We're making progress this week. Here are some things that are happening behind the scenes:
We've engaged a construction attorney: Graehm Wallace of Perkins Coie. Mr. Wallace is well-known in the state for his work with K-12 construction projects.
We're posting a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) in the Crier and the Daily Journal of Commerce (Seattle) for a Construction Management firm (CM) this week. Statements of Qualifications (SOQs) are due to the TSD office by end of business on 12/18. The building committee, chaired by Dale Merten, will meet at 6 p.m. on 12/19 at THS to review these SOQs and recommend 2-3 firms for interviews with the board. Based on that process, the board will direct me to enter into negotiations with the best firm to set the scope of their work and how much their fee will be for the project. This is a crucial decision as this firm is the one who watches out for the district's interests throughout the project and makes sure that work is done to our standards. If you're interested in participating on the building committee, contact Dale at ToledoTel and volunteer.
We're gearing up to sell the bonds on December 12. The bonds will be sold in $5,000 increments. Local investors who would like to purchase are advised to see their personal broker for details on how to purchase. Piper Jaffray is the underwriter. Look for an ad in the Crier next week regarding this opportunity.
We're hosting a community visioning meeting on January 10, 2019 at 6 p.m. at Toledo High School to brainstorm what the new school will look like and what features are important to the community. This is the first opportunity for community members to provide input to the design process. This will not be the only opportunity, but it is the first one and one of the first signs of our work to design and build the new high school.
At this meeting, we'll also talk about replacing our current levy. Many of our programs and staff depend upon local support in the form of a levy. For the past three years, the levy has been $1.1 million per year. This has allowed us to make mandated changes to the THS water system and re-roof the middle school as well as make many other repairs and upgrades to our facilities. Now that those projects are complete, the board has determined that we can reduce our replacement to $895,000 per year for two years. This is $205,000 per year less than the current levy and will be $1.50 per $1000 of assessed property value. The last time our levy was this small was in 2009. Our current levy is $2.17 per $1000. This represents a decrease in taxes of 67 cents per $1000. This replaces the funding that has been provided to the district every year by the taxpayers.
Remember, the $7 million bond can only be used for one purpose: build a new high school. Levies provide funding for programs, people, repairs, maintenance, athletics, extracurricular activities and all of the other things not funded by the State.
Hope you'll follow this blog to stay current on information related to the new Toledo High School
