NEW MARKET — Suggestions flew around the South Montgomery School Corporation Board Room on Thursday.
The purpose of the two-hour special work session was for superintendent Dr. Chad Cripe and director of operations Mike Tricker to introduce a list of 26 ideas of capital projects to encompass most of the schools in the district.
“In a perfect world you’d like to see all of these completed,” Cripe told the board. “We know that’s not feasible right now so we need to create a list.”
Most of the funding would be generated by about $1 million from a general obligation bond. Any other monies would be from the corporation budget.
The list had four projects in bold type.
“These are the ones when we looked that stood out, but you’ve been around longer and may have other priorities in mind.”
Top of the list was to update the junior high and high school fire system.
“Siemens (Building Technologies) came out and looked at it,” Cripe said. “What happened was the company that did this during the renovation, it wasn’t quite right.”
“Triple-A was the company that worked on it,” Tricker added. “They went out of business, filed bankruptcy and didn’t finish the job. Siemens said the relay systems and switches need to be upgraded. Some of those we have aren’t even made any more. Every update since 1972 has just been tapped on.”
Tricker also said the sprinkler system is fine. The relays and switches are for the horns and strobes, but the system is up to code and functions.
Price tag could be more than $100,000.
Renovations to the high school pool area costs were discussed. The swimming pool liner was the original item, but other concerns were mentioned by members. Full renovation could cost approximately $300,000 to $400,000.Tennis courts, junior varsity and junior high baseball field drainage, updated junior high and high school classroom lighting and the main library also drew a lot of discussion.
Another bolded item on the list was renewing the school bus fleet. While this would be covered as a budgeted item and not eligible for general obligation bond funding, it still needs to be addressed, Cripe said.
“We have one bus ordered and it may not get here until November,” Cripe said. “The bus replacement plan is in the budget and we need to start following that. I believe it could be two buses per year.”
Cripe said there are 11 buses that need to be retired.
“Trade in value is only about $1,500 each,” Cripe said. “Lebanon just recently auctioned several of their buses and the revenue was better. We should look into that as an option.”
The board also:
• Heard updates on four capital projects that are already underway
• Heard an update on the Career and Technical Education center utilization. The news was not good as the contractor originally scheduled to help run the center and its classes has withdrawn in favor of a CTE possibly in Crawfordsville. There are still more options being discussed.
The board will meet in regular session 6 p.m. Monday in the corporation board room. The meeting is open to the public.
