PARIS — About 25 SAD 17 officials and staff, and an Otisfield resident attended a public hearing Monday on a proposed $1.25 million bond.

Voters will decide whether to approve the capital improvement spending at the polls on June 14.

“We have deferred maintenance. Not all, but some,” SAD 17 Superintendent Rick Colpitts said to the audience, which included Quentin Henderson, chairman of the Otisfield Finance Committee.

About $2 million worth of maintenance projects have been put off and cannot be financed in the regular budget without jeopardizing student education, Colpitts said said.

The money is to pay for the following projects:

• $516,250 to replace or repair roofs on the Guy E. Rowe Elementary School in Norway, the Harrison and Oxford elementary schools, Oxford Hills Middle School in Paris, Waterford Elementary School, Legion Memorial School in West Paris, Oxford Annex and Rowe Annex;

• $193,160 for paving at the Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School, Agnes Gray School in West Paris, Harrison and Oxford elementary schools, and district wide paving and parking lot work;

• $310,000 to replace bleachers at the football field at the Don Gouin Athletic Complex in Paris;

• $105,000 to resurface the track at the Don Gouin Athletic Complex and the tennis court at the high school; and

• $33,468 for a tractor with mower and snowblower.

The bond includes $20,000 for engineering and a 5 percent contingency of $56,220.50.

What will be done depends on the bids.

The board of directors at its meeting after the hearing approved bids for the Rowe Elementary School and Oxford Elementary School roof projects that came in under the projected costs.

The directors approved the low bid of $173,400 for the Norway school roof with an additional $15,900 to repair the Annex roof and $177,053 for the Oxford school roof with an additional $4,152 for repair of the school’s Annex roof.

If approved, the first year of the bond will cost the district $10,682 in interest. The following year the cost will be an estimated $14,979 and in the 10th and final year the cost will be an estimated $127,338.

The cost of the bond to towns will range from a high of $27,193 from Norway taxpayers to a low of $5,304 from Hebron taxpayers. Seventy-five 75 percent of the repayment of the bond is based on a town’s valuation and 25 percent on the town’s student population, Colpitts said. Therefore, the amount carried by each town can vary from year to year with shifts in student population, for example, Colpitts said.

Colpitts said directors put aside $100,000 in next year’s budget that, if approved, will set up a Capital Reserve Fund.

Each year, if voters approve, money will be set aside to increase the capital Reserve Fund for future capital projects. The money will allow school officials to undertake future projects, such as the high school roof repair and make a decision about the future of the aging Agnes Gray School, that will not require bonding the costs, which adds interest to the costs.

On Thursday, June 9, residents will discuss and vote on the proposed $39.01 million budget at 7 p.m. in the Forum at the Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School. The amount approved will go to a referendum in the eight district towns Tuesday, June 14.

ldixon@sunmediagroup.net

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