Ritzville Facilities Committee makes school bond recommendation

The Ritzville Facilities Committee reconvened on Oct. 26 to discuss placing a revised school bond on the February ballot. During the past year, the Ritzville School Board ran a bond twice, with both measures being denied by voters.

The initial bond included the complete renovation of Lind-Ritzville High School, multiple projects at Ritzville Grade School, miscellaneous items and the construction of an auxiliary gym.

The proposal for the Ritzville School Board from the Facilities Committee is to take the auxiliary gym out of the project, but keep the remaining items the same as the previous bond.

With inflation, the project costs have increased and the project is estimated to cost $11 million. The Facilities Committee members agreed unanimously they would like to see the collection period shortened from 20 years to at least 15 years.

The recommendation from the Facilities Committee is for an $11 million bond measure to appear on the February Special Election ballot.

The bond will be proposed for 15 years with an estimated collection rate of $2.81 per thousand of assessed valuation.

In addition to the local dollars, the Lind-Ritzville High School portion of the project will be eligible for state match money.

The high school portion of the project is estimated at $9 million, and state match money could pay an estimated $4.5 million.

The stipulation is all local dollars must be used first before using the state match money.

The Facilities Committee agreed the most important aspects of the project are the safety of the students and the infrastructure of the buildings.

Currently, the Ritzville Grade School is experiencing issues with the roof, which is a portion of the proposal in the bond.

The replacement of the roof is estimated at around $500,000 with the addition of window upgrades at the building.

Along with roofing issues, Ritzville School District Business Manager Dana Telecky said a steam pipe burst in the administration offices at the high school.

Between the damage and the costs of fixing the malfunctions, Telecky stated the operating budget is not going to withstand the current expenses.

The committee members discussed the priorities items of the bond, and if there were any items that could be taken off of the project list.

The majority of the conversation revolved around reducing the amount of projects in order to run a shorter bond, and therefore complete a larger renovation at the grade school sooner.

Superintendent Matt Ellis explained both the architects and McKinstry are fine with moving forward on the project under short notice.

If approved by the school board, the resolution for the bond must be filed with the county by Dec. 16.

McKinstry would oversee the project, and would also be in charge of selecting the general contractor for the project, Ellis explained. This allows the project to move forward quicker, and reduces the total amount of planning stages.

If the bond passes, the school district could begin construction as early as the summer of 2017. The project would be completed in stages, in order to allow students to return to school and still function in the daily routines while construction is ongoing.

Ellis said the main purpose for the Facilities Committee, staff and school board is to remain focused on the students.

The Facilities Committee discussed in the future they will consider small bonds that would focus more on technology upgrades or smaller facility improvements or additions.

The total project amount is $1.8 million less than the previous bond, with a five-year reduction on the total length. The estimated rate of collection per thousand is slightly higher than the previous bond, due to the shorter bond length.

The Ritzville School Board will review and discuss the Facilities Committee proposal at the monthly board meeting on Monday, Nov. 28, at the Lind-Ritzville Middle School.