By JAMES BELL
Hays Post
It may still be a long time away, but the Hays USD 489 Board of Education discussed the next steps in funding necessary building maintenance at Monday’s work session, trying to find the best solution for aging buildings and outdated facilities that would be mostly supported by a bond issue anticipated to be on the 2016 ballot.
The long list of needs found by an independent committee presented last year are being closely examined by the board, but completing projects suggested by the commission come at a high price – recent budget projections suggest around $93 million – and the board is has little desire to push the measure to vote without examining every contingency.
However, there might be no way to cut corners to lower the price tag to get the districts facilities ready for the upcoming decades, officials said.
“You have two years of committee that said it’s needed,” said Mark Hauptman, assistant superintendent for special services.
“There wasn’t a lot of fat built in,” he said, adding the group listed items that were needed, not just wanted.
View the original commission report here
At this point, the board is asking for HTK, the firm that would handle the maintenance projects, to break down the numbers more thoroughly and give the board reasons for the full bond issue before beginning to present the plan to the public for input.
“To me, it’s just muddled to look at it,” said board member Josh Waddell.
The current plans from HTK center around the facility needs committee’s list of needed maintenance and at least one board member at the work session wants to put everything on the table to see what could be adjusted in the best interest of the district.
Superintendent Dean Katt further expressed a desire to get the details worked out by the board in order to present the issue to the community for input.
“We need to go out to the public, have these discussions and find out,” he said, adding the the board will not know the feasibility of passing the full bond amount until public input is received.
In the meantime, one project cannot wait for a bond issue to be passed, and the board has to begin addressing it now in order for the projects to be completed in time for the maintenance window next summer.
The heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems across the district were discussed by the board during the meeting after hearing from Terry Clark, service account executive from Performance Solutions.
While Hays High topped the list of the systems that are in the most need of upgrades, replacement of Hays Middle School’s system would provide the district the most “bang for the buck,” according to Katt.
“Deferred maintenance at the middle school and high school is quite high because of aging equipment,” he said.
The HVAC system at Hays Middle School is 20 years past its expected lifespan already, having been installed in 1964, according to the district’s evaluation.
“Every building, every day, we are doing something with HVAC,” said Rusty Lindsay, director of buildings and grounds.
The amount of money that would be saved by a new system is unknown at this time, but installing the new system would provide improved climate control through the Middle School and would save the high cost of replacing components of the old system, including insulation that likely contains asbestos that would need purged before the old system could be upgraded.
A new system would be based on the building’s roof, bypassing the old lines and system altogether.
The new system would also allow for individual areas of the building to be cooled independently and would add cooling to the gym and locker room, however the added cooling would not add extra costs to the district.
The system’s efficiency would outweigh what it would cost to cool the gym and locker room, Katt said.
While the HVAC upgrade would occur during the summer months, the board will need to work quickly to pass the improvement plan in order for the repairs to be made before classes begin next fall.
The full middle school upgrade is expected to cost the district around $1 million.