Steps, financing for new building presented

   Preliminary steps and an overview of the financing process for the new elementary school were presented by Travis Squires of Piper Sandler during the regular meeting of the Monticello School Board March 24.

   The meeting also included a visit from Roger Worm and Nick Duffy of OPN Architects to present an early design for the building.

   The goal is to open the elementary building in time for the 2026-27 school year.

   Squires began by congratulating the board on passage of the bond issue to build a new elementary school. The result took place in an environment where few bond issues across the state earned passage.

   “Those are the lowest passage rates we’ve seen in a while,” Squires said, then added, with a smile, “Now the fun starts.”

   Squires said one thing that might impact costs of the new building is the possible imposition of tariffs.

   “There’s a new tariff announcement every single week,” he said. “It might change how soon you want to have money available for your project.”

   He added, however, that “We’re not seeing a lot of projects having major impacts (because of tariffs) yet.

   “The budget is the budget. And you’re going to have to work on balancing between designing toward what you sold, and what happens with costs.”

   One thing working to the district’s advantage is a balance of about $6.2 million in its SAVE account, Squires said.

   “You are sitting on a pretty healthy balance on hand right now in your sales tax fund,” he told the board. “It’s not like you want to commit all that up front, but it might provide you with a little bit of wiggle room on when you sell.

   “You can simply use your sales tax to pay for the architect and preliminary bond expenses, and then when you get the bond proceeds you can reimburse yourself.”

   Squires also talked about “action steps,” including a series of meetings needed in the process, starting with a budget approval meeting, that includes approval of a pre-levy issuance resolution. That will take place as part of the board’s April 28 regular meeting.

   Other meetings will include those with staff and bond attorneys, approval of contracts, approval of an official statement, a meeting to sell bonds, and a meeting to issue bonds. Receipt of bond funds will take place two to four weeks after the bond issuance meeting.

   Overall, however, Squires said, “For the time being there’s not a lot to do, other than we’ll have a resolution for you at your formal budget approval in the month of April.”

   Later, Worm and Duffy of OPN were on hand to talk about the evolving design for the new building.

   The size of the project has changed. Before the bond election, the plan was for 63,000 square feet on the first level. Worm said that number grew to 83,000 feet as designs began, a figure that was presented at the February board meeting, but have since been scaled back. The current design calls for a first floor that covers 70,000 square feet.

   Worm said the design process will be altered as time passes.

   “Depending on what we see when we get the first round of estimates,

we will react to it accordingly,” Worm said. “If the budget and design align, we feel very confident can get this out for bid this fall.”