The $1.1 million bond included $288,000 for building repairs, $500,000 to completely repave the parking lot, $175,000 to repair the current playing field and add an additional field, and $77,000 to replace kitchen equipment including an air exchanger. While the athletic field repair and addition were optional, the rest of the work is repairs to maintain the facility.
Of the district's 9,978 registered voters, a total of 1,446 voters in six towns cast ballots. That is fewer than 15 percent of registered voters.
According to petition organizers, the repairs at the school must be completed and if no bond is secured, the funds will have to come out of the Harwood operating budget. Petition organizers are gathering signatures in Waitsfield, Warren and Fayston and are getting Moretown, Duxbury and Waterbury in the loop soon.
Had the November 10 bond passed, Harwood would have qualified for a zero or very low interest loan for the project. Petitioners are hopeful that a revote will let taxpayers take advantage of the zero or low interest loan and avoid making cuts in the operating budget to pay for the repairs.
According to Harwood Union Principal Duane Pierson, with a zero percent bond, taxpayers would have saved over $270,000 compared to a 2.9 percent loan for the same amount.
The petition reads as follows:
We the undersigned legal voters residing in the towns within the Harwood Union High School District request that the school board call and warn a special meeting to reconsider following article as lastly voted on November 10, 2009:
Article I: Shall bonds, notes or other obligations of the Harwood Union High School District No. 19 in an amount not to exceed $1,100,000.00 be issued for the purposes of facility improvements to the school building and property including repaving and patching the school access drive and parking lot, exterior lighting, replacement of the main water line and interior plumbing, purchase and installation of energy efficient kitchen equipment and related improvements, replacement of the roof above the guidance and administrative offices, installation of new electrical, mechanical and control unit related to the schools air handling system, and improvements to the athletic fields at a total estimated cost of $1,100,000.00?
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