After approving a budget slightly smaller than in former drafts, trustees voted unanimously April 3 to seek a bond with First National Bank of Damariscotta for up to $5 million. 

Trustees had been interested in seeking a bond through Maine Municipal Bond Bank, but after fielding public concern at previous meetings, the board asked Superintendent Keith Laser to open quotes to other banks, too. Only First National Bank replied, said Laser.

Interest through the Bond Bank would have been just under 3.17 percent; the First National Bank quoted 3.39 percent. Both numbers were subject to change, though not likely by much, said Laser.

“It works out over the life of the loan that the Municipal Bond Bank is about $120,000 cheaper. That said, (it does) not allow us to pay it back early,” said Laser.

Bonds from both banks would require an interest payment in the first year, but by going with First National Bank, the trustees can strike just under $45,000 from the debt service part of this year’s budget.

CSD Director of Security Kyle Canada said Tecta America gave a roof safety system quote of up to $75,000, about $5,000 less than the lowest estimate from a Safety Works inspector who failed both school buildings.

“It's a different system than what we were planning on, but … the recommendation was that if we have roof issues on the pitched roofs, to use contractors and then you don't have the liability,” said Canada.

An Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) rule limits in-house staff accessing roofs for construction repairs to 12 times per year if there is no approved safety system. These types of repairs occur more and more, Canada said.

In Facilities and Transportation Director Dave Benner’s absence, financial officer Kathleen Pearce advised possibly cutting $70,000 in duct cleaning for Boothbay Region High School.

“... Not knowing what's going to happen with the roof, we could remove $70,000 for the duct cleaning,” said Pearce. She added, Benner will look at having staff clean ducting while summer work displaces their normal duties.

Striking the $70,000 for duct cleaning and about $45,000 from debt service obligations brings a previous overall school budget down from a 7.18 percent increase to a 6.04 percent increase if the CSD school committee does not revise their part of the budget. Trustees voted 4-1 for the draft with trustee Troy Lewis voting against, and the panel voted unanimously to authorize contracts to Honeywell for Boothbay Region Elementary School improvements.

Tyler Barter from Portland’s Oak Point Associates (OPA) presented an overview of the work his company does in architecture, engineering and planning. Barter graduated from BRHS in 1996. He went on to Wentworth Institute of Technology to become an architect and is now a senior architect for his firm.

“We've got a lot of districts in similar condition as Boothbay where they're looking at a lot of need for facilities improvements and a lot of extra space that they're having a hard time utilizing properly,” Barter said. By setting guidelines as a community, plans for allocating space to existing and potential programs will be easier to draft, he said. “We'd love to hear these unique ways of how school districts want to bring their kids together in collaborative ways working on small group instruction in the space, but also how to take advantage of technology and (community) outreach …”

From the audience, CSD School Committee members Bruce MacDonald and John Bertolet expressed interest in having Barter come back to speak to the committee. Barter said he would be happy to.

Laser and trustees said this is exactly what the CSD and the wider community are looking for in planning.

Trustees meet next at 5:15 p.m. Wednesday, May 1 in the BRHS library.