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The INDEPENDENT, February 19, 2009
Banks School Board will not pursue bond measure in May election
Though the business meet-
ing of the Banks school board
February 9 was quite short, the
board has been working hard
throughout the last month, with
two special meetings held. Jan-
uary 26 the board accepted a
proposal from DLR Group to
develop a comprehensive site
plan. At a special meeting on
February 5, the board decided
not to pursue [a repeat] bond
measure in May.
Last month, the board con-
tinued their extensive evalua-
tion of the failure of the con-
struction bond in November.
They revisited the work of the
Facilities Planning Committee
which strongly recommended
that the amount of the bond
($25.5 million) stay intact.
Since November, board mem-
bers have been talking to vot-
ers, reviewing reports and lis-
tening to management and fi-
nancial consultants.
Chairman Duane Lundsten,
along with Angi Duyck, Doug
Nordholm and Will Moore,
spent the evening January 26
with Rick Rainone, Corner-
stone Management Group,
Scott Rose, DLR Group (district
architect), Superintendent Marv
Ott, and Business Manager Si-
mon Levear defining what
should be included in a com-
prehensive site plan. The board
approved a proposal by DLR
Group that will show specific
improvements in every building
and illustrate improved traffic
management. The design will
also include an outline of the
movement of students and staff
during construction. $7200 will
be used from the Buxton fund
to pay DLR Group.
Interspersed throughout the
January 26 meeting was dis-
cussion about community com-
munications and the impact of
hiring a communications spe-
cialist. The board discussed the
importance of addressing com-
munity concerns and how to
create the opportunity for public
input.
The board met again Febru-
ary 5. After a brief discussion of
the necessity of reducing ex-
penditures during the current
school year, they decided not to
pursue a bond in May. The ad-
ministration will be trying to find
ways to save money, while at
the same time developing a
budget for next school year.
It was fortunate that the
board had already spent con-
siderable time in meetings be-
cause the board was forced to
spend
A work session scheduled
for February 9 was canceled.
The board, instead, used the
time in an executive session.
After telling the board that
everything was fine in the dis-
trict’s audited financial state-
ments, the auditor explained
that changes in accounting
standards apply to the current
audit. Among the changes is
that the auditor must detail any
“significant deficit in internal
control”, which applied to the
Banks audit because the busi-
ness manager has control over
all aspects of financial transac-
tions for the district, both ap-
proving and writing checks. The
district can choose to retain the
present system, or change the
methodology.
Jenny Compton told the
board that she has about
$32,500 available for construc-
tion of a new equipment shed.
The softball association re-
ceived a $7500 insurance set-
tlement, but most of the money
is the result of fund raising ef-
forts by the association over
the last ten years. Compton
also said that she has received
a pledge for at least $5000
worth of labor. The building is
expected to cost from $28,000
to $30,000. The board directed
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Compton to ensure that the
building is included in the site
plan being developed by DLR
Group. The concrete block
building will be about 12 x 30
feet, with two handicapped ac-
cessible restrooms at one end.
When completed, the building
will become district property.
In other business the board:
• Heard that the district has
received an AA- rating from
Standard and Poores,
• Approved the Budget Cal-
endar with the committee meet-
ing May 14 and possibly May
28. The public hearing on the
2009 –2010 budget will be held
during the June 8 board meet-
ing.
• Announced that the board
will meet twice a month. Next
board meeting is scheduled for
March 9. Executive session be-
gins at 5:30, work session at
6:15 and the business meeting
will follow at 7:00 pm.
Banks FD Breakfast on March 1
The Banks Volunteer Fire-
fighters’ Annual Breakfast will
be held March 1, from 8:00
a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in the Banks
High School cafeteria, 450 S.
Main St., Banks. This is a
fundraiser for Banks Fire Dis-
trict No.13.
Tickets for the breakfast are
$6.00 for adults, $4.00 for chil-
dren (ages 1-12), $5.00 for
seniors (62+), and $25.00 per
family (up to six people). This
year’s menu includes pan-
cakes or biscuits and gravy,
sausage or ham, eggs, fruit,
coffee, milk and/or juice.
Fine Arts Festival tonight at 5:30
A Fine Arts Festival, present-
ed by Banks Junior and Senior
High School classes, will be
held tonight from 5:30 to 8:30
p.m. at the Gallery in the Dis-
trict Board Room, with perform-
ances in the High School cafe-
torium.
There will be pottery demos,
music performances, films and
more.
Library may be down February 24
The Washington County Co-
operative Library Services
(WCCLS) library catalog and
patron accounts will be tem-
porarily unavailable beginning
the evening of Monday, Febru-
ary 23. Full service is expected
to resume by the afternoon of
2/28/09
• Mon - Fri 8am to 6pm
• Saturday 8am to 5pm
• Sunday 10am to 4pm
2/28/09
Tuesday, February 24. The in-
terruption in service will allow
WCCLS to upgrade the Coop-
erative Library Services inte-
grated library catalog system.
During the interruption, the
public will not be able to use
Please see page 20