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High school public comment period open
By Lori Bledsoe
The Alpine Sun
EL CAJON — At the first Grossmont Union High
School board meeting of the year, presentations on the usage of
Proposition U bond funds held center stage, guaranteeing that the
district can continue moving forward with modifications and
upgrades, along with the possibility of adding the 12th high school.
Katy Wright, the project manager from Gafcon/Harris,
presented the report on the Proposition U Baseline plan. She told
the board members that Phase 2 B of Proposition H is, “all but
complete,” indicating that almost every project listed under phase
2B is either complete or approaching completion. Wright was very
pleased to announce that the district, in their bidding process on
the upcoming Science Lab project, was looking forward to an almost
$9,000,000 savings.
Wright then moved on to a “new school” update. She
confirmed that the 45-day review period of the Draft Environmental
Impact report has commenced. The district has completed the required
studies of appropriate sites, they have completed the DEIR, they
have completed the “screen check” of the EIR, the staff has reviewed
the EIR, the DEIR has been released and until February 23, 2009,
they will be accepting public comment regarding the DEIR.
After Feb. 23, they will begin to prepare responses to
the public comment that are collected during the 45 day review
period, and they plan to release the final EIR in March or April
2009. They expect certification of the EIR in May or June 2009. In
the middle of this process, there will be two public presentations,
one being on Feb. 4, in Alpine.
The next steps after the certification of the EIR, is
to move forward with the acquisition of the land for the twelfth
high school. The time line has been listed with a bidding time
beginning in 2010, and an opening scheduled for 2013.
Moving ahead, Wright focused then on the scope of projects that
specifically fall under the Proposition U “to-do” list.
The implementation plan that Wright presented follows
prioritization considerations. The first consideration being a
cash-flow situation. The bond is to be sold in phases, which limits
the amount of money that is available during any time period. Also,
the plan is to review the oldest and the neediest campuses first,
and allowing available interim housing to determine the scope of any
project that takes place.
They will also be studying projects that can access
state matching funds and move them into appropriate time slots. The
expectation is seeing approximately 90-100 million in state matching
funds to be available eventually. There are definite balancing goals
that are under consideration and it is very important that there is
something for everyone.
Mark Young, from the firm Gardner, Underwood and Bacon,
then took the podium. Young was hired by the district as a financial
advisor for the projects ahead. Young reviewed Prop U, saying that
the 417 million bond measure was voted in with a 56.65 percent voter
approval rating. This is secured by general obligation Property
Taxes, which is to be $27.90 per $100,000 of assessed value.
Young then went on to lay out the assumptions of the
Proposition U Bond measure. There are expected phase issuances,
which coincide with Wright’s comments regarding cash flow. Young
explained that the bond measure will supply approximately 40 million
a year to the district, with the first issuance being in April of
this year. He said that each bond is expected to have a 25 year
maturity and will be issued over the next eight to ten years.
Young then clarified that the sum of $27.90 is an
estimated tax model. He said that they will do everything in their
power to keep the annual tax rate at or below the 27.90. However, he
added, “if we get ahead of ourselves or we get too aggressive in the
assumptions, the county will in fact charge whatever is necessary to
support those bonds.” This is because this bond, he said is an
unlimited ad lorem bond, which allows the county this option.
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