The Staples Motley School Board took the first step toward preparing a capital bond referendum for a vote this fall at their regular board meeting Monday night in Motley.

The board unanimously agreed to start preparing the legal resolution that would set a bond referendum for Sept. 8, 2009. The vote on the legal resolution with final wording will be taken at the board's meeting on May 18.

The referendum is expected to be for approximately $6.1 million over 20 years. Most of it will be used for maintenance projects that have been deferred over the years, such as roofs, flooring and inefficient windows.

Other items include some upgrades to be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the installation of a biomass burner at the high school.

Some of the money would also be used to renovate space in the high school building for offices of the Freshwater Education District (FED). This will allow the eventual closing of the building that currently houses them just off 5th St. NE north of the 3M plant.

The financial breakdown presented at Monday night's meeting included $4,097,700 for roofs and insulation; $569,000 to replace old, inefficient windows; $359,740 to replace worn flooring; $290,000 for ADA issues; $282,600 for the FED move; and $250,000 for the biomass burner.

That total of $5,849,040 is split between the three buildings with Staples Elementary School receiving $951,700; the Motley building receiving $1,458,240; and the high school building receiving $3,439,100.

The additional $295,000 to get the $6,144,040 approximate bond total is what is estimated for issuance and underwriting costs.

A work session with the full board was held April 14 to brief the board on the options being considered by the board's facilities committee.

The review included the results of two telephone surveys conducted in the district and the recommendations of a facilities task force comprised of community people that met during the summer and fall of 2008.

The community task force examined needs and options which included the possible closing of buildings. The task force sent two options to the school board for consideration.

One of the options is very close to what the board approved Monday night. The other option included more renovations to the Staples Elementary and Motley buildings at more cost.

The issue of roof repair was a big part of the discussion at the April 14 work session. The board noted that on the worksheets used by the task force, even the roofs that were marked as "excellent" condition

would likely need replacing in the

next five years. The roofs were marked "excellent" only because of age. They were

the most recently replaced, but their anticipated life span is approximately 10 years.

Roy DiGiovanni noted Monday night that the proposal being presented did not include replacement of all of the roofs, in an effort to keep the cost of the referendum

down. The state of the economy was also a factor.

"In the next two years you'll never get a cheaper bid," said Jim Christoffersen, buildings and grounds supervisor, at the work session.

The biomass burner also generated some discussion, but an alternative energy source received favorable responses in the surveys. Superintendent Mark Schmitz noted that the boilers were already in place at the high school. A biomass burner would be able to use a variety of products, such as wood chips or switch grass or other alternatives. Those items could be purchased locally and help keep local people employed.

"Other than the biomass, these are all maintenance items," said Barb Schmitt, board chair, on Monday night. "We have to take care of what we have."

"The FED move will help free up capital money as well if we don't have to maintain that building," DiGiovanni said.

In other business the board:

o APPROVED retirement requests for Gwynne Gildow, elementary principal; Nancy Johnson, elementary teacher; Bonita Hansen, teaching assistant; and Roselyn Deering, paraprofessional.

o APPROVED a new contract for Lynn Peterson as one-third activities director and one-third high school dean of students.

o AUTHORIZED the administration to seek bids for network wiring for the high school and Staples Elementary School. The work will be paid by one-time state dollars for technology.