MINOT — Local officials reluctantly signed off Monday on a bond for new heating systems in the three elementary schools in Regional School Unit 16, Town Administrator Danielle Loring said Tuesday.
Members of the Board of Selectmen are required to sign the roughly $5 million bond that will go to voters May 2, she said.
But board members expressed reservations about the timing for upgrades at the schools in Mechanic Falls, Minot and Poland at the same time and voiced concerns about the lack of advanced warning they received of the issue, Loring said.
“They questioned whether (funding the upgrades at all three schools this year) was in the best interest of the communities,” Loring said. “They felt that there had been poor communication regarding these issues and that the (school district) was not following necessarily a good process in terms of managing the equipment,” she said.
Of the $5.08 million proposed bond, about $1.8 million would be earmarked for the Minot Consolidated School, $1.7 million would go to the Elm Street School in Mechanic Falls and roughly $1.4 million to Poland Community School.
Five percent was added for contingency.
Although teachers and school staff said heating has been an issue at the schools for at least a decade, Loring said board members were only made aware of the problems within the past six weeks or so when the issue is presented as something requiring emergency action.
Board members lamented there hadn’t been much opportunity for input, given the short time frame, Loring said.
While Minot Consolidated School has reached a crisis point, the other two schools have backup systems in place, she said.
Loring said local officials wondered why not seek a bond to cover the cost of the Minot school now and seek funding for upgrades to the other two schools when bond rates have had a chance to drop.
In other business, the board voted to spend $3,450 to buy seven self-contained breathing apparatuses that include face masks and air tanks from the Auburn Fire Department in an effort to bring the town’s fire department into compliance with federal regulations.
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