The ORHS bond vote was held under a special law that was part of the Claremont education funding settlement. This law allows a school district to reconsider any money warrant articles that failed last March. This was because the NH legislature realized that these articles were considered before the Clarement funding was settled, and the uncertainty might impact support for money articles.
But, a question was raised about whether the voter turnout was adequate. The law governing special elections has a clause requiring a 50% turnout for some elections to be valid. The turnout for this election was 3010 ballots cast out of 9210 registered voters, or 32.7%. At the most recent School Board meeting, Dr. Carroll said he would ask a lawyer to research this question.
According to the lawyers, our bond vote is valid because the election was authorized by the legislature. The law governing special elections lists 3 ways a special election can be called. The legislature can authorize the meeting (as in this case). A judge can authorize the meeting. Or, a school board can call the meeting on its own.
The 50% turnout requirement only applies to the last case. Specifically, the law allows a school board to call a special meeting on its own, but no money articles can be considered unless there is a 50% turnout. Since the ORHS bond vote was called under the special law enacted by the legislature that was part of the Claremont settlement, this 50% requirement for the money article does not apply and the bond vote stands.
This Monday, the School Board held a special meeting to consider the bond agreement for $19,951,897. After reading through the agreement and the official motion to accept the agreement, the School Board voted unanimously to accept the agreement. Six official copies were signed by Chair Drew Christie and Kim Starbranch, District Clerk. The next morning, Barbara Houston, District Treasurer added her signature and the agreement was delivered to the NH Municipal Bond Bank. The bond counsel has approved the agreement and it has been accepted by the NHMBB.
This agreement clears the way for the bonds to be sold next week on Dec. 1. The bonds will close on Dec. 9. When we get the proceeds from the bonds a couple weeks later, we will place them in an interest bearing account until the bills come due.
Some of the first bills will be to the Architect and Construction Manager. We are now working with our lawyers to draw up the contracts for the Architect, Construction Manager, and Clerk of the Works. Though the Architect, Team Design, and the Construction Manager, MacMillin, are already on board, the goal is to have the Clerk of the Works on board next Feb.
The site engineering firm, AppleDore, and the Architect, Team Design, are making progress on the site plan. They are trying to balance some of the concerns raised during the public forums held for the bond. Not only do they want to minimize the impact on the environment and neighborhood, but also keep the costs down by not blasting any more ledge than needed. Since the designs are still fluid, details are not available, but they will be presented to the School Board and community on Dec. 14.
The site plan is one part of the paperwork that must be in place before construction can begin. The goal is to have all the paperwork for all the permits in place by early Jan.
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Last update on 24-Nov-99 at 7:25 PM.
http://www.orol.org/schools/orhs/issues/space/orhs_news/19991124.html
This page is edited by David K. Taylor. Please send questions or comments to editor@orol.org.