Haddonfield BOE looks into March bond referendum
The Long Range Planning Committee gave an update on where it is with the bond referendum at the Haddonfield Public Schools Board of Education meeting on Thursday, Oct. 22.
The board did not approve nor present anything with the bond referendum. It was announced that the board would be looking into having a March referendum rather than the previously proposed January referendum. The committee is still looking at numbers and trying to create a more “sellable” bond referendum ballot, according to Board President Glenn Moramarco.
“We are running out of ways to reduce it because there are things to be done that need to be done. Frankly, we don’t have the documentation ready to move forward in January,” Moramarco said. “The committee is continuing to work together as are the architects and the experts.”
The district is going out for a bond referendum due to much-needed building exterior repairs, HVAC updates, special systems upgrades and accessibility and code compliance issues.
The previously proposed bond referendum given at the Oct. 1 meeting had a total estimated cost of $51.2 million and would be broken into three questions.
Since that meeting, a lot of new information has come in and a lot of changes have been made. The Long Range Planning Committee decided to hold off on the January referendum date and figure out a better way to go out of for the bond referendum.
At the Oct. 8 meeting, the Long Range Planning Committee was looking into having the high school cafeteria demolished and completely rebuilt from scratch, as it might be cheaper than doing renovations. The committee came back with confirmation that it would be cheaper and there is a very high possibility of the state reimbursing the district as long as it keeps the same footprint and foundation. The estimated savings would be about $1.5 to $2 million, according to Moramarco.
“By maintaining the original footprint and the foundation we think we are very likely to be eligible for state aid and it will be cheaper,” Moramarco said.
Also at the Oct. 8 meeting, it was announce that HPS was using the services of a price estimator to see whether some of the figures the district has for the referendum can be verified. The company came back with a couple of estimates higher than what the architects originally gave the schools.
“We are trying to reconcile those figures and see which ones are more reliable that we can go with,” Moramarco said.
One of the things that came in higher than anticipated was the communication systems in regard to telephone, security and intercom systems. However, the school has the possibility of using the state contractor, RFP Solutions, at a cost under its original estimates.
“The advantage to the board is that we are allowed to use the state contract pricing and not have to tie it up for a bid, which means we can eliminate the general contractor from getting a mark up on it, as well as any of the other trades that would have to be involved…The board does not have to go out to bid for that, they can use the proceeds from the bond for utilizing the state contract,” Business Administrator Christopher Oberg said.
As for the ballot itself, the Long Range Planning Committee is trying to figure out ways to get down the total cost or spread out the bonds to be paid over time, rather than all at once. It is thinking of keeping one question with the much-needed projects and then creating multiple questions with different projects. However, there is no decision as of yet.
“(The set up of the ballot) is giving more control to the public to decide how much burden they are willing to take on in addition to the critical parts, which is the first questions,” board member David Siedell said.
Due to all of these changes, the board has decided to go for a March referendum. However, decisions will have to be made by the end of November, according to board member Susan Kutner.
For a full video of the Oct. 22 BOE meeting, visit the Haddonfield Civic Association’s Vimeo account at vimeo.com/user2961532.
In other news:
• The Communication Committee met with groups that will be helping with the communications side of the referendum. The committee interviewed Laura Bishop Communications, which recommended an overall communication strategy, rather than just a referendum one. The committee would like to do this and will continue talks, including having a unified communication strategy for all schools.
• The next BOE meeting will be on Nov. 12 at 7 p.m. in the high school library.
