Questions get answered at facility information session

     While the Community Information Session regarding school facilities and the upcoming bond vote wasn’t well-attended – fewer than 20 Monticello residents sat in – Brian Jaeger chose to give that a positive spin.

     Jaeger, the Monticello Community School District superintendent, said he hoped the low turnout Aug. 9 in the middle school auditorium means the public has already had most of its questions answered about the district’s Sept. 11 bond vote.

     The vote, if passed, will fund $15 million of a $22 million price tag, through general obligation bonds, for a new middle school. The proposed building, for grades 5-8, would be added to the high school site, covering what is now the soccer field.

     The remaining $7 million would come from SAVE revenue bonds.

     Thursday’s meeting was the first of two with a theme of “Ask Questions. Get Answers.” The second one will be Wednesday, Aug. 29, 7 p.m. in the high school auditorium.

     The purpose of both meetings is for the public to ask questions of Jaeger and three representatives from OPN Architects, the firm that is designing the proposed middle school.

     First, Jaeger gave a presentation updating the audience on what has happened up to now. He recounted how the district formulated a Strategic Operating Plan in the spring of 2017, which included plans for a bond issue vote.

     The School Facility Committee was formed in the summer of 2017, and began meeting regularly. After those meetings along with a few meetings with the public, plans for the bond were brought to the Monticello School Board this past spring.

     Jaeger then went over the site plan, which includes the middle school addition, an added high school entrance that would include the district office, road work that would allow for bus pickup/dropoff on one side of the new building and parent pickup/dropoff on the other, and relocation of the softball fields.

     This is the first phase of a proposed three-phase project for improving the school facilities. The second phase, which Jaeger estimated would be in 2020, would involve decommissioning or modifying the current middle school, and either updating the transportation center or building a new one.

     Phase 3 would include building a new preK-4 elementary school, possibly on the high school site, requiring another bond vote in 2029.

     During the question-and-answer portion, Jaeger was asked how the district would pay for ongoing repairs, if all the SAVE revenue would go toward the new building. Jaeger said he believed the $360,000 the district receives annually for its PPEL fund would cover those.

     Responding to a question about traffic, Susan Bowersox of OPN said that a traffic study will be conducted once school starts, to help determine how to proceed if the bond vote passes.

     Jaeger added that school start times could be staggered, with one building starting school 5-10 minutes earlier than the other, to help with traffic issues.

     Following the question period, citizens were invited to tour middle school classrooms and other rooms, all of which were opened up for the occasion.