On March 1, residents of the Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake Central School District will go to the polls to vote on two special propositions.
The first would authorize the purchase of approximately 4.6 acres of land adjacent to Stevens Elementary School and district bus garage for no more than $98,000. The second would approve using $4.9 million in state funds for upgrades on school buildings.
The money would be used to pay for 12 renovation projects, including re-roofing specific high-priority areas of all five schools, replacing the inefficient 56-year-old steam heating system at Pashley Elementary with a high efficiency hot-water system, replacing original, corroded galvanized piping at Stevens Elementary, upgrading the Stevens electrical capacity, and replacing the high school pool filters.
The district is looking to respond quickly to access its share of a new short-term form of building aid the state Legislature included in this year’s state budget. Called Expanding Children’s Education and Learning (EXCEL), this temporary form of aid can be used by school districts to pay for what is usually the local taxpayers’ portion of construction or renovation costs.
The district is eligible for $1.1 million in state EXCEL building aid, which the state would match with an additional $3.8 million in regular building aid, resulting in the total package of $4.9 million of renovations to the five district schools.
If the voters approve our borrowing the $4.9 million, under the state EXCEL rules, we can finance the entire package of renovations, both principal and interest, with no additional cost to local taxpayers, said Assistant Superintendent Jacqueline St. Onge.
According to St. Onge, the renovations chosen for the referendum are those that meet state EXCEL restrictions and would save the district the most money by conserving energy and avoiding repair bills on aging systems.
`The Pashley boilers are so old we can’t get parts for them anymore, and we spent more than $10,000 in 2005-06 just on repairs to keep that school heated,` said St. Onge. `It’s painful to pay that much money to keep antiquated boilers running, but replacing the heating system will cost nearly $2 million. This is why the school board hopes to use state EXCEL funds for this.`
The second proposition involves current negotiations to buy a parcel of land at 3 Lakehill Road in the town of Ballston.
The parcel is undeveloped and located behind several existing homes at the very eastern end of Lakehill Road. It borders Fireman’s Grove to the southeast, and property already owned by the school district for its bus garage and Stevens Elementary School on the western side.
School board members have placed four stipulations on the purchase of the land: The sale must be approved by voters on March 1; the land and closing costs can total no more than $98,000; local highway authorities must approve use of the land for access by school buses, and the pending sale of other district land off Swaggertown Road must be completed.
`It’s very rare that land adjacent to one of our schools comes on the market,` said District Superintendent Jim Schultz. `We’ve been looking for a way to redesign the traffic pattern at Stevens Elementary for years to make it safer.`
District officials and school board members are looking into the future to plan for burgeoning enrollment as several new housing developments have sprung up in the district in the past few years.
`After a long period of stable enrollment, we’ve now surpassed 3,500 children for the first time in 20 years, and I predict more community growth is coming,` said Schultz. `It’s our job to be ready and always thinking long term, so that’s what the school board has in mind with this proposition.`
If the Lakehill Road land purchase is successful, Schultz expects the district will ask its architect to come up with options to redesign traffic patterns and parking at the bus garage and Stevens Elementary as early as 2008.
Stevens is the district’s oldest school, built in 1931 before the town’s roadways became so widely traversed. The school has limited parking space and no room to separate car and bus traffic for safety.
Another long-term district goal is space to enlarge the neighboring bus garage. The existing garage lacks training space, and its bus repair bays are so narrow and low that parts of the ceiling have been removed to allow buses to fit onto the lift for repairs.
The polls will be open on March 1 from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the BH-BL High School gym on Lakehill Road. “