BETHEL – The SAD 44 Board of Directors Monday approved expenditures for three summer projects and tabled two.

A plan to have at least one of the boilers at Telstar High and Middle School relined for up to $30,000 was OK’d.

“We want to do a minimum of one boiler,” Superintendent David Murphy said, “and hope to be able to do two. We had some trouble this year and had thought about replacing the boilers, but because of the expense that would be we decided to go ahead with relining, which should get us by for the next five years.”

He said because the $30,000 was not budgeted the board had to approve the project because it was more than $5,000.

The $30,000 is savings from the 2002-03 budget, he said.

A second project approved was renovations so administrative offices can be relocated from Telstar High/Middle School to Ethel Bisbee School.

“We have thought about this for several years because by moving the district offices we can eliminate the doublewide trailer and move all the kids into the building at Telstar. This won’t bring the building up to what we eventually want, but it will be a start and we can continue on the project in the future after we move the offices in,” he said.

Board member Robert Everett of Bethel had some concerns regarding the wiring in the old building, but Business Manager Bruce Powell and Murphy said local architect and engineer Jim Reuter had gone over the building and confirmed that the wiring is all up to state and federal codes.

The cost of the work is not to exceed $30,000, which will come from savings in last year’s budget.

The third project approved is repairing structural problems with the entryway to the Telstar High/Middle School.

“It is a safety issue,” Murphy said. “The temporary retaining wall is not a long-term solution and we would like to get the project done. We have talked with Jim Reuter and other experts and they feel the cost estimate ($30,000) is a definite ballpark figure. It might be less and certainly will not go over,” he said.

The two projects tabled are renovations to the locker rooms and auditorium at Telstar High/Middle School and pursuing the possibility of having flashing lights installed in front of the school on Route 26. The Telstar renovation bids are almost twice as much as the $220,000 budgeted, and it was learned that the state would most likely refuse to install lights because of the 55 mph speed limit by the school.