In recent months, the Eden Valley-Watkins school district superintendent, Mark Messman, has brought up the coming ?Äúbirthday?Äù of the 1927 EV-W high school building. Next year it will be 90 years old, and beginning to show its age.
Yes, warped floors have been replaced, and rooms rearranged, but nothing major has been done in a long time. Members of the school board share his concern that they not let the building get so far gone that it becomes beyond repair (as happened at St. Cloud Tech).
The board approved Messman?Äôs request to begin looking at architects and contractors. He chose to work with Kraus-Anderson, the same contractor that did the most recent addition to the school: the new gym and entry area at the high school, along with other smaller projects. They already know the buildings and have a good working relationship with the district.
In these early discussions, the board brought up some of the things they thought should be done to improve the facilities at all three school buildings in the district. But they wanted these suggestions to come from the community, so volunteers were called upon to form a Facilities Task Force. They wanted a large group of individuals from a wide array of experiences within the district: parents of current students, alumni, farmers, lake people, young families, retired folk, etc. Students and staff act as advisors to the group.
The group of 30-plus people met four times to come up with ideas and then to prioritize them. They were instructed to not consider cost of the projects, as this will come later in the process. To the surprise of some, they all agreed on projects they wanted done. And these projects jibe with what the school board have discussed.
Wednesday evening, Dec. 14,
four members of the Task Force made a formal presentation to the board. They met in the Media Center at the high school. The group presented a bound book of information as well as a PowerPoint presentation that included photos of some of the needful areas.
Those who prepared and presented to the board were Stacey Moehrle, Steve Schmitt, Trude Schlangen, and Bob Hennen.
The next step will be for Kraus-Anderson to work on concepts based on the Task Force list and, importantly, attach price tags to them.
Meanwhile, Ehlers (a group that works with school districts like EV-W and Kimball on school financing and tax levy issues) is working on a tax impact worksheet: how much can taxpayers in the district afford. Right now, no one knows that maximum number; it could be $5, $10, or $15 million.
Once the board receives both the project/cost information and the tax impact worksheet, it will be up to the board to decide which projects will be done when, to what extent, and in what priority.
Here is what the Task Force came up with (without separating need vs. want, or considering the cost). At the priorities meeting, each Task Force member was given 6 dots to place on any project(s) they wanted.
?Ä¢ Develop a new football field and track (30 dots)
?Ä¢ Address issues at 1927 building: mechanical, plumbing, cafeteria, toilet rooms (24 dots)
?Ä¢ Develop secure entrances at both Eden Valley ES and Watkins ES (23 dots)
?Ä¢ Consider new/relocated locker rooms, weight room, and wrestling room (20 dots)
?Ä¢ Address the safety of parking, drop-off, and bus traffic at Eden Valley ES (17 dots)
?Ä¢ Develop new auditorium/
performance space, including control room, dressing rooms, etc. (15 dots)
?Ä¢ Consider a single location for Little Eagles program with room to grow (9 dots)
?Ä¢ Renovate main bathrooms at Eden Valley ES (6 dots)
?Ä¢ Upgrade existing air handling units at Eden Valley ES (5 dots)
?Ä¢ Develop gathering and small-group learning spaces at high school (4 dots)
?Ä¢ Upgrade/replace existing windows at Eden Valley ES (2 dots)
?Ä¢ Develop appropriate learning space for Middle School curriculum (1 dot)
?Ä¢ Install fire sprinkler system at Watkins ES (no votes, but this may be a code requirement coming up)
?Ä¢ Increase handicap parking at high school (no votes, but it likely will be a code requirement)
These other items are identified as needed, although they received no votes in this process:
?Ä¢ Develop storage space as needed by the emerging Robotics program at the high school
?Ä¢ Develop restrooms at softball field
?Ä¢ Consider co-locating Pre-K, Community Ed, Little Eagles programs at Watkins ES
?Ä¢ Consider locating all grades K-12 in Eden Valley
?Ä¢ Develop a 7-12 grade addition to Eden Valley ES
?Ä¢ Provide additional student and event parking capacity.
These projects fall into five areas of need:
?Ä¢ Safety, security, and accessibility
?Ä¢ Building infrastructure and capital investment
?Ä¢ Repurposing and reinvesting in the 1927 portion of the high school
?Ä¢ Student learning space, and
?Ä¢ Activities and community.
Messman stated his priorities are (1) Safe and secure entrances at the elementary schools, and (2) the 1927 building. ?ÄúI won?Äôt jeopardize secure entrances and the 1927 building for a new football field, and I was a head football coach for years,?Äù he told the group.
There are varying priorities and needs within these five areas at each of the three campuses.
This entire report, as well as the PowerPoint presentation with photos, may soon be available on the district?Äôs website at evw.k12.mn.us. We will include those links in this story online as well. The report is 11 pages long, and the appendix of documentation is at least twice that long.
The purpose of the community task force was to include input representing a variety of viewpoints. Messman and the board are determined that this process be community-driven, and that the process is open and public.
A few other points:
?Ä¢ The district will receive $300,000 next year available for long-term safety projects; $400,000 the next year and each year thereafter; this could be used for some of the identified projects.
?Ä¢ The City of Eden Valley is working on grants and funding to build a large recreational park that eventually may include land where the football field is today. The city is not pushing the school out, but it?Äôs wise for the school to consider the need for a new location for a football field somewhere in the not-so-distant future.
?Ä¢ All agree that the district is past the point of doing a total demolition and reconstruction of the high school. Too much money has already been invested in upgrades (that are still being paid for). That ship sailed two or three referenda ago.
?Ä¢ There is no land available for the high school to expand its footprint. It?Äôs essentially land-locked.
?Ä¢ The district is currently $16.2 million in debt for taxpayer-
approved referenda. The 2012 gym project was $10 million. The district is on schedule to pay $1.4 million each year to pay off the $16.2 million debt.
?Ä¢ An additional referendum would dove-tail on this existing debt, adding smaller payments that grow as the older debt is paid down. There shouldn?Äôt be a giant debt payment (or tax jump) immediately.
?Ä¢ A structural engineer has gone through the 1927 building, as did the Task Force. It is structurally sound and solid. Once anything is started, however, everything in the building will need to be brought up to current code; hallways need to be wider, air handling improved, bathrooms brought up to code, etc.
?Ä¢ The best bid prices for construction work are in November-December-January. ?ÄúSo we?Äôre a year away,?Äù said Messman. Or it could be pushed back a year, if needed.
Architect Dave Leschak commended the group for achieving a priority list after only four meetings, and one that all agree on. (This is almost unheard-of.) ?ÄúThe Task Force was very focused, a cohesive and collaborative group, yet a good cross-section of the community,?Äù he told the board.
Messman welcomes inquiries and discussion about the process moving forward, board meetings are public, and we will keep you informed here.