Agenda focused on potential building project
The Mountain Lake Public School (MLPS) School Board (Chair Chad Pedersen, Vice-Chair Tom Fast, Clerk Julie Brugman, Treasurer Pam Hoek and Directors Doug Standerwick, Matt Gohr and Tim Swoboda met in a joint special meeting with the MLPS Building Committee (Chair Tim Swoboda, Vice-Chair Tom Appel, Cheri Hanson, Jerry Haberman, Bruce Swanson, Bryan Bargen, Vern Peterson, Shawn Naas and John Carrison.) on Tuesday, May 30. Also in attendance was Paul Youngquist, architect of Architects Rego + Youngquist, Inc. (ARY) of St. Louis Park.
During his presentation, Youngquist unveiled two building construction/remodeling project options, both dealing with the demolition of the oldest building on the school campus – the 1904 building.
Varied in the pair of presentations was exactly just where new band and choir rooms would be placed – in new construction spaces or in the former indoor swimming pool following remodeling.
In the building project choice featuring new spaces, Youngquist’s plan promotes a new two-story building where the 1904 building currently stands. On the first floor would be a Learning Lab area, along with new men’s and women’s locker rooms. (The current boys’ locker room next to the gymnasium would then be used for football and visiting sports teams.) The Learning Lab/Commons area would offer soft spaces for students to sit on, as well as tables to sit at, along with computer access and Wi-Fi. Students would use the lab before, after or during school, including lunch time when an ala carte/concession lunch would be available. The idea behind a Learning Lab is to give students the opportunity to work at individualized learning.
The second floor would sport two new state-of-the art science labs – one for biology and one for chemistry, along with special education classrooms. New spaces for science was deemed by both the architect and Building Commitee as more cost effective than the remodeling that would be necessary for the current rooms in the 1940 building.
The band and choir rooms would be in new space, next to a new boiler room north of the current hallway connecting the high school and elementary school. This new construction would also require the relocation of the transformer.
With this plan, the former indoor pool would be remodeled for use as a multi-use room with a multi-purpose floor.
New security doors at both the high school and elementary entrances are also included in the project.
The second option does not include new construction for music rooms, but rather, places the band, choir and elementary music in the indoor swimming pool area. Youngquist also presented an alternative plan with just band and choir in the former pool area, with elementary music remaining in its current location.
With either plan, the locker rooms adjacent to the elementary gymnasium will remain and be remodeled.
Both plans also include remodeling projects in the 1940 building, including revamping the two current science rooms, as well as the pair of FACS (Family and Consumer Science) rooms into traditional classrooms. The FACS kitchen area would be relocated to a classroom in the 1972 building in the ag education area of the school.
The second level of the 1930 building could be remodeled into storage areas, and perhaps, classrooms.
New locations would also have to be found for the laundry room and weight room, both now in the 1904 building.
The total project cost for a building plan with music rooms in new constuction is $13,930,000, while the tab for remodeling, and placing the band and choir in the pool area is $12,760,000. The end project cost is less if the band and choir rooms are placed in the pool area, but that also means less space for band and choir, each with a growing number of participants.
A proposed project timeline was also put forward by Youngquist. If a building bond referendum is approved by school district voters this November, construction of a new boiler room and new music rooms (or pool room remodeling for music rooms) would begin in fall 2018, running into spring of 2019.
When the new boiler room would be ready, the 1904 building could then be removed.
New construction in that area, and remodeling of existing spaces would begin in summer 2019, with completion set for the end of June 2020.
Discussion between Youngquist and Building Committee and School Board members additionally focused on a review of the list of maintenance items, and the monies used for those projects coming from the General Fund, Health and Safety or Long Term Facility Maintenance (LTFM) Levy.
Several raised the idea of fronting $1.264 million of highest priority maintenance projects to a building bond referendum in order to maximize the result and relieve pressure for the other funds from which monies are being pulled.
Central to moving ahead with any building project for either group was the passage by the 2017 Minnesota Legislature of a 40% tax credit on farm property taxes levied for school district bonding projects. It appears Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton will allow the bill to go into law.
Explained Building Committee Vice-Chair Tom Appel, “If we take the base building project plan we choose, add a $1.264 million maintenance levy – with an 84.5% ag tax base in our school district – that 40% tax credit could substantially lower the total cost.”
Added Building Committee Member Haberman, “Here would be our chance to get our taxes back.”
The remainder of maintenance projects would be looked at over a course of six – or 10 – years.
Why have we never looked at a new facility? Talking about putting a lot of money into an old facility, and still not meeting the needs. Maybe it is totally out of the question. Explore. Put this money in, it is not going to be enough. Why haven’t we looked at that? Not gonna make this an issue. Long term for school district. Are we foolish for not looking at this? Let public see this; we have looked into this.
Jerry a workable plan; if you want to do everthing on list; it would take another three years.
Shawn – can’t get in elementary music in pool area, not alleviating space problem in elementary.
Paul – math needed with 450 students (space) would be $24.75 million. Buy land added $2 mill. $26.75 mil. 15% architect, building permit added $30.7 million. All brand new.