JAY — A public hearing Tuesday on a proposed $5.3 million renovation/addition project at Spruce Mountain High School North Campus drew a small number of residents from the district’s three towns.

Several of them had questions on the project, the cost and the need.

Regional School Unit 73 directors are proposing to add 20,040 square feet to the high school in Jay to accommodate about 500 students from both high school campuses.

Voters in Livermore and Livermore Falls have voted to close the south campus high school in Livermore Falls as of June 30, 2013.

To fit all of the high school students in, the Jay campus needs more space, Superintendent Robert Wall said. The Jay high school has about 82,000 square feet, including about 17,000 in the domed gym.

A vote will be held Tuesday, May 8, in all three towns to determine whether voters will approve issuing bonds to pay for the project.

The project calls for the school to be updated to code at a cost up to $1.3 million. Over a 20-year bond it is estimated there would be $2.27 million in interest, making total cost $7.57 million, according to Wall’s data. It would depend on the rate of interest.

The $5.3 million includes architect fees, a $250,000 contingency, about $75,000 for removal of ledge, allowances for equipment and some realigning of existing rooms to better serve students, Wall said.

Bunker & Savage Architects are creating a workbook on the project that would go out to bid. The district is hoping to have it done by a design build process, which would include having an architect on board. It would not be Bunker & Savage.

The project calls for three additions, including expansion of the band room at the middle school to seat more than 100 students.

A three-story, 17,800-square-foot addition would be built at the end of the high school academic wing. It would have 10 classrooms and five small group rooms.

The first floor would be below grade and the second floor would match up with the first floor of the existing wing, and the third floor would match to the second floor, architect Craig Boone said.

On the first floor, a couple of storage rooms would be below grade but the classrooms would have windows and be well lit, he said.

A second addition in the plan would be a single story vestibule of 2,240 square feet on the library wing. The administration offices would be moved there.

It would create a secure entrance to the school, Wall said. The administration offices would be made into a larger nurses station and clinic and have two more public bathrooms added near the gym entrance.

The cost of operating two high schools with low enrollment will increase significantly in the future due to the age of the buildings, Wall said. The cost of oil, electricity, cleaning and repairs would also increase, he said.

If the students are not served in one building, the costs to operate two will “greatly exceed any additional cost for debt on the addition/renovation project being proposed,” Wall said.

Not factoring in the cost of teaching staff, technicians, secretaries and administration, the cost to operate two high schools for 2012-13 is $1.16 million.

“Continuing to operate two high schools will be far more expensive than adding this space and combining our students together,” Wall said.

The first payment on the bond would be interest only, Wall said. On a home valued at $100,000 based on current valuation in Livermore Falls, the estimated tax increase would be $9.10. A home of the same value in Jay, would have a tax increase of $6.98. A home valued at $100,000 in Livermore would have a estimated tax increase of $8.62, according to Wall’s data.

The estimated maximum tax increase on the same valued property over the 20-year bond period would be $40.12 in 2013-14 in Livermore Falls, $30.75 in Jay in 2013-14, and $37.98 in Livermore in 2013-14, Wall said.

Closing the Livermore Falls high school will lower the cost of operating the high school program and will absorb addition/renovation costs, he said.

“The addition is a good investment in cost containment,” Wall said.

dperry@sunjournal.com

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