OXFORD – Oxford Hills School District directors on Monday night unanimously approved the warrant for the June 14 referendum for the $1 million in bonds or notes for capital projects.

A public hearing on the bond question will be held at 6:30 p.m. June 6; a hearing on the $35.3 million school budget is set for 7 p.m. June 9. Both are in the Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School Forum in Paris.

Both hearings were originally set for June 9, but attorneys for the school district advised school officials that they had to be separate, Superintendent Rick Colpitts said.

“The lawyer said no. Both have to be different,” he told directors.

School district officials backed a proposal for a $1 million bond to pay  part of the cost of fixing mold problems at the Otisfield Community School. The work involves replacing molded Sheetrock, rusted metal studs and insulation in the perimeter walls of the school, as well as windows and window seals.

It is estimated to cost $1,012,659, with $793,993 from the state’s revolving loan fund, $156,666 from a construction bond and $62,000 from a capital reserve fund, according to an information sheet from district business manager Cathy Fanjoy Coffey. Taxpayers must pay back 49 percent of that through a 10-year loan. 

Ganneston Construction of Augusta has been given the contract for the  job.

Funds for three other renovation projects include:

* $35,062 to build a ramp and add automatic doors at the Harrison Elementary School.

* $19,150 to install a ramp and automatic doors at Waterford Memorial Elementary School.

* $51,696 to replace doorknobs with levers and install automatic doors for handicap accessibility at Rowe Elementary School.

The Board of Directors is set to act on the proposed $35.3 million school budget at its May 16 meeting.

Voters will act on it at a June 9 meeting, which establishes the amount that goes to the June 14 referendum in the eight district towns.

The $1 million bond question is also on the June 14 ballot.

ldixon@sunjournal.com

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