Wednesday, February 13, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon 9
BOND: District got a lot
of bang for taxpayers
bucks in projects
Continued from page 1
expected.
<Originally, the bond
was just going to touch one
and two,= Hudson told The
Nugget. <We were able to
incorporate a lot of student
outcomes.=
<We9re very proud of the
project team and how they
delivered,= said school board
member Jay Wilkins, who
headed up a citizens9 bond
oversight committee.
The District ended up with
considerably more funds than
those voters signed off on.
They caught a <tailwind= in
selling the bonds, earning
additional money to the tune
of nearly $1 million from
favorable market timing. In
addition to that, Sisters was
unexpectedly in a position
to be awarded $4 million in
state grants.
<We were able to go in
and refurbish a whole sci-
ence lab (at Sisters Middle
School),= Hudson offered as
an example.
The Leadership/Language
Arts classroom was doubled
in size to offer more func-
tional space, and a new SMS
student union has proved to
be a popular and welcoming
space for students.
<The kids rush to get
there for lunch,= said
Superintendent Curt Scholl.
A list of bond-related
projects may be found with
the online version of this
story at www.nuggetnews.
com.
<A lot of the things we
did were safety upgrades,=
Scholl noted.
We were able to
go in and refurbish a
whole science lab (at
Sisters Middle School).
— Brett Hudson
That included redesign-
ing and remodeling building
entrances to improve secu-
rity and sight lines. Paint and
sealer and projects to catch
up to deferred maintenance
will enhance building lon-
gevity, Hudson noted, and
upgrades to lighting will pro-
vide operational savings.
For example, new high-
efficiency LED field lights at
Reed Stadium are so efficient
that the entire system runs on
what one of the original six
light poles used.
School noted that, <One
very noticeable improve-
ment while visiting the
schools during our after-
hours events is the District-
wide upgrade to LED light-
ing. Several IT projects and
systems upgrades were also
made throughout the District
to facilitate the educational
models for the schools.=
Wilkins noted that the
bond oversight committee
was fortunate in that they
knew in advance that there
would be more money to
work with, which enabled the
project team to make strate-
gic choices about projects.
The District <reached out to
each school and the opera-
tions department to identify
additional needs for the facil-
ities,= Scholl reported.
Wilkins acknowledged
that there was =a lot of pres-
sure to deliver= for a skepti-
cal electorate that had earlier
rejected a bond. The bond
oversight committee was cre-
ated to ensure that the public
got its money9s worth 4 and
knew it.
Once tangible results
became apparent, Wilkins
said, <that9s when I felt the
momentum really turned.=
Delivering on time and
on or under budget wasn9t
easy. A booming construc-
tion market meant that it was
sometimes <tough finding the
trades to complete the job,=
Hudson said.
And since the 2008
Great Recession, <suppliers
don9t have things on their
shelves,= Hudson observed.
<Everything you need is
special-order.=
I think what’s
really exciting is
how it’s set up
for the future.
— Jay Wilkins
That made for long lead
times trying to hit a narrow
window of summertime con-
struction, especially for the
middle school, which was
heavily torn up last summer.
It was a close call, but the
SMS work was completed
in time for students to be in
their classrooms on time in
September.
Wilkins noted that the
District has established
reserves for maintenance so
that the newly refurbished
buildings stay in good shape
and functional for years to
come.
<I think what9s really
exciting,= he said, <is how
it9s set up for the future.=
Cougar
deemed
threat
and killed
in Bend
Saturday
BEND (AP) 4 Authorities
say they9ve killed a cougar
that had been seen around
homes in Bend.
Agents with the Oregon
Department of Fish and
Wildlife and Bend police
tracked the animal into the
Deschutes River Woods on
Saturday morning. They say
they believe that based on
the territorial nature of male
cougars and the size of its
paws, it was the same animal
that had been seen in back-
yards in southwest Bend and
that it did pose a threat to
people.
It weighed 135 pounds.
Officials say the river
canyon offers excellent habi-
tat for mountain lions, and
people should be aware that
they might encounter one in
the area.