Long-discussed plans for facility needs at USD 251 North Lyon County had more discussions Wednesday night.
There was a good crowd of patrons at the NLC Elementary gymnasium as residents learned more about facility assessments the last two years and potential costs involved for significant repairs at each building. This is a process that’s about two years old and it follows occasionally-heated discussions last decade about the prospects for new facilities. Superintendent Bob Blair says this was a good time to engage the public as more conversations are ahead.
Speaking of upcoming discussions, Blair says the district’s board and Strategic Planning Committee will likely have more community engagement to come.
The district has had split opinions on its path forward for well over a decade, although the conversation about 10 years ago had a completely different focus. Most recently, between 2015-2018, that was manifested by three separate votes on new facilities, two for a new K-12 building and one for a new K-8 campus. All three were voted down by similar percentages. Following the third vote, the board tentatively started an “investment-grade” audit process for project cost analysis, but the board reversed course after prior superintendent Aron Dody went to USD 417 Morris County and Mike Mathes replaced him.
The current round of conversations developed two years ago, starting with the district’s external partners — Landmark Architects, LST Consulting Engineers and DCS Services — reviewing building plans, conducting site visits and assessments and meeting with building staff. Besides highlighting significant issues at each district facility, as well as developing project recommendations and cost estimates, Phase II — the current phase — has also focused on Americans with Disabilities Act and other life safety recommendations to bring buildings up to current code. Phase III is ahead, where the district will have schematic plans and updated cost estimates.
Existing systems have already been ranked as good, fair or poor, and part of Wednesday’s meeting was to discuss cost estimates for the poor systems. In order to replace all the poorly-rated building items, USD 251 is looking at a nearly $10 million price tag. Nearly $7 million would go to needs at Northern Heights, with another $2.7 million going to NLC Elementary, $16,000 to the district office and $38,000 to the Maintenance and Transportation building.
KVOE News reporter Dylan Sherwood contributed to this report.
