Perrysburg caps school levy at $40 million

0

PERRYSBURG — Board members set an effective cap of $40 million this morning for a new school and several
other projects.
The board passed resolutions at a work session Thursday morning asking the state departments of education
and taxation to allow the district to borrow up to that figure as it plans a levy proposal to pay for a
new building for grades 5 and 6.
Members also voted unanimously to request the Wood County Auditor’s Office to generate millage figures
for both the $40 million ceiling and another figure of just under $39 million. The board has not yet
given its final approval to seek a levy in November as it evaluates details of the plan.
The cost was pared down from a meeting a few weeks ago in which the initial figures discussed were
several million dollars higher. Some adjustments were made in the meantime to the proposal, which
currently shows a 134,000-square-foot building that would accommodate 900 students. Square footage in
the previous plan was 142,000. Acreage for the school varies between 15 and 16.5 acres, depending on
whether a single- or dual-story structure is built.
The construction sum stands at about $27 million including land acquisition and site development, though
with equipment, furnishings, design fees and other expenses, that tab rises to just over $33 million.

The board will consider rolling into the levy some other necessary projects in the district, such as air
conditioning and electric upgrades at the junior high, an auxiliary gym needed at the high school, and
renovations to create more secure entries in the elementary buildings, though the $1.4 million for the
latter may be paid for with permanent improvement funds rather than new levy dollars.
At its regular meeting Monday, the board reviewed preliminary levy information noting that a 3.02-mill
levy would generate the estimated $40 million.
While discussion has been had regarding components of the building — how big a gym must be, what size
cafeteria is needed — they’re all still just numbers on a page. So architects Frank Beans and John
Castellana of The Collaborative brought with them Thursday a slideshow of examples from projects they’ve
built that would be comparable to Perrysburg’s school, in order to help board members envision the
space.
“This isn’t the gospel yet,” Beans said, telling board members they can still tweak the design. “It is
simply a tool to get a basic handle on the size of the package. Refinement, terminology and exact square
footages for each piece is going to be done in much more detail once it becomes real.
If a levy is approved, that’s when architects will begin meeting with school staff to determine what
they’d like to see included.
One point made by seeing newly-built classroom space is the progression of school furniture, now
available in all sorts of shapes and sizes to allow a high degree of versatility and moveable items.
“I’ve got school envy now. These were beautiful,” board member Sue Larimer said after the presentation.

“You’ve addressed every single one of my questions,” board president Gretchen Downs told the architects,
noting she previously was worried about deciding too many details without consulting with school staff.

Board members talked Thursday about thinking long-term — not saving “a dime to spend a dollar” later as
Larimer said — and also of finally dismissing as viable options some alternatives suggested by a few
community members, such as building on what would become a severely congested junior high campus, or
purchasing a vacant big-box store.
Beans pointed out that such a proposal would likely not meet code requirements and other stipulations.

“We’ve been through this many times; I don’t know why we’re discussing it again,” said board member Cal
Smith. “These are not viable ideas. We have the right idea. I think we need to be firm about that.”
“We can’t in October begin to explain to people why the Commodore Building can’t be used,” Superintendent
Tom Hosler said. “At some point, we have to take that step and say ‘This is the direction we need to
go,’ and then ultimately it’s in the voters’ hands.
“We can come up with a great plan, but if the voters don’t approve it, then it’s not a great plan.”
Board member Walt Edinger said some of the ideas may have been suggested as “red herrings” to distract
from the building project.
“The public would never support some of these things. They would be furious if we came out with, ‘We’re
going to build it inside K-Mart.’ They would say, ‘Really?’
“Even though there are some people who will throw out these things, you just have to say ‘You know, we
have to do something that makes sense for the district and something that will have broad-base public
support,’ and that’s where we start from.”

No posts to display