BY MATT LINDSEY

North Country This Week

NORWOOD – A public vote is planned for Oct. 22 for a $9.1 million capital project at Norwood-Norfolk Central that will entail a series of smaller projects and an upgrade to the front parking lot and bus loop.

There will be no negative impact on the taxpayers, according to NNCS Superintendent Jamie Cruikshank. The estimated project cost is $9,149,622.

“With our March Associates guidance, we are planning to have a public vote on October 22 for this project,” Cruikshank said.

The project will address many smaller project items, with the biggest improvement being to the parking lot area. “This will help with drainage and traffic circulation,” he said.

Plans also call for upgrading all interior and exterior lighting that hasn't already been converted. The school is also looking to complete upgrades to the auditorium with new seating and house lighting.

The project will look to replace windows, many of which don't work properly, the superintendent said.

“We'll be looking at some air quality upgrades to include some air conditioning in some of our rooms and dehumidifiers in the basement,” Cruikshank said.

Also, plans call for replacing sinks in the elementary classrooms, increasing the size of bus garage doors, replacing the fire alarm system and corridor ceilings.

“There are many other, smaller-scale items which will be included, too,” Cruikshank said. “We are currently planning some time to meet with the community for further explanations.”

Cruikshank wanted to explain how the district can do a project without any impact on the tax levy.

“The state assigns an aid rate associated with capital projects. The last thing the state wants is our school buildings to degrade. With over 700 school districts, that would be a big problem for the state. So, they provide reimbursement for these projects. Norwood-Norfolk’s aid rate is 98%. This means that for every dollar we spend, the state reimburses us $0.98,” he said.

The remaining cost (the $0.02) is paid through use of a Capital Reserve Fund. About four years ago the district established a type of savings account which can only be used for capital projects.

For those wondering that if the state is reimbursing the district, won’t that come out of taxes anyways?

“This is correct and incorrect,” Cruikshank said. “Taxpayers do fund the capital aid payments, so the state does get the money from taxpayers. However, the state fully funds their capital aid. This is usually one of the first agreements during each year’s budget process in Albany. Remember, they don’t want our buildings to fall into disrepair, so they fund this. Our local taxpayers would be funding this whether NNCS did a project or not. So, our local project doesn’t increase or decrease what we’d pay locally to fund the state’s capital aid. By doing a project, we actually access this fund…and utilize the fund that we’ve been paying for.”

At a special board meeting Tuesday, Sept. 3, the school board approved resolutions in order to proceed with a capital improvement project.

The propositions the board approved establish NNCS as the lead agency, it initiated the official intention to go before the voters with a project, it states the intention to utilize an existing capital project reserve fund that was started three years ago, and asks permission to begin a new capital reserve fund for the future, Cruikshank said.

The board is asking permission to begin a new capital reserve fund for the future because it plans to use its current fund for this project.