On Tuesday, April 8, Pequot Lakes' public schools will ask the district dwellers to examine two ballot papers: a referendum of $ 55 million and a 10-year delivery of $ 600,000.
Some district residents have asked some questions in the past four weeks. Below you will find some recently frequently asked questions with answers.
How did the school district determine the cost of bond question?
First, the district used its maintenance plan to evaluate the costs for the exchange of roofs, boilers, lighting, plasters and everything in between. Each article was inspected and checked by engineers to confirm the likely costs.
Next, the district worked with school staff and focus groups to determine the highest priority needs of our buildings. A joint survey was also carried out to understand the priorities of our community.
After our school staff had determined the best needs, they met regularly with an architecture and engineering office to examine paths to tackle them. The company was responsible for the latest school building or the renovation of more than over 2 billion US dollars. So we are confident that you are able to ::
- Appreciate the costs for certain products and materials as described in the comprehensive maintenance plan.
- It is best to implement value creation.
- Appreciate the long -term infrastructure costs.
- Safe discounts to compensate for certain costs.
Based on the identified needs, the affected areas were identified as (1) new building, (2) strong conversion or (3) Easier conversion.
A square meter allocation for each area was determined by reviewing other similar projects in the entire state, which have recently been completed.
This provided an estimate of the costs per square foot of any area. In order to achieve a more precise number, a complete design of rooms would be required before a borrowing request is approved, which could represent an important costs and be outdated in view of the inflation rate.
In addition, project costs “alternatives” are identified as a measure to control the unforeseen pressure on the bidder climate that can affect the budgets.
Can the school district check the costs of such a project?
Since construction contracts have an offer, school districts must be killed the lowest responsible requirement of a qualified company or if the price appears too high.
As a result, we are working hard to understand the costs before the consent of a referendum.
In cooperation with our architecture company, we identified six main factors that influence the construction costs:
- 1. Construction area and volume.
- 2. Design and details.
- 3. Selection of materials and systems.
- 4. Quality of the construction planning documents.
- 5. To offer competitiveness.
- 6. Construction industry for the biddate.
The district and architectural control positions 1-4, while competitiveness (point 5) depends on the interest/time of the contractor.
The construction industry (point 6) is unknown before the project offers, so
All budgets contain a contingency for unforeseen changes.
Has the school district received offers for the projects?
The district did not go through the specific design process (schematic design, design development, construction documentation and bid).
At least one year passes between the decision of the Board of Directors, a referendum and a building requirement based on the design documents. The costs for the development of design documents and the receiving bids are included in the referendum amount instead of being paid for a referendum with general fund dollars.
The projected costs for maintenance items in the referendum can be $ 19 million. Does the district get other sources of financing to pay these expenses?
The district receives around $ 380 per student per student from the state of Minnesota to meet the ongoing maintenance needs, which corresponds to around $ 700,000 per year.
This money is used for roof repairs, mechanical and boiler problems, sidewalks, problems with water wells and other regular maintenance needs.
For example, a 21-year-old refrigerant in Eagle View had to be replaced last year for around $ 600,000, and some components of the boiler system tanks at the middle school/high school were replaced for around $ 50,000.
We have built up a maintenance fund for such expenses, but it is not close to dealing with the entire scope of our maintenance needs, let alone improvements to improve the overfilling and strengthening of the learning rooms.
Kurt Stumpf is a superintendent for public schools in Pequot Lakes.