Two special referendums passed resoundingly at the polls in the Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake School District Thursday, March 1.
In its first ever mid-winter vote, the district’s board of education received approval to purchase a parcel of undeveloped land on Lakehill Road for a maximum of $98,000. The parcel at #3 Lakehill Road is approximately 4.6 acres and borders land the school district already owns for its bus garage and Stevens Elementary School.
The measure to buy the land was approved by 85 percent of district residents, or 777 votes in approval and 132 votes in disapproval.
Held on the eve of a projected ice storm, the oncoming weather may have been a factor in keeping large numbers of voters from the polls.
A total of 914 residents voted, including 31 who voted by absentee ballot, said district spokesperson Christy Multer. `This is significantly lower than our voter turnout in May. But it was the first time we held a late winter vote, and some of our residents are elderly. We had to get this to vote quickly in order to begin the construction this spring.`
School Superintendent Jim Schultz told members of the public Tuesday night the land became unexpectedly available, and would help ease traffic snarls outside Stevens Elementary School.
`These 4.6 acres of land could be used as an exit onto Lakehill Road in the future,` said Schultz. `We could have a separate egress for our buses.`
District administrators are also in the process of selling unused land on Swaggertown Road. The 26 acres of mostly wetlands are listed at $75,000, and the district has already received a purchase offer. The $75,000 will be used to offset most of the costs of the land purchase near Stevens Elementary. Schultz said the remaining $15,000 will be included in the 2007-2008 district budget.
A second proposition authorized by voters will allow the school district to quickly use $4.9 million in New York State funds available by the legislature under a program called Expanding Children’s’ Education and Learning (EXCEL). The funding source does not require the district to raise matching funds from taxpayers.
The EXCEL proposal was approved by 86 percent of voters, or 789 votes for and 123 votes against the project.
EXCEL funds came with many exclusions. The district is not allowed to use the money for site work, athletic field upgrades and transportation facility improvements. Instead, the grant will be used on 12 high priority fix-ups at schools throughout the district. To determine which projects were the most pressing, district officials looked at which ones would provide energy savings, which systems were out-of-date and requiring costly annual repairs, and the fact that Stevens Elementary School did not receive renovations in the $16 million plan approved by voters in 2003.
Projects to be included are:
Stevens Elementary School:
Repair Stevens’ rear roof copying covers and cornice $ 45,000
Repair Stevens’ front roof coping covers, cornice and parapet $157,500
Upgrade Stevens’ electrical capacity $ 264,000
Replace Stevens’ original corroded piping $116,000
Replacing roofing on Stevens’ gym $199,000
Roofing Projects:
Replacing roofing on the high school music and technology wing $379,000
Replacing roofing on the high school library and some classrooms $460,278
Replacing roofing on middle school locker rooms and corridor $228,000
Replacing roofing on Charlton Heights cafeteria, gym and wings $648,000
Replacing roofing on Pashley B and C quads $351,000
Other:
Replace high school pool filters to operate correctly and efficiently $127,000
Replace Pashley’s antiquated steam heating system with an energy
efficient hot water system $1,966,000
TOTAL: $4,940,778
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