Referendum vote slated for Sept. 9
Kylie Saari — Staff WriterFAIRMONT - The Fairmont school board approved the amount and date for the next referendum vote in a special meeting Tuesday.
On Sept. 9, the district will ask the voters for approval to sell $8.8 million in bonds in order to complete deferred maintenance items at four district buildings.
Voters defeated bond referendums in May and November. November's referendum asked for a total of $29 million. May's referendum asked for $9.8 million.
Minnesota statutes indicate the district cannot ask voters for the same amount for the same project within 180 days of the last vote. The amount the district asks for must be at least 10 percent above or below the last amount if the vote is to be within 180 days.
The benefit of resubmitting a question within 180 days, according to Fairmont schools Superintendent Butch Hanson, is that if the vote passes this time around, work can remain on the schedule for summer 2009 and the costs are unlikely to rise much due to inflation. The board unanimously felt that raising the amount 10 percent would hinder the vote's possibility of passing.
At the district's regularly scheduled June 24 board meeting, discussion was held to determine which items could be cut to amount to a 10 percent deduction from May's $9.8 million. School board member Diane Gerhardt was in favor of removing all the athletics department items from the needs list.
Dave Ternberg, director of building and grounds, felt replacing the football home bleachers and resurfacing the existing track were safety issues and should not be removed from the list.
The school board decided at Tuesday's meeting to cut all athletic items from the project list except replacing the home bleachers and resurfacing the track.
Other items on the list include: roofing work at Lincoln and Five Lakes; boiler replacements at Five Lakes and the junior/senior high school; window replacements at Lincoln, the high school and the maintenance shop; Americans with Disabilities act upgrades at Five Lakes and the high school; replacing the sidewalks and parking lots at the high school; replacing the gym floor at the high school with a wood floor.
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natelars
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07-03-08 2:40 AM
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"We'll keep going for it until they eventually vote yes cause there will become a point where they will get sick of seeing the referendum on the balot." Said by Board Member who safe to say had too much to drink at the Channel Inn. That's fiscal responsibility on the part of our school board. How about we look at cutting some of the fat from teacher pay and activities budgets and then come back and say we need half of what we originally thought. Ugh!
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