VOORHEESVILLE – Members of the school and library boards are urging residents of the Voorheesville School District to vote on Tuesday, Sept. 19.

Two unrelated issues will be on the ballot – the school district’s $5.8 million bond project and the library’s $150,000 land acquisition. Voting will take place in the middle-school foyer from 2 to 9:30 p.m.

The vast majority of the $5.8 million for the school project – 89 percent – would be used to make renovations and repairs at the elementary school. The other 11 percent would fund repairs to the high school and bus garage.
C. James Coffin, vice president of the school board, called the project a "preservation of a community asset" at Monday’s school board meeting. Board member Richard Brackett, referred to as the most frugal board member, said, "They can’t control the temperature," referring to the need for heating-system improvements at the elementary school. Board President David Gibson said that this "looked like a very good investment."

Nearly $3 million of the proposed $5.8 million would upgrade the 45-year-old heating and ventilation systems at the elementary school. Other problems at the elementary school that the project would address: replacing asbestos tile flooring, replacing the fire and smoke detector systems, rebuilding the wheelchair-accessible entrance, replacing single-pane windows with more energy efficient windows, and reconstructing the restrooms in the 1963 wing of the school.

The high school would require about 9 percent of the overall project cost, or about $550,000. Renovations to the tennis courts, and restrooms not renovated during the 2001 project; addition of a new water-softening system; and installation of an abuse-resistant suspended ceiling in the old gym would be included with this part of the project.

Improvements to the bus garage would use about 1.5 percent of the overall cost, or about $90,000. These improvements would include: installing brighter, more efficient lights; relocating the system that removes bus exhaust from the garage, away from the nearby elementary school; replacing parts of the heating system that no longer function; and filling in and sealing an underground holding tank that is no longer used. (See related story on-line at www.altamontenterprise.com, July 20, 2006.)

The district would use $500,000 from its capital reserve fund, and would receive state building aid of approximately $3.5 million or 64 percent of the total costs. This would leave $1.4 million to be raised through local taxes. New Scotland residents would pay 28 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation, Guilderland residents in the Voorheesville School district would pay 33 cents, and Berne residents in the Voorheesville School District would pay 39 cents.

The repayment schedule for the bond would be over a 15-year period. The $7.9 million bond issue from 1989 will be retiring at the same time that taxpayers would begin paying on the new bond issue.

Library land
"There’s not much we can do with the space we have," announced Voorheesville Public Library Director Gail Sacco during her presentation at the public hearing on Monday.

The library hopes to win the vote on Tuesday, Sept. 19, granting the go-ahead to purchase 5.6 acres of land behind the current property. The land is currently owned by the Sickles and Ulion families, which have agreed to sell the property for $95,000. In addition to that amount, would also be $5,000 in closing costs.

In total, the library is asking for financing totaling $150,000 — $100,000 to purchase the land, and $50,000 to develop a plan for how to use the land.

Sacco told The Enterprise that the $50,000 would partly be used to seek professional expertise, such as architectural designs for future building plans, and part would be used for what she calls "community conversations."

These conversations, Sacco explained, would be geared toward establishing a better idea of what members of the community think about services, and positive changes they would like to see in the library. They might include showing different photographs of other libraries, to get a sense of what people like and dislike. They would be held both at the library and out in the community.
Dick Ramsey, the president of the library’s board of trustees, says that this proposal is a "very good plan for the future" and it comes at a "very good price."

At this point, the library is very cramped, said Sacco. For every new book that comes in, an older book that doesn’t get circulated much needs to be removed, Ramsey explained.

The library currently sits on a 1.5-acre lot on School Road. There is no room for expansion without eliminating parking spaces, library officials say. The board of trustees made the decision, with this in mind, that more land is needed in order to expand.

The financing of the project, if approved, would be through borrowing money by issuing a bond. Taxpayers would see an increase of two cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation.

Ramsey, when asked by The Enterprise how he would respond to residents concerned about future tax increases due to library expansion, said, "Nothing gets cheaper as we go along."
He also said that possibly, in the future, the library might consider taking donations and hosting fund drives to help support the library, so that "it’s not all taxes."

Other business

In other business, the school board:

– Approved membership in the Successful Practices Network for the middle school/high school at a cost of $6,000 and the elementary school at a cost of $4,000;

– Agreed to pay for four board members to attend the New York State School Boards Association annual convention in New York City for a total cost of about $3,600;

– Approved the attendance of 12 school administrators to the School Reinvention Symposium for Grades 6 – 12 in Washington, D.C. for a total cost of about $9,000;

– Approved the attendance of the board of education, administrative staff, and department chairs for an administrative retreat at the Rensselaerville Institute at a cost of $55 for a full day, and $40 for half-day use;

– Approved out-of-town student field trips to Salem, Mass.; Lake Placid; and New York City;

– Heard from Michael Goyer, the district’s, transportation supervisor, on the instability in the number of students on a bus on any particular day. He said that the main problem is that parents are not informing him enough in advance about changes to the locations where their children need to be picked up or dropped off.
"We make every effort to be reasonable," Goyer said

Tanya Hensel, who introduced herself to the board as the president of the Parent Teacher Association, said that she will be sure to bring this issue up at the next meeting. The board requested that Goyer and Linda Langevin, the superintendent, meet and get back to the board on this matter;

– Approved the Internal Auditing Charter supporting the functions of the internal auditor position at the school; and

– Approved a contract of Four Winds Saratoga for tutorial services for students of the district who may be admitted to the facility, which offers mental-health treatment. The rate is $26 per hour of instruction. The contract provides for up to 10 hours per week for middle -school and high-school students, and five hours per week for elementary school students.