CAMDEN, Maine — The School Administrative District 28 board voted Thursday evening to reaffirm its decision to hold a referendum in February on a $28 million bond for a new middle school campus.
The 6-2 vote came despite a formal request by the Camden Select Board to hold off the vote until June. The chairman of the Rockport Select Board has previously said he also believes the vote should be held in June.
SAD 28 board member John Lewis of Camden said at the Thursday night meeting that holding a single-issue referendum was the most honest way to proceed rather than waiting until June when other matters may be on the ballot.
“This is a huge project. We need a clear voice. Most of the stakeholders, parents, students, teachers will be here,” Lewis said.
Board member Tori Manzi of Camden said she values the opinion of the selectmen but that the school board should not fold because of the request. She said the board often has “something on its shoulder” because the school board has control over such a large portion of the budget.
She also pointed out that a delay in the Feb. 10 vote until June would increase the cost of the project.
That point was made earlier Thursday by Superintendent Elaine Nutter and board member Lynda Chilton of Camden during an interview to explain the project. They said interest rates are at historic lows and project costs would rise if the rates increase.
In addition, the need to hold the referendum in February is important because having the bond approved then would allow work to be done during two summers (2016 and 2017). Summer work is needed to reduce the disruption to students, they said.
The superintendent also stressed that after the February vote, there would still be a lot of decisions to be made and considerable opportunities for additional public input. There would still need to be decisions on specific designs before the project could go out to bid and a contract awarded.
Support for keeping the February vote, however, was not unanimous on the school board.
“We’re going to create bad karma if we don’t do what they want,” said board member Gretchen Richards of Rockport.
Board member Marcia Dietrich said she does not believe the district can sell the project to voters if the referendum is held in February. She said there are people telling her they will vote against it because of the timing.
The Camden Select Board is asking for the change because it expects more people would vote in June, there would not be enough time for residents to become informed if the vote is held in February, and people don’t expect elections in February.
School officials have said, however, that there have been several public meetings on the project so people should be informed. Absentee ballots also will be available so that bad weather should not play a role in turnout.
The school district has projected that if the $28 million in borrowing is approved, a Rockport property owner would pay $87 more per $100,000 of assessed property. In Camden, that increase would be $81.
Nutter said Thursday that those numbers were largely a worst-case scenario. The estimates also do not include a projected $80,000 in annual energy savings from the new middle school, she said. The cost to taxpayers also is based on a 20-year repayment plan. If the repayment is extended out more years, the annual cost would be reduced, she said.
The school board has said the new school is necessary because the existing one is in need of costly repairs. Chilton said the estimated cost of renovating the existing middle school is $27.5 million. The $28 million bond for the new 84,000-square-foot school would include the cost of renovating the 1925-built Mary E. Taylor portion of the current middle school for administrative offices as well as for adult and alternative education programs. The bond also would cover the cost of renovating the existing bus barn to allow for more space for buses.
Chilton said the current middle school’s design requires students to spend a lot of time walking long distances between classes and classes start late on a daily basis because of it.
And on top of all that, Nutter said renovations to the current middle school would not address the concerns of having buses, parents’ vehicles and walking students all in the same area along Knowlton Street. The new school would be built farther from the road to allow for a proper design for bus, vehicle and pedestrian flow, she said.
A public hearing on the bond issue is scheduled for Feb. 2.
The superintendent will be meeting with the Rockport Select Board on Monday night to discuss the project.
The plan is for the school to open in September 2017.