coen Posted July 14, 2010 Report Share Posted July 14, 2010 Proceedings of the Board of Trustees Special Meeting School District No. 2, Yellowstone County High School District No. 2, Yellowstone County Billings, Montana June 28, 2010 CALL TO ORDER The Special Board Meeting of the Board of Trustees of School District No. 2, Yellowstone County, Montana, and High School District, Yellowstone County, Montana was duly held at the Lincoln Center, 415 North 30th Street, Billings, Montana, Monday, June 28, 2010, at 5:30 p.m. Trustee Chair Bryan called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. and led those assembled in the Pledge of Allegiance. Board members present included Trustees Barbara Bryan, Mary Jo Fox, Lindy Graves, Joel Guthals, Travis Kemp, Teresa Stroebe, Connie Wardell, and Joyce Weber, and District Clerk, Leo Hudetz. Trustee Aragon was excused. Others present included Rich Whitney, Facilities Executive Director, Conrad Stroebe, Michael Holloway, Josi Wilgus, and Doug Armknecht. COMMUNICATION FROM THE PUBLIC The Board recognizes the value of public comment on educational issues and the importance of listening to members of the public in its meetings. The Board also recognizes the statutory and constitutional right of the public to participate in governmental operations. The Board encourages members of the public to participate in and express opinions about issues important to the District. This part of the Board’s meeting is dedicated to public comment on any public matter that is not on the agenda of this meeting and is within the jurisdiction of the Board of Trustees. Members of the public may also address particular items on this agenda either now or at the time the Board considers the particular item. Michael Holloway encouraged the Board to consider building a high school in Lockwood which would cut transportation costs. Conrad Stroebe urged the Board to build a high school in Lockwood. Mr. Stroebe suggested this would provide a small school environment, eliminate transportation costs that would provide a tremendous pay back savings to the taxpayers. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Joel Guthals made the following motion seconded by Joyce Weber: Motion to accept the agenda as presented. Those voting in favor were Chair Bryan, Mary Jo Fox, Lindy Graves, Joel Guthals, Travis Kemp, Teresa Stroebe, Connie Wardell, and Joyce Weber. The motion passed unanimously. DISCUSS & SELECT DEFERRED MAINTENANCE PREOJECTS FOR PROPOSED QZAB & QSCB BONDS Chair Bryan presented background information on the QZAB, (Qualified Zone Academy Bond) and QSCB, (Qualified School Construction Bond). Chair Bryan said the combination of the QZAB and QSCB bonds total $12 million dollars the district is eligible for through the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The Board approved moving forward with a Bond Election using the QZAB and QSCB bonds for deferred maintenance at the June 21, 2010 meeting. Mary Jo Fox asked if the Build America Bonds and school construction and/or expansion was included in the motion. Chair Bryan asked Leo Hudetz for clarification of the motions made at the June 21 and June 7, 2010 Board meetings. Leo Hudetz said the draft minutes were not ready, but he remembered the motion was for deferred maintenance only. Mary Jo Fox advocated going after the Build America Bonds to enable the district to build a new school on the west side of Billings. Mary Jo Fox said voters should at least be given the option to vote on the Build America Bonds. Teresa Stroebe, representative for the Lockwood area, advocated for building a new school in Lockwood. Teresa Stroebe said the bonds should be used for new construction projects, not for repairs which should be done through the Building Reserve Fund. Teresa Stroebe asked why the district faces a $123 million deficit in deferred maintenance. Joel Guthals said because levies have not been passed by the voters and the district has not been able to save for deferred maintenance. Travis Kemp asked if the District can apply for the Build America Bonds at any time. Chair Bryan said the Build America Bonds can be applied for at any time over the next couple of years. Lindy Graves stated his concerns of spending of deferred maintenance money for schools that may be closed in the future. Chair Bryan pointed out several concerns regarding the bond election and uses of bond proceeds, which include: ▪ Bond ballot language deadline of July 6 ▪ Only two months to inform voters of maintenance projects to be completed if bond passes. ▪ No facilities plan in place that would help set maintenance priorities. ▪ Still issues that need to be answered that came out of Broadwater, McKinley, and Cottonwood Task Force Committee and need for public input. Chair Bryan stated that the Budgeting for Results Committee recommendations to the Board are to use the total $12 million for deferred maintenance, not to move forward with the Build America Bonds at this time, and choose projects from the deferred maintenance list based on the three criteria that have