Thu. Mar 28th, 2024

(Editor’s note: The Daily Herald continues its Top Ten countdown of the most important local news stories of 2004. The series will continue each day the newspaper is published until the Number One story, as chosen by the Herald staff.)

The Tyrone Area School District started off 2004 considering a possible change in the funding of the Middle School expansion/renovation project.
Previously, the district had planned to fund the expansion/renovation project with cash. However, in a January Daily Herald article, Dr. William Miller explained a new possibility.
“We are considering possible funding options after realizing some conditions have changed over the last several months.
“We could still go with cash,” Miller said. “Any change should have no impact on when the project would begin and could prove beneficial to the district.”
At this point, the project was still in the early stages with initial documents being sent to the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
In February, an Act 34 hearing was held regarding plans for the expansion and renovation project at the district’s middle school.
Representative of Hayes Large Architects from Altoona were on hand to help clarify and answer questions concerning the public.
At least one resident expressed concern for the building plans.
“Why build another building with the idea the state will reimburse us? They are cutting back with the funds they are giving to anyone,” said Eleanor Miller in a February article.
“I don’t feel they (the district) are being fair to the taxpayers. Seniors are on a fixed income. The home owners are going to pay; low-income housing people don’t have to pay for it.”
It was pointed out in a booklet that was distributed at the hearing there were no plans to raise taxes to fund the project.
The district planned to use cash or borrow the money and pay it back out of its cash reserve if financing would actually create a advantageous situation for the district.
It was explained there were indirect costs associated with the project which could create an estimated 7.86 mill increase unless other funding was obtained.
In May, the school district was still considering whether or not to finance or pay cash for the upcoming building project. The estimated cost of the project was about $10.3 million at that point when construction and associated costs were combined.
The district had been planning to use money from its cash reserves to pay for the project. However, superintendent Dr. William N. Miller explained he had recently met with the district’s financial advisors to discuss the possibility of financing.
In a May article in The Daily Herald, Miller said, “The concept we are looking at is a wrap around. This is wrapped around an existing debt; we would borrow at a variable rate and invest at a variable rate.
“With the projection that interest rates are going up, it would be to our advantage to do that because we have the money to invest,” explained Miller. “This has been brought up before, but it now seems more plausible than borrowing at a fixed rate and investing at a fixed rate. We can get out at any time. We don’t have to pay on this on a long term basis.
“This is not a new form of financing, it’s just a new approach for us to discuss further,” said Miller.
On September 2, the Tyrone Area School District opened bids for its middle/high school renovation and expansion project.
The bid opening was only the beginning of a process which left school board members and administrators with a number of decisions to make before the work actually begins.
Concerns had been expressed the project would come in substantially over even high-end estimates for the project. That figure was listed at just over $10.3 million according to information listed in planning documents forwarded to the state’s Department of Education.
In July, Dwight Knouse of Hayes Large Architects informed the board the bids could be $300,000 in excess of the high-end numbers. He said the reason for the possibility of high bids centered on the increase in cost and demand for certain building materials.
Superintendent Dr. William Miller had expressed concern the bids might even come in “millions higher.” Those fears were alleviated when the bids were actually opened. However, Dr. Miller expressed continuing concern regarding the project’s costs.
“The bids came in as expected and that is high,” said Miller. “The bids are pretty much in line with what (Dwight Knouse) had expected. It all depends on what deductions or additions are taken to the base bids.”
The school board later approved the bids with additions and deductions.
Earlier, the board decided to borrow $10 million to finance the project after originally planning to use cash from its capital reserves. The board decided using a bond note gave the district the potential for saving money. The type of financing the district is using will also give it an option of getting out of the financing quickly if it’s determined in the future the market isn’t advantageous to the district.
The project is expected to increase the building by more than 56,000 square feet which will include classrooms, a multi-purpose room/gymnasium, cafeteria, kitchen, two locker rooms, an art room and science lab room. The increase will amount to more than 25 percent of the current building size, according to previous information released by the district.
The project is also designed to create a middle school program with grades five through eight, which the district believes will provide a better educational opportunity to its students.
If there are no unexpected delays, the project is expected to be completed in 2006.

By Rick