go-round of levy funding,

“A lot of the items on this list would have been incorporated into the remodel,” he said.

The district’s total repairs wish list amounts to a little over $1.5 million, but the administrators realize that amount won't fly with the voters.

“I know we’ll never get that amount passed,” said Garrett.

“Then I don’t know what were going to do,” said McClintock, “there has to be money somewhere to do some of these projects because the school is just worn out.”

The school board also heard a request from Cathlamet Mayor Richard Swart to form a joint subcommittee of school board and city council members to negotiate a solution over the relocation of an easement the town received when it purchased land from the school district to build its new wastewater treatment plant.

“I think it’s important for the town and school district to resolve this issue in a way that’s mutually acceptable,” said Swart.

Swart told the board it was economically in the best interest of the community as a whole for the school district to agree to relocate the easement. The requested easement has technical advantages, and Swart said it's wiser to form the subcommittee he proposed and get the school board and town council to meet and talk about what kind of “quid-pro-quo” would be best.

“We are needing to come together on the easement. The bottom line is if we don’t come to some agreement over relocating the road, it is going to cost the town about $250,000 more, and the folks in Cathlamet aren’t going to like having $100 month sewer bills,” said Swart.

“My opinion is that it makes more sense to have the meeting behind closed doors,” said Garrett. “Is that acceptable?”

Swart accepted, and said he would talk to the town council.