Narrowsburg renovation under budget

By TOM KANE

NARROWSBURG — The Sullivan West school board got some good news last Thursday, March 7 at its monthly meeting—something it hasn’t had much of in recent months.

The Narrowsburg School renovation project came in from bidders $100,000 under budget.

“We budgeted it for $ 5 million and it came in $4.9 million,” said superintendent of schools Michael Johndrow.

While this was good news, school business manager Betsy McKean told board members other news that wasn’t so good.

The state, in order to save money under the present strictures caused by the September 11 tragedy, has restructured its long-term construction aid formula of the payback according to a structured formula. “What this means is that they will be paying us less, over more years, and thus create a current-year shortfall which will cost the district money in the long run if the district has to bond the shortfall,” McKean said.

“It’s really refinancing, but the state uses the term refunding,” Johndrow said.

What it means is that, instead of a 15-year term on new construction bonds, for example, it would be paid back over 30 years. Immediate payments will be less, but over the 30-year life of the bond, the school district and voters will pay more.

Other draconian measures may be coming because of 9/11, but a lot depends on whether the state legislature will buck the governor in favor of education, Johndrow said.

“The operative word in state government these days is ‘security’ and not education,” he said.

There is no danger whatever that the construction of the new high school will be halted, he said.

Bids on the new high school will be opened on April 12.

“Already after only one week of being on the street, we have 50 bids,” Johndrow said. “That’s a good sign so early in the bidding process.”

In other business, the board learned from Turner Construction that the test of the newly drilled high school well revealed an estimated 60 gallons a minute, after a 72-hour test.

“We’ll have plenty of water,” Johndrow said.

The test of the quality of the water will be made public in a week or so, he said.

At the meeting, the board gave back three snow days to staff and students, thereby extending the Easter break to two full weeks, beginning on March 25.

“We hope there will not be more snow days because, if there is, we may have to take the three days back,” Johndrow said.