CC 03-29-1999 - Laserfiche WebLink

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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - MARCH 29, 1999 2 . month due to poor air quality. A special committee was established to review the air quality. The reason for the poor air quality in schools has to do, not only with the age of the buildings, but also with the fact that the buildings hold a large population of people in small spaces. An additional group formed as part of the process was an Athletic Facility Task Force. This Task Force brought in more community involvement from the Athletic Associations and considered the broader needs of the community athletic facilities. A Facilities Task Force was formed made up of parents, the Mounds View Education Association, and building administrators. This Task Force gathered the information provided by the other committees and Task Forces and made another review of the buildings themselves, in order to prioritize the needs of the School District. The results were a total of $125 million dollars in upgrades and improvements. The School District did not believe this was achievable through a Bond Referendum. Mr. Fox stated that the most important part of the Facilities Task Force was that community leaders, not just the School District, shared it. The input from the Building Committees was more site related, where as the Task Force compared each building to determine where the strongest needs are. . Mr. Fox referred to the Newsletter submitted to the City Council. He stated that the information contained in the Newsletter included lists of the recommended upgrades and the cost factors associated with them. This information is the result of the Task Force master plan. Mr. Fox stated that he was not a part of the Task Force and the one thing which impressed him the most was that there were no frivolous recommendations, rather they were simply upgrades and repairs to the facilities. He was also impressed by the openness and inclusiveness the entire process involved and the fact that it has become a community Bond Referendum. Mr. Borg stated that the recommendations were given to the School Board in January 1999. The School Board met to review these recommendations several times. As a group, the School Board was very impressed with the thoroughness and the methodology used in terms of prioritization. The School Board made few modifications to the recommendations. The parents had been hoping to get more money than what the School Board had considered its top amount. The School Board used the resources provided in order to get a feel for what the community's tolerance level would be. It was determined that the average home in the community could handle an approximate $10.25 per month ($125 per year) tax increase for a 20 year Bond Referendum. . The School Board had been considering a new Administrative Facility and this was taken out of the recommendations. The recommendations had included the purchase of computers as a necessary part of the Referendum. The School Board had been concerned about purchasing computer equipment over 20 years, which would be obsolete in five years. These dollars were removed and more gym space was added per strong community needs.