been identified as follows. Criteria to use to evaluate deferred maintenance projects ▪ Avoid future catastrophic damage ▪ Maximize utility savings ▪ Improve learning environment Joel Guthal said the lists of projects presented in the Board packet were a good selection of projects. Connie Wardell made the following motion seconded by Joel Guthals: Motion to limit the Bond Election to the QZAB and QSCB Bonds for a total of $12,000,000. Those voting in favor were Chair Bryan, Lindy Graves, Joel Guthals, Travis Kemp, Connie Wardell and Joyce Weber. Those voting against were Mary Jo Fox and Teresa Stroebe. The motion carried. Joel Guthals made the following motion seconded by Connie Wardell: Motion that the Board approve the summarized list presented in the Board packet entitled “suggested bond issue maintenance items” to be the projects to be funded by the bonds. This summarized list included the following projects: ▪ Roof upgrades or replacements ▪ Window upgrades or replacements ▪ Senior High boiler ▪ Fire Alarms Rich Whitney, Facilities Executive Director explained that the roof at Skyview was placed on the initial list of repairs. Due to the recent tornado, the roof at Skyview sustained $1.3 million in damage. Mr. Whitney told the Board the insurance company may cover part or the entire cost to replace the roof. If that happens the Skyview roof can be removed from the list of projects and be replaced with an alternative project. Chair Bryan and Thomas Harper, Financial Director suggested to the Board that the lighting and rigging at Senior, Skyview, and West high school auditoriums, and the roof over the Daylis Stadium locker room be funded if the Skyview high school roof is covered by insurance. Joel Guthals amended the main motion seconded by Connie Wardell: Motion to amend the motion to approve the projects for the bonds as set forth in the Board packet entitled “suggested bond issues maintenance items” to state that in the event that the Skyview high school roof repair for approximately $1.3million is paid for all or in part by insurance that the alternative use of the money shall be to repair the lighting and rigging in the auditoriums of the Senior, Skyview, and West high schools. Those voting in favor of the amended motion were Chair Bryan, Mary Jo Fox, Lindy Graves, Joel Guthals, Travis Kemp, Teresa Stroebe, Connie Wardell, and Joyce Weber. The motion passed unanimously. Joel Guthals made another amended motion with the consent of the second by Connie Wardell: Item to add as an additional alternative expenditure if the Skyview roof is covered by insurance, the Daylis Stadium roof repair which is $230 thousand dollars. The complete motion will include lighting and rigging for Senior, Skyview and West high school auditoriums and the roof at Daylis stadium be replaced. Chair Bryan clarified that amended motions are to accept the suggested bond issues maintenance items on this list in the event that the roof at Skyview is all or partially covered by insurance giving us additional funds. Those voting in favor of the second amended motion were Chair Bryan, Mary Jo Fox, Lindy Graves, Joel Guthals, Travis Kemp, Teresa Stroebe, Connie Wardell, and Joyce Weber. The motion passed unanimously. Chair Bryan called for a vote on the main motion. Those voting in favor were Chair Bryan, Mary Jo Fox, Lindy Graves, Joel Guthals, Travis Kemp, Teresa Stroebe, Connie Wardell, and Joyce Weber. The motion passed unanimously. Joyce Weber made the following motion seconded by Lindy Graves: Motion to use the bond proceeds if approved by the voters for the summarized amounts in the Board packet; for the elementary roof for $1,919,936 million, the elementary windows at $2,972,229, and fire alarms at Broadwater, Burlington, Miles and Washington schools for 300,000. Total $5,192,165 as stated in the summarized list in the Board packet for the elementary bonds. Those voting in favor were Chair Bryan, Mary Jo Fox, Lindy Graves, Travis Kemp, Connie Wardell, and Joyce Webber. The motion passed unanimously. High School Trustees Guthals and Stroebe were not eligible to vote on the motion. Joel Guthals made the following motion seconded by Teresa Stroebe: To use the bond proceeds if approved by the voters on the summarized list of maintenance items in the Board packet for high school roofs in the amount of $3,609,308, $3 million phase 1 boiler project at Senior high school, Senior high school windows $2 million, and in the event that the Skyview roof is covered in part or all by insurance we would add to that list the lighting and rigging at Senior, Skyview, and West High school auditoriums and the Daylis Stadium locker room roof for $203,900. Those voting in favor were Chair Bryan, Mary Jo Fox, Lindy Graves, Joel Guthals, Travis Kemp, Teresa Stroebe, Connie Wardell, and Joyce Weber. The motion passed unanimously. ADJORNMENT As there was no further business, the meeting adjourned at 7:50 p.m. Barb Bryan, Chair Brenda Cross, Recorder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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