MEXICO – The Region 9 board and administrators unveiled a proposed $4.9 million renovation and expansion project in front of about 25 representatives from the vocational school’s sending towns Wednesday night.

“This has been several years in the making,” board Chairman Norman Clanton told the group at Mountain Valley Middle School. “We wanted to make the presentation in a public forum.”

He said unveiling the project before all school boards helped insure that everyone received the same information at the same time.

Proposed is a 17,300-square-foot expansion to the River Road school. The state would grant about $650,000, lend just over $1 million at no interest, and regional taxpayers would foot the remaining $3.2 million over a 20- to 25-year period.

A special referendum vote on the project will be called in January in each of the member towns. For the region to receive the state’s free and interest-free money, the vocational region must make a commitment by Feb. 28.

SAD 21 Chairman Rick Colpitts asked why the region wasn’t applying to get on the school construction list.

Clanton and Driscoll said Region 9 had been on such a list twice in the past, had reached the top, then residents voted a new school down. Now, a minimum of seven years would likely be needed to get state funding for a new school and many parts of the existing school require repair to bring it up to code, Driscoll said.

Part of the renovation plan is to install an elevator, which would bring the school into Americans with Disabilities Act compliance, replace a badly leaking roof, and install an air quality system. The plan would also enable two of the vocational programs to move out of modular classrooms and into the school.

The addition would enlarge the space for several of the existing programs and allow new programs in early childhood and automotive technology, and provide additional accessibility to the community.

An additional 60 students would be served by the introduction of automotive technology and early childhood. The school serves 170 secondary students, 140 adult education students enrolled in academic programs, 90 in adult vocational programs, and 130 enrolled in enrichment classes now.

If the building proposal is passed, a 25-year mortgage would result in an estimated tax impact during the first year as follows for a home valued at $100,000: Canton, $21, Carthage, $21, Dixfield, $21, Peru, $20. Byron, $7, Mexico, $12, Roxbury, $8, Rumford, $9, Andover, $10, Bethel, $7, Greenwood, $8, Newry, $2, and Woodstock, $5. During the second year, which is when the state’s $1 million loan kicks in, those numbers would double, then after that is paid off, the individual tax impacts would decline substantially. Figures for a 20-year note would be slightly higher.

A public hearing will be held in December.

Clanton said the presentation will now be made to individual school boards, selectmen and civic organizations